Nudge, Roo or Bull bar

[DunlopRS]

Brad - have not wanted to mess with the "fabric" of the car while under new car warranty, and I find that the low beam is actually OK. Perhaps I would not think so if I had HID low....

I would say the high beam is the worst feature of the car...

You mention fog - I reaaallyyyy wish drivers would not try to use fog lights as driving lights.......

[wfdTamar]

Also if you read the Mystically thread he keeps blowing up something called the BCM by putting HID's in his headlights.

[brad]

Also if you read the Mystically thread he keeps blowing up something called the BCM by putting HID's in his headlights.

He's probably not doing it right or is using a cheap'n'nasty HID kit.

I run a "CanBus Friendly" HID kit (has a big resistor in it) and it's been fine.

BUT!!!

Over at Briskoda they reckon the CanBus Friendly kits blow the BCM and you should buy a standard kit & code it in. I reckon they are probably right and I've just been lucky.

Brad - have not wanted to mess with the "fabric" of the car while under new car warranty, and I find that the low beam is actually OK. Perhaps I would not think so if I had HID low....

I would say the high beam is the worst feature of the car...

.

I use my high beam as filler for the low beam HIDs - that's all it's good for. I'd change the high beam to HIDs but I flash them quite a lot so HIDs would be useless.

My original HID bulbs (6000k IIRC) were great and had terrific distance. They were part of a $200 kit. My current $15/pr replacement bulbs (4200k) are about 70% as effective. I'm told that the colour temp makes no difference so I can only assume they are inferior in design or quality. Still better than halogens though.

As an aside, wife's Honda has LEDs. They are fantastic! Better than HIDs imo

[wfdTamar]

The way I understood the colour of HID's was the higher the number 'k', the whiter the light, but actually the lower the light output. So even though 6000k is whiter, it puts out less light than 4500k (everything else being the same, i.e. quality). Also is more obvious you've been fiddling with your lights.

[DunlopRS]

Re colour temp - many HIDs start moving into blue light and the effectiveness of the light is greatly reduced (as is often the case "fashion" does not equal real world performance / function). Mine were special order, both for 70w and either 4200 or 4500K or similar - have not got the number with me. IMHO & experience the lower the colour temp the better / more effective (blue is for show only...., even into yellower rather than white light is better – particularly in the rain (some info here HID Bulb Colors & Kelvin Temperatures | HeadlightRetrofits.com - not vouching for accuracy))

If I were to put a light bar behind the grill I would be looking for one of those honeycomb grills as the std is not "transparent" enough (although I have not seen a honeycomb in the flesh so it might not be much better......"

my lights are very deep so they needed to be mounted a long way forward to allow enough clearance for the bonnet to open. I have thought about dropping the number plate and/ or using one of the narrow ones but nothing would be neat or strictly compliant. Perhaps I should look at one of those newer unbar designs…..(or a piece of Al angle – it already looks a bit agricultural anyway!)

wfdTamar - I like the look of the neat lightbar / number plate holder on the territory. About 4 years ago as far as I could tell the LED lightbars may have provided good close in fill but not a lot of good light at distance. This may have changed. Has anyone seen a good quantitative review / comparison of LED lightbars against good halogen & HID lights?
I had the unfortunate desire to head onto a heavily corrugated dirt road today – retreated after about 1 km @ 20 km/hr………. perhaps that scout would have been more suitable…. Did your octavia start as a 103kw??

Must have a look at mystically’s thread again – have not been there for a long time – his experience with electronics problems helped me stay away from messing with the cars systems…..

[wfdTamar]

I don't think HID would suit my use of driving lights. Too much traffic around here (so constant on/of). LED seems the most sensible solution.


Yes my car was a standard height Octavia that has 4x4 - I think only available in 2007-8, and the 2 litre 103Kw engine. It had the normal suspension, not the raised Scout one. I'm in the process of putting Koni FSD shocks and H&R anti roll bars in. Those Koni's are supposedly a great mix of comfort and sports. Still keeps the original height. I'm not interested in lowering the car.

I've also put in a Haldex diff performance controller. From the factory the drive ratio is (front/rear) 98/2. It only moves more drive to the rear when the front slips (which I never felt, so it works well). The performance controller gives 3 modes (user selectable by remote control) - Standard, Sport & Race. This moves more of the drive to the rear. Can't say it's really noticeable on bitumen, but is on dirt. If I was a better/more daring driver it could really be fun, but I'm not willing to risk the car. Combined with the Bluefin it is great to give it a squirt on dirt roads.

Haldex Performance Controllers | HPA Motorsports, Inc. Mine was the Gen 2 one.

[brad]

The way I understood the colour of HID's was the higher the number 'k', the whiter the light, but actually the lower the light output. So even though 6000k is whiter, it puts out less light than 4500k (everything else being the same, i.e. quality). Also is more obvious you've been fiddling with your lights.

I've been told by one lighting specialist it makes no difference and another that it does. I just think the cheap bulbs aren't as good (no matter what the colour temp) and aesthetically I don't like the yellower light. 6000k was white and quite similar to the LEDs on the Honda.

Nobody ever seemed bothered that I'd been fiddling.

[wfdTamar]

LED headlight bulbs? Might be worth a try. Except they're a very white 6200-7400k (depending on the type of bulb).

https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/led-headlight-bulbs-conversion-kits/led-headlight-kit-h4-led-headlight-bulbs-conversion-kit-with-flexible-tinned-copper-braid/2221/4993/#/tab/Overview

All these are worth a look (may be cheaper sources):

https://www.superbrightleds.com/cat/led-vehicle-replacement-bulbs/filter/CAN_Bus,Yes,116,4017:

[brad]

Hers are factory LEDs. It's two separate bulbs with individual lenses in front of them. Any aftermarket solution would be sub-par.

[bobski]

Isn't the idea that the whistles get the roos moving so you are more likely to see them & then you slow down until you pass them?

... As far as theories go with Kangaroo behaviour... I reckon a whistle will scatter roos that would happily remain on the side of the road onto the road (they mostly have no where to go for about 5km of my road). The upside being that I can see them. The downside being they are on the move and are more likely to be on the road. Something you don't want in the blind bends and frequent pea soupers out here. My theory is drive slower during peak times and pay attention! The local theory seems to be, buy a truck bullbar

[HAZ79]

I have it from the Victorian government department that light bar regulations have been rewritten. They are just waiting on it to pass through the usual channels. I would be expecting it to be bought in soon. You will be allowed a single light bar central of the vehicle, no higher than the bonnet and must be wired in to turn off with the high beams.

[wfdTamar]

Just asked a place that make alloy bars if they can put a wallaby bar (low down single bar combined with nudge bar) on my Octavia and they reckon there is nowhere to attach it. They can't put it on the main front cross member running inside the front bumper as it's against ADR's to attach to the crash protection.