How about xenon lights in US?

[halfmoonclip]

Originally Posted by Red Bread

I mountain bike and have used halogen, HID and LED lights over the years and LED's are so much better than zenons it's amazing. But I'm sure the US gov't will keep us from getting the full potential of them. The A6 I drove with LED's was better than zenons, but not a huge difference.

It would seem to me that the LEDs would be more cost effective than xenons...my bride's A4 has the xenons, and it was our first experience with them, but as noted above, there ought to be a cheaper way to accomplish the task....good lights are a must in our misty mountains.
Moon

[Red Bread]

I can say that my LED bike lights are cheaper, brighter and require a lot less battery than HID's and have much longer run times. They also operate at a cooler temp. Clearly LED's should be cheaper for car companies to use than HID's but since they're the new thing, I'm sure we'll be upsold for years to come.

[MazdaFan]

Originally Posted by halfmoonclip

I've got to ask a question here...looking at the estimate to repair my X1, (I'm the guy who hit the deer), replacing the left front xenon light is over $1K, and the guy at the shop tells me that is the light alone, not a bunch of the ancillary parts that make it work.
I've got to ask, are the xenons really any better than incandescent E-codes with uprated 100w bulbs? With relays and all, the ones in my TJ Jeep can't have cost $200, and, subjectively, they are every bit as good as the xenons.
Now, granted, they are standard 7" round lights, not aero lights that would be specific to the vehicle.
I'm pleased with the light output of the xenons, and pleased that they are factory and not something I had to cobble up, and pleased that they are 100% legal. I've never been challenged about my E-codes on state inspection nor by MrOfficerSir by the side of the road, tho' mine are aimed conservatively.
But is seems to me we may be dealing with a bill of goods here, either courtesy of the car companies or the Gummint thru' regulations, and an expensive bill at that.
Moon

I guess part of the cost is adaptive mechanism, a very good xenon light bulb itself should be a about $100 to $200 more than a halogen bulb.

[halfmoonclip]

Mazda, you may have some of the answer there, tho' I haven't seen an orders-of-magnitude difference between the light quality of the X1 and the Audi, which uses fixed xenons.
Moon

[danielj]

Originally Posted by Red Bread

I can say that my LED bike lights are cheaper, brighter and require a lot less battery than HID's and have much longer run times. They also operate at a cooler temp. Clearly LED's should be cheaper for car companies to use than HID's but since they're the new thing, I'm sure we'll be upsold for years to come.

LED's are actually standard on the new Toyota Corolla and even on the next gen Honda Fit. Honda will be phasing LED headlights into all its vehicles soon. I think we'll see them across the board quicker than we may think.