Looking for supplemental high beams for canyon driving

Hello.

I have a 2016 Focus RS with AFS Bi-X D3S lamps which while adequate for around town, does not provide ample spread for mountain hairpins or enough range for straights. Instead of attempting to convey what I need I have taken screen shots from google street view of the 2 scenarios I find lacking.

Sharp hairpin
Long straight

I am open to pairing different lamps and I would prefer not to spend more than $1,000, or $2,000, but can go higher if need be. Street legality or laws regarding number of mounted lamps is not a concern for me, but I know rule 11 exists.

64.5vette said:

Street legality or laws regarding number of mounted lamps is not a concern for me

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It is a concern for the moderators and administrators.

but I know rule 11 exists.

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And it exists for a reason.

You want lamps that will be used on a roadgoing vehicle on public roads-- you will get street-legal solutions.

I'm looking at your Google Street View pics and wondering: how fast are you wanting to go on those roads?

There are enough good options to address a need like yours that you can easily keep it legal; there shouldn't be any real conflict between street legality and getting the light you want. But without knowing where and how you plan to mount extra lamps, and how much space you have for them in all dimensions, it's hard to recommend anything.

-Virgil- said:

But without knowing where and how you plan to mount extra lamps, and how much space you have for them in all dimensions, it's hard to recommend anything.

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Picture of the front of the car.
Preferably I would like to mount them in the upper or lowering radiator openings, but I guess I could mount them on the front bar if needed.
Top opening: 26" across, 4.5" top to bottom and 2.5" deep.
Bottom opening: 32" across, 6.5" top to bottom
I could cut the mesh to recess the lights into the grill, or they could poke out a few inches, I don't mind.

In the hairpin area I wish to go between 30mph and 60mph. In the straight I wish to go 60-80mph. In addition, ideally I would like to be able to see at 100mph on flat straight interstate roads in absence of any traffic with the setup.

Oh, boy. That's not a lot of space.

Auxiliary high beams, which is what you're asking about, really only do any useful good if they're mounted near/at headlamp height. That rules out the lower opening and requires the upper one, which in turn cramps you into a very small height dimension. Safe lighting for 100 mph straight-aways is a big ask. Cheap lights aren't going to do the job. You might go look at Rigid's 20" bars, which come in a "combo spot/flood" version (which probably is what you'd want).

What about a rallye pod setup such as this?
If size and cost constraints did not exist what lamp combination would be ideal for my needs? I was looking at the JW speaker 8770S but the 75V requirement makes it very impractical.

The 8770S is a locomotive headlamp. It certainly would give you massive seeing distance straight ahead. But yeah, 75v is not available on a car.

I guess you could put in a rallye pod (you'd want to fill it with something other than Hella Black Magics). The lamps would be very easy to damage or knock out of aim in normal driving, though, and I'd want to get certification (in writing, from someone qualified to make the assessment, i.e., not some sales flunky) that such a pod would not adversely affect the car's impact sensors or other airbag system components' function.

http://www.rigidindustries.com/led-lighting/12231
For simplicity sake I would get that in 20" or 30", whichever will fit...

I def think externally mounting quality lamps, such as the rallye is a better option though.

I have been investigating that rigid bar, and while I normally look down upon light bars in favor of carefully chosen *real* lamps, I guess that is my only option.

Their catalog states that the 20" hyperspot/driving combo has 1lux at 650m. I've heard that 3 lux is more realistic so if we 1/3 that its roughly 200m of vision. 45 m/s at 100 mph that gives me extremely roughly 4.X ish seconds of reaction time, which isn't amazing but seems more useful than 0s. The 28" is 1 lux @ 800m.

Is there anywhere I could find their 3 lux @ X meters number? That would be much more useful.

64.5vette said:

Their catalog states that the 20" hyperspot/driving combo has 1lux at 650m. I've heard that 3 lux is more realistic so if we 1/3 that its roughly 200m of vision.

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Very roughly, 1 lux at 650m would be 10.6 lux at 200lm. 1 lux at 850m would be 16 lux at 200m. This assumes theoretical perfection of the lamp and the conditions.

They could just be making up numbers as they go along.

Alaric Darconville said:

They could just be making up numbers as they go along.

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Which is why I can to this forum. I don't want to risk my or others safety with light shaped toys.

Alaric Darconville said:

Very roughly, 1 lux at 650m would be 10.6 lux at 200lm. 1 lux at 850m would be 16 lux at 200m. This assumes theoretical perfection of the lamp and the conditions.

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I guess the next step would be determining how much reaction time one needs while traveling at 45 m/s. 3s? 5s? 10s?

64.5vette said:

I guess the next step would be determining how much reaction time one needs while traveling at 45 m/s. 3s? 5s? 10s?[/FONT]

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Do you own this road? 100mph is extremely dangerous day or night. Especially these "canyon roads" that you want to see so incredibly well on. In that "long straight", there's a boulder on the right side of the road. How did it get there? You need increasingly more time to react because at those speeds you just don't have the maneuverability and the braking power to deal with some of these things. 10 seconds might cover it because the kinds of maneuvers you are allowed to do at those speeds mean you will need that time to properly use them.

This is getting close to a Rule 11 closure.

Alaric Darconville said:

Do you own this road? 100mph is extremely dangerous day or night. Especially these "canyon roads" that you want to see so incredibly well on. In that "long straight", there's a boulder on the right side of the road. How did it get there? You need increasingly more time to react because at those speeds you just don't have the maneuverability and the braking power to deal with some of these things. 10 seconds might cover it because the kinds of maneuvers you are allowed to do at those speeds mean you will need that time to properly use them.

This is getting close to a Rule 11 closure.

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100mph is a totally unrelated scenario to the pictures I have provided. 100mph through those roads is downright suicidal during the daytime, let alone night. Speed limit through those is 55 and I don't think we need to close a valid discussion for doing 10 over.

Have you given any thought to those big lights blocking air flow to your radiator or to where your air induction tube is for your engine ? Also if you go to sell the car later are those lights going to add value or not?

Some things to think about.

64.5vette said:

In addition, ideally I would like to be able to see at 100mph on flat straight interstate roads in absence of any traffic with the setup.

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64.5vette said:

45 m/s at 100 mph that gives me extremely roughly 4.X ish seconds of reaction time, which isn't amazing but seems more useful than 0s.

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64.5vette said:

I guess the next step would be determining how much reaction time one needs while traveling at 45 m/s. 3s? 5s? 10s?[/FONT]

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64.5vette said:

100mph is a totally unrelated scenario to the pictures I have provided. 100mph through those roads is downright suicidal during the daytime

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Yet you're the one that wants to see that far at night. You're the one that keeps talking about traveling that speed.

You've been pushing it with the 100mph thing, and now you're trying to weasel around it. It may not be on the road in the pictures, but that's not the point.

No.