Driving Light Patterns and Beams

Posted on April 2nd, 2007 Author: Link

Many times we have been asked what type of driving light beam pattern should I choose. Pencil Beam, Spread Beam, Long Range, Driving or a combination of a few? Whilst this of course will depend on the style of driving you do, we’ve put together a basic guide to help explain the patterns a bit further and hopefully answer some of those questions you may have.

Pencil Beam and Long Range

This pattern is designed for distance, putting out an extremely long beam of light. When you’re travelling through the outback, or night time on the highway, this type of light pattern will pick up Roos, Cows, and other animals on the road well into the distance. These types of patterns do not provide any real assistance with cornering on winding roads, and the lack of light can put you off in these environments as your eyes switch from well lit frontal vision to dimly lit vision throughout the corner.

Spread Beam, Broad Beam and Cornering

This type of pattern is better when driving along tight winding roads and cornering. It’s also useful when driving challenging off road tracks as you can better see what is around you. Spread Beams by themselves will not normally improve the distance of light offered by your four wheel drives high beams so no there is no added assistance for those long straights.

Driving Pattern

This type of light normally attempts to provide a combination of both spread and distance. Part of the light is distributed in a wider pattern, whilst the other part is distributed for distance. These types of patterns do not provide as much light in a straight line as a pencil beam, nor do they spread as far as cornering or broad beam.

About Filters

Some light manufacturers such as LightForce are using clip on filters to distribute the light, rather than building the pattern into the lens. Commonly these are offered in wide, combo and spot patterns. Wide covers are the equivilent of spread and broad beam lights, where the light is dispursed over a wide area. Combo covers provide a mixture of both distance and spread, whilst spot covers maintain straight line distance of the original lens.

So which do you choose?

The general concensus for standard drivers is to select one pencil or long range beam driving light, and one spread or broad beam. This will get you distance and spread, moreso than a standard driving pattern. What is clear with driving light patterns however is that there is no one size fits all solution, and you really need to consider the types of driving you do and the environment in which you do it. Driving Lights in general are limited to out of city use, so the types of road and terrain become important. Do you need to light up huge distances in front of you, or are most roads you travel on never straight enough to warrant it? Are you getting on in years, as with age your eyes don’t work as well meaning more light output is important.

If you are still unsure what to select, and wish to chat to someone about what type of light beam is best for you, give us a call on 1800 4X4 000 and let us assist.

Entry Filed under: Parts and Accessories