Topic: Recommended Lighting Setup for Country Driving

[ThroHap]

I have a 2004 WRX which I'll be using during the winter to venture out to the country on the family farm. Only thing that worries me is the limited light output from the headlights out in the country. Even with the high beams on I wasn't happy on roads without street lamps.

I'm considering mounting a light bar in the front grill. Any recommendations? Brands/mounts to look for? I'm fairly new to this so any tips would be great on DIY setups you've seen or have run yourself.

[thedude]

I installed a 32" Auxbeam light bar into the front end of my car and honestly a 28" or even smaller bar would have been fine. The light output compared to even my HID bi-xenon projectors is incredible. I have a short write-up in my build thread on the install.

[darthekai]

I have a very strong opinion about this. Just. Get. Better. Headlight. Bulbs. and turn your dash lights dimmer switch down.
Ultra bright lights on public roads are INCREDIBLY UNSAFE both for you and for ANY OTHER TRAFFIC you come across, ESPECIALLY on narrow, dirt, deep ditch, narrow shouldered country roads.

just get the Philips X-tremeVision or the OSRAM/Sylvania SilverStar Ultra High Performance Halogens and call it a day.

plz.

[kijho]

just get the Philips X-tremeVision or the OSRAM/Sylvania SilverStar Ultra High Performance Halogens and call it a day.

But..halogens..aren't.. "Better" or even really "good"    It's 2017.   < Projectors

[LilDrunkenSmurf]

I have a very strong opinion about this. Just. Get. Better. Headlight. Bulbs. and turn your dash lights dimmer switch down.
Ultra bright lights on public roads are INCREDIBLY UNSAFE both for you and for ANY OTHER TRAFFIC you come across, ESPECIALLY on narrow, dirt, deep ditch, narrow shouldered country roads.

just get the Philips X-tremeVision or the OSRAM/Sylvania SilverStar Ultra High Performance Halogens and call it a day.

plz.

And make sure the lens is clean. It's more than enough light.

[kold911]

IMHO, retrofit the OEM with proper projectors & HID.

The problem with aux lighting (like light bars), is technically you aren't allowed to use them on any public road (off-road use only), not that it's enforced in Alberta yet. BC requires you to have them blocked/covered.  Legalities aside, lighting from a good LED light bar is VERY good, as in daylight, but then as soon as you have to turn it off, you are almost worse off, as now you don't have decent OEM lighting, and your eyes have to adjust, and this usually happens with oncoming traffic. Doubly bad.

WTBS, I have two 8" light bars on my 2014 forester, and they are a godsend when travelling at night, but the forester's OEM non-HID headlights aren't as horrific as the 02-05 impreza headlights, and I've hooked them up to the highbeams, so when I flip the stalk, the highbeams and aux lights turn off.

Brands.. Well, there are thousands out there. I went with Hanning LED, as he's local, and stands by his products, and he sponsors our rally car, along with other rally teams.

[Ambystom01]

I have a very strong opinion about this. Just. Get. Better. Headlight. Bulbs. and turn your dash lights dimmer switch down.
Ultra bright lights on public roads are INCREDIBLY UNSAFE both for you and for ANY OTHER TRAFFIC you come across, ESPECIALLY on narrow, dirt, deep ditch, narrow shouldered country roads.

just get the Philips X-tremeVision or the OSRAM/Sylvania SilverStar Ultra High Performance Halogens and call it a day.

plz.

This. If you're really concerned, you can get harnesses that allow you to run higher than stock voltages.

[thedude]

For the record I don't use my light bar while there is oncoming traffic, or there is a chance of oncoming traffic. I understand the safety concern with using it and respect that. Also, I have good headlight bulbs, a bi-xenon projector retrofit which I agree is more than enough. The light bar essentially provides an extra wide fog style beam pattern (depending how you aim it).

At the end of the day this is going to be a very opinionated topic, I'd just like to make it clear that I'm not using mine full time like the typical BroDozer jacked up Ram heading west to BC in the summer - I travel that road enough to know how ittshay it is driving in front of or onto somebody who does.

[kijho]

IMG_0007 by kijho66, on Flickr

IMG_4602 by kijho66, on Flickr

 

[Canuckrz]

I've been wanting to try and see if one could create an adequate cutoff with a light bar using something similar to a monitor shroud. It should work in theory assuming its the correct sizing, but the question is will it be small enough to be viable.

But..halogens..aren't.. "Better" or even really "good"    It's 2017.   < Projectors

You do know they've been using halogens in projectors for a long time now? And putting LED's in projectors designed for halogens or even HID's isn't a great idea because the housings are designed for the light to be produced from the bulb in all directions, wheras most of the LED's with sufficient power for headlights are generally side firing.

