LIGHTFORCE VS THE NEW IPF 900XS
Submitted: Tuesday, May 02, 2006 at 22:29
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Leroy
from arb bayside's website.....
LIGHTFORCE VS THE NEW IPF 900XS
Everyone seems to be asking for Lightforce lights lately. It's not hard to see why - the 240 XGT is BIG. But how good is it? We decided to conduct a simple but real life
test with a Lightforce 240 XGT and the new IPF 900XS side by side, projected onto a board about 2 car lengths away. This digital photograph of the board gives a good comparitive image of the light pattern and intensity. The Lightforce is on the left, the IPF on the right.
What are our observations from this comparison?.......
Both are certainly spot lights, with very similar beam patterns.
The IPF 900XS produces a whiter light, as can be seen clearly by the brilliant white spot in the centre.
The IPF's cost $399.00 for 2 lights as
well as a full IPF wiring harness with mouse switch and relay (it's worth $90 alone).
The Lightforce XGT's cost $518.00 for 2 lights and nothing else.
The Lightforces are too big to fit into many bull bars, but the IPF's being smaller don't have that problem.
The IPF's are waterproof and submersible.They are steel and therefore stronger than the plastic Lightforce. Our idling GU Patrol diesel causes the Lightforce to flutter & vibrate, but the IPF was
rock solid.
So are you being sucked in by the "big light mentality"? Maybe you should look at IPF's current technology, high performance lights and save some money.
Leroy
Reply By: Patrolman Pat - Tuesday, May 02, 2006 at 22:40
Tuesday, May 02, 2006 at 22:40
I've got IPF 900XS. I bought them off a mate who upgraded to Lightforce HIDs and while he likes his Lightforce he reckons that value for money the IPFs were better.
I'm happy, got near new spotties for $250.
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Follow Up By: Member - JohnR (Vic)&Moses - Tuesday, May 02, 2006 at 22:48
Tuesday, May 02, 2006 at 22:48
Bit of a difference in price though Pat for the HIDs to judge value for money.
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Follow Up By: Mad Dog (Australia) - Tuesday, May 02, 2006 at 23:08
Tuesday, May 02, 2006 at 23:08
>They're submersible to 300mm for up to two minutes<
Did they come with a stopwatch Pat ?
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Follow Up By: Patrolman Pat - Tuesday, May 02, 2006 at 23:18
Tuesday, May 02, 2006 at 23:18
John. He loves the HIDs but reckons that even though they are better they aren't 2 - 3 times better which the price would suggest.
No stop watch Ray. I have to count Mind you if they are 300mm under water I might have other things on my mind.
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Reply By: Member - Crazie (VIC) - Tuesday, May 02, 2006 at 23:39
Tuesday, May 02, 2006 at 23:39
I have had both, the lightforce I feel are better, now have 9"HID and neither compare to the HID
Ads
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Reply By: Member - Norm C (QLD) - Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 07:53
Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 07:53
The IPFs are clearly a good light, but Leroy's quote is from an ARB web site. Hardly an unbiased opinion. They sell IPFs, but (to my knowledge), not Light Force.
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Follow Up By: Truckster (Vic) - Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 08:17
Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 08:17
BINGO!! We have a winner.. LOL, ARB arent going to say LF are any good ...
cant believe people really believe this!
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Follow Up By: Leroy - Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 08:25
Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 08:25
'but Leroy's quote is from an ARB web site. Hardly an unbiased opinion'
that was the point to the post Norm!!
Leory
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Follow Up By: Member - Coyote (SA) - Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 16:49
Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 16:49
So who needs to have spotties on when idling???? that is hardly a
test of true performance.. and as far as strength goes.. if you hit a roo with a light that is glass.. are you telling me it wont break.. crap.. of course it will .. take a hammer to your Lighforces and I recon the best you will do is tilt them.. even before you install them grab one and see if you can break the covers on the corner of a bench or something.. without a sharp knife of power tool I bet you cant.. whereas the glass lights??? now you tell me which is the better light.. especialy as ARB admits. they both have similar pattern and brightness etc.
Next Q is does IPF offer different lense covers etc for diffenret appications? what about focusable beams??? grnated the XGTs arent focusable but the prvious model is..
