Daniel Stern Lighting and Subaru headlight options

Check the 12th paragraph, "What about light loss due to filtration?"

 

 

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/lights/light_color/light_color.html

Ah thanks... Funny, I read that before ages ago, just needed a refresher I guess.

iNVAR, Dan Stern warned of fake OSRAM bulbs being sold on the market. Not sure what to say, I was going to get a set from suvlights but now I think I will stick with his site.

Yeah, I just bought another 4 from him. My bulbs are okay, but my CPI Gold H3 right side just went out so I ordered 4 more of those, too. Figured I might as well order a bunch to save on the shipping.

Powerbulbs is in the UK, I have ordered from them with no issues, very quick free shipping to the U.S.

^ +1. Powerbulbs UK is a known resource for hobbyists worldwide. I've also used them many times, never with any fuss.

that's all good and well but doesn't change the fact they don't stock the bulbs I need

I can't tell if you are being sarcastic.

Go see his site.

Is the 9011 HIR discontinued or not? I hate my high-beams.

They are on ebay as well. I was disappointed to see the selective yellow h3's i just got from candlepower were made in china, guess it was only a matter of time.

I'll let you know, so far so good.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180454342097&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT

I got two for $58

who is daniel stern and why do care what he says?

^ To which was replied....

I can't tell if you are being sarcastic.

Go see his site.

More than that, Frogg, it should also be said that Daniel Stern is who the DOT and NHTSA pay to consult, regarding matters of automotive lighting/lighting-related safety issues.

^ To which was replied....

 

 

 

More than that, Frogg, it should also be said that Daniel Stern is who the DOT and NHTSA pay to consult, regarding matters of automotive lighting/lighting-related safety issues.

okay i read his website. i'll stick to my HIDs and continue to blind those who stare into them....

It's not about "staring into them" - glare is present and affects oncoming drivers whether or not said driver actually "looks into" your headlights.

Remember, you're not doing anyone - including yourself - a favor by causing undue discomfort for oncoming drivers: they can just as easily veer off the road as they can into your vehicle.

Glare can also cause un-necessary back-scatter of light into your own line-of-sight. Similarly, lighting artifacts ranging from foreground flooding/hot-spots to the "throw" of the light being less optimized can all be detrimental to your driving performance and/or comfort.

I'm still on the fence about HID fogs but after reading Fishbone's post in the brightest yellow bulb thread, I think I'll go with this:

http://store.candlepower.com/fcorespcob22.html

I kinda think my highs are lacking a little lately. They're actually the same bulbs in there from when I bought the housings used and had Sprank clear them back over the summer so who knows how many miles are on them. I can double up and do the high beams and the fogs at the same time. Just need to wait a few weeks for CP to restock.

It's not about "staring into them" - glare is present and affects oncoming drivers whether or not said driver actually "looks into" your headlights.

 

Remember, you're not doing anyone - including yourself - a favor by causing undue discomfort for oncoming drivers: they can just as easily veer off the road as they can into your vehicle.

 

Glare can also cause un-necessary back-scatter of light into your own line-of-sight. Similarly, lighting artifacts ranging from foreground flooding/hot-spots to the "throw" of the light being less optimized can all be detrimental to your driving performance and/or comfort.

to each his own, i wont take up anymore if this thread after this(no point cuz it's love/hate). i think they're great and I have never been blinded or gotten much glare from on-comming traffic (HIDs are very popular here), but I know not to look into the light. 35w works great for me, I have 55w in the highs but imo 55w is too much for the lows. Maybe u guys should try 25w.

I'm still on the fence about HID fogs but after reading Fishbone's post in the brightest yellow bulb thread, I think I'll go with this:

http://store.candlepower.com/fcorespcob22.html

 

I kinda think my highs are lacking a little lately. They're actually the same bulbs in there from when I bought the housings used and had Sprank clear them back over the summer so who knows how many miles are on them. I can double up and do the high beams and the fogs at the same time. Just need to wait a few weeks for CP to restock.

If you're an '08+, the HIR1 hi-lo mod to your factory 9006s in the fogs can help a bit with pure output, but it still won't be much: you'll want to take the time to re-aim to suit your needs. The good thing about HIDs there is that with a 35W kit, you can get the brightness of an HIR or 85-100W incandescent - and with a 55W, significantly more...but the bad thing is that, particularly if your car is lowered, a 35W HID doesn't produce much heat, and impacted snow/ice will not self-clear. I experimented with a 35W H3 fitment, in 3000K color, and rejected it because it had trouble self-clearing in my application, and also because burn-in time was too long of a lag.

That latter concern makes HIDs a virtual no-go for high-beam use, unless you use the solenoid-driven "shuttered" hi/low combinations - but the BL/BPs and BM/BRs are not set up for that. In needing something that turns-on at full-power right-away, for our single-capsule application, your best option at this point is the HIR (if you go with an incandescent) - or try for a custom LED application (and by custom, I mean *custom,* there's nothing out there that's an off-the-shelf drop-in that can fulfill this purpose, currently).

to each his own, i wont take up anymore if this thread after this(no point cuz it's love/hate). i think they're great and I have never been blinded or gotten much glare from on-comming traffic (HIDs are very popular here), but I know not to look into the light. 35w works great for me, I have 55w in the highs but imo 55w is too much for the lows. Maybe u guys should try 25w.

Remember that both of your vehicles place your sightlines a bit higher than that of an average sedan, so your look "out" may not be the same as others looking at you.

I don't really know about the optics of your '04 GMC, but it has been said that the BD/BG/BK's fresnel optics are actually rather decently plug-and-play HID-friendly, offering the driver good throw/patterning while maintaining a friendly picture to oncoming traffic, too.

Also, where you are/drive can also influence perceived glare - in most urban areas, ambient and street-lighting can well drown out all but the absolute worst glare: and also, these are also the instances where extreme foreground flooding can be perceived as a distinct benefit to the driver in avoiding road-debris or imperfections.

There's two sides to every story - but the objective shortcomings of an "improper" plug-and-play HID kit are simply their objective shortcomings, and cannot be scientifically debated. Nevertheless, that's not to say that their shortcomings can't work *for* you, instead of always having to be against, as the latter half of the above scenario well-demonstrates.

Me?

Currently, I'm on a 55W DDM system, 4500K. I've got the "squirrel finders" in my cut-off shield filled/blocked, so that takes care of the majority of the glare - nevertheless, the beam pattern is still far from ideal, and there's a lot of light thrown into the immediate foreground, with restricted side-to-side span that's unfortunately visually exacerbated by this foreground flooding.

The good thing is that I can literally pick out pebbles in my immediate foreground, and that helps with my daily driving a lot (since it's nearly all in-city, urban, miles). For the long-distance stuff, I've got my HIRs to help with the CRI (my eyes do prefer a "yellower" light color) as well as a set of Hella FF1000s on a Carr Light Wing, set-up for our winter months (after seeing deer on one of our main thoroughfares in the early pre-dawn hours, I decided it was time to upgrade, at the expense of aesthetics). To aid in foul-weather lane/curb delineation as well as to further increase contrast, I have a set of 85W Hella YellowStars (supported by outahere's rewiring) in my re-aimed fogs, and more critically increase my visual signature to the rear via a customized JDM-BL-Blitzen rear fog setup (for LHD) that includes both the standard 21W incandescent rear fog, plus a double set of 2x3 array red LEDs embedded in the JDM tails' clear reverse and turn-signal lamp housings, aimed for increased dead-on brightness.