The DARK truth about "blue" bulbs
12-19-2003, 10:19 AM
#1
Three Wheelin'
Thread Starter
The DARK truth about "blue" bulbs
A recent question about blue bulbs got me back on my soap box again and I just HAVE to spread the gospel.
Having driven 100's of hours on twisty, snow-covered rally stages at night - I have a keen appreciation for EXCELLENT lighting. Our rally car currently runs 4 Hella 4000's and the stock headlamps are upgraded to H4's with 80/100 watt bulbs. This results in about 600 watts of lighting. Just about enough.
But for regular street applications - are the so-called "super-blue" bulbs that are so popular any good? Even safe?
Check out the following link and find out the truth...
http://lighting.mbz.org/tech/bulbs/blue/blue.html
RK
PS. That whole site is FULL of facinating lighting and electrical info - dig deep and learn!
Having driven 100's of hours on twisty, snow-covered rally stages at night - I have a keen appreciation for EXCELLENT lighting. Our rally car currently runs 4 Hella 4000's and the stock headlamps are upgraded to H4's with 80/100 watt bulbs. This results in about 600 watts of lighting. Just about enough.
But for regular street applications - are the so-called "super-blue" bulbs that are so popular any good? Even safe?
Check out the following link and find out the truth...
http://lighting.mbz.org/tech/bulbs/blue/blue.html
RK
PS. That whole site is FULL of facinating lighting and electrical info - dig deep and learn!
12-19-2003, 10:34 AM
#2
Nordschleife Master
This whole blue bulb thing has been quite the marketing success of selling an inferior product for a superior price. I guess if you are a ricer type that wants to pose as having arc HIDs and that is more important than actual light performance, that is OK, to each his own. But the marketing BS is also suckering in regular people that think they are getting better lights.
12-19-2003, 10:44 AM
#3
Three Wheelin'
Okay, all that is well and good, but the website doesn't mention anything about the cool factor of running the blue LED's in my washer nozzles. Are there any good sites for information on this? Oh, and should I be thinking of running different colors? Red, yellow?
-J
-J
12-19-2003, 11:14 AM
#6
Three Wheelin'
Dan,
Glad you got that one.
Z,
Perfect summary with one exception that we've seen 1000 times.
HID ARC discharge headlamps - GOOD
Halogen lights with blue tint - BAD.
Iceshark Kit - GREAT!
-J
Glad you got that one.
Z,
Perfect summary with one exception that we've seen 1000 times.
HID ARC discharge headlamps - GOOD
Halogen lights with blue tint - BAD.
Iceshark Kit - GREAT!
-J
12-19-2003, 11:26 AM
#7
Burning Brakes
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That is a fascinating website.
My '88 Euro 944 has the stock Hella H1s with stock Hella 55W/65W bulbs. It's exactly how it left the factory right down to the little 3-position dial that lets you adjust the vertical aim of the lights from inside the car.
I've had passengers say "I can't believe how great these headlights are". And I don't think I've ever had an oncoming driver flash me in annoyance about them.
Once again, surprise surprise, the unaltered factory setup rocks (dunno about the US DOT lighting) and like so many automotive products, the maxi-extreme-hyper-xenon-HID-arc-8000K-ultra-blah-blah-blah stuff is a fashion statement and has at best an only slightly detrimental effect on performance.
Bryan
My '88 Euro 944 has the stock Hella H1s with stock Hella 55W/65W bulbs. It's exactly how it left the factory right down to the little 3-position dial that lets you adjust the vertical aim of the lights from inside the car.
I've had passengers say "I can't believe how great these headlights are". And I don't think I've ever had an oncoming driver flash me in annoyance about them.
Once again, surprise surprise, the unaltered factory setup rocks (dunno about the US DOT lighting) and like so many automotive products, the maxi-extreme-hyper-xenon-HID-arc-8000K-ultra-blah-blah-blah stuff is a fashion statement and has at best an only slightly detrimental effect on performance.
