What spotlights would you recommend

[DiscoHere]

Hi Guys

I currently have Osram night breaker bulbs in my standard 98 Disco lights and 6 inch Ring driving lamps also using Osram bulbs. The light output is excellent and really lights up the road for about 50 to 60 yards but doesn't show as much of the road ahead as I would like. My qestion is what do you guys have and what sort of light performance are you getting.

If i was to change my spotlights what would you recommend for distance and what benefit would I get from installing a light bar on the roof?

Hugh

[sutty_32]

I found the 8 inch wipacs pretty good, not a bad price either. The lightforce spots are supposed to be the nuts, and they should be for the price!

I have 4 rectangular spots on the roof, the two outer ones light up both verges which is nice, and the other two go a little beyond the headlights, find it really good for county lanes but road signs blind you a bit! Its all lit up about the same as the standard headlights. The rooflights can be pointed where you like, and will go quite a way. They also don't get muddy when off roading, but not much good in the fog.

HTH

[stuck]

I have two Lightforce spots on the roof of my 110.

Spendy but very, very good.

Just stay out of the trees

[q-rover]

I've got some of these in 4" flavour. They put out a huge amount of crisp light

and are no more difficult to wire up than standard lights. They are quite deep though due to the built in ballast.

[M&S]

For a budget option that I am more than happy with have a look at Ring Rally Giants. I reckon they are perfect for road use on dark nights where we don't have kangaroos bouncing in front of us whilst doing 50mph on dirt tracks...

£30 from my local motorfactors and as I say, do exactly what I wanted.

Personally I'm not keen on roof lights for road use when it's raining as you get a lot of reflection of the rain. Mine are mounted on the front bumper and I don't have to worry about trees or height barriers

[andy2986]

Hi

I've got 2x8" IPF Lights on the bumper with driving lenses in and 4x6"KC daylighters on the roof. The 2 center KC's have driving lenses fitted and the 2 outside KC's have flood lenses fitted and are angled slightly outwards.

I've also converted them all to 55w HID. Very, very bright

Andy

[teabag]

Hi Guys

I currently have Osram night breaker bulbs in my standard 98 Disco lights and 6 inch Ring driving lamps also using Osram bulbs. The light output is excellent and really lights up the road for about 50 to 60 yards but doesn't show as much of the road ahead as I would like. My qestion is what do you guys have and what sort of light performance are you getting.

If i was to change my spotlights what would you recommend for distance and what benefit would I get from installing a light bar on the roof?

Hugh

Don't get spotlights and stay with driving lamps, they have a different beam pattern.

Nothing wrong with what LR fit (Hella).

[Phil B]

I've got 4 driving lamps on the front of my

Disco were about 15notes off eBay from a place in ireland, light up the black stuff and spot on for checking stock at night..... Even look nice with the sidelight bulbs on

[Bullorg]

Lightforce is the stuff.

I live in Sweden and it gets dark here but not in-front of my disco.

[Phil B]

Now that's what I'm talkin about, mine will have a similar amount of lamps if and when this lightbar turns up

[p76rangie]

All lights on the roof do is light up the bonnet and foreground and make it harder to see into the distance. Alright for off-road where you are not interested in seeing a long way, but pretty useless on the road. If you want to upgrade your lighting just put a couple of descent HID driving lights up front. The old Cibie Oscars are reasonably good and you get one in a spread beam and one in a spot for the best of both worlds.

[JimAttrill]

I've got Hella Rallye 1000s. Good value for money.

[Bullorg]

All lights on the roof do is light up the bonnet and foreground and make it harder to see into the distance. Alright for off-road where you are not interested in seeing a long way, but pretty useless on the road. If you want to upgrade your lighting just put a couple of descent HID driving lights up front. The old Cibie Oscars are reasonably good and you get one in a spread beam and one in a spot for the best of both worlds.

I disagree in scandinavia almoast all long haul trucks have their lights on the roof.

Mine does not light up the bonnet. In a car you have to place the a bit back on the roof.

I see almoast a mile ahead.

Al my lamps are spot. Dont need spread pattern whit 9 lamps as the 2 worklights are also connected to highbeam.

