Driving lights

[frag]

I have more and more to do night time driving on country roads paved and unpaved and feel my headlights do not give me enough lighting.

Is a driving light what I need? As low as they are mounted, can they really provide superior lighting farther away than the regular headlights?

If so, what kind would you advise I buy?

Thanks in advance.

[SevenSisters]

Low mounted driving lights may help you see Bambi standing in the road but do little to illuminate chuck holes, road debris, and other pavement problems.

 

You could mount them up high to get a better angle, like on the roof, or eat a lot more carrots.

[Setright]

Most "Driving lights" are just fog lights, and the must be mounted low in order to make a useful attempt at shining underneath the fog. I my opinion, fog lights are useless add-ons that are only used in vain attempts to make a car look more sporty.

 

Good driving lights, like Hella FF75 do a fine job of lighting far ahead, even when mounted low, the trick is to make sure the beam is shining parallel to the road, not up or down.

As mentioned in the above post, this doesn't really improve on the road surface immediately in front of the car. This would be the only instance where fog lights would be an advantage. HOWEVER, lighting up the road surface right in front of the car will degrade your night-vision, because so much light is reflected back up into your eyes, meaning that objects in the distance will be invisible. So fog lights are not for high speeds.

[paulr]

I have more and more to do night time driving on country roads paved and unpaved and feel my headlights do not give me enough lighting.

Is a driving light what I need? As low as they are mounted, can they really provide superior lighting farther away than the regular headlights?

If so, what kind would you advise I buy?

Thanks in advance.

I'd suggest you change the headlight bulbs. I assume they are halogen. It's poss to buy bulbs rated at 55w that put out the equivalent of 100w ... and they are a more intense white than the older ones.

 

HTH

 

--paul

[NOMAD327]

Foglights project a fat short beam and were originally intended to use with headlights off (just park and tail lights on) to prevent bounce back in heavy fog. True driving lights project a narrow long beam or an extremely narrow extremely long (pencil) beam. They are super high beams and should be wired only to come on with the high beams lit. True driving lights are not generally sold in local stores. Brand names that come to mind are Cibie, Hella, Lucas PIAA and a few others. The old rule was bigger diameter was necessary to get higher performance and you would always see the old rally cars running around with 10" diameter lights bolted to the hood or the roof. The newer generation lights are frequently smaller and use lenses or exotic reflectors to have a smaller housing, They didn't get cheaper when they got smaller of course. It is a big disadvantage to mount the lights low, but that is where there is room to put them, careful aiming can compensate a lot for lower than ideal mounting, and is necessary to avoid blinding other drivers in any case.

[Ranger83]

Driving lights come in several styles. As mentioned, while a fog light is designed to be a low, flat beam, driving lights are designed to illuminate farther ahead in dark but clear conditions. Fog lights go on and off with your low beams, while driving lights go on and off with the high beams.

 

You can add auxiliary lights, or start with performance upgrades to your existing system. A caveat - I don't know if the lighting used in Canada is the same as U.S. Subarus.

 

The simplest, cheapest approach is to replace your OEM bulbs with something like the Sylvania Xtravision. The Sylvania SilverStar is also available, but costs substantially more because it is designed to mimic the whiter, HID headlamps on some newer cars. The Xtravision is about $10 each, and they are substantially brighter although they don't last as long. I out them in last Fall and the low beams lasted through the Summer - I drive a lot at night, though. See

http://www.sylvania.com/ConsumerProducts/AutomotiveLighting/Products/ProductComparison/default.htm

 

The next step up is to go to a higher wattage replacement bulb. Companies like Hella make replacement bulbs with high beams of 55 up to 100 watts or so. depending on the vehicle and bulb, most cars require an upgraded harness at a minimum. This is still easier than adding auxiliary lamps. I upgraded my old Scirocco, used for Rallying, and we could pick up reflective highway signs 1.6 miles away. We angled the lights to cross in front of the car so we could get a little better illumination for cornering - driving down a twisty, ice covered dirt road at 30-40 mph gets a lot more interesting than you'd think. However, the current draw was such that the battery would discharge at idle in such a small car.

 

Auxiliary driving lamps make an immense difference, if you really need them. For most cars you'll need to carefully consider mounting and wiring and the demands on your electrical system. There are likely a number of suppliers for Subaru Rally cars that can tell you exactly what is required. Mounting lamps so they are stable and reliable isn't that easy on most cars. I always used Hella - www.hella.com

 

I found the Xtravisions to be a decent upgrade, and even better it took longer to buy them than install them.

[hklaine]

Fog Lights: Put out a wide, low, diffused light pattern in an attempt to light up the area immediately in front of the car beneath the fog with minimal glare. As stated these should not be used for regular driving as they will constrict your pupils and make visibility in the long range (darker area) worse. I like to run them without the headlights in heavy fog (where higher light sources like headlights reflect right back into my eyes) for best visibility.

 

Driving Lights: Best when mounted at headlight level or higher (there are legalities in most states as to maximum height for road use which require them to be covered on public roads if mounted too high). These shine into the distance for use in clear conditions. As for wiring these to your high beams, make sure to check local laws. In most states it is illegal to run auxiliary lights while high beams are on!

 

Headlights: Subaru USDM OEM headlights and wiring are cheap! A great affordable upgrade is to use the stock wiring as a signal lead for relays (essentially takes all load of stock wiring and switches). You can then run direct power from the battery with some high quality wiring to some higher quality higher output bulbs. I have done this upgrade in my Legacy and the improvements are amazing! PM or email should anyone care for more details on this upgrade.

 

Just my opinions/experiences for anyone looking for such.

 

-Heikki

[cookie]

Being an old codger who has mounted both fog and driving lights on a number of vehicles the advice these folks are giving is sound. If you upgrade your headlights beware of overloading wireing and switches.

It might be good to get a name brand kit and be aware of the state highway safety code.

[Glenner55]

I have mounted a pair of Cibie Oscar Plus long range driving lights on top of the front bumper of my 98 GT, they sit just inside the headlights so they don't block the radiator. They are wired to the high beam circuit so they will only come on with my high beams. They have a seperate switch so i can disable them and use only the high beams when I need less light. Have them professionally installed with a relay to protect your electrics and don't use anything bigger than a 55 watt bulb. With a large lamp, they're as big as a 7 inch headlamp, the reflector size will create a lot of light without the need for high wattage bulbs.

 

Cibie lights are avaiolable on the internet at www.cibie.com but they aren't cheap.

 

I have more and more to do night time driving on country roads paved and unpaved and feel my headlights do not give me enough lighting.

Is a driving light what I need? As low as they are mounted, can they really provide superior lighting farther away than the regular headlights?

If so, what kind would you advise I buy?

Thanks in advance.