Lighting Series - #1 It's Easy to Overdrive Your Headlights

[jaudette3]

I advised Peter that there are a number of TMI White Papers at my site that might make for interesting content here. He suggested we publish one a week and I will do so on Sunday's. This is #1 in the series.

It's Way Too Easy To Overdrive Your Headlights In A Porsche

I'm not trying to spoil your fun, but it's way too easy to overdrive your headlights in a car like a Porsche that is just such a pleasure to drive fast, especially at night for some reason. Maybe living in Central Oregon makes me more sensitive to that fact than those in more urban areas as we have a lot of critters roaming around at night. I don't know anyone who hasn't hit a deer, thankfully it's usually in an SUV or a truck as it can get pretty serious in a Porsche.

Avoiding Overdriving Your Headlights

It's simple math. If you're driving at night with H4 headlights you should probably think about keeping it at 68 mph or lower. That gives you a margin of 42' - you see an object at 350' and it takes you 308' to stop.

With LED's you can move safely at a bit less than 80 mph. At 80 mph you have a close margin of 11' - you see it at 450' and it takes you 439' to stop.

Bottom Line: It's not safe to drive over 70mph at night with H4 halogen headlights or over 80mph with LED headlights.

Stopping Distances


Illumination Distances


Summary

Halogen H4 High Beam Range: 350'
JW Speaker LED High Beam Range: 450'
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Halogen H4 @ 70 mph - Maybe Safe? 2' to spare
Halogen H4 @ 75 mph - Russian Roulette
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JW Speaker 8700 LED @ 70 mph - Safe with 105' to spare
JW Speaker 8700 LED @ 80 mph - Safe with 16' to spare
.
Speed Limits To Avoid Overdriving Your Headlights
H4 Halogen Bulbs: 68 mph
LED Assemblies: 80 mph

Note: These are approximate numbers. You be the judge.

Next Week: #2 Identifying Air Cooled Porsche Fog & Driving Lights

[72targa]

Interesting stuff!

[davep]

Just for giggles, what speed/distance were the original, federally mandated, tungsten sealed beams in 1970 good for?
Here in the great lakes area I have hit 2 deer so far, and several near misses with moose in the north-western region of Ontario bordering Manitoba and Minnesota. I have never seen so many dead deer as between Detroit and Sault Ste. Marie in Michigan.

[cbpiii]

Curious to see what impact 118 clear driving lights have on distance.

[911MRP]

Agree that 118 combo with row standard h4 setup would be interesting to know. I am not a a fan of the ttg look but if very effective it is worth knowing.

[911MRP]

Just for giggles, what speed/distance were the original, federally mandated, tungsten sealed beams in 1970 good for?
Here in the great lakes area I have hit 2 deer so far, and several near misses with moose in the north-western region of Ontario bordering Manitoba and Minnesota. I have never seen so many dead deer as between Detroit and Sault Ste. Marie in Michigan.

…………

[blucille]

how could you not mention Steven Wright?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbzaDt0IbF4

I'm pretty sure I won't be going fast enough.

[jaudette3]

Just for giggles, what speed/distance were the original, federally mandated, tungsten sealed beams in 1970 good for?
Here in the great lakes area I have hit 2 deer so far, and several near misses with moose in the north-western region of Ontario bordering Manitoba and Minnesota. I have never seen so many dead deer as between Detroit and Sault Ste. Marie in Michigan.

I tried researching this using ChatGPT and it came up empty. I'm going to check with my pal Daniel Stern as he pretty much knows everything.

JA

[911MRP]

Little deer and lightweight 911 made in calendar 72. No deer or 911 motor cars were harmed in taking of this photo


However it was daytime and the gates of the royal park closes at sunset
Steve

[jaudette3]

Man that's a great looking car! It's just timeless - my favorite car of all time.