I'm especially surprised, regarding the report, of the poor objective performance of the F-150's LED system. I guess it demonstrates that technology alone (LED vs. HID vs. halogen) doesn't, in itself, make a good system. Even an OEM didn't get it right, as it apparently exhibited the worst of both worlds at the same time (poor lighting for the driver AND excessive glare to oncomers). Glare, even from factory halogens, is a constant problem as noted in this report, making HID retrofitters' claims of low glare appear pretty humorous to me.
Interesting comments about sealed beam headlights. I've owned a number of them, and have nothing against them but, at the same time, I'm not sure I've owned many vehicles with composite lamp systems that performed WORSE than a USDOT-spec sealed beam. The two Cadillacs I had were pretty bad -- the '97 had some fairly poor facet lens composite lamps (but they were glass!) that didn't perform all that well, and the '01 had projectors that were notably poor. Everything else, though, from our '03 Grand Caravan up through the ones we own today, seem to light up the road VERY well compared to the sealed beam vehicles I've had. I even had the 6054 Night Hawks in my '95 Nissan truck, supposedly one of the best USDOT-spec models you can get. The obvious drawback of sealed beams is that of aerodynamics.
I actually favor a hybrid of the two systems (composite and sealed beam), and it's akin to something Datsun/Nissan did many years ago (as have others). They had a round sealed beam lamp in their 280ZX BEHIND a composite covering. That gave the car the aerodynamics the engineers were looking for and the low cost the bean counters were looking for. My concept is a "plug and play" lamp system that decouples the styling (front) of the lamp from the light source (rear) of the lamp. In a world where projectors are becoming commonplace, and where even reflectors are sized similar to projectors (as in the new Colorado), OEMs could make a front stylized lamp housing into which an industry-standard projector could mount. Similar to wheels being of a standard size and bead profile to accept industry-standard tires. If a user wanted to change the projector to a more efficient one, or to one designed for an HID source from the beginning, he or she removes four screws from the back and it slides out, and a new projector slides in. It'll fit because it adheres to an industry standard size and mounting (that I know doesn't exist, but I'm in fairy-tale land, here). Want HIDs? Great. Want LEDs? Great. Want something else? Great. It's all interchangeable, and the optics source itself is the regulated part (just like with sealed beams). This way, automakers are free to stylize the heck out of the front of it -- as long as there's a certain required viewshed from the perspective of the optic (for light angles, etc).
Replacement housings (that get sun-baked and sand-blasted over time) would be far cheaper, as it's just a plastic housing -- a trim piece, if you will.
The concept is really no different from sealed beams, other than they fit into a hole behind a clear plastic window rather than into a hole in the grille opening. The regulatory challenge would be to ensure that there are no features on the front of the plastic housing that would bend the light from behind in a way that would make them non-compliant. The practical challenge is there's no motivation for the industry to do this.
I did say it was a pipe dream, right?
Interesting comments about sealed beam headlights. I've owned a number of them, and have nothing against them but, at the same time, I'm not sure I've owned many vehicles with composite lamp systems that performed WORSE than a USDOT-spec sealed beam. The two Cadillacs I had were pretty bad -- the '97 had some fairly poor facet lens composite lamps (but they were glass!) that didn't perform all that well, and the '01 had projectors that were notably poor. Everything else, though, from our '03 Grand Caravan up through the ones we own today, seem to light up the road VERY well compared to the sealed beam vehicles I've had. I even had the 6054 Night Hawks in my '95 Nissan truck, supposedly one of the best USDOT-spec models you can get. The obvious drawback of sealed beams is that of aerodynamics.
I actually favor a hybrid of the two systems (composite and sealed beam), and it's akin to something Datsun/Nissan did many years ago (as have others). They had a round sealed beam lamp in their 280ZX BEHIND a composite covering. That gave the car the aerodynamics the engineers were looking for and the low cost the bean counters were looking for. My concept is a "plug and play" lamp system that decouples the styling (front) of the lamp from the light source (rear) of the lamp. In a world where projectors are becoming commonplace, and where even reflectors are sized similar to projectors (as in the new Colorado), OEMs could make a front stylized lamp housing into which an industry-standard projector could mount. Similar to wheels being of a standard size and bead profile to accept industry-standard tires. If a user wanted to change the projector to a more efficient one, or to one designed for an HID source from the beginning, he or she removes four screws from the back and it slides out, and a new projector slides in. It'll fit because it adheres to an industry standard size and mounting (that I know doesn't exist, but I'm in fairy-tale land, here). Want HIDs? Great. Want LEDs? Great. Want something else? Great. It's all interchangeable, and the optics source itself is the regulated part (just like with sealed beams). This way, automakers are free to stylize the heck out of the front of it -- as long as there's a certain required viewshed from the perspective of the optic (for light angles, etc).
Replacement housings (that get sun-baked and sand-blasted over time) would be far cheaper, as it's just a plastic housing -- a trim piece, if you will.
The concept is really no different from sealed beams, other than they fit into a hole behind a clear plastic window rather than into a hole in the grille opening. The regulatory challenge would be to ensure that there are no features on the front of the plastic housing that would bend the light from behind in a way that would make them non-compliant. The practical challenge is there's no motivation for the industry to do this.
I did say it was a pipe dream, right?
