Re: Clear Lenses - Why don't Saab & Mercedes have them? - Saab General Bulletin Board - Saabnet.com
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Re: Clear Lenses - Why don't Saab & Mercedes have them?
Posted by Steve L. [Email] (more from Steve L.) on Mon, 4 Dec 2000 10:32:03
In Reply to: Clear Lenses - Why don't Saab & Mercedes have them?, JL8, Sat, 2 Dec 2000 22:36:05
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I believe it's a safety issue. From what I have read, it is much easier to control the beam pattern through putting the little prisms and facets in the lens of the headlight than it is to try to control the beam pattern by altering the reflector of the headlight (the part BEHIND the bulb). Since both Mercedes and SAAB have safety as a priority, they would probably choose the design that provides the best light pattern, not the design that looks "cool."
If any of you have read the book "CAR" which is about the development of the new design Taurus, there is an interesting chapter on this very subject. Apparently Ford engineering was very proud of the fact that they had some of the best headlights in the business, and engineering beleived that the best way to control headlight beam pattern was through lenses that had prisms and facets designed into them. The old Taurus had excellent headlights, and they were made this way. However, the stylists wanted clear headlight lenses for the new Taurus, because it provided a more "jewel-like" look. The lighting engineers fought this, because they knew the headlights wouldn't be as good as the old design, but they lost this battle to the stylists. As a result, the new Taurus had clear lensed, but less effective, headlights.
My '96 9000, with faceted headlight lenses, has excellent beam patterns, both low beam and high beam. My wife's Grand Caravan, with clear lenses, has the worst headlights and beam pattern I have ever seen on a car.
I understand that the HID headlights must be replaced as a whole unit - there are not separate bulbs that can be replaced. And I have heard that to replace one of these units can cost close to $1,000!!!! Maybe that's why SAAB doesn't use them.
Sorry about the double post - my finger slipped on the "enter" key.
Posts in this Thread:
- Clear Lenses - Why don't Saab & Mercedes have them?, JL8, Sat, 2 Dec 2000 22:36:05
- Re: HID lights, John Davies, Thu, 7 Dec 2000 19:44:41
- Disadvantages Of HID Lighting - - (Rather Technical), Dave Kovacs, Thu, 7 Dec 2000 18:16:54
- Saab and xenon lights, Caspar, Mon, 4 Dec 2000 11:03:40
- Re: Actually Volvo has HID/Xenon..., IanRosdale, Mon, 4 Dec 2000 10:37:49
- Re: Clear Lenses - Why don't Saab & Mercedes have them?, Steve L., Mon, 4 Dec 2000 10:32:03 <-- Viewing This Message
- Re: Clear Lenses - Why don't Saab & Mercedes have them?, Steve L., Mon, 4 Dec 2000 10:15:49
- Re: Clear Lenses - Why don't Saab & Mercedes have them?, Keith , Sun, 3 Dec 2000 05:15:15
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