Stanley

Interesting article on HID headlights in the 'Drive' sect. of today's (15-2-03) Sydney Morning Herald motoring section...

quote: 'In Europe, it is mandatory for cars with HID lights to be fitted with headlamp washers ( soiled lenses cause light to scatter, also producing dazzle)'


So thats why the S2k's are fitted with them....to comply with regs for the Euro market.....and i always thought they were just a wasted add-on..

So, seeing a lot of us have pulled the fuse for them like i have because of the silly positioning of the switch under the elbow, i wonder if our friends in Europe who do this are driving 'illegal' and are washers mandatory for HID's in Aust as well?..

RedRover

Yes. in Australia we got the dreaded water cannons too and Yes, most of us have pulled the fuse as well.

Talking of lights, there was a most interesting article on this board a couple of years ago about adjusting the lights (up & down) whilst driving. A clever auto-electrician gave the wiring instructions for re-using the auto-levelling feature to adjust the lights as they are usually set too low. Interestingly enough he used the water cannon switch to activate it.

I'll do a bit of a search and see if I can resurrect the article.

RedRover

This is the thread

https://www.s2ki.com/forums/showthread.php?...%20%20forumid30

wilch

wow! I didn't realise the S had self leveling lights. I know that the lights on my S piss ppl off at night. I almost always get a couple of flashes from people.

I had honda adjust them on the first service because they were a little too low, I had problems seeing at night in dimly lit area's (found myself turning on the high beams alot). The Honda service guy said that they were set too low. But now, with the flashing from the other drivers, I dunno. I think they're too high.

I guess I should pull out the soldering iron and start with the modding.

wil..

Alister

I was actually wondering about this myself yesterday - I went to the Grape Grazing and had to drive on a few gravel roads. The car (and headlights) got covered in dust - if I hadn't have pulled the fuse on the headlight washers I would have given them a try (first time in 1

Alister

Wil,

Pretty sure the S2000 does not have self levelling headlights - most Euro cars with HIDs do though.

AusS2000

The S has a leveling mechanism but it isn't 'active'. It sets itself when you first get in the car and then stays that way. It doesn't adjust whilst driving.

Col converted his so that he could control the level from the cockpit with a switch or dial. Perhaps he'd like to provide the details.

bmoyes

I suspect (but cant find the relevant ADR) that self levelling is required for gas discharge headlights here in Aus also. I'm guessing this is the case as they are olny available on more expensive cars..the cost of the levelling circuit/mechanics as well as the driving circuits makes them a fairly expensive lump of componentry.

Col

After going through a lot to fit HIDs to my WRX and playing email wars with Cibie both here, in Europe and in US I will fill in a lot of gaps.

1. It is only in very limited countries in Europe is it mandatory to have washers.

2. It is mandatory in most of Europe to have self levelling of the lights if HID.

3. It is not mandatory in Oz to have either self levelling or washers.

4. It is theoretically illegal to post fit HIDs to cars in most States in the US but it appears to be ignored.

5. In the US it is not mandatory to have washers or self levelling with HIDs so they don't generally because of the $s.


Finally the self levelling on our cars is pretty useless. Put two bags of cement (80kg !!!) in the boot and you will be lucky to see much dip in the springs. The self levelling is from an arm mounted on the passanger side trailing arm. I have a small mod (check back through the posts) that removes the self levelling and replaces it with a dash mounted pot to adjust the zero position of the lights. It allows adjustment of about 1.0-1.5m at ~50m - enough to blind wan.ers that insist on driving with their fog lights on (and THAT is illegal).

2kturkey

So why do we get them then Col? I think we would all rather have had something useful like cruise control given the choice vs. washers/self levellers.

Is it because the limited production for Aus had to be shared with UK spec? Or are UK specs different again?