# Poll : Xenon / Halogen Car Headlamps



## squareleg (Mar 6, 2008)

*Xenon / Halogen car headlamps*​
*Bright or Blight?*

They are the work of the Devil. Period.27.69%They should be shot out with machine-guns...27.69%...preferably with their owner standing in front...519.23%...pleading for mercy.415.38%I think they are very nice...830.77%...because I am an uncaring, insensitive [email protected]13.85%...and I don't give a sh!t about other road users.415.38%


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## squareleg (Mar 6, 2008)

It seems to be Poll Season, so I thought I'd give one a try.

I don't wish to give away entirely my position on this, so will let the poll questions do the talking for me. Thanks for any and all contributions.

Btw, if you are the owner of one of these devices, this only a bit of fun - please don't take offence.

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Take arsenic instead.


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## Guest (Dec 21, 2008)

One of my oh so many pet hates.

Along with the ***** drivers who insist that their front fog lights are "Driving lights".


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## Mutley (Apr 17, 2007)

all the unmarked police cars have them around here, you can spot them miles away :lol:


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## pg tips (May 16, 2003)

Xenon and Halogen are different technologies

if both are used correctly then they are fine. Halogen have been industry standard for many years. Xenon lights produce on average at least 2.5 times more light than a halogen bulb and only consume around two thirds of the power. Therefore a car driver can see ahead much more clearly and the car has more power for other functions. In addition, the clear blue-white light of xenon is far more like daylight than the conventional yellowish lamps and is easier on the eye with drivers able to concentrate better and not tire as quickly. A further benefit noticed by drivers is that xenon headlamps distribute more light on the road and improve illumination on the verge.

I'm assuming your gripe is with incorrectly fitted bulbs or improper use of lights?


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## squareleg (Mar 6, 2008)

pg tips said:


> Xenon and Halogen are different technologies


Uhuh... like 'Atom' and 'Hydrogen' bombs?



> if both are used correctly then they are fine.


See above.



> I'm assuming your gripe is with incorrectly fitted bulbs or improper use of lights?


Nope. My 'gripe' is with the incontrovertible fact that both these types of headlamp may well be brilliant (ha!) for the user but an absolute menace for everyone else on the road. They blind you in the mirror as they approach from the rear and burn your pupils out as they approach from the front. Whilst arguably (and not a very good argument, at that) making a journey oh-so marginally safer for the user, they are undoubtedly making that of everyone else both more uncomfortable and, worse, more dangerous.

Furthermore, please try to imagine a world where _all_ cars were using this type of lamp. In this world, nobody would be able to see a thing on a motorway because it would be like staring at an atom bomb going off.

I strongly suspect that there are many lovely arguments for these things, put forward by their manufacturers, which a lot of users have bought into. The only question the developers never asked themselves was this, "How will this product impact on other road users?" It is a question often conveniently overlooked by those whose only object in life is to keep one step ahead of the Joneses, never mind the grief they may cause others.

_That's_ my gripe.


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## Boxbrownie (Aug 11, 2005)

You have probably been the victim of some of the cheap after market Xenons that flood ebay or some fool prodding around with thier adjusters without having the correct knowledge...either way they should be weeded out at MoT time.

Manufacturer fit Xenons will be no more dazzling (in fact should be more accurate as part of the legislation covering them states they should be self levelling) than a good halogen lamp.

having driven many vehicles with xenons I can honeslty say they make a huge difference to driver visibility and have NEVER had one single "flash" from other raod users indicating they were being blinded........which is more than I can say for some of the crap halogen headlight cutoff beams around!

Anyway...its a fun poll :lol:


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## PaulBoy (Dec 2, 2007)

catflem said:


> One of my oh so many pet hates.
> 
> Along with the ***** drivers who insist that their front fog lights are "Driving lights".


+1 - Well said Lee ... Paul


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## Stan (Aug 7, 2003)

What a fascinating thread. Is there a low energy version for use in the home?


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## MarkF (Jul 5, 2003)

Boxbrownie said:


> Manufacturer fit Xenons will be no more dazzling (in fact should be more accurate as part of the legislation covering them states they should be self levelling) than a good halogen lamp.


Don't believe you, how come I've only started being regularly dazzled in the last 2/3 years? Have accident rates plummeted now that drivers can see?

