If all you cared about was distance...

[Sadden]

What would you mount on the roof vehicle, assuming it already has good lowbeam/highbeam performance. And already has driving lights too push out past the highbeams.

Hella 4000 HID Pencil Beams?
A rigid bar with hyperspot?
Baja Onyx6 High Power?

What do you know of for a vehicle that will toss 1 lux out the furthest?

I have no practical application for this at this time. Not planning on purchasing anything at this time either. Just wondering what the ultimate in automotive distance lighting is...

 

[Bill Idaho]

VSS1 or VSS3.


But seriously, my J.W Speaker TS4000's go a goodly distance. You will need to clarify a little more what you want to accomplish. Do you mean an 8' circle 500 yards away, or the ability to light up an entire football field from 300 yards?

 

[-Virgil-]

Questions like this can't really be answered without cost and size components factored in. If there's no cost constraint, then maybe I'll put a pair of JW Speaker 8770 locomotive headlamps in housings on the car roof. Of course, they don't use 12v, so there would be some voltage conversion equipment also necessary, but this is in dreamland where cost and other practical concerns don't exist.

If we have to be somewhat realistic about it, fine, I'll get a pair of these housings and put GE H7680HIR sealed beams in them. 80w HIR with 280,000 candela in a 6° round spot. Or if those are too much of a hassle to get, or I don't want to deal with burnouts or 80w power consumption, then instead of the H7680HIR I'll put these Myotek LED PAR46 spots (sold via Unity) in those same housings.

 

[Sadden]

VSS1 or VSS3.

Not familiar with those. Google fu didnt return much...

But seriously, my J.W Speaker TS4000's go a goodly distance. You will need to clarify a little more what you want to accomplish. Do you mean an 8' circle 500 yards away, or the ability to light up an entire football field from 300 yards?

I'm not trying too accomplish anything. I'm not purchasing anything. I'm curious as too which of the automotive spot lights on the market will throw 1lux the furthest.

 

[Sadden]

Questions like this can't really be answered without cost and size components factored in. If there's no cost constraint, then maybe I'll put a pair of JW Speaker 8770S locomotive headlamps in housings on the car roof. Of course, they don't use 12v, so there would be some voltage conversion equipment also necessary, but this is in dreamland where cost and other practical concerns don't exist.

A fair enough point. For the purposes of this discussion lets restrain ourselves to products designed for the automotive market. Or are modified with relative ease. Those GE HIR's seem reasonable for this discussion

75v, yeah that would require some additional electronics. But JW SPeakers lux chart says those peter out at a mere 600m. If rigids numbers are even remotely accurate then that is easily beat by something like this.

I have seen those GE HIR's talked about on here before. And sizewise they are actually within the realm of possibility for mounting on my car. But I have always shyed away because of the low lifespan. One day ill throw a set on something and see how they do.

 

[64.5vette]

QJW Speaker 8770S locomotive headlamps

Those look really interesting. I'm buddies with a JW speaker dealer so I could get them for a decent price. How would I go about converting 12V to 75V? I didn't find anything with a quick google search.

 

[-Virgil-]

JW SPeakers lux chart says those peter out at a mere 600m

1. That's because JW Speaker tells the truth.
2. 600m = same distance provided by the Audi and BMW laser-based high beam boosters.
3. 600m preview means you would have to confine your speed to no more than 540 km/h (335 mph) assuming a leisurely 4-second reaction time.

If rigids numbers are even remotely accurate

1. LOL
2. LOL
3. LOL

 

[Sadden]

1. That's because JW Speaker tells the truth.
2. 600m = same distance provided by the Audi and BMW laser-based high beam boosters.
3. 600m preview means you would have to confine your speed to no more than 540 km/h (335 mph) assuming a leisurely 4-second reaction time.

Could you please expand on how aftermarket lamp manufacturers differentiate in how they measure output?

A mere 600m Remember this discussion is not about need, its a about putting light the furtherererererest

1. LOL
2. LOL
3. LOL

What about Hella? Im pretty sure i remember seeing some 1200m+ 1 lux figures for some of their HID based pencil beams.

