| General > General Technical Chat |
| Insane overengineering of a car headlight |
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| tom66:
Realistically, LED headlamps are going to do min. 15,000 hours before replacement is needed, and probably 30,000 hours is achievable. My car while driving has averaged about 30 mph, so that would be over 450,000 miles for this car, assuming the lamps are on all the time, which itself is unlikely. I have seen almost no cars on the road with failed LED headlamps, although one or two with failed DRL lights (usually one or two LEDs in the whole assembly, so more of a cosmetic issue.) I guess the problem is when the cost of repair is large, but the chance of failure is low, the average person might see no change in the cost of running a car, but there is a risk of being stung with say a $1,000 bill. It's a bit like how a car can run perfectly fine for 5 years and then suffer a catastrophic engine failure e.g. snapped timing belt. The chance is very low, but the consequence is very high. For those unable to budget for these types of events, I suppose that's what a warranty is for. Personally I prefer to save my money and just budget for an event like this. So far, even though I own a German car, this has worked out cheaper than buying the warranty. |
| tom66:
--- Quote from: SiliconWizard on February 14, 2022, 05:51:07 pm --- --- Quote from: tom66 on February 14, 2022, 03:13:46 pm ---it's not much extra than a halogen system and has significant advantages. --- End quote --- Like what? --- End quote --- Better beam distribution. Cooler light, which is better for night driving than the warmer light that a halogen produces. Brighter light in the allowed area, with lower glare, improving visibility. For vehicles with dynamic/matrix LED, this is even more pronounced. On my car with conventional LED headlamps, the beam is tightly distributed within its lane, with minimal spillover into adjacent lanes. On high-beam, the visibility is absolutely superb. The effect is visibility is considerably better than a car with halogen lamps, which benefits safety and reduces driver stress and fatigue. If you have not driven a car with LED lamps then perhaps you would not know - but I never want to go back. So much so I won't consider another car unless it has at least equivalent non-matrix LED lamps to my Golf. |
| Neilm:
Reading this thread brought to mind an article I read the other day on Tesla. They have (apparently) engineered a LED matrix headlight that they will fit to all cars. The matrix will then configure itself to display the leagle light pattern in the country you are driving in. I assume they have done the costings and have worked out that this is cheaper than building and stocking unique headlights for each area |
| trevers:
Bah! We don't need all of these things... The old way was cheaper and simpler. Safety Glass - Non laminated was cheaper Fuel injection - Carbs were great just a simple mechanical device, none of these new fangled computers telling MY engine how to run! Seat belts - Just adds cost and besides isn't it safer for the passengers to be thrown clear of the wreck? Airbags - It's a plot to sell more airbags after a crash by the automotive cabal! Crumple Zones - Who needs all of that complicated engineering and fancy materials. I want my engine to pushed into the passenger compartment after the crash, it's faster to check for damage that way. Radial Tires - Man give me back my bias-ply retreads, another conspiracy! Anti-lock brakes - Again with the computers? My old non-power assisted drums worked fine. Power steering - Just more over-engineered extras I get a free workout when parking! etc. etc. etc... Seriously the only person who would complain about modern headlights is someone who has never driven a car with them. |
| emece67:
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