I'm in the process of upgrading to new headlights. They are much brighter and I'm told more efficient - has anyone done a similar upgrade and noticed an improvement in fuel efficiency or is it all too good to be true?
They are not brighter and they do not improve FE......if they are brighter, they are illegal and will get your car impounded by the LEO who is having a bad day.................
That is not true at all. You can most certainly can buy lighting upgrades that put more light on the road, consume less electricity and are legal. They aren't going to be cheap and you will never see an economy improvement due to the lower electrical consumption.
One of the worst thing folks do is to put HID or LED bulbs in housings designed for incandescent bulbs. They are certainly brighter but the bulb is not positioned in relation to the reflector correctly and will create a poorly focused beam with a lot of glare. Those will definitely attract the long are of the law.
I saw some headlight upgrades on American Muscle which say they only require 10% of the power that stock lights use. However, I thought it was electrical power they were referring to. I wondered if using them would move my battery gauge needle higher. Didn't expect anything that would increase horsepower or mileage.
Thanks for the suggestions...decided to just go for it and invest in a LED headlights kit. Off work today so I have the chance to install - will report back with the findings!
If you buy a DOT approved HID or LED light assembly or a DOT approved bulb of the type for your light assembly you are legal.
I made a dramatic improvement in the lighting on my 68 Barracuda by switching to DOT approved Halogen sealed beams. All of my vehicles that use halogen bulbs get DOT approved high out put halogen bulbs. There are most certainly legal improvements you can make in your lighting.
It's shocking how few LED kits have any thought at all put into them. Most have very poor aim, and even if they are brighter, they may not help you, while simultaneously blinding everyone else. Additionally, many of them tend to burn up due to inadequate heat sinks. LED lights depend on being able to get rid of heat, and their brightness is dependent on it in the first place. As heat goes up, so does resistance, and the lights will dim because of it. It also shortens their lifespan.
The efficiency they are speaking of is not fuel efficiency, it is how much power the lights use to create a given candlepower of illumination. More efficient lights use less electricity for an equal amount of candlepower.
The difference in parasitic horsepower loss between incandescent bulbs and LEDS is likely going to be smaller than the % of error for any given dyno. In other words, negligible. The decision to change your headlights should be based on what you feel comfortable driving around with, light-wise, at night. IMHO, not blinding everyone while still being able to see the road is good.
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