[p76rangie]

I disagree in scandinavia almoast all long haul trucks have their lights on the roof.

Mine does not light up the bonnet. In a car you have to place the a bit back on the roof.

I see almoast a mile ahead.

Al my lamps are spot. Dont need spread pattern whit 9 lamps as the 2 worklights are also connected to highbeam.

So what you are saying that with the roof lights on you could not read your watch or see other things on the bonnet, or even worse something on the outside of the windscreen.

[Bullorg]

So what you are saying that with the roof lights on you could not read your watch or see other things on the bonnet, or even worse something on the outside of the windscreen.

OK lets be stupid then.

Offcourse I could even read a book on the bonnet. But the roof lights doesn't illuminate the bonnet whit direct light or cause an irritating blinding effect if placed a far back as on mine.

As you say in your earlier post "All lights on the roof do is light up the bonnet and foreground and make it harder to see into the distance."

This is what i dissagre moastly whit as I think the compleat opposit to be true. IF PLACED FAR BACK.

Not like this this is useless.

My rooflights also give me another very plesant effect when snowing.

You know the feeling when driving in heavy snowfall and you put your highbems on its like driving into a wall.

Not so whit roof lights. Then you get the effect that you are driving under a "ceiling" .

[tuko]

So what you are saying that with the roof lights on you could not read your watch or see other things on the bonnet, or even worse something on the outside of the windscreen.

No, that's not what he is saying. The trucks here have the lights up on the roof so that we can see long distances and the ditches clearer thanks to the abundance of wildlife that runs out in front of vehicles all the time. The lighting does provide light to the bonnet so that you could see a map, your watch and yes "something on the outside of the windscreen" but not to the point that it reflects the light back into your eyes making it impossible to drive.

Generally I've found that if an animal is outside the windscreen, it's too late. You can never predict which way they are going to run or even worst when they will jump out in front of you.

.

.

.

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On both of my Land Rovers I have installed HID conversion kits to Bosch Big Kicks 225 (wide beam) and Hella Rally 3000 (driving lens) lamps. These kits made such a huge difference with light output that I wouldn't go back to regular bulbs. As Jason has already said, the HID kits have come down in price making them economical to buy and are easy to install.

Todd.

[tuko]

I've got some of these in 4" flavour. They put out a huge amount of crisp light

and are no more difficult to wire up than standard lights. They are quite deep though due to the built in ballast.

I've been looking at these lamps and noticed that many of the retailers on eBlag sell them in a kit that has both "pencil and euro beams". Rarely do I see them with matching lens's. What lens's do you have?

Todd.

[p76rangie]

OK lets be stupid then.

Offcourse I could even read a book on the bonnet. But the roof lights doesn't illuminate the bonnet whit direct light or cause an irritating blinding effect if placed a far back as on mine.

Not attempting to get stupid, just giving the facts. Stand on your front or rear porch at night with the porch light above or behind your head. Compare how far you can see into the distance with the porch light on and off. Bet you will see further with it off. Your pupils will adjust to the immediate light around you. They will adjust to the brighter light near you and therefore will not be correct for seeing longer distances into the dark.

So if you are attempting to see longer distances at night you do not want things lit up in the foreground.

How many rally cars do you see with lights on their roof. These guys are interested in seeing well into the distance at high speed.

The trucks here in Oz do very long distances at night and I have never seen one with lights on the roof. But that is assuming that you are talking about semi-trailer type trucks and not F100's.

This is my daughter's truck. 65 ton fully loaded.

[Bullorg]

Well this can go on forever.

Even the VW Golfs that deliver the newspaper at night has roof mounted lights here in sweden. So I'm not just talking Trucks ,F100 ,F550, Semis but everybody who whants to se far at night.

My frinds the white one.

Ex whife

And so on but this might have a better effekt due to snow???

About rally cars and why not on the roof. Wind resistance? The compeat in the 1/100 of seconds.

Well I think I'm done whit my reasons.

And as I work whit developing auxillary lights for trucks I know that light Is a very personal thing whit many preferences.

Nice truck your daugther got!

