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Headlights

To: tigers@Autox.Team.Net
Subject: Headlights
From: Matt Trostel <mtrostel@metronet.com>
Date: Fri, 11 Apr 1997 21:17:39 -0500
I thought I'd add my 2 cents to the headlight discussion.  I've owned a
couple pair of headlights made by Cibie and Hella.  These are European
and/or offroad lights that used to be "illegal for street use" in the US
because they are not sealed beam (you can replace the bulb) and you can put
higher wattage bulbs in them.  I don't know what difference that makes now
that most aero headlights on new cars aren't sealed either.  The only
visible difference they aren't DOT approved is that they are missing the
nipples on the front of the light which are used by some service stations
to aim the headlights.  Recently, Hella has come out with a DOT approved
headlight.

That said, they are absolutely the best headlights I've ever used.  They
have nice white halogen light with a very even light distribution.  They
also have a sharp diagonal cutoff from left to right.  If you pull up close
to a wall, you can see a sharp line where the light quits.  The cutoff is
lower on the left (driver's side) than on the right.  By doing this, the
headlights don't shine in the eyes of oncoming traffic (as long as you
drive on the right hand side of the road like we do in the US), but light
up the shoulder on the right.

These lights are a lot more expensive than ones you buy at Pep Boys, about
$70 or $80 for  a pair.  I think they're worth it.  If my '92 Nissan didn't
have those aero lights, I'd definitely have them on it.

Matt Trostel



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