Bryan
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12-19-2003, 11:35 AM
#8
Race Car
Originally posted by Bryan
Once again, surprise surprise, the unaltered factory setup rocks (dunno about the US DOT lighting)
Once again, surprise surprise, the unaltered factory setup rocks (dunno about the US DOT lighting)
12-19-2003, 01:11 PM
#9
Burning Brakes
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Resisting the urge to make the "dim bulbs" joke about the DOT legislators...
Kinda fun to wonder about the DOT rules mandating inferior headlights and the huge industry that's sprung up to sell people "better" healights that are probably worse. If the US allowed "E-code" lighting like the rest of the world, I bet there wouldn't be such a huge industry foisting inferior crap onto unsuspecting consumers, and therefore generally safer driving conditions for most drivers. So the DOT rules seem to have the opposite effect of that intended.
Bryan
Kinda fun to wonder about the DOT rules mandating inferior headlights and the huge industry that's sprung up to sell people "better" healights that are probably worse. If the US allowed "E-code" lighting like the rest of the world, I bet there wouldn't be such a huge industry foisting inferior crap onto unsuspecting consumers, and therefore generally safer driving conditions for most drivers. So the DOT rules seem to have the opposite effect of that intended.
Bryan
12-19-2003, 01:18 PM
#10
Race Car
Although I hadn't thought about it that way before, Bryan makes an interesting point. I'm sure the lighting industry is using lobbists to keep things the way they are.
12-19-2003, 01:23 PM
#11
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I was at my mechanics earlier this week with the mullet (social call) and I had him take a look see at my "fog" lamps to see how difficult it would be to install a set of hella driving lamps. I cant believe they let 300hp cars on the road with the low profile 4 light halogens the mullet came with.
talk about dim bulbs, and gm engineers in the same sentence.
talk about dim bulbs, and gm engineers in the same sentence.
12-19-2003, 01:23 PM
#12
Nordschleife Master
But Dave, I haven't heard of anyone that has been called on having E-Codes in the USA. Heck, even NHTSA employees use them on their personal cars. And cops.
With all the unique lens configurations on production cars, arc HID, blue bulbs, etc., the lighting issue is such a mess the cops are never going to call someone on it unless they are running weird colored bulbs like purple.
With all the unique lens configurations on production cars, arc HID, blue bulbs, etc., the lighting issue is such a mess the cops are never going to call someone on it unless they are running weird colored bulbs like purple.
12-19-2003, 01:49 PM
#13
Race Car
Enforcement on the street is another issue, as long as crappy lighting is a requirement there will be money in aftermarket lighting. IIRC, your profit margin is tiny and you see the demand, now if this were a honda board and you had blue bulbs, you could make "light cannons inc" a full time gig 
.
As I said in the other thread, I know (only) one person who's had a problem with aftermarket lights at a state inspection and that was in the 80's. E-Code should be made 50 state legel but for some reason it is not, I have to believe that the blue bulb makers are lobbying to keep the status quo.
.As I said in the other thread, I know (only) one person who's had a problem with aftermarket lights at a state inspection and that was in the 80's. E-Code should be made 50 state legel but for some reason it is not, I have to believe that the blue bulb makers are lobbying to keep the status quo.
12-19-2003, 03:30 PM
#14
Nordschleife Master
Well, there are a couple major things that are going on to keep US lighting such a mess. It is not so much the lighting industry as it is the auto manufacturers (save money) and NHTSA and their strange ideas on what constitutes good lighting.
My parents have a Crown Vic and the lighting is so bad you are not even sure the lights are on. Cheap plastic lenses and there is not a lot you can do about it for any reasonable cost.
My parents have a Crown Vic and the lighting is so bad you are not even sure the lights are on. Cheap plastic lenses and there is not a lot you can do about it for any reasonable cost.
12-19-2003, 05:36 PM
#15
Race Car
3 position switch to adjust the aim of the headlights? I wish I had one, mine are aimed at the ground right in front of the car, they go up, past the top and back down about 1/5th the way. Does anybody know how to fix this?