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Be careful !
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Tested, approved,
and legal |
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All of the Hella products listed on this website and in our catalogs
have SAE/DOT approval for highway use unless otherwise specified.
This means that they are ready to install and use without any further
approval or inspections needed.
Looking for HID (Xenon) "retrofit" kits for
your vehicle?
Unfortunately, there are products, Xenon retrofit kits in particular,
available in the aftermarket (especially on the Internet) that are
illegal for use on American roads. Besides being illegal, products
of this kind also endanger the public’s safety. Use of these “DIY
retrofits” may lead to traffic fines or worse trouble for you
and your vehicle. Some of these kits may use Hella parts, such as ballasts
or bulbs, but are in no way approved or endorsed by Hella, Inc. for
use on vehicles.
Dangerous and prohibited (using HID / Xenon
as an example)
Any automotive lights (headlights, tail lights, turn signals, etc)
that are sold for use in the USA must be approved by the Department
of Transportation (DOT). This approval process is carried out by the
manufacturer by submitting samples for testing by the DOT. When the
approval is granted, the manufacturer can then, and only then, label
the lights as “DOT Approved”. They can then be sold and
installed legally on vehicles in the USA. The approval process is very
strict and any deviations in the light itself from the way it was submitted
for testing makes the DOT approval void. Using a different bulb other
than the original type will void this DOT approval. This means that
any headlight that is designed and approved for use with an H7 bulb,
for example, cannot be used with anything but an H7 bulb or it is illegal.
HID/Xenon "retro-fit" kits
are Illegal |
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This is the legal reason that Xenon conversion kits are illegal
for sale or use in the USA, but there is more to the issue of Xenon retrofit
kits than just the legalities. These kits themselves rarely provide
a useful increase in light output; instead they usually produce a huge
amount of unfocused light that is both blinding and dangerous to other
drivers and pedestrians. The Xenon lights that you see on many of today’s
cars are engineered by the manufacturers as complete lighting systems.
This means that the lenses, bulbs, reflectors, housings, ballasts,
and even the automatic adjusters and washers were all designed to work
together in harmony to produce the best possible lighting under all
conditions. If you remove just a part of this engineered system and
install it into another vehicle’s lighting system without all
of the parts of the original system, you are creating a potential safety
hazard. A halogen headlight reflector is not designed to properly focus
the intense light output of a Xenon bulb and this can result in a lot
of unfocused light glare, sometimes up to 100 times greater, that is
hazardous to other drivers and pedestrians.
Actual photographs comparing Xenon lights |
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| Normal Xenon beam pattern
(Low Beam) |
"Retro-fit" Xenon beam pattern
(Low Beam) |
On the other hand, there are completely legal Xenon upgrades for some
certain vehicles available as a compete set from Hella. These Xenon
lights systems have been engineered specifically for a specific vehicle
and submitted for DOT approval and come with all of the well-known
advantages of Xenon lighting.
- More than twice the light output when compared to Halogen lights
- Brighter and wider illumination of the road with light quality
approaching that of daylight
- Hazards at the edge of the road or obstacles in front of the vehicle
are recognized earlier
- Pedestrians, cyclists, and animals are more easily visible
- Peripheral vision is improved in poor weather conditions
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