Baja Designs Lights - Information

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A Lumen is the total output of light by a source. This is different from candlepower, which only measures the light brightness from a single point within a beam of light. Candlepower ratings can be deceptive and/or misleading since the user is rarely told at what point the measurement is made. For instance, a tightly focused beam of light may rate a high candlepower but if that light only falls on a few square inches yards away, the light is generally less than useful. An extreme example of such would be the candlepower measurement of a laser pointer. While the candlepower would be extremely great, the light would be near useless for illumination. A 35 Watt HID bulb is rated at 3800 Lumens.

Color Temperature is a measurement in Degrees Kelvin that indicates the hue of a specific type of light source. Many people have the misconception that color temperature is a rating of the brightness of the bulb or HID kit. This belief is completely false. The reality is that the higher the color temperature, the less useable the light output.

A perfect example would be a black light. This light has a color temperature of approx 12,000k and has almost no useable light or lumens output. Higher K HID kits such as 7000k, 7500k, etc. have been manufactured for that distinctive blue/purple look as opposed to actual useable light that they produce. The standard HID color temperature is about 4300 K, which is approximately the same color temperature as sunlight. This is the most efficient color for the human eye. Halogen bulbs have a color temperature of around 3200K, which makes them appear more yellow in color.

All 35 watt HID lamps of the same color temperature are going to have the same lighting output – 3800 Lumens. This is why the design of the lens and its optics are the most important factor in an off-road light. If the light does not illuminate what you need to see, then it is not doing the job you need it to do. Click her for Warranty Information.

Lighting Patterns and Optics

Most lights on the market were designed for on-road vehicles where lighting challenges are much simpler. Because an off-road car typically has considerably more suspension travel and body pitch, and also faces a greater variety of terrain (hills, ditches, holes, dunes, rocks, etc); lights that work well on a street vehicle are not necessarily optimal on an off-road vehicle. The best off-road lighting system consists of multiple lights of different beam patterns. Wide, smooth patterns that cover the terrain near to the vehicle, and more narrowly focused lights for high-speed/distance.

There are several different shapes and sizes of lights - round, square, rectangle, elliptical, etc. The most commonly used shape in off-roading is a round light in various sizes from 2” to 9”. As a basic rule, the larger the reflector the more light distribution you will get. However, because there are so many different applications, there is a need for the smaller lights as well. The elliptical and rectangle shaped lights are primarily used where space is limited or a certain “style” is desired.

There are three basic “patterns” of lights commonly used - “Flood” (Fog), “Driving” (Euro), and “Pencil” (Spot). A “pattern” describes the type of light distribution. In describing these different patterns we will refer to two key terms - “sharp cut-off” and “hot spot”. A “Sharp cut-off” is where the light distribution drops off dramatically creating a horizontal or vertical line into darkness. With the pitch and roll of the vehicle the sharp cut-off affects your ability to see where you need to see. A “Hot spot” is when there is an intense concentration of light in a small area. Hot spots can be very distracting while driving off road; your eyes tend to focus on just that spot bouncing out in front of you.

A Flood light should be mounted as low as possible on the vehicle. These lights are typically designed for use in heavy fog or dust. They have a very sharp cut-off at the top of the pattern but have wide peripheral distribution. In this case a sharp cut-off is designed into the pattern in order not to have the light reflect off the fog or dust back into your eyes but rather cut below the fog or dust. These lights should not be considered as a main light source for off-roading. If space and power permits they would be useful for the conditions described above.

Driving lights are used for 75% of the driving conditions off road. This is your main source of light; therefore the light distribution is critical. The ideal Driving light would not have any sharp cut-offs or intense hot spots. You want to have smooth transitions from light to dark along with putting light where you need it. These lights give you good peripheral vision along with decent distance.

Pencil lights are designed to illuminate the trail way up in front of you. In order to achieve this, the light distribution is concentrated in a small area. The ideal Pencil light would offer great distance illumination without that intense hot spot. Whenever possible, this light should be mounted high on the car. We recommend that you turn off the Pencil lights when driving in tight, technical terrain so the light doesn’t distract you.

With all of this said, it should be clear that there is a lot more to a light than how bright it is or how cool it looks.

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