Sounds like all of us with later model vanagons need the south africa grill
----- Original Message -----
From: "David Brodbeck" <gull@GULL.US>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Wednesday, April 28, 2004 5:55 PM
Subject: Re: E-codes w/ 9004 bulbs?

> 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
>