On Wed, 28 Apr 2004, Stan Wilder wrote:

> Even if you put the fu-fu bulbs in your vanagon they're not going to be as
> bright as they would in the newer cars unless you pump up your voltage a
> little more.

One interesting point here is the size of the headlights.  The same amount
of light concentrated in a smaller area creates more glare than if it's
spread out.

There's a big difference in visual appearance between a modern projector
headlamp, which might be three inches in diameter, and the huge fishbowl
lights on my '86 Volvo.  The Volvo lights throw a decent amount of light
on the road, but when you look at them from in front of the car they don't
seem very bright.  The trend right now seems to be to get all the lights
as tiny as possible while cranking up the brightness.

Personally, I kind of miss the old DOT sealed beams.  They worked, they
were consistent, and they were cheap to replace when a rock hit them.
Every time you put in a new bulb, you got a fresh new reflector and lens
assembly.  Now we have headlights that vary greatly in beam quality from
car to car, have reflectors that tarnish, lenses that yellow with age, and
cost $300 to replace.

David Brodbeck, N8SRE
'86 Volvo 240DL wagon
'82 VW Vanagon Westfalia Diesel