Scorpio Euro Headlight Wiring

[brokencase]

John - Like you did - I dremeled the white comer light housings to accept the Scorpio bulb holder.

Ed - How is this play for you?
https://topclassactions.com/lawsuit-set ... nitial-ok/

[Ed Lijewski]

Had not heard about that.

Influences my views a little...

A little more on top of how little respect I already have for lawyers, particularly those who form class action lawsuits. Those types aren't interested in establishing truth but rather in the size of the cut they will receive if the lawsuit prevails. If you believe a company choosing to settle is tacit admission of wrongdoing you delude yourself. Those are nearly always simple business calculations where settling is less costly in all respects than continuing litigation.

As Shakespeare wrote, "The first thing we do is kill all the lawyers." Couldn't agree more re money grubbing class action-filing lawyers.

Interesting that the article has no mention of violation of federal regulations on headlamp lumens/intensity/etc. which was your initial point. Surely money grubbing class action lawyers would pursue that angle if they thought they could...

YMMV

[brokencase]

No mention of violation of federal regulations on headlamp lumens/intensity/etc because they didn't. But they claimed that they were brighter than standard, and they weren't. If they were then they would not be able to sell them in all the big box stores.

I wish I had a nickle for every time I saw a posting on a forum where some schmuck was claiming how great his SilverStars/NightHawks/etc were.

Was the class action necessary in the case? Debatable, but it was a handy link for me to show you and did raise yours & others eyebrows. Which is a Good Thing Ⓡ

I don't understand all this fascination with having brighter headlights is about. And all I want to do is drive head on into the idiot who is cooking my retinas out.

[DAReese]

The fascination with brighter headlights is a reflection (see what I did there) on a couple of things. We're getting older as a population and need more light to see. Those stupid plastic headlights are yellowing as they age, keeping the light that was available when new from being available as the cars and drivers age. Most of the issue could be solved by a requirement that the headlights produce the same amount of light when new or they're replaced for free. Bad headlights are dangerous to everyone.

[Ed Lijewski]

Sylvania Silverstars, still better illuminating the road and/or o jets ahead of you:

https://www.sylvania-automotive.com/pro ... /index.jsp

YMMV

[brokencase]

Lots of marketing smoke on that page Ed.

Here is some more reading material for you.
https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/mag ... /index.htm

Dareese - No arguments that we are getting older. But there is the flip side when you are on the receiving end and having your retinas burned out by some jerk. There are legal established limits on how bright headlights can be...and its a good thing.

[john keefe]

OK... Installed, very pleased with results. Thinking, though, that it might look better/aggressive with the Merkur center grille instead of the Scorpio.

Now on to how to properly aim the Euro headlights (Scorpio & Sierra Cosworth).

Long story short, had to order a new drivers-side lamp from UK eBay. Took a little research to find the correct replacement, the only difference being that this new one has the self-leveling adjuster on the inner aiming shaft. Makes no difference to performance, as you still have the same type of adjustment capability by hand.

When I finally got it all hooked up, and set to aim, the first thing I noticed, besides brightness and clarity, was that the light pattern seemed to be like a cat's eye. Low in the middle/inner, then fanning up and out to the sides. Weird, but pretty cool, and different than the Cosworths I'd done. Took a while to dawn on me that the driver's side was a UK lamp, with the beam dipped for left-hand driving. With the right-hand drive passenger lamp, you get the cat's eye illumination. Wonder how it would perform if you had the opposite pairing...

When I have time, I will swap out to the correct US lens I got with the set. Haven't had any hi-beam flashes at me so far, so it must be tolerable. So, how are you guys aiming your Euro lights? I've usually parked on level ground, 40-50' from a wall and got the two dipped zones level with each other, and kinda' straight ahead. Then adjusted for best illumination on a deserted road. Still not aligned horizontally, but seems to do the trick. OR, do you get the two beams to line up exactly with each other, vertically and horizontally? If the latter, what distance are you focusing on? Anybody tried both methods? Best results you've found?

[brokencase]

I'm pretty sure mine were from the German market...so they are good for US. Looking out from the driver's point of view, the beam pattern for each light is tilted low towards the left and rises to the right. I didn't have to do very much adjustment when I installed them. I just pointed them at the garage door at night and put them where I thought they should be. Took the car out for a test drive to make sure they weren't pointing too high, etc..

[john keefe]

Same way I've always aimed them (German LHD lenses)... the dip lines are level with each other, but the overall dip-fan patterns don't converge or overlay. But now I'm wondering if they're supposed to overlay each other? Or maybe it doesn't matter, they're just both dipped the same so neither throws a lot of light at on-coming?

[DAReese]

That is what I noticed with my XR lights. The edge of the road tends to go up. The lane in front of me dips down. Driving lights take care of the middle. I've always thought the gap of lighting directly beside the car at about a 45-degree angle was bad aiming. Maybe not after reading this.

[john keefe]

So, its more unusual to try to overlay the beams so they coincide? I'm thinking the combined beams of an overlay gives best straight ahead illumination, at the expense of lateral illumination. Anybody tried this?

[Ed Lijewski]

Rating headlights is complicated... But halogen has scored well in CRs testing in several applications. I'm content with the Silver Stars in one Scorp.

https://www.consumerreports.org/headlig ... th-buying/

YMMV