^ Hey, hypermiling in an Expedition is getting to double-digit miles per gallon!
(Actually, I have attained 20 mpg.)
Yes, I do usually drive the Metro with my lights on for safety. The Metro is definitely not the safest car around and it is black so anything you can do to make it stand out is good. I was driving a lot for a job a few years back and had many close calls with head on collisions. People would just pull out and pass when it was obvious I was there, at least to someone with decent eyesight. I began to wonder if people simply didn’t care or they knew the road had nice wide shoulders and I could pull off or if they simple weren’t seeing me. Either way, I decided to do an experiment by pretty much leaving my headlights on all the time to see if this would help. It did so I have continued with the practice even with reduced bulb life and a minor reduction in mileage due to the extra load on the alternator. I haven’t had one of these near-misses since so it is definitely worth it in my opinion. This all started long before the Metro came along.
As for the Metro, I know this Spartan little car isn’t for everyone. I am also not a fan of the automatic Metros. The combination of a tiny engine and a low-tech transmission make for a pretty miserable driving experience and the mileage isn’t even that great. There are a lot of much nicer and safer used cars that get comparable mileage to the automatic Metro. I am just amazed that the manual version of the Metro can get 52-55 mpg with such simple and old technology.
Hey, hypermiling in an Expedition is getting to double-digit miles per gallon!
You got into double digits as soon as you hit 10, congrats.
"You got into double digits as soon as you hit 10, congrats."Yes! In an Expedition, that's hypermiling.
I got 18mpg in my Cx-7 last fill up, and that’s excellent mpgs for me and my driving habits.
Next off topic topic: Changing transmission fluid; time or mileage. 
When replacing HID they often must go to the service dept and have them reprogramed or they will not work.
Similar to loading a new printer onto a computer. You cannot use the printer until it’s loaded onto the computer.
I suppose this has gone stale but I like the conversation so…
Not an individual diode, no, but if you have an array of differently colored LED’s, you can cause a color shift in overall output. Here’s one of the lights I use which lets me go from 2700K to 10,000K:
Agreed, they are using the term “tune” to describe the relative spectral output of the “lamp assembly” accomplished by adjusting the relative power output on the individual LEDs in the lamp assembly. That’s how I described it in my post too. The way you used “tune” before led me to believe you meant they were shifting spectral output by tuning an LED. Good to see we’re on the same page…
Yeah, I know HID assemblies are ridiculously expensive for the consumer. They’ve been established in the marketplace for quite a few years now and have a good market penetration. But I haven’t yet seen any LED headlamps for sale. That usually means you’re on the bleeding edge of technology and that never translates into cheaper initial cost 
I only have this point of reference; in the commercial world, the comparative LED illumination sources are several times more expensive than Xenon HID due to the relative new-ness of the technology and lack of installed base (i.e. manufacturing volume cost reductions).
I don’t know if I would want LED headlamps until the tech becomes more standard and mature. If you think HID lamps are expensive, imagine what the dealer will charge you for an LED assy. when they’re the only people you can get it from for your car. Yes, in theory you can run them for 10 years without a problem. But in the real world of thermal cycling, corrosion, vibration, etc., I expect problems.
HID lamps are reasonably reliable and proven. I think we’ve all seen trucks with those conversion LED tail lamps with several LEDs that have gone out, some of which only have a couple left that still work. I imagine that happening to first adopters of LED headlamps.
When replacing HID they often must go to the service dept and have them reprogramed or they will not work.Is this to force one to go to the dealer and pay them? Or is there some kind of legitimate reason for it?
I suggest anyone looking at the quality of head lamps should compare them under the conditions they will be used. Your eyes and mine will not be the same. If you chose what works best for you may not be good for me. Your eyes sensitivity for different color of a lamp is likely going to be different than mine.
Many people will know what works best for them,b few are going to know what is best for you. I suggest if you want the best for you, you should do your own compaison.