I doubt it, another fashionable, visible sympton of our "f**k you" society if you ask me. Which you didn't


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## Robert (Jul 26, 2006)

Boxbrownie said:


> Manufacturer fit Xenons will be no more dazzling (in fact should be more accurate as part of the legislation covering them states they should be self levelling) than a good halogen lamp.


The option on my car for Xenon was over Â£600 - perhaps that explains why


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## oldfogey (Nov 29, 2005)

Original fit Xenons have to have self-levelling, so I think the problem may be from people who fit xenon lights in standard light fittings. For the dark lanes of Yorkshire, they're a safety boon given the night-time animal risk. I would definitely tick the Xenon box on my next car.

May I suggest that if you're having difficulty with bright lights at night generally that you check with an optician? It can be a sign of normal eyesight deterioration, and it's better to be safe than sorry.


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## squareleg (Mar 6, 2008)

oldfogey said:


> For the dark lanes of Yorkshire, they're a safety boon given the night-time animal risk. I would definitely tick the Xenon box on my next car.


I would imagine the greatest safety boon for yourself _and other road users_ would be to switch to regular headlamps and *SLOW DOWN*.



> May I suggest that if you're having difficulty with bright lights at night generally that you check with an optician? It can be a sign of normal eyesight deterioration, and it's better to be safe than sorry.


Nice try.  But, really, not a very helpful suggestion.


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## Guest (Dec 22, 2008)

The extent to which you suffer from the problem is probably linked to the area you live in.

If you're in a town or city, it shouldn't affect you much because of all the background light. I live in a very rural area, with no street lights for miles around. When driving at night you don't see much traffic at all. I can often drive for 20 minutes at a time without seeing another car, thus your eyes become accustomed to the low level of light . Then I get one of these things coming towards me, half of the time they're on full beam because they've lit up the countryside and have not noticed my lights coming up the other side of the hill or around a bend, I've sure as hell noticed them, so I''ve dipped my lights, whereupon I get met with their personal version of the full Pink Floyd light show burning out my retinas.


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## mattbeef (Jul 17, 2008)

Xenons are fine IMO and as stated above the dark country lanes in Yorkshire are so narrow you go down them at a good 25 mph if your lucky so slowing down isnt really going to help.

My next car will have them as the factory fit ones are no more of a bother than normal head lamps


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## BondandBigM (Apr 4, 2007)

It can be annoying, for a while I used to take a back road home to avoid a busy main junction on the A19/A66 and far from slowing them down the fact that they could light up the whole country side seemed to make them go faster. Unfortunately I have to say most of them were ***** in 5 series Beemers and Range Rover Sports and as I would be taking it easy in my truck the ones from behind flashing to get past :huh: I was nearly off the road a couple of times to oncoming as they didn't realise the back of my truck is about 3 feet wider than the front they just squeezed passed. And fog lights, a 2-1/2lb ballpein hammers should be free issue to all traffic coppers, anybody caught using them in the rain should get pulled and the said hammer put to good use on the fog lights.

B.


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## mrteatime (Oct 25, 2006)

xenons/front fog lights= arseholes.......


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## pg tips (May 16, 2003)

squareleg said:


> Nope. My 'gripe' is with the incontrovertible fact that both these types of headlamp may well be brilliant (ha!) for the user but an absolute menace for everyone else on the road.
> 
> _That's_ my gripe.


Errmmmm stange use of the word "incontrovertable" :huh:

I don't know what planet your on but you talk as if Halogen had only just been invented. Halogen bulbs have been in wide use for the last 10 years at least, virtually every car on the road has Halogen lamps H7's or H4's.

Proper Xenon (I mean those fitted by manufactures) are a real advance, they make seeing at night much easier, the blue UV element actually makes it easier to see objects in the road that the yellow light of halogen often misses. They really are a safety improvement.

I agree mis fitting of so called "power" bulbs and the mis alignment of head and fog lamps is a problem as is idiots never using dipped beams but that's not the fault of the lighting technology.


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## Filterlab (Nov 13, 2008)

squareleg said:


> pg tips said:
> 
> 
> > Xenon and Halogen are different technologies
> ...


Your gripe is with improper set-up and usage then.

