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Will the new smart have those bluish looking headlight bulbs (what are those called?), or will they just be standard halogen bulbs? And if so, could you change them if you wanted to?
The bulbs are "H7s," a halogen bulb (I guess about the best halogen), and they do come in gucci colors, but they are not the "xenon lamps" of BMW/Lexus ilk.
Last edited by Old smart; 11-06-2007 at 11:32 AM.
Reason: sp.
The 451 has a typical Halogen bulb (H7 IIRC). It is probably a 55 watt job..... The car will have the "projector" lense/reflector style
I am sure many folks will swap out for higher wattage bulbs.... I am personally againts that habit but to each his own....
It has been my experiance that many who go "bigger" usually go too big thinking the if 85W is good ,then 100W must be better.... and it is to a point...
That point being; where you annoy all other oncoming drivers and you compromise your own safety by adding too many amps load to wireing that is not designed to carry that load.....
I bet a small number of Smart owners will swap out the factory bulbs for the new HID effect blue bulbs..... even if they are just for show only and not DOT approved for highway use
Are the xenon lamps (thanks fishrdnc for the name, I couldn't remember it) DOT approved? I guess they are since BMW and Lexus are selling them in their vehicles. Could you not replace the H7 in the smart with an exact wattage xenon? I like the output of the xenon lamps. I have driven a Lexus at night that has them and really like the way they light up the road.
The xenons may require a special lamp house that the smart may not have. All that I have seen have a very sharp cut-off ("vignetter") that keeps their beam below oncoming drivers' eye heights.
In New Jersey xenon lights are magnets for theft especially on Nissans for some reason (perhaps they're easier to remove on the many Maximas I see with them missing). Very expensive to replace and although I have them on my Mazda 3 GT I don't find that they are THAT much better than halogen.
Ah, now that you mention it, I do remember noticing a very prominant "line" across the top portion of the light beams as I was driving the car. It was very noticeable if you go over bumps. The "line" would move up and down. It was a very sharp "cutoff" from light to dark.
What I do like about the xenon is the "white" light that they produce. They are more closer to the color temperature of daylight. Much like HMI lighting for film and video.
I have had the sharp cut off on both xenon and halogen lights. In my 95 model the halogen lights were called ellipsoid and it was a matter of the reflector rather than the bulb and the cut off was there regardless of what type of bulb was used . I suspect the xenon may be the same
Thanks for all the reponses. I'm sure there will be a ton of aftermarket items become available once these cars are released. I'll keep my eye out to see what becomes available.
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