Projector Headlights

[dnudelma]

I am looking for info on your projector headlights to see if they will fit my new 2007 RAV4 V6 4x4 (US version). Does anyone have the workshop book on the headlight assemblies so that I can figure out if the will fit or use the same wiring.

[SteveR.]

Can't help, I'm afraid, but can anyone tell to me what projector headlights are and what their advantage is? I've read that they're standard on UK models but other than that I've never heard of them before.

[Manxrav]

I am looking for info on your projector headlights to see if they will fit my new 2007 RAV4 V6 4x4 (US version). Does anyone have the workshop book on the headlight assemblies so that I can figure out if the will fit or use the same wiring.

Just a suggestion, why not try Rav4 World.Com. You will find that this site is more biased to the US model that you are looking for. There are some threads on this subject.

Clare

[anchorman]

I am looking for info on your projector headlights to see if they will fit my new 2007 RAV4 V6 4x4 (US version). Does anyone have the workshop book on the headlight assemblies so that I can figure out if the will fit or use the same wiring.

Hi

I will look at this for you hopefully later today. I think they should swap. As a regular visitor to the USA I noticed they have similar twist and turn fittings for the bulbs that seem to be common in the USA. You will need the left hand drive headlamps as our RHD versions dip to the left (don't forget we drive on the opposite side on our little island!).

Regards

Can't help, I'm afraid, but can anyone tell to me what projector headlights are and what their advantage is? I've read that they're standard on UK models but other than that I've never heard of them before.

If you look in the headlight you will see globular shaped lenses that project predetermined beam patterns. They tended in the early days to be associated with top marque cars like Audi/BMW but are becoming more commonplace these days (but not in the USA) so the manufacturers make an issue about fitting them.

Regards

[SteveR.]

If you look in the headlight you will see globular shaped lenses that project predetermined beam patterns.

OK, I'll take a look at some headlamps next time I'm in a large car park.

They tended in the early days to be associated with top marque cars like Audi/BMW but are becoming more commonplace these days (but not in the USA) so the manufacturers make an issue about fitting them.

I see, thanks. Presumably they produce brighter and/or clearer beams. I'm still not quite sure how they differ from conventional lenses (which I thought also produced fixed patterns), but perhaps that will be evident when I get to have a close look.

[Steve@Aberdeen]

I see, thanks. Presumably they produce brighter and/or clearer beams. I'm still not quite sure how they differ from conventional lenses (which I thought also produced fixed patterns), but perhaps that will be evident when I get to have a close look.

Where the headlight has a single bulb with two filaments, the reflector and lens will be a compromise for two output patterns (dip and high) - which will inevitably lead to loss of useful output as neither the lens or reflector will be able to project the whole output to the desired area. Where the headlamp unit has separate bulbs, reflectors and lenses for dipped and high beams, each component can be designed for just that single output - projector units, therefore, have a simpler reflector and a lens that directs almost all the light where it's needed. More light on the road ahead for the same power/bulb.

[anchorman]

I see, thanks. Presumably they produce brighter and/or clearer beams. I'm still not quite sure how they differ from conventional lenses (which I thought also produced fixed patterns), but perhaps that will be evident when I get to have a close look.

Where the headlight has a single bulb with two filaments, the reflector and lens will be a compromise for two output patterns (dip and high) - which will inevitably lead to loss of useful output as neither the lens or reflector will be able to project the whole output to the desired area. Where the headlamp unit has separate bulbs, reflectors and lenses for dipped and high beams, each component can be designed for just that single output - projector units, therefore, have a simpler reflector and a lens that directs almost all the light where it's needed. More light on the road ahead for the same power/bulb.

Very elequently put if I may say!

[Steve@Aberdeen]

Why, thank you, kind sir...

[SteveR.]

the headlamp unit has separate bulbs, reflectors and lenses for dipped and high beams

Ah - that's a key bit of information I was missing. Thanks.

[SteveR.]

OK, I have now had a chance to look around a car park and I can see the kind of lights that have been described here, so thanks all for clearing that up for me.

It appears that only one pair of lamps has a lens, the others being a conventional reflector arrangement. Is it main beam or dipped beam that is "projected"?

I'm curious now as to why this type of lighting is such a recent development if it's so much better. It's not as if lenses are a new technology, and neither is the idea of separate lamps for main- and dipped-beam...

[anchorman]

OK, I have now had a chance to look around a car park and I can see the kind of lights that have been described here, so thanks all for clearing that up for me.

It appears that only one pair of lamps has a lens, the others being a conventional reflector arrangement. Is it main beam or dipped beam that is "projected"?

I'm curious now as to why this type of lighting is such a recent development if it's so much better. It's not as if lenses are a new technology, and neither is the idea of separate lamps for main- and dipped-beam...

The projector is the dipped beam. It provides a beam with a distinctive flat top which is what you want to avoid dazzling. I suppose its like most improvements, as the volume increases the prices come down and more manufacturers invest in the tooling. Air conditioning is a similar example.

I think early examples of projector lenses were more or less exclusive to gas discharge headlights but one of the first to use it was the Nissan Primera and then one of the small Fiats (Punto?). They sometimes give a bluish glint as the lense creates a prism effect. Gas discharge lights tend to pronounce the blue effect all the time.

Your going to ask what gas discharge lights are now aren't you?

Cheers