If HID xenon headlamps (which I gather you are talking about as you refer to brilliant white lights - halogen lamps are not particularly white, about 3000k as opposed to 5500k for HID) are correctly set up on a vehicle with the legally required self levelling suspension then there is no reason they should dazzle anymore than standard halogen based headlamps, less so in fact. It has been proved time and time again that these bulbs produce purer light - read 'whiter' - and consequently give earlier reflection than the warmer light of halogen. This in turn leads to a better view of the road and consequently increased safety. Also HID light is more controllable through refraction and reflection thus the anti dazzle 'line' - i.e. the point at which full intensity light doesn't show - is more highly contrasted therefore steering the light away from other road users.

If you feel that these HID headlamps "may well be brilliant for the user" than you could consider retro fitting a set to your vehicle so you have the benefit of them. Of course you would have to retrofit self levelling suspension as well (expensive) but you could possibly get away with not doing so although this, of course, would result in dazzling drivers of oncoming vehicles as incorrectly set up HID headlamps can indeed cause dazzling.


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## JTW (Jun 14, 2007)

oldfogey said:


> Original fit Xenons have to have self-levelling, so I think the problem may be from people who fit xenon lights in standard light fittings. For the dark lanes of Yorkshire, they're a safety boon given the night-time animal risk. I would definitely tick the Xenon box on my next car.
> 
> May I suggest that if you're having difficulty with bright lights at night generally that you check with an optician? It can be a sign of normal eyesight deterioration, and it's better to be safe than sorry.


No, this is nothing to do with the levelling, it is to do with the intrinsic additional brightness, they are an absolute pain in the arse!!!


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## oldfogey (Nov 29, 2005)

This may have a good deal to do with your problem: aftermarket HID

http://briskoda.net/maintenance-performanc...nt-view/132468/


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## mattbeef (Jul 17, 2008)

Oi why are you picking in my other forum! :lol:


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## oldfogey (Nov 29, 2005)

:tongue2:


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## Boxbrownie (Aug 11, 2005)

MarkF said:


> Boxbrownie said:
> 
> 
> > Manufacturer fit Xenons will be no more dazzling (in fact should be more accurate as part of the legislation covering them states they should be self levelling) than a good halogen lamp.
> ...


Honest guv' itz'da truf.........thebeam cutoff on Xenons is particualry sharp compared with other lamp types (as they need to be) its all down to adjustment.........then again it could just be you getting old Mark?







:tongue2: :lol:


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## Barreti (Apr 18, 2008)

I fitted HIDs into my TVR Griffith and it has improved my lights massively AND they passed the MOT. The cutoff line is much more noticeable and I've never been flashed by oncoming drivers complaining about my lights in their eyes.

I don't give a rats behind anyway. Catch me if you can slowcoach :tongue2:


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## squareleg (Mar 6, 2008)

Barreti said:


> I fitted HIDs into my TVR Griffith and it has improved my lights massively AND they passed the MOT. The cutoff line is much more noticeable and I've never been flashed by oncoming drivers complaining about my lights in their eyes.
> 
> I don't give a rats behind anyway. Catch me if you can slowcoach :tongue2:


And that about wraps up the case for the prosecution! :lol:

Probably a good time to draw this poll to a conclusion, anyway. 12 votes for and 12 against. Fair enough. Thanks to everyone for your contributions and apologies to anyone who may have been offended in the course of what turned out to be a vigorous discussion!

As the OP I would just like to add a couple of things. I now understand that my case for _halogens_ may have been overstated - it's _*Xenons*_ that are the scourge of mankind! if you do use these things, the rest of us would be enormously grateful if you would kindly reconsider.

A propos to which, someone earlier asked me what planet I was on. My answer is: the same one as you. We are all in this together.


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## Guest (Jan 15, 2009)

catflem said:


> Along with the ***** drivers who insist that their front fog lights are "Driving lights".


But front fogs can be well useful when driving around country lanes at night to avoid hitting wildlife or sliding off. Even when there's no fog they are handy on a quiet, bendy road.

I agree with you about the *****/hot hatch kiddies that insist on using them on A-roads/motorways though. If they get a kick out of demonstrating that they can afford two extra (low-wattage) bulbs then fair play to them.  :lol:


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