I recon ARB sell some of the best tried and true gear around. thats why I am happy to part with my hard earned $$ for their stuff even though it is slightly more expensive on some items but as far as lights go, I reckon you cant go past the Lightforce of any type.
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Reply By: Truckster (Vic) - Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 08:18
Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 08:18
>>> The IPF's are waterproof and submersible.
So are the Lightforces.
>> They are steel and therefore stronger than the plastic Lightforce.
So are you being sucked in by "metal is always stronger"?
>> Our idling GU Patrol diesel causes the Lightforce to flutter & vibrate, but the IPF was
rock solid.
I'd tune the patrol.. mine dont viabrate mounted easily on my ARB bar.
Also see above.
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Follow Up By: jemkia - Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 09:45
Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 09:45
Seems to me that there are a lot of sheep in this country.
My observations from looking at this site from time to time and certain four wheel drive magazines-(adverzines) are that to be a REAL FOUR WHEEL DRIVER you must own a Toyota diesel with warn winch, IPF spotties, safari
snorkel, cooper/BF's, blah blah we all get the idea.
As soon as anyone comes up with something new, different or better everyone knocks it.
Read between and behind the lines people, think for your self !!!!
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Follow Up By: Member - Jeff M (WA) - Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 11:24
Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 11:24
I have supercrap auto cheapo spotlights as I don't have a lot of $$$ and I don't do much night driving (try to avoid it as I have no bullbar either!).
This means my judgment on both brands of spotties is completly unbiased and I have no real experience with either brand.
But Truckster, not knocking you at all, but I'm interested in your comments about plastic vs metal.
I know all to
well your opinion on plastic bull bars vs plastic alloy bullbars, which is stronger in that equation? Metal isn't it?
Now ok, bull bars are supposed to be designed to hit kangaroos and the like, but where are the spotlights mounted to?? :-)
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Follow Up By: P.G. (Tas) - Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 13:54
Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 13:54
Hey Jeff, talking about bullbars, I personally don't think it matters whether you have a plastic, alloy or steel bullbar these days, thanks to airbags and ADR's. I wouldn't like to hit a decent sized roo head on with any of them!
Cheers,
Peter
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Follow Up By: Member - Jeff M (WA) - Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 13:56
Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 13:56
Aaarh, the advantage of having and old POS 4wd. No airbags in my old girl! ;-) All I need now is a bullbar LOL!
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Follow Up By: Mad Dog (Australia) - Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 14:38
Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 14:38
lol, that's why you look after it Jeff, they don't make em like that anymore.
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Reply By: Member - Doug T (QLD) - Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 09:42
Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 09:42
Leroy
This part of your post amused me : quote [ The IPF's are waterproof and submersible.They are steel and therefore stronger than the plastic Lightforce. Our idling GU Patrol diesel causes the Lightforce to flutter & vibrate, but the IPF was
rock solid. ]
I have 2 X 170mm Lighforce on my Troopie, No vibrations at all m must be that Nissan eh [ dig dig ] Why anyone would want the large Lightforce is beyond me, for a starter they block off air flow to the radiator as do the oblong IPFs ,If my 2 lightforces can light up reflected signs at 3klms and post reflectors at 2 klms or more then thats more than enough, I see cattle at 300m to 400m and have more than enough time to slow down , for Roos I don't do a thing, no horn blowing,no dipped lights, I don't have any stupid Rooshu BS, just leave em and they watch you go past, and I very rarely strike one ,Yes I operate in Outback Australia and I know whats what , I have not hit a Roo yet this year and have never hit a cow, SLOW DOWN .
Doug
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Follow Up By: Leroy - Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 16:14
Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 16:14
I found the entire comparison amusing hence the post.
Leroy
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Reply By: Drew - Karratha - Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 09:55
Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 09:55
1 roo = 3 smashed Rallye 2000's ("steel and therefore stronger" and glass)
1 roo 6 months later = 2 skyward pointing Lightforce 240 Blitz, that were adjusted and working 5 mins later.....
Drew
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Follow Up By: Snowy 3.0iTD - Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 10:43
Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 10:43
I'll second that, two Lightforce 240 Blitz lights, one roo, 90km/h and the damage; one bent bash plate one smashed headlight, two lightforce lights that were readjusted in less than a minute, and away we went again. Steel stronger than plastic, when the guy sold me mine he took a demo reflector and bounced it off the ground with no problems, would a steel/glass one do that?