I’ve seen a few cars with the white LED daytime running lamps, and maybe a foglight setup, but that’s about it. DRLs are quite noticeable, that’s for sure
When replacing HID they often must go to the service dept and have them reprogramed or they will not work.
Never heard that before.
They need to check if its the bulb or the transformer is all I’ve ever seen at the dealer. Plus it gives off 20,000 volts so not for a novice to play with without a service manual.
It was more the reprogram part. I understand about the higher voltage, and have no problem with that. I know how to swap bulbs.
The way I’d have to go about changing even the halogen version of my headlights would have me going to the dealership or another repair shop.
Turn wheel all the way in either direction, undo a few plastic clips in the wheel well, reach inside and remove/replace lightbulb(s), install plastic clips again. Repeat for other side.
Cost be damned, I’m letting them do it.
I am not sure of the bulbs, but I was looking at new bulbs for my car, el cheapo 1200 hours expected life, la prima 200 hours expected life. No brainer for el cheapo.
The entire discussion of HID over halogen is lost on me, because I don’t use headlights according to one of my former graduate students. I was trying to explain to the class in which he was enrolled that when learning a new piece of software, to learn the essentials first and then you can look at the specialized features. I gave the following example:
I know only four essential things about driving a car. 1)Turning the steering wheel clockwise makes the car go to the right. 2) Turning the wheel counterclockwise makes the car to the left. 3) Pressing on the right pedal makes it go. 4) pressing the left pedal makes it stop. My wife is the only one who knows how the heating and air conditioning works and she freezes me in the summer and roasts me in the winter. My son is the only one who knows how to work the audio system, so I listen to rock music at 100 decibels. I don’t know how to turn on the headlights or windshield wipers, but those features are for wimps. The four things I know about the car allow me to go anyplace I need to go.
I thought I had made the point with this analogy about learning a new piece of software. However, the one graduate student had to see my wife, who was employed by the graduate office, about his graduate program. He saw my picture on her desk and asked, “Does your husband really drive and never use the headlights or wipers?” I had quite a bit of explaining to do when Mrs. Triedaq came home that afternoon. At any rate, if you take me seriously, it doesn’t matter if you have HID or halogen lights.
@Triedaq now maybe I misunderstand your post, but it sounds like you like driving at night without headlights, If this is true I assume you do not drive at night, or I seriously misunderstand your death wish.
@Barkydog–I was trying to make the point with my class that you could begin using a piece of software without knowing every single feature of that software. For instance, you can produce a letter using a word processor without knowing how to use the “cut and paste” feature. I thought my analogy about driving a car would make the point. Most of the class laughed, and I never dreamed that one student would take it seriously.
I probably should never use analogies like this. In a computer hardware and architecture class, I made the statement that if we could build a circuit to perform the binary addition tables ( 0 + 0 = 0, 0 + 1 = 1, 1 + 0 = 1, and 1 + 1 = 10) we could build circuits to do any addition problem. I reminded them that when they learned their addition tables in first grade, they could do any addition problem. I then said, “Do you remember learning your addition tables in first grade? I certainly do. We would drill on the addition tables for a couple hours, then go out for recess and have a cigarette and a cup of coffee, and then come back in and hit it again”. I thought I had made the analogy between learning the addition tables in the decimal system and making the computer circuit to do the binary addition tables, but a female graduate student came up to me after class and asked, "Did they really let you smoke in first grade?"
Please don’t take everything I write seriously.
@triedaq I am coming close to understanding what you mean, now I am familiar with different base mathematics, I really love different base mathematics, and think the future of computers may be a base 10 rather than base 2, but I do remember an exercise in early fortran for writing a program and mechanical interfaces to start a car. First insert key, depress gas pedal to set choke, turn key to start position until car starts, when started release key from start, it was more difficult than it sounds. ps A bud and I got sent to the boiler room in kindergarten for singing the marlborough song on the way to pledge of allegience in the gymn, nothing tastes good as a marlbourough should or something similar.