[darthekai]

[Unholysavage]

get your headlights cleaned/polished, upgrade to decent bulbs, and drive at a reasonable speed for road conditions.

the only people who need light bars to drive in the country at night are poachers and rally racers.
if you're planning on doing both at the same time, make sure to buy the good stuff...

[ThroHap]

I have a very strong opinion about this. Just. Get. Better. Headlight. Bulbs. and turn your dash lights dimmer switch down.
Ultra bright lights on public roads are INCREDIBLY UNSAFE both for you and for ANY OTHER TRAFFIC you come across, ESPECIALLY on narrow, dirt, deep ditch, narrow shouldered country roads.

just get the Philips X-tremeVision or the OSRAM/Sylvania SilverStar Ultra High Performance Halogens and call it a day.

plz.

I understand the concern and appreciate the feedback. These lights would only be used in extremely remote areas. The main concern for these lights is actually wildlife. As the places I drive in northern AB there's probably 1 farm every 10 kms with plenty of deer, bears and moose crossing the snowy paths.

Upgrading headlights is a good alternative that I'll look into.

[darthekai]

I used to use tractor flood lights on my truck so I could see ditches and wheel placement. I originally installed them with the same purpose: to see wildlife at night and I found them largely useless. Factory low beams are supposed to provide you 140m of visibility minimum. All the tractor lights seemed to do was make the foreground brighter, thereby making the background darker. I found I could see LESS far.... not saying old assay tractor flood lights are even close to the same thing as new age fancy pants 10 sun power light bars.... but I do think a similar thing happens. brighter lighting immediately in front of the driver makes far away things appear darker and dramatically increases glare. Fog lights, or lights that shine directly on the road in front of you, are designed to do this which is why i get so triggered when people drive around with them on in the rain in the city like a bunch of goddamn sholeasays.
As an aside, I got some HID lights for same truck, just awful in the rain and in the city. The combination of HEAVY glare and the fact that blue light reflects off falling raindrops, fog, and dust much easier than yellow light made it almost impossible to see the road on a rainy night.

[jellynuts]

Lightbars are for truck ricers. What you need is a more practical setup.

[wrxsti15]

I would be concern about car overheating closing intake of the air to radiator... But I guess Alberta doesn't get so hot to worry about it...

[jellynuts]

I would be concern about car overheating closing intake of the air to radiator... But I guess Alberta doesn't get so hot to worry about it...

It was a joke... But aside from that, I don't see the cooling system being obstructed.

[10secdream]

I live in the country so I do my fair share of country driving.

I retrofitted my car with Morimoto D2S projectors and quad high beams. Super happy with the results.

DSC_1543_zpse83fam6x by Stephen Mitchell, on Flickr

DSC_1544_zpspu6kbyu3 by Stephen Mitchell, on Flickr

DSC_1503_zpsdxelhnwi by Stephen Mitchell, on Flickr

[darthekai]

[wrxsti15]

It was a joke... But aside from that, I don't see the cooling system being obstructed.

Wasn't talking about your picture... It was for his...

[coop3422]

I live in the country so I do my fair share of country driving.

I retrofitted my car with Morimoto D2S projectors and quad high beams. Super happy with the results.

DSC_1543_zpse83fam6x by Stephen Mitchell, on Flickr

DSC_1544_zpspu6kbyu3 by Stephen Mitchell, on Flickr

DSC_1503_zpsdxelhnwi by Stephen Mitchell, on Flickr

Damn, that's some impressive light!

I hated the stock headlights on my old Spec B, I found them not bright enough at times. Ironically the summer car has nice HID's and I rarely even drive it in the dark/use them. My new Infiniti has HID's so I'm looking forward to getting some better light this winter, I feel they should be adequate (but I don't do much out of city driving.)

This said, I am kind of interested in the idea of an LED bar for things like lighting up a camp ground. I'd have to see if there's anywhere to mount it on my car, but it would be nice to have. Do they pull much draw? (I'd assume not).

Sorry for the threadjack lol

[jellynuts]

Wasn't talking about your picture... It was for his...

Whoops. Overdefensive. My bad!

[XCUSEM3]

What are the best sources for getting new headlight lenses? Would like to freshen up the car with new ones.

[jgardiner]

You can't buy just the lenses as the headlights are a sealed unit. You can however buy headlight lens cleaning and polishing kits.

[thedude]

I would be concern about car overheating closing intake of the air to radiator... But I guess Alberta doesn't get so hot to worry about it...

Diamondedge and I pulled numbers with an OBDII on a hot summer day here and there wasn't anything out of the ordinary. It's actually quite deceiving and in fact air could still reach the rad, that said I removed it due to the lack of actually being able to utilize it. For backcountry/offroad purposes it would be great.