Gallery of Lights
The Site => General discussion => Topic started by: dor123 on April 11, 2011, 10:53:50 AM
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Acording to an article of Ynet from 06.02.08 that i found in Google, when searching "Xenon headlights for cars" in hebrew, i have found that the Transportation Minister of Israel, ruled in Israel that installing a xenon HID MH headlights on an existing vehicle (Including antique vehicles) that have halogen and/or incandescent headlights (Modifying), converting halogen headlights to xenon MH (Upgrading), or using fake xenon headlights, will results in a ban of the vehicle license until the former headlights will returned to the vehicle (Sometime, the ban can be permanently).
Also, vehicles that have illegal xenon headlights, willn't be allowed for driving.
This is because of a rule 380 of the israeli traffic rules, that completely prohibits every moding of the vehicle structure, and also because of the problems of glare that causes fake xenons and 3rd party xenon HID MH headlights.
From this article, in Israel, if we want to buy a vehicle with xenon HID headlights, they should be only the original headlights of the vehicle and after they passed the licensing tests (Not surprising why most of the xenon HID headlights, that i see in Israel, appears usually on SUVs, recreation pickups trucks with FWD for partial off-road abilities (Such as the Ford F-150), motorbikes and ATVs, which are the most disastrous vehicles with the law in Israel).
I think that such an agressive strictness for xenon HID headlights, aren't executed in the US, since i saw here and in LG, pictures of several american members that converted their former halogen headlights (And in extreme cases, even their fog lights), to xenon HIDs (In the extreme cases, one american member of or here or LG, did this with the incandescent headlights of his antique cars), which, according to the Ynet article i readed, is illegal in Israel.
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Hi dor123, we used to have the sealed beam headlights restriction from 1940 until 1986 where they relaxed the legal headlight shine pattern. When the restriction started in 1940, it started with 7 inch (17.78 cm) diameter headlights that is required to be sealed from elements getting into the reflectors. By 1957, manufacture started to make quad 5 inch (12.7 cm) diameter sealed beam headlights, but some state forbid to have quad headlights until 1958. By 1975, USA started to accepting quad 165 by 100 mm rectangle headlights. By then, in 1978, USA started to accept dual 200 by 142 mm rectangle headlights. The early adopters were Lincoln Continental Mark VII that was introduced composite headlights in 1984 model year. By then, in 1987, most cars were using composite headlights.
From there and on with HID and European headlights are constant glaring problem >:(
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I remember the old days when most cars had sealed beam headlights! They all almost looked the same! I remember our (family) first car with composite headlights were our 1986 Mazda 323! In fact I have the pic of that car taken in 2000!
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I readed the 2008 Ynet article about removal and banning of vehicles that have illegal xenon MH headlights again, and found that the reason why 3rd party xenon MH headlights and incandescent/halogen headlights that converted to xenon MH (Called in Israel "Fake xenons") by using an upgrading kit (Called in Israel "Xenon like kits") pose glare to oncoming traffic and don't have any advantages over halogens, is because of their very wide viewing angle (They produce diffused light instead of focused light as required by the israeli standards).
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Personally I think that those sealed beam headlights were Not creative at all , and rather boring compared to those on most modern cars, Lexus has some nice designs for HID and halogen
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I did buy a HID retrofit kit, but decided not to fit it, too little space to put the ballast. Quite a nice unit, It is really bright, and I am busy converting it into a camping lamp, using a small bollard fitting to contain the bare lamp, and am going to mount the quite well sealed and encapsulated electronic inverter on a plate that will be the base of the lamp. I will then provide a cable to connect it to the battery pack, to make a bright self standing light source.
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Clever! and I hate HID headlights! They blind me! I know someone who drives a prius with the HID headlights, and each time he goes over a bump, one goes out! ;D