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MG ZR ZS ZT Technical - Xenon lights

ZT 190+ due on 6th Sept. I opted for the xenon lights cos have read that they provide far superior light. I assumed that this was just due to the use of xenon gas instead of halogen. The other day I saw a vehicle fitted with said lights and was a little concerned to note that it had no lenses to reflect the light (just clear glass ). It looked great but assume that this was some after market (and illegal) mod and bound to cause havoc for oncoming trafic?
marcus

Most xenon installations, I think, have clear glass lenses. Control of the beam pattern comes from careful shaping of the reflector.

Brian
2772 MY
Brian

While I don't own a car with xenon lights, I have driven friends' cars with them. I like them. There are a plethora of deer everywhere where I live, not to mention other shoulder-side hazards, e.g., night time runners.

The one caveat with xenons, however, is that they are expensive to replace. The lamps are not likely to burn out; it's the transformer. Expensive part and time consuming replacement procedure (depending on the marque, of course and when the warranty expires). Perhaps as more cars come equipped with xenons, the price of the part will decrease.
Art DiLello

They'll all most certainly have a lens, but I think you are refering to the focusing lens (the highly convex one. The lens is used to shape and direct the beam for LHD/RHD installation. Since most Xenons do not have a high/low beam facilty (those that do use shutters to deflect the beam) so they are pretty much tied into a twin headlamp set-up.

There is however an H4 conversion kit by Hella, which make use of the existing H4 parabolic reflecter. Since the more powerful xenon is not focussed these conversions are for "off road use only". as the light basically goes everywhere and is completely over powering for other road users.

Some driving lamps use a free-form reflector, where each co-ordinate of the reflector surface is calulate to a spot on the road, however this is not as effective in controlling the beam and is really only useful for auxillary lamps which are set lower on the vehicle and less likely to blind other road users.


Nicodemus

My ZT-T has factory fit Xenons, which are clear lenses. I believe Brian's explanation is correct.

You were right to order the Xenons - much whiter light and clearer definition of the road ahead at night. However, the main beam units unfortunately are standard halogen - you'll notice the "yellowness" of these compared with dipped beam.
AC Goodwin

thanks for the descriptive responses guys. Well just 3 weeks to go now. Final spec, incidently, is as follows:

ZT190+
solar red
leather alcantara
high line sat nav/TV
driver intelligence pack
electric sun blinds
xenons
uprated alarm
sports suspension
uprated alarm

can't wait to be back in the MG fold. Until 12 months ago I had a Mk2 MGF VVC, and immediately before that a Mk1 on a T plate, bith from new. In the mean time I have had a couple of company cars, a TVR Chimeara and now an Imprezza. Although both of these cars have great attributes, my heart and head still prefer MG.


marcus

Are you trying to make us sick? No seriously good choice - which dealer?
Rob

Hi Rob

remember you from the F boards from before. Good to see you again! Previous F's were from Appleyard Leeds, but this one from Harewood.

Got the obligatory 15.5% employy discount curtesy of MGOC!!
marcus

<<driver intelligence pack>>

Obviously an option Honda should have offered....
Chris

This thread was discussed between 13/08/2002 and 18/08/2002

MG ZR ZS ZT Technical index

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