Snowy
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Follow Up By: Member - Coyote (SA) - Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 16:54
Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 16:54
same same whn I was looking at lights.. the guy took the lexan or whatever it is (NOT PLASTIC) cover and ground it against the steel rackingin the
shop.. then hled it with 2 hands and rammed it against the steel frame and still no damage.. I bet if he tried that with any glass light he'd be out of a job pretty quick.. If the light output is the same then go lighforce.. If you really want super
bright, thenyou have to go Zenon gass (or whatever its called) and then you are stuck with glass. but I wouldn't want the replacement bill with the first flock of corellas you drive through let alone a Roo...
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Follow Up By: Member - Doug T (QLD) - Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 17:22
Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 17:22
Yep good one Drew...spot on , When I buy Lights the first thing I look at is the reflector , and If it's like a mirror I like it, so with the Lightforce It was Reflector and strength for me, Now what about Narva Lights ..cough cough Ooooh
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Reply By: S&N - Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 14:30
Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 14:30
I like the comment about "this digital photograph", in one of the "reputable" 4x4 mags, they did a huge comparison with lights, in a PROPPER light testing lab, and they stated that when you look at their "digital photos", look for the one with a pinker centre, not white. something about how a digital photo captures the light and the brighter/whiter lights actually dont come up as the brightest/whitest in a digital
pic. the HID came up even more pink, and we know that they are brighter. so i think their "simple test" was aimed at "simple people" that dont do their research.
i have the 240 lightforce, the smaller 800 series IPF, and the larger 800 series IPF. i have 130w globes in the larger IPF's and 100w in the light force. the lightforce are still the best lights ive ever had. ive also had cibbe super oscars, hella's and narvas! The only one that i think comes close ars the narva 175's
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Follow Up By: Utemad - Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 15:38
Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 15:38
We have two F250s at work. One has IPF 800 ($352) and the other Lightforce 240 Blitz ($375).
When we got the IPF 800 lights I was dissapointed as they performed no better than my Nitestalker 170 ($165) lights on my ute. However the Lightforce 240 lights are heaps better.
None of the lights have fallen apart although when I removed the Nitestalkers the nuts had rusted and were a bugger to get off as the bolt spun in the mount.
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Reply By: Member - Bradley- Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 15:35
Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 15:35
yeah it wouldn't have much to do with the fact i noticed opposite lock now advertising lightforce would it ??
i certainly havent heard much bad said about the lightforce models, apart from their size (240s) and have seen some that were fairly banged up but havent failed.
and they're an aussie developed and made product to boot.
a few years back i was doing runs from melb to
adelaide every 5 weeks as part of my job, and the amount of longhaul trucks running 170 & 240 lf's was overwhelming, these guys living depends on their resources, they dont buy for image or pleasure use, so i think that speaks volumes for the product.
I know when my narva 170's die i'm putting a pair of 170 striker lighforce on.
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Reply By: Sand Man (SA) - Thursday, May 04, 2006 at 00:05
Thursday, May 04, 2006 at 00:05
Forumites,
I'm not going to start a "Lightforce" vs "IPF" debate.
I will however make an observation so that potential purchasers of one or the other can take it into their consideration, for whatever it's worth.
ARB are distributors of the IPF range and therefore would logically promote "their" product line over others.
TJM are distributors of the Lightforce product line. (They used to sell IPF's)
So, both distributors would more than likely apply a little bias towards the product they sell.
Oh! and just in case someone is observant enough to notice I have IPF's on the Jack, I bought them for the following reasons.
They fitted into my budget at the time of purchase.
They were the only one of the major brands that offered a rectangular housing that I believe suited the style of the Bull bar I had and the shape blended better with the similar looking original headlights. Simple technology.
As to which may be better of the two, I don't give a bugger. Mine are adequate for my needs and to tell the honest truth, I hardly use them anyway, as I have pulled over and set up
camp before darkness has arrived and the boogieman starts his patrol. But on the rare occasions I do light them up, they turn night into day for a reasonable distance in front of, and to the side of, the road or track I'm travelling on, so they are a practical addition to safety when driving at night.
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