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Hella

Beam

Types

Fleetwood, PA 19522, Voice 610-944-3233, Fax 610-944-3234, 866-480-2159
9AM-7PM, M-F Eastern Time
mail.mosports@verizon.net, www.rallylights.com

Hella Beam Types

Lamp Output and Construction

E-code lamps have a wide beam that lights the road from side to side. They are useful at 300-400 feet. There is a sharp horizontal transition from dark to light about 1" high at 25 feet. A wedge of light on the right side lights up roadside signs. On low beam you can expect about four times as much light on the road as a sealed beam and twice as much on high beam. Because of the tight beam control, these lamps can be aimed very accurately which facilitates the use of upgraded bulbs without offending oncoming traffic. These lamps are not certified for use on public highways in the US and are sold for off road and racing purposes only.

Vision Plus Lamps have a similar beam to the E-code lamps with the following differences; 1) They have the three aiming lugs on the face of the lens to allow machine aiming. 2) They have a portion of their light shining up, as required by DOT, to light up overhead signs. This part of the beams makes these lamp unsuitable for upgraded bulbs. 3) The have the DOT symbol molded into the face of the lens and are legal in all 50 states. 4) They come packaged with a 60/55 watt HB2 bulb to meet the maximum wattage allowed by DOT. Vision Plus Lamps are only available in 7 inch round and 200mm rectangular lamps

A Eurobeam or Driving beam is used with your high beams. The pattern is conical, flattened at the top and bottom and about 110-120 degrees wide. Useful at 2000-2500 feet. DOT requires that driving lights be wired so that they go off when your low beams come on.

 

The Rally 3000 Driving beam is exactly like the Eurobeam except it doesn't have SAE certification . The pattern is conical, flattened at the top and bottom and about 110-120 degrees wide. Useful at 2000-2500 feet. DOT requires that driving lights be wired so that they go off when your low beams come on. This beam is only available on the Rallye 3000.

 

A fog pattern is very wide and very flat. Maybe 170 Degrees wide and only a couple feet high. Only good for several hundred feet by design. Its purpose is to light up the road in bad weather without reflecting light off the snow/fog/rain and back into the driver's eyes. A clear fog lamp is often used to fill in the area the low beams don't get to like up close to the car and the sides of the road. Some people like amber fog lamps because they claim that the yellow light causes less eye strain in bad weather.

A pencil is just that - a very long, narrow beam - very specialized. Used for rally in conjunction with other lamps and used for desert racing but with at least a dozen on a vehicle. Will light a reflector at two miles. Not useful unless you have a lot of them. DOT requires that pencil driving lights be wired so that they go off when your low beams come on.

 

A cornering pattern is a flood light - good for only several hundred feet - also very specialized. Used in rally in conjunction with other lamps. Good for offroad use if all your offroad is rock crawling or very slow travel. DOT requires that Cornering lights be wired so that they go off when your low beams come on.

 
A City Light or Position Light is a European thing. They are similar to daytime running lights in the US. Simply a 5 watt bulb that lights up the reflector to make you more visible to other traffic, but creates no appreciable illumination. In the big cities of Europe the street lighting is excellent and cars are not permitted to use even their low beams, in order to control light pollution. Several new types of city lamps have been introduced including Celis® "Angel Eye" rings and LEDs.

Lamp Output and Construction
Light output and the quality of the light distribution is a function of several Factors
Construction

 

 

 A Parabolic lamp has a parabolic reflector. The reflector collects the light and the lens does the beam control. These lamp typically collect about 27% of the light created by the light source (bulb).
A Free Form lamp has a reflector which is a computer designed complex shape. Hella uses over 50,000 points to define this shape. The reflector does the collecting and the beam control. Some FF lamps have a fluted lens. This fluting diffuses the light and distributes the light more evenly. Free form lamps typically collect about 45% of the light available.
A Projector, or DE lamp has a free form reflector that is so convoluted that it takes a special projector lens to get the light going in the right direction. These lamps collect as much as 52% of the light the bulb makes.

Size

As in most things, bigger is better. A larger lamp will collect more of the available light. In addition, you can increase the wattage of the bulb and still dissipate the heat created.

Shape

A lamp should be round, anything else is a compromise.

Manufacturer

There are projector lights out there that have terrible patterns and light output. If you have never heard of the manufacture, there is probably a good reason.

Susquehanna MotorSports,
FFleetwood, PA 19522, Voice 610-944-3233, Fax 610-944-3234, 866-480-2159 9AM-7PM, M-F Eastern Time
mail.mosports@verizon.net, www.rallylights.com