Electronics, Lighting, & Gadgets - How many lumens on car's headlights?

On average, how many lumens does a car headlamp has?

For a Sylvania 9004 dual-filament halogen, I see Sylvania rates them about 700 on low, 1200 on high beam (per bulb). But some of their dedicated high-beam-only bulbs kick out 1700 lumens ( http://www.sylvania.com/ConsumerProducts/AutomotiveLighting/Products/Halogen/StandardHalogenProducts/ ).

Factor a very large reflector into the equation to make efficient use of it, too. Hope that helped :)

Auto HID capsules will produce in excess of 3000 lumen, but that's at 35W and I don't know if that's each or per pair. HIR bulbs are good for 2500 lumen each at 65W, so I'm thinking that HID are 3000 each as well. I have both in my car. :D

3,000 is probably per pair if you assume ~40 lumens/watt
40 lumens * 35 watts = 1,400. So, a single car headlight is about as bright as a Betty

Metal halide HID is ~80 lumens/watt or higher for high-wattage applications. Even Lupine's HID lights hit 60. 3000/side is for a 35W light, so that's ~85 lumens/watt, which is about right.

You are correct. I didn't realize you meant Metal Halide as opposed to HID; are car manufacturers using them?

HID [High Intensity Discharge], can be based on Metal Halide, Sodium or Mercury vapor. Metal halide [or at the very least, halide salts] are used in cars, commercial and residential fixtures. Pot growers like them because they give off less heat than halogen, provide higher lumen/watt and approximate sunlight better. :) Sodium and mercury-based lights don't offer the same light quality. Different manufacturers make different capsules with different lumen ratings. For example, a Phillips D2S 85122+ puts out 3200 lumen per capsule @ 4300K and 35W. A lot of that light gets lost in the projector, so what the eye sees is significantly diminished. I have 35W HID in my car and yes, they are spooky bright. It is very difficult to outdrive them. Newer D4S capsules are over 4000 lumen, with some 50W systems getting beyond 5000 lumen/capsule.

HID is fortunately on cars illegal here. Although you will still see ricers sporting them occasionally.

What, in Canada? No sir. It's standard equipment on many European brands these days, as well as the Japanese luxury brands. It's illegal to do aftermarket retrofit of HID into cars in the US [unless it's for "offroad" or "show" purposes], but there is no equivalent restriction in Canada.

Yes, ricers = aftermarket.