No LED's in WRC?

[Oppositelock]

As Mirek already said, the rules allow max. 8 lights in WRC events. Currently there is no regulation regarding LEDs - other than daylight driving lights - and how they are counted in relation to standard lights.

I understand, there is a kind of gentlemen's agrrement between manufacturer teams not to use them until the regulations are clear.

As on the other hand there is no regulation specifically not allowing LEDs, some teams use them.

[Mintexmemory]

I like them and it isn't just lower drag, there is a significant weight saving and easier for the crew to attatch them.



Compare with Mikko's set from RMC



I should have thought a luminence per array formula would be easy to include in the regs. On the Evans car above there are two arrays presumably each giving the equivalent of 2 conventional lamps

[Mad cat jnr]

They arent as good over distance but give a good spread beam.

[jonkka]

In theory, led lighting is superior to light bulb in every respect except price. It's smaller in size, lighter in weight and consumes a lot less energy than equivalent bulb of any type. Even though single led does produce only relatively modest amount of light, those can be grouped together much easier than bulbs as energy consumption and heat generation are much lower.

Also lighting distance should not be a problem, if enthusiast built heavy duty units are anything to go by. In addition, for motorsport use (or directional lighting applications in general) led is better than bulb because light emitted by led is directed almost solely in a narrow beam whereas bulb radiates all around (hence they need reflectors to concentrate beam forward).

[Gregor-y]

It's probably not a big issue in competition but how are they kept warm enough to prevent ice and snow from building up? Filament bulbs usually have enough heat to keep themselves clear. I don't really like the brightness of HID and LEDs on the road but that's not a problem at events.

[LowTech]

From someone in the LED biz about lumens............ "1500lm from 30W vs current LED from ONX are 4300lm from 42W"

Good comments and photos, I appreciate the education!

[Viking]

[Viking]

http://rallylamps.com/r5/

[stefanvv]

I like them and it isn't just lower drag, there is a significant weight saving and easier for the crew to attatch them.

I can add safety issue here. Recent example from Janner is how dangerous can be if some of old lights is detached, it was blinding Kubica for some time.

They arent as good over distance but give a good spread beam.

I think there are even better, have watched AUDI's illumination at Le Mans, it is like daylight.
I also wonder how different would be in fog conditions like in MC this year.

[Mintexmemory]

Well on ES1 at Monte, Barrable was using them




Kremer wasn't - Not just fog performance but snow blinding might have been an issue as you can see