Factory HID / Dual Compound Tires

[Soichiro]

I've been reading about the new NSX-R on the Honda factory site (link posted here recently). I have two questions:

-They say HID lights became a factory option before the integral lights of the current style. Can one buy the factory HID assembly and bolt that into flip-up style NSX lights?

-They also say that dual compound tires became an option at one time. I've never heard of these - anyone have more information?

 

[Lud]

Some people looked into the old HIDs before. I seem to recall the MSRP for the parts was a couple grand which was a bit of a turn-off for most.

More importantly, the factory HIDs are only made for RHD cars that drive on the left side of the road. Thus the beam pattern is all wrong for LHD cars that drive on the right side.

I remember there were some tire and wheel options in Japan other than what we got here, but I don't remember the details offhand.

 

[BostonNSX]

Whats the difference in beam pattern? isnt they just simply beam straight ahead?

Originally posted by Lud:

More importantly, the factory HIDs are only made for RHD cars that drive on the left side of the road. Thus the beam pattern is all wrong for LHD cars that drive on the right side.

 

[Lud]

No, headlights are aimed differently. The one on the side of oncoming traffic is aimed down so it doesn't blind people as much. The one on the other side is aimed up a little more to better illuminate signs. If you switch them, you would blind oncoming traffic and it would be illegal. I seem to recall they are also about $3500 US...

[This message has been edited by Lud (edited 23 December 2002).]

 

[Hot NSX]

If you park against a wall with your lights on, you'll notice that the right light is aimed a little higher than the left. Well, for RHD cars it's the exact opposite. I'm sure they could be aimed...

 

[nsxtasy]

Originally posted by Hot NSX:
I'm sure they could be aimed...

I believe the beam pattern (the way the light is focused and spread) is different, beyond just pointing the light up or down, left or right.

 

[s2ktaxi]

Basically, the LHD cars have a beam that looks like this:
___/
and the RHD cars:
\___

The aftermarket units from some of the vendors here should work as well...

 

[s2ktaxi]

As for the dual compound tires, the OEM spec tires were dual compound.

In Japan, the Bridgestones (and prob Yokos) came with the same tread design but an R compound. There was also the planned option of the dual tire (per rim) which required a special rim that I don't think ever made it to market.

 

[ScienceofSpeed]

The beam pattern in the NSX is determined by the optics of the headlight housing rather than the bulbs (either Halogen or HID), so the Honda HID components by themselves are not unacceptable for our roads.

However, the Japanese NSX uses a different bulb base and bulb profile than the US-spec NSX. The only way to install the Honda HIDs from the pre-2002 model year NSX would be to buy new headlight assemblies, however, that would of course make the beam pattern incorrect for our roads.

best regards,
-- Chris

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