Skoda Rally Blog

I’ve nearly finished work before Rally GB, just the morning to work tomorrow, and then loads of little things to do on the car. But there was something I could do this evening, and that was sort out the lamp pod. While it looks impressive, it has 4 100W lamps in it, but it has seen better days (all the reflectors aren’t as good as they could be), and I’ve never been that happy with the beams from the lights – two are very directional, and the others don’t seem to add much (although I wouldn’t want to go without).

All modern cars (and decent rally cars) use HID lamps, which output a LOT more light for a lot less power consumption. An HID conversion from the Demon Tweeks catalogue that turned up yesterday? A snip at around ?1000. But there are lots of cheaper alternatives, and for a huge ?64 I got a set of four lamps with ballasts, ready to go. I fitted them tonight, and I can’t believe the performance of them. I’ve only had a chance to go to a nearby lane which is still lit (albeit sparsely, but it’s not properly dark), and it’s a revelation compared to the halogen lamps. The light is much easier on the eye (being a slightly blue tint, 6000k), and seems to light up things far better, including in the distance. The lamps themselves are a lot deeper than the halogen ones and this seems to make the focus much better – the lamps on the outside provide a broad spread now, and the centre ones a more directed beam. So hopefully they’ll be a LOT better when we’re on the stages…..

Now, I’m sure there are ‘proper’ rally bods who are taking the mickey at this point, and I’d love to have the money to have a proper HID kit, but I’m amazed at the difference that a relatively small amount of money can make. I’ve seen a number of people say that HID conversions are crap, but I think for the money they’re well worthwhile. Certainly any car I have in the future will have them in whatever additional lamps I put on them.