Which Driving Lights?

CIBIE

Most people who put driving lights on their 4x4's and expect to get their moneys worth are dreaming...
I think i am as typical as the next traveller,,,,,
Go away once a year,,, maybe twice.....
Find a campsite by 3 or 4pm,,,, get going again the next morning....
Maybe coming back on the last day of our 5 week holiday we do a little night driving,,,,, cant even use them there because too much traffic...
Spotlights,,,, who needs em...
I would guess 5% of 4x4ers actually use them properly....
Hey,, i am one of those 95% and i have them on the front...
But rarely used...But what a gay 4x4 without them...lol....

So anyway,,, to answer your question,,,,
I would buy LIGHTFORCE'S NEW HID BLITZ $1185 ea.... What a bargain...

you know. out of all the lights i have had. the ol 150 watt sealed beams have seem to be the best. the only thing is they draw a fair bit of power , but they where pretty chioce bro

i now have ralley 4000 hid's but i am questioning them too

G'day Matty
I have gone a bit overboard with mine, have replaced standard lights with IPF, they are great for when you have to switch the spots off. Also run 4 IPF Extremes, 2 spot 2 spread. Fantastic + waterproof, can't remember the cost :).
Regards Lyndon

Price does not equal performance. Go for one spot and one spread. When you look into a light from directly in front, if all you can see is the filament of the globe from all parts of a shiny reflector, you are looking at an efficient light. I have Hella Rally 2000 and they are the best I have seen.

Give us a hint on where you intend on using them and for how many hours each night. If you don't use them 5 nights a week I wouldn't even consider the gas discharge jobs out of pure value for use but I don't recieve 100K a year income either.

My point is some lights would not suit if you are in hilly terrain or others won't be as good on long straight roads.

Give you my choice for your application if I get more info.
Cheers, Trevor.

Hey,! I'm no expert on driving lights, but I do know that I bought a pair of driving lights (starts with "N" ends in "A") and they FELL APART on corrugated roads. Looking more closely, I realised the housing was PLASTIC. I purchased a reasonably cheap set from K-Mart (Starts with "M" ends in "A") that had a copper casing with rubber mounts. Have done all the corrugations that these dusty roads can dish out, still like new. Bottom line: Avoid plastic housing driving lights.

I have Lightforce 240's, the old Blitz style, they are great. I have one diffuser cover and one clear, which works a treat. They're around $350-400 now, the newer styled XGT (same reflector) are around the $500 mark. If they got pinched tomorrow I'd but another set.

One magazine tested both Halogen and HID driving lights a while ago, and Lightforce came out on top in both. Of course people will argue with any test but not many people have the facilities/money/time to test all the lights on the market. As mentioned above, some lights have strengths in areas that others don't and Lightforce are certainly at their best lighting up straight ahead, hence the need for the diffuser covers if you need some side light. While these work well, I can't comment whether they're better than a dedicated spread light you'll find in many other brands.

If you search the archives here (type 'driving lights' in the search box) you'll be reading for hours. Have fun!

Cheers,

Mark.

Hey Matty,
I have ipf900's I think on the bull bar (Nissan standard issue). with 130 watt globes...... They are ok
On the roof I have Hella 1000's which are ok but the Hella 4000 compacts on the roof are pretty good too............. I can see at night like it is day.......... The 4000's are the best out of all of them. :)

Interesting point came up talking to a friend last night, was how people see at night, especially while driving.
Some people like lights as bright as day.

I prefer my driving lights not quite as bright.
When I am driving at night, I seem to look at things differently.
Best way I can describe it is that I am looking for shadows.
In other words, when driving at night, I am looking for shadows that are changing out of pattern with the other shadows.

Made me realise one night when doing speed (130k +) on a country road, and I almost wiped out a black cow in the middle of the road. Black on a black background, and what alerted me to it's presence was it's movement, like a shadow, but I didn't 'see' it as a cow until the last moment.

Had all my lights on, 100w high beam cibie inserts, 100w driving lights, and 130w super oscars, 660 watts in total.

Now I just run 100w high beam and 100 watt super oscars. 400 watts total, and my night vision and peripheral vision isn't as wrecked by the light. And those road signs don't glare back at you as much. :o)

Just a thought.

IMHO, shop around for a set of new Hella Rally 4000 compacts in spread beam (both). ( Can get on e-Bay at good price), Then put an aftermarket HID kit in them (easy to fit), and i guarantee you will be happy at about 1/4 the cost of a set of off the shelf HID lights. Will turn night into day. Some kits on e-bay around $150, dont know the quality though. My two bobs worth. Regards Kirsten NSW

Cheers for all your replies,

So as a benchmark, I used to use the Nissan Patrol Standard issue IPF's, and I found they threw out a pretty good beam both to the side and infront, so I would want a light on par, but preferably better than those ones.

I do alot of night driving, probably 4-5 times a week, in a mix of straight and winding roads.

Also i've never understood this HID thing, what is it exactly? Is it better?

Lightforce....................there is no substitute.

Lightforce.....try getting a globe from a small country town.

We have Hella 4000's with a Phillips HID kit fitted, they work well.

The best one's to buy are the $15.00 ones because you will have nothing to complaine about.

If using non HID's have a look at the mounting system as the less movement the longer the globe lifespan.

We have always used Hella lights, the 2 other brands (Lightfource and Cibie) are just as good, don't know about IPF thou you see them on alot of 4x4s with ARB bars.....proberly because they get the bar fitted at ARB and seeing ARB are the importers the fit IPF's there is only one choice.

Narva, KC and Nightstalker ??????

Regards Richard