• sac02
  • Paddock Rat
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  • Registered: 2009-11-04
  • Posts: 68

Topic: Rules on lighting?

What are the technical and "rule of thumb" rules when it comes to lighting?

Technical:
Will "too much" light not pass tech / be black flagged?
If so, how much is too much?

Rules of thumb:
Hood or roof is better for aux. lighting?
Which is better - (4) 55w lights or (2) 100w lights?
Do most people use "off road" style driving lights?

I was thinking our lighting setup would consist of:
(2) 100w off road driving spot lights - mounted to the hood for forward reach, and
(2) 55w fogs - possibly mounted in the place of the stock headlights, angled out for cornering visability

Do you think this is enough light?  Or is this a case of "more is better" up to the point you fry your alternator?

  • From: Des Moines IA
  • Registered: 2009-06-08
  • Posts: 135

Re: Rules on lighting?

rules from nelson is the best stuff, no lights on roof lights on front cannot be more then 6" above the hood line, most important, make sure your lights are aligned well.

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  • From: Detroit, MI
  • Registered: 2009-05-16
  • Posts: 1,594

Re: Rules on lighting?

The key is proper aiming.  We ran one pair of 55W E-code H4s in place of the stock lights and a set of 55W Hella 500s mounted on the front of the hood aimed out for corner entry.  This was enough light for the pitch black, rainy, and foggy Nelson Ledges.  Our 60amp, decades-old alternator was enough to run them along with the wipers, but we have virtually no other electrical load.  We have carbs, a mechanical fuel pump, etc.  We did run all new 12ga wires to both sets of lights and used relays. 

Use the stock location for forward visability and the hood lights for the corners.  You might have trouble getting enough angle on the stock location lights for corner entry. 

Be sure to use separate circuits for each pair so you can turn a set off if the alternator doesn't like it.

The lights must be mounted no more than 6" above the hood, so roof lights are out.  Keep them low, but well protected from a hit.  Also, try to run screens on them for debris damage.  We broke one of our lights from a rock or other flying object.

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  • Registered: 2009-05-27
  • Posts: 322

Re: Rules on lighting?

{ducking for cover} And the Chump rules are more restrictive, should that be of interest.

We found that the lights from the rear were simply blinding. There was no way we could use our Wink mirror. A stock mirror with the "night" angle might be different, but at least in our car it doesn't give might of a view during the day. We tilted the wink mirror so we could duck or look up to see out. Still, all we could tell is that there was someone back there, not how close. I'm sure I left a bunch of empty lanes at the apex because I wasn't sure if someone was there or not.

We ran 6 lights. 4 stock 55w high beams, pointing straight and out to side a bit, plus two more ultra-cheapo 55w cheapo driving lights pointed out to the corners. It helped some. We kept the stock high beam stalk and wired the driving lights through it and a switch so that the high beam stalk cut out the high beams and driving lights. This was slightly useful in the paddock.

We also had an interior "dome" red light, which was useful for driver changes.

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  • From: ny
  • Registered: 2009-05-15
  • Posts: 525

Re: Rules on lighting?

we had 2 100w hellas during practice at nelson of friday and damn was the road bright.  one burned out and it was still way bright for the race.  ymmv

  • sac02
  • Paddock Rat
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  • Registered: 2009-11-04
  • Posts: 68

Re: Rules on lighting?

eljefe17 wrote:

we had 2 100w hellas during practice at nelson of friday and damn was the road bright.  one burned out and it was still way bright for the race.  ymmv

Do you know how many hours that burnt out bulb had on it?  You didn't replace it right before the race and still have it burn out on you, did you?  That's one thing I thought of - higher wattage = shorter life.

You said 2 100w Hella were super bright, did you get any nasty looks or complaints from other teams/judges?

  • From: ny
  • Registered: 2009-05-15
  • Posts: 525

Re: Rules on lighting?

sac02 wrote:

Do you know how many hours that burnt out bulb had on it?  You didn't replace it right before the race and still have it burn out on you, did you?  That's one thing I thought of - higher wattage = shorter life.

You said 2 100w Hella were super bright, did you get any nasty looks or complaints from other teams/judges?

the issue was that the lights were hardwired to the battery.  we went through tech and it overheated because we left the covers on them, and one died out shortly after during practice, but after i got out and someone else was running it.  we got a spare, but never put it in.

no problems with brightness as long as they are aimed properly.  there weren't any light inspections, so i saw a bunch that were lighting the sky as they went around the track.  there only seemed like 6 or so teams that i saw had bad lighting, but i was only out for 1.5 hours overnight.  more issues with improperly aimed or only running stock headlights (which i can't see how they managed that)