[R_Lefebvre]

Not attempting to get stupid, just giving the facts. Stand on your front or rear porch at night with the porch light above or behind your head. Compare how far you can see into the distance with the porch light on and off. Bet you will see further with it off. Your pupils will adjust to the immediate light around you. They will adjust to the brighter light near you and therefore will not be correct for seeing longer distances into the dark.

So if you are attempting to see longer distances at night you do not want things lit up in the foreground.

How many rally cars do you see with lights on their roof. These guys are interested in seeing well into the distance at high speed.

The trucks here in Oz do very long distances at night and I have never seen one with lights on the roof. But that is assuming that you are talking about semi-trailer type trucks and not F100's.

This is my daughter's truck. 65 ton fully loaded.

The problem with your analogy is that porch lights (at least the ones we use here) do not direct light in any particular direction. There is no beam. So the light is diffuse and short range. So of course you get the effect you are talking about.

Now, turn the porch light off, and hold a bright flashlight (torch) over and behind your head. Now you can see much further than you could with no light, but obviously only in the beam area. Now take 4 flashlights and hold them over your head so you have many beams...

Now, take the flashlights, and lower them to waist height. How much of your yard can you see beyond the porch railing? Not much, because the porch railing is blocking most of the beam. Same effect happens when there is a rise in the road. You can't see anything beyond it when the light is on the bumper.

Why don't rally cars have them on the roof? Well, they have...

They don't do it now mostly because of aerodynamics. It's a trade-off. Since rally cars know EXACTLY what is beyond every rise, and have detailed notes on exactly where and how fast to go over every bump and yump. They don't NEED to see into every dip in the road. In the odd case where they get it wrong, or something surprises them that they could not see, well, rally cars fare pretty well in crashes (unlike trucks). So, the tradeoff for wind resistance is worth it.

[p76rangie]

The problem with your analogy is that porch lights (at least the ones we use here) do not direct light in any particular direction. There is no beam. So the light is diffuse and short range. So of course you get the effect you are talking about.

Now, turn the porch light off, and hold a bright flashlight (torch) over and behind your head. Now you can see much further than you could with no light, but obviously only in the beam area. Now take 4 flashlights and hold them over your head so you have many beams...

Now, take the flashlights, and lower them to waist height. How much of your yard can you see beyond the porch railing? Not much, because the porch railing is blocking most of the beam. Same effect happens when there is a rise in the road. You can't see anything beyond it when the light is on the bumper.

Why don't rally cars have them on the roof? Well, they have...

They don't do it now mostly because of aerodynamics. It's a trade-off. Since rally cars know EXACTLY what is beyond every rise, and have detailed notes on exactly where and how fast to go over every bump and yump. They don't NEED to see into every dip in the road. In the odd case where they get it wrong, or something surprises them that they could not see, well, rally cars fare pretty well in crashes (unlike trucks). So, the tradeoff for wind resistance is worth it.

I think you are missing the point. I am not talking about the porch light helping you see into the distance. What I am suggesting is that turning it off will help you see better into the distance. Lights on the roof placed forward like the disco pictured in the previous post will light up the bonnet and windscreen just like the porch light will light up around you. As the foreground is lighter it will make it harder to see into the distance as yours eyes will adjust to the amount of light in the foreground. Just like using the fog lights below the front bumper will actually make it more difficult to see into the distance as they light up the foreground.

I think you will find that most rally drivers will disagree with your assumption that they do not need to see the road well. The aerodynamic argument also does not hold water as they will make up large fiberglass mounts that sit above the bonnet line to mount the driving lights in.

[CJRH]

I have slightly older model lights on my Disco, but something like the below link to Ebay, they are PIAA lights, not the cheapest, but very well made and they give a very good light pattern. I've got the driving light beam ones.

Chris

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Piaa-80-Series-Rally-Lights-Spot-Drive-Lamp-Cover-/250685209975?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item3a5e00bd77

[Bullorg]

I know that light Is a very personal thing whit many preferences.

[MONKEYCOPPER]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Sweeet !!!!!! ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Paul

ps i got KC daylighters 130w, well happy !!!