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From: rs55611@ihuxk.UUCP (Robert E. Schleicher)
Newsgroups: net.auto
Subject: Re: parking light law question
Message-ID: <723@ihuxk.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 27-Aug-84 14:52:10 EDT
Article-I.D.: ihuxk.723
Posted: Mon Aug 27 14:52:10 1984
Date-Received: Tue, 28-Aug-84 00:54:38 EDT
References: <722@opus.UUCP> <1303@ihuxl.UUCP> <811@ihuxn.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Naperville, IL
Lines: 30

"Real headlights" doesn't necessarily mean high-intensity lights.  I assume
the author of the article that wanted "real headlights" was just referring to
European-style headlights, in which you have separate lenses and bulb elements.
These lights have several advantages:   

1.  Since the lenses are more or less permanant, you can style them to fit in better
with the car's design, as well as make them more aerodynamic.

2.  It's cheaper to replace a halogen bulb element, than a complete halogen
sealed-beam unit.

3.  The permanant lens can be made with better quality, since it doesn't get
tossed whenever a bulb burns out.  This allows things like lenses with
Z-beam patterns (ie. lower light pattern toward the center of the road,
higher light pattern toward the curb)

I've got a car with replacement headlights from Cibie (technically illegal
for everything but off-road use).  They are Z-beams, thus giving better
lighting of the road, without blinding the oncoming drivers.  When a bulb
burns out, it's only about $4-5 for a replacement bulb element.

One advantage that sealed-beams were supposed to have was that they allowed
more precise aiming of the beams, and didn't change the aim when you replaced
them.  This may be slightly true, in that the replaceable bulb won't mount
in quite the same way as the old one, but I think most of the beam aiming is
still due to the lens position, which is fixed.  Also, my replacement lenses
have the same aiming-machine locating bumps as do sealed-beams.

Bob Schleicher
ihuxk!rs55611