Lighting for VIR 24

[Josh Halliman]

Hey all,

 

I am making a plan to add improved lighting to our e30 for the upcoming VIR 24. Due to the lumen limitations, I am deciding whether what configuration I run.

 

Staying within the rules, I can run either one single 30" Diode Dynamics bar (https://www.diodedynamics.com/stage-series-30-white-light-bar.html) or an 18" Diode Dynamics bar (https://www.diodedynamics.com/stage-series-18-white-light-bar.html) and apex lighting (https://www.diodedynamics.com/stage-series-6-sae-dot-amber-light-bar-pair.html).

 

Further, I could run a lower lumen 30" Hella bar (https://www.amazon.com/HELLA-H71020461-Light-Bar-Road/dp/B00HHHXIVW) and then brighter apex lighting, while still staying under the 8000LM rule. I have heard OK reviews on the Hella but not as much functional Champcar experience. All configurations should put us under the 4 light maximum as I can just remove the OEM headlight housings (and should anyway for weight, despite a bar being worse for aero).

 

I am asking more for functional advice for those who have prepped cars for VIR overnight. Were apex lights valuable to you, or was a higher priority on forward vision better? I see other threads focused mostly on bumper mounting these in Miatas where the teams inset them into an air dam, but I wasn't sure if the geometry and projection of the light would be similar on an e30.

 

Thanks everyone.

[Chris Huggins]

you want apex lights

 

[MMiskoe]

Let me climb on my Old-Guy-Soap-Box for a moment.  We ran a miata with stock headlights and a pair of 55W halogen driving lights for years.  Moroso/Palm Beach, Summit Point, NJ, Nelson.  Did them all in the dark when the word LED was only used when followed by "Zepplin".

 

 

 

Yes you want the lights to point out the apex, we found just making them cross-eyed worked pretty well.

 

We now have a pair of HID's that are WAY better than any LED we've found.  They were made by Hella under the name Optilux, not sure how available they are now, in the past they had been out of production. 

 

https://www.rvautoparts.com/H71020171-Hella-Driving-Fog-Light-35-Watt_p_436993.html

 

 

Edited May 17, 2022 by MMiskoe

[Josh Halliman]

5 hours ago, Chris Huggins said:

you want apex lights

 

 

Roger

 

2 hours ago, MMiskoe said:

Let me climb on my Old-Guy-Soap-Box for a moment.  We ran a miata with stock headlights and a pair of 55W halogen driving lights for years.  Moroso/Palm Beach, Summit Point, NJ, Nelson.  Did them all in the dark when the word LED was only used when followed by "Zepplin".

 

 

 

Yes you want the lights to point out the apex, we found just making them cross-eyed worked pretty well.

 

We now have a pair of HID's that are WAY better than any LED we've found.  They were made by Hella under the name Optilux, not sure how available they are now, in the past they had been out of production. 

 

https://www.rvautoparts.com/H71020171-Hella-Driving-Fog-Light-35-Watt_p_436993.html

 

 

 

I did consider the HID aspect. I know the housing on e30 matters and then there's some labor in converting it. The person in me who would like to retain stock aero thinks that converting it is smart..but then wiring some bars is far quicker, can be removed in daytime races and allows us to scrap the OEM housings all together. I see both sides and appreciate the feedback!

[tommytipover]

19 hours ago, MMiskoe said:

Let me climb on my Old-Guy-Soap-Box for a moment.  We ran a miata with stock headlights and a pair of 55W halogen driving lights for years.  Moroso/Palm Beach, Summit Point, NJ, Nelson.  Did them all in the dark when the word LED was only used when followed by "Zepplin"

Maybe it's darker now?

[MMiskoe]

4 hours ago, tommytipover said:

Maybe it's darker now?

Might be, you know global warming and all. 

 

Quite sure it is more likely we're just not as dumb now.  (notice I didn't say we were smarter)

[Josh Halliman]

Bought some of the Diode Dynamics ones. We’ll see either literally or figuratively!