At 08:02 PM 11/13/2007, Kai Mei wrote...
>Ah, but you never heard me say you would save gas. I said it was more
>energy efficient, which it IS AND probably better lighting than an H4
>setup with overwattage bulbs.

Since the ultimate source of energy in a Vanagon is gasoline, gas
savings is implied.

>Don't some VW's come with 35A alternators?

No Vanagons did. Stock on a Vanagon is a minimum 65A, I believe.

>If I delete 15 amps of load from my nighttime running that's the same
>as upgrading to a 15A bigger alternator at night.

Aren't we talking about 10A?

>If you have high electrical draws (second battery?, inverter, fridge,
>stereo, winch, electric bozzel?), you may appreciate that. I can't
>imagine with two
>otherwise equal choices, I'd take the one that draws 140 watts extra
>all the time.

Yep. 10A is close enough to 140W / 13.4 V.

>There was just a thread about how long you can drive after your alt
>conks out, remember?

That's an exceptional condition. If your alt conked out, wouldn't you
turn off your FOG LIGHTS (which is what this thread is discussing,
isn't it?), inverter, fridge, stereo, winch, electric bozzel, and make
use of your second battery to drive further?

Stock headlamps have a 50W low beam (= 100W total). Standard HID bulbs
are 35W (D2R) each, plus whatever inefficiency the ballasts have.
That's a difference of less than 30W, so maybe 2 amps difference.

If you're running 160W of HID (or 300W of incandescent) front lighting,
you must be off-roading, otherwise you're an inconsiderate hazard to
other drivers.