Team-BHP - Chevy Cruze - Front Camera, Rear Camera, and Stronger White Headlamps?

Hi everyone..

We have a Chevrolet Cruze LTZ and I'm interested in adding the following to it.

1. A reverse (rear) back-up camera with visual distance indication on the left and right.
2. A front camera right at the bumper in front, also with visual distance indication.
3. Stronger, better White headlamps. I'm quite dissatisfied with the stock headlamps on the Cruze. Often while driving at night, it becomes necessary to use the flash to pass frequently or even the fog lamps sometimes, to illuminate the road.

A problem with using the rear camera as a front camera is that the image is laterally inverted. This is nicely illustrated here: Rear View Backup Camera Help - Standard or Mirror Image Camera?. Are there any front cameras available in India?

Garmin has recently released a new PND called the NUVI 2565LM, which comes with an optional Driving Recorder. But this consists of a CMOS camera which is mounted right inside the car behind the dashboard. It is more for recording videos of where one is going. I don't think the camera's form factor will allow it to be mounted discreetly in the front bumper below the grill on the Cruze.

A front camera seems to be useful when crawling in bumper to bumper traffic though it can be a distraction otherwise.

Suggestions and discussions are welcome!

Quote:

Originally Posted by darthvader (Post 2527959)

1. A reverse (rear) back-up camera with visual distance indication on the left and right.
2. A front camera right at the bumper in front, also with visual distance indication.

You can have a camera at the back, but a camera on the front? A rear camera can be installed near the numberplate as that is a rather flat surface. The front of most vehicles is at an incline so fitting it into the bonnet may be difficult. If you fit a camera into the bumper, you wouldn't be able to see how far obstacles are in relation to the vehicle. You camera should be setup such that you are able to see at least a part of the bumper. I'd advise you to simply get parking sensors for the front as they can be fitted right within the bumper.

Quote:

Originally Posted by darthvader (Post 2527959)

3. Stronger, better White headlamps. I'm quite dissatisfied with the stock headlamps on the Cruze. Often while driving at night, it becomes necessary to use the flash to pass frequently or even the fog lamps sometimes, to illuminate the road.

If you drive frequently at night, I would advise you to invest in a pair of auxiliary lamps. The Hella 550 fog lights will serve your purpose.

Quote:

Originally Posted by darthvader (Post 2527959)

A front camera seems to be useful when crawling in bumper to bumper traffic though it can be a distraction otherwise.

After about a month of driving in bumper-to-bumper traffic, you'll be able to judge the distance better. Besides, you are adviced to keep sufficient distance from the vehicle ahead of you because most Indian vehicles have a manual transmission and there's a tendency that the vehicle in front will move backward toward you unexpectedly.

Thanks Nitin. Let me clarify my requirement vis a vis a front camera though...

I already have reverse parking sensors installed (ultrasonic distance measurement based). As far as reverse parking (or reversing) is concerned, a live video stream of the rear with overlay of distance information on the left and right is what I'm looking for.

For the front, in bumper to bumper traffic and sometimes more so while parking against a flush wall in a crowded location, it would be preferable to also have a live video stream of the front of the vehicle -- through a camera sitting right at the bumper in front, underneath the grill perhaps. In addition, it would help to also have distance information overlaid on screen just like some rear parking kits do.

In principle, I could just hook up a second rear parking camera for this purpose, but the image will be laterally inverted, which I don't want for front view. The secondary problem of connecting it to the reverse gear will not arise, and the video stream will be perpetually active which is fine.

Finally regarding the headlamps, the fog lamps of the Cruze are sufficient, but the stock headlamps in the high beam configuration (and consequently also the low beam) are quite insufficient because their range is very limited. For instance, it is often difficult to spot cyclists or pedestrians from a distance. Also, the default beam brightness isn't too good either, and so it doesn't seem to make much impact on fast moving oncoming vehicles :)

I was thinking of High Intensity Discharge (HID)..any suggestions regarding this? I have been doing some research about HID, and while I've seen them of late a lot on Indian roads (though mostly on Audis), I don't know if they're completely legal. The local RTO and Chevy dealers seem to concur that they are, so I guess its safe.

