Tech Talk

Driving safer in the dark with Viper light bars

Australian automotive-lighting manufacturer Lightforce has launched its new range of Viper Light Bars.

The Viper range is offered in a variety of configurations to meet all automotive needs, from weekend adventure and hunting through to commercial long-haul road transport.

It’s claimed to offer unrivalled capability, sleek design, easier installation, improved features and a performance improvement of 25 per cent compared to previous models – all with 25 per cent less weight and a recommended retail price (RRP) up to 40 per cent lower than the previous generation.

Lightforce has been at the forefront of automotive and hunting lighting for more than 35 years and exports its products to more than 50 countries internationally.

The introduction of the Viper range follows several years of state-of-the-art research and development by Lightforce’s experienced in-house engineers and designers, who were tasked with producing a range of LED light bars as formidable as its namesake.

Lightforce product manager Haydn Ryan said the design of the Viper range was a real head-turner.

“The new design has that ‘factory’ look we feel that our customers are asking for,” said Ryan. “The entire range is slimmer, lighter and beautifully designed, elegant yet rugged and incredibly capable at the same time. We have worked with our partners from over- seas to ensure a premium product.”

The Viper range not only looks good due to a screwless, modern front-bezel design but is claimed to deliver best-in- class performance thanks to an average increase in light output of 25 per cent.

At the bottom end of the range, the modest 6-inch Single Row Viper Light Bar produces a thoroughly impressive beam length of up to 256m at one lux and it only gets better with other light-bar configurations in the range, which include both single-row and dual-row configurations claimed to offer industry leading visibility.

The 20-inch Single Row Viper Light Bar, expected to be popular with weekend ad- venturers, offers a beam length of 562m at one lux, 160m more than its predecessor.

At the heavy-duty end of the range, the 50-inch Dual Row Viper Light Bar’s capability stretches just beyond a kilometre at 1065m. The range also includes a 6-inch and 10-inch single-row amber light bar designed for dusty conditions or camping environments. The amber colour reduces the amount of bugs and insects when outdoors compared to a white LED.

Ryan said improved safety was another key goal during the development of the Viper range. “Each light bar projects a reduced 5500k colour temperature, which is associated with better all-round visibility and reduced driver fatigue. The reduced colour temperature also means there is less glare and reflection against road signs and in foggy and dewy driving conditions, which can make boosted illumination unpleasant in some circumstances. The Viper range is a real pleasure to use,” he explained.

Rugged usability has also been enhanced through a marinegrade powdercoat finish courtesy of the industry-leading AkzoNobel application, which is tested to Australian standard AS1580 and therefore UV resistant and impervious to salt spray. The polycarbonate lens is also claimed to make Viper light bars less prone to scratching and dam- age than other light bars.

Lightforce said it focused extensively on installation factors when developing the new bars. Each Viper light bar comes with its own free ‘smart harness’, which comprises a unique bridge rectifier.

“This is a unique feature that allows our Viper range to be fitted more easily to even the most recently introduced vehicle models,” said Ryan. “The harness also has an eight-pin switch connector, making it super easy to plug and play into a range of vehicle-specific Lightforce switches for that very popular factory look, which is what we have achieved in the entirety of the range’s design.”

The Viper range includes 304-grade stainless-steel side brackets – an improvement on the mild-steel units used by some light bars. All Viper light bars feature Osram Oslon LEDs and are waterproof to one metre, having been fitted with a genuine Gore breath- er. Radio interference is also significantly reduced, which is ideal for AM or UHF radio users.

The Viper Light Bar range is available now.

For more information, contact Lightforce on 1800 030 308, email sales@lightforce.com or head to au.lightforce.com.

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