 

[StarHalo]

GoLight Stryker HID; magnetic mount, 12v plug, wireless remote, ~$700. Just stick it somewhere, plug it in, relax with the remote while seeing a half mile away..

 

[John_Galt]

Questions like this can't really be answered without cost and size components factored in. If there's no cost constraint, then maybe I'll put a pair of JW Speaker 8770S locomotive headlamps in housings on the car roof. Of course, they don't use 12v, so there would be some voltage conversion equipment also necessary, but this is in dreamland where cost and other practical concerns don't exist.

If we have to be somewhat realistic about it, fine, I'll get a pair of these housings and put GE H7680HIR sealed beams in them. 80w HIR with 280,000 candela in a 6° round spot. Or if those are too much of a hassle to get, or I don't want to deal with burnouts or 80w power consumption, then instead of the H7680HIR I'll put these Myotek LED PAR46 spots (sold via Unity) in those same housings.

How does the Cibie Super Oscar in LED stand up to these options?

 

[Echo63]

Moderator Edit
If we could keep these replies more serious and less *dangerous*, that would be appreciated.

Alaric D

 

[Hamilton Felix]

There are lots of lights that reach out. I used to have a Marchal 902 pencil beam on a truck. But if you're actually wanting some sort of long distance light for outback or crossing desert alone, just remember that high level lights will blind you if there's the slightest bit of dust, fog, snow or smoke in the air. I ran Unity spots with heavily beefed up wiring at the top corners of the cab of my 1-ton International 4x4 (which is a good location to get them torn up in the brush if you're not careful). I had a 100 watt #4537 landing light on the right and the left was a 250 watt #4522 landing light I'd run across. Not driving lights, for sure. But I could put a lot of light on a work area or look waaay down an old logging road if I wanted to. And sometimes, having lights mounted seven feet up can be handy. But turn on that big high level light near the windshield with ANYTHING in the air, and you were blinded.

My bias comes from a lifetime of rural roads and busting brush in the Pacific Northwest, often in bad weather. Lights on the roof or roll bar look cool in pictures of Baja racers, but unless you will only use them in completely clear air, and you never bump into limbs while going offroad, it's a poor location. Fairly high on grill or front end guard will work better. Truth be told, though I'm always curious to see if a light will reach all the way across a canyon, most of my offroad adventures have wanted close to middle range lighting and really wide. I want to see what's around the next switchback before I hit it.

For on the highway: They're old, but those 5-3/4" curved lens Cibie H1 high beams are still one of my favorites for long range headlights.

 

[PhillyRube]

Marchal 700s. I had a set on an old BMW 2002. Took a stone through one, bought a pair in chrome instead of painted, took the good one and made a hand held light.

Got a set of Hella 500s on my F350, excellent with the high beams.

 

[NFT5]

Lightforce DL230 HTX. 8400lm, 1 lux @ 1768m.

Game over.

 

[-Virgil-]

Game over

Maybe it's over and maybe it isn't...that kind of depends on whether those numbers are real, measured ones or the funny jokes Lightforce likes to tell.

 

[NFT5]

Have a look at the Specification sheet here.

At the bottom of the page you'll see they have National Association of Testing Authorities accreditation and that photometric testing has been done by a (named) independent organisation. Short of seeing the actual test results that looks legit to me and indicates a degree of openness and honesty that is generally missing from many other 'name' brands.

 

[wcowan]

Lightforce DL230 HTX. 8400lm, 1 lux @ 1768m.

Game over.

They are seriously bright, but is the light where you need it?

 

[Hamilton Felix]

If distance is all that matters, and you can't find a big enough aircraft landing light, go find a carbon arc WWII searchlight.

But if it's for driving, you want something of reasonable size and having a useful driving beam pattern.

 

[NFT5]

They are seriously bright, but is the light where you need it?

G'day mate. No, of course not. Even out west, that really isn't practical and you can imagine how difficult it would be to aim a light over that kind of distance. It is the answer to OP's question, though.

Actually I've since noticed that Lightforce have a few lights achieving 1 lux at 1800m+. It also looks like they're also starting to use free form reflector technology - shaping the laser beam can only be a good thing.