New Swedish tech: Rayzer lamps
These might be of interest some of the rural country-dwellers out there. They might be of interest to Saab, too. I’d be happy if they licenced this technology and put them on the options list, though they’d have to work on the price a little.
Visualeyes is a Swedish company and their first product is the Rayzer lighting system. They premiered this new system at the SEMA show in the US last year and it was very well received. Now they’re going into production.
The Rayzer lighting system is intended to provide the same sort of function as the driving lights mounted on the bumpers of rally cars, etc. Modern car design doesn’t always make the fitment of those lights practical or visually appealing today, hence the development of the Rayzer system (by former race driver, Lars Svelander).
Instead of being outside the car where they’re difficult to mount, prone to dirt, stonechips and theft, the Rayzer lights are flush-mounted inside the car against the windscreen, fitting in just behind your rear view mirror. The high-mounted position allows for very effective illumination of the road and shoulder ahead.
The dual lamps are HID Xenons and they are wirelessly connected to your vehicle’s high-beam switch. When they sense oncoming traffic, they switch off automatically. How cool is that?
Visualeyes have produced a short video showing the lamps in use, and you can read more about Rayzer system - a Swedish invention - by checking out their website.
At US$1,270 they aren’t cheap, but they certainly look to be effective and the functionality that’s been built in to them seems quite impressive.
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How insanely cool would those look on a new Saab 9-3 in unison with the EyeBrow lights?!!!
I think I saw a picture and an article about this one year ago - they demonstrated it on an X-5
I read about it a few months ago in Swedish press. I think it gonna sell like crazy. If you live in a climat like that one in Sweden, it is a really good idea.
Even at that price, ctm? From memory they’re around 7,000skr. I was reading about them and thinking “wow” (as in ‘great’) until I saw the price and then I thought “WOW!!!” (as in ‘holy crap!’)
I’d have thought maybe half that price, at most.
Functionally speaking, they definitely look brilliant.
Swade,
The price will be a bit lower later on, I think. But a pair of ordinary Hella xenon lamps costs almost the same. Also, remember that good expensive lamps mounted at the front can easily be stolen on parking lots or damaged (by gravel etc.) on the bad roads. Mounted inside the car, the are protected from that. And then the extra benefit from not messing up the cars design.
So yes, I think they would sell even at that price. The only question mark is when EU will allow LEDs for use as headlights. When that revolution start, it gonna change the whole way cars are designed. You could have the whole front of the car filled with LEDs, that are automatically adjusted to the traffic, weather, speed, and so on.
Definately a great solution for those of us that drive in rural areas. I have my 9-5 inboard highbeam halogens set up to work with my highbeam xenons. So with this combination, I have a nice bright, wide spread of light with the xenons and the halogens are more of a pencil beam illuminating farther down the road. Incredibly more effective than just the xenon highbeams and is very similar to what the Rayzer light does. In addition, it only cost me $6 and less than 10 minutes of time.
In the USA this set up is not DOT approved for some reason. Maybe for fear of completly blinding oncoming cars? Not anything different than the SUVs on the road. Plus I am an attentive and responsible driver, so this has not been an issue with me. But the increase in safety is the priority for me and I have potentially saved many deer, turkeys and other potential road kill so my conscience is clear.
Could also be useful for fast melting of morning ice on the windshield.
In most places in the US, high mounted lights that aren’t covered while on public roads are not legal — I suspect that’s the issue. High mounted meaning anything above the hood line I think. I know folks who have put aux lights on a roof rack for rallying have been hassled for having them uncovered during transits, and many event rules explicitly disallow high mounted lights.
I like the concept of these but doubt they will ever make it legally here in the US.