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Date:         Fri, 8 Feb 2008 21:17:53 +1300
Reply-To:     Andrew Grebneff <andrew.grebneff@STONEBOW.OTAGO.AC.NZ>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Andrew Grebneff <andrew.grebneff@STONEBOW.OTAGO.AC.NZ>
Subject:      Re: LED taillights WAS: Re: repost optional bulb sizes/wattages?
In-Reply-To:  <016801c869da$72b6d1b0$6501a8c0@TOSHIBALAP>
Content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1; format=flowed

>And I do notice a lot of amber turn signals on American cars that are very >close to the headlight, and at 300 feet it can be hard to see the turn >signal flashing right next to the bright headlight, especially in the day >time.

It's not just American cars. It's the moden idea of light-clusters. It works fine in taillights, because no one light overwhelms the others.

But front clusters have been bugging me for many years... it's an esthetic and economic thing. A cluster is cheaper to produce than separate lights, and looks neater. Of course when one is crunched, the cheap production ends behind the parts counter!!

It is a serious safety issue, and one I have written to car magazines recantly, asking WHY they never test front indicator visibility.

Even with headlights OFF many cars have dim front indicators (Holden Commodores of the 70s & 80s are particularly bad; these are modified Opels and the direct forerunners of the Commodores recently sold in the US as Pontiac GTO & ?G8). It doesn't help if the plastic has oxidized and become dull or even lost transparency, as some do.

It definitely wouldn't hurt to install brighter bulbs in front indicators.

I'll be doing that with the blue indicators for my T3 (if I can find higher-wattage orange bulbs). -- Andrew Grebneff Dunedin New Zealand Fossil preparator Seashell, Macintosh, VW/Toyota van nut ‚ Opinions stated are mine, not those of Otago University "There is water at the bottom of the ocean" - Talking Heads


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