The advantages of Xenon lights

[900000]

I share your thoughts on the Xenons entirely.

It would be interesting to see some sort of comparison with LEDs.

This is the sort of thing that both Autocar and Car would publish without much prompting but these days they both seem more keen on featuring the latest BMW 'Emperors New Clthes' blingmobile rather than things of interest to the wider readership!

A friend brough me three German Auto Motor & Sports the other day. Amazing technical articles in there of which I can only look at the pictures alas. And one was testing all the different makes of Xenon lights.

[chriskelland]

The main cause of blinding other drivers in this area is the quantity of hump back bridges ,sleeping policemen and road humps, oh and deep, deep potholes.

I really appreciate the modern systems as on Yeti and very seldom get blinded on flat road.

Chris.

[kenfowler3966]

I thought the main cause was all the idiots that think it looks good to put their fogs on as well!

You never see a boy racers car these days at night without fogs on as well.

[900000]

I thought the main cause was all the idiots that think it looks good to put their fogs on as well!

You never see a boy racers car these days at night without fogs on as well.

Alas some "boy racers" drive Škoda Superbs that have their DRL lights next to the fog lights and people might THINK they drive with their fogs on when in fact they are not...

[CFB]

That's the clincher for me too, not having to fiddle about with lens converters every time we go overseas will be fab.

Per previous post, why isn't LED technology up to acting as main headlights?

it is.

the audi R8 has led lights all round.

dipped beam, main beam, indicators, brake lights and tail lights.

flip back to the 1st post on this thread and read the article (page S58 by the way)

soon changing a bulb will be a thing of the past.

personally, i cannot wait....

[rockhopper]

One advantage for me is the amazing 'bendy' lights....love them, especially on high beam.

I was in my parents village last weekend and the cornering fogs came into their own, I could see down a small lane I was turning into before I turned into it....neat.

Mike

[stanjackos]

Has somebody upset Terfyn, he has gone very quiet.

[silver1011]

Soon changing a bulb will be a thing of the past.

personally, i cannot wait....

I can!

Whilst failures may be far less frequent with LED's I can guarantee it won't be as cheap as swapping a bulb.

Take the Seat Leon, it has had LED tail and brake lights since 2006, I've seen quite a few recently with either failed or dimmer than normal LED's.

Quite a few buses and coaches have had LED tail, brake and inicators for many years now, I've also started to noticed a lot of these with one or more failed LED's.

I'm no expert but I very much doubt its possible to replace a single LED in the same way we are used to changing a bulb, my guess is that it will require a complete unit or cluster change which I'm sure will equal lot's of £££...?

[Terfyn]

Has somebody upset Terfyn, he has gone very quiet.

On the contrary. Three pages of you lot trying to justify your flashy headlights has kept me riveted. You see I don't need to justify my tried and trusted technology

It looks that these new LED systems will soon replace all the existing lighting systems as they develop and become more cost effective for the manufacturers to fit. I am still amazed how good the replacement LED boot light from SuperSkoda is. It is literally brilliant! Must get round to trying to fit the second one of the pair I bought.

PS Thank you Stanjackos for remembering this old Luddite.

Edited 19 February, 2011 by Terfyn

[dstev2000]

I can!

Whilst failures may be far less frequent with LED's I can guarantee it won't be as cheap as swapping a bulb.

Take the Seat Leon, it has had LED tail and brake lights since 2006, I've seen quite a few recently with either failed or dimmer than normal LED's.

Quite a few buses and coaches have had LED tail, brake and inicators for many years now, I've also started to noticed a lot of these with one or more failed LED's.

I'm no expert but I very much doubt its possible to replace a single LED in the same way we are used to changing a bulb, my guess is that it will require a complete unit or cluster change which I'm sure will equal lot's of £££...?

Try and find a Jag XF without at least one popped rear LED light

The B6 Passat seems to be doing OK for LED rear lights, I don't recall seeing a single duffer as yet and I look out for sad stuff like that. I think the real test will be LED DRLs as they age.

I think xenon lighting technology will be around for many years to come.

Its taken 20 years for this technology to go from being a highly exclusive option to a standard feature on an ever increasing range of cars.

[Millstone]

I have just changed the rear lights and indicators on my small(ish) trailer for LED units. I too got fed up with lights failing, usually because as the trailer bounced around it shook the bulbs loose or the light covers kept falling off.

Now I can be seen properly, and people know when I am going to turn !!

Cost me about £25 for the pair but in my opinion well worth it.