IN OUR GARAGE - Let There Be More Light!

With The OSRAM Light Bar VX1000-CB SM

A while back I borrowed an Isuzu D-Max, it was the V-Cross version and the PR team had gone a bit wild with the option list and fitted it with multiple LED driving lamps.

I’m glad they did, because after finding myself on a rather gnarly and twisty green lane in the North Yorkshire moors in pitch blackness, the light bars did an awesome job of not just illuminating the terrain ahead, but pretty much everything in my peripheral vision.

This little tale brings me straight onto my VX1000-CB SM that OSRAM offered to send me a while back. Anyhow, quite a few months later, after a few subtle nudges from OSRAM (sorry Hayley!), I decided to take another look. It wasn’t until I was out measuring the bar again for another bracket that I’d found, that I noticed a shorter channel underneath the bar.

The problem was fitting it, I spent ages trying to locate a proper pair of brackets that would fit my Thule Aero bars, but to no avail. The frustrating part was, there’s actually a channel that runs along the top of the Aero bar that I could have attached it to, but that would have meant not being able to use the bars to carry stuff, like Winona, our open canoe.

It actually took me longer to find the key for the Thule bar than it did removing it from Deux Smurf and jumping for joy realising that that’s where it would fit.

So, long story short, after making sure the VX1000 was securely fitted, I embarked on a few long and fast journeys to make sure it didn’t ‘whistle’. Satisfied with the lack of noise I then booked her in with my mechanic for a few jobs, including getting his electrician to wire it up.

There were two points about attaching a large light bar on the roof that folks warned me about, one was the noise it could make, and the second was how it could reflect badly on the bonnet. I had already eliminated the whistling noise, and because the Thule bar is fitted roughly in the centre of the front doors, it’s so far back that there’s no reflection on the bonnet - a double win.

Another benefit to fitting it under the Aero bar is that it’s also quite stealthy, too, even close up you don’t really notice its presence.

So, how does it perform?

The first time I switched it on I actually swore out loud, it was the difference between night and day! I won't have to carry those wooden stakes around any more, vampires will be heading straight for their coffins with this switched on.

With 36 powerful, high-performance OSRAM long-life LEDs, the VX1000-CB SM has a range of up to 525 metres that gives me an impressive view of what’s ahead, both on and off-road. In fact, it isn’t just the distance that it lights up, but with a curved reflector design it also does an excellent job of both near and peripheral vision.

When I drove Deux Smurf on to the field behind my house to take some photos for this article it was pitch black (no, it doesn't look like it, but that's the cool witchcraft of the iPhone 14), Muddy Madam was sat in the kitchen doing her thang on the computer.

When I came back in, and told her what I'd been up to, she said she already knew exactly where I had been, because when I had put the lightbar on I had inadvertantly lit up our kitchen, and probably the neighbour's too. Whoops.

Here are some of of the VX1000’s unique selling points:

• 36 high-performance long-life LEDs provide conditions similar to daylight

• up to 6000 lumens.

• up to 5000 hours of long service life

• an aluminium housing and polycarbonate lens

• lightweight and at the same time robust.

• tested and validated with the IP-Protection Class IP67.

• an integrated driver and the thermal management system regulate its temperature,to prevent damage from overheating

Overall I’m more than impressed, the only problem now is, with the amount of light it creates, I want it switched on every time I go out at night - a trip to the shops, nipping to the cinema, visiting secluded car parks....sorry, I meant driving along dark lanes - it’s addictive!

price: currently £236.33 at amazon.co.uk more at » www.osram.com