I am interested in better headlamps too, but am not in favour of fitting very bright HIDs that might blind on coming traffic. I just want a powerful low beam normal headlamps to give me sufficient line of visibility on the highway.

I have fit the following in my Cruze:
* Custom Dead Pedal (I use it even in city traffic).
* Removable Front Right Armrest. I don't like to share the stock driver armrest that came with the Cruze as it is too small and the front passenger's right arm does hinder my gear play.
* After market horn.
* Greenish 3M Crystalline tints all around.
* CPC2 Tyre including spare wheel.

Planned:
* Headlamps as mentioned.
* ICE with twin LCDs at the back.
* Nappa leather seats or something to make the rear more comfortable for the elderly.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SedatedDrive (Post 2531145)

Manual Transmission. stupid:

Off-topic, but why would you want a dead pedal with manual transmission? Just to relax your legs? :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by SedatedDrive

Headlamps... I have not decided which one yet. What is your suggestion?

I don't know yet, I asked the dealer to look around for me. Not many people seem to have done these mods. All I know is that the entire beam assembly has to be changed for HID. Using a HID conversion kit is a bad idea. Read this page: Daniel Stern Lighting Consultancy and Supply

Quote:

Originally Posted by SedatedDrive (Post 2531178)

Have you considered projector lamps?

No, but offhand I can think of a few reasons why I'd want to avoid them:

1. They tend to get very hot. That's why modern projectors have heavy duty fans and air cooling systems.

2. I am not certain that the ampere-hour rating and the power consumption will be in sync with the car's electrical power distribution system.

3. They are not designed to function as headlamps for a car and one may have to mess around with the reflectors to get the beam to the standards expected for good headlights.

Quote:

Originally Posted by darthvader

Who told u this???
Projector headlamps are very effecient and offer great lighting. I have been using them on my Verna for the past two years now.
Why do u think all high end cars like BMWs, Mercs and Audis have projectors as OE.

Quote:

Originally Posted by darthvader (Post 2531173)

The best option would be to go for projectors. A good set will cost you somewhere around 18K. The brightness is very good.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hummer.Rulez (Post 2531202)

Intriguing. Are you saying the same bulbs are installed in overhead projectors? I have played around with these things and I know that they get very very hot and are very expensive to replace...at least in projectors. So, perhaps we're not talking about the same 'projector' lamps. Projectors typically come with fans and heat sinks located close to the reflectors, to cut the heat. The electronic circuits inside produce far less heat obviously. I didn't know about their application to car beams though...thanks for the information.

Audis and BMWs (maybe not in India) come with HID as standard accessories..at least in the US. I don't know about Mercedes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by shekhar_gogoi

The best option would be to go for projectors. A good set will cost you somewhere around 18K. The brightness is very good.

By set, do you mean a pair of two? For the front headlamps, HID costs about Rs. 12,000 a pair according to my dealer.

EDIT: I see the source of the confusion. The projector headlamps you folks are referring to are described here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headlam...oidal.29_lamps. They are only called projector lamps because they are polyellipsoidal. But they are exclusively for automobiles. Thanks again! Now we just have to compare these to HID lamps.

Quote:

Originally Posted by darthvader (Post 2531356)

Which ones do you recommend, and where can we get them in India?

I have been considering projector setup for my punto for sometime and found the below part to be a good match, I will put these on my car next month

Ballasts - Matsushita Gen IV
Bulbs - Phillips Ultinon 6K
CCFL Angel eyes
Projectors - Bi-xenon FX-R 1.1
Shrouds - E46-R(extended)

I am going to order online here Bi-xenon FX-R Stage IV Kit - Complete Retrofit Kits from The Retrofit Source Inc

I know one person who does the fixing.

You can consider these products.