CR: LED Headlights vs Halogen Headlights

Originally Posted by eljefino
Cars need reflector size. You can't fake optics. Pretty much all headlights take a backseat to style and aero considerations.

My 1st generation saturn had the best (halogen) "Guide" headlights I've ever had in any car.


Huh??

Out of those 4 sentences, I only understand 1 of them (2nd one). I can read the words in the other sentences, but putting them together to express thoughts/facts/etc fails for me.

Maybe I'm about to have a stroke or something
 
Originally Posted by The_Nuke
Originally Posted by eljefino
Cars need reflector size. You can't fake optics. Pretty much all headlights take a backseat to style and aero considerations.

My 1st generation saturn had the best (halogen) "Guide" headlights I've ever had in any car.


Huh??

Out of those 4 sentences, I only understand 1 of them (2nd one). I can read the words in the other sentences, but putting them together to express thoughts/facts/etc fails for me.

Maybe I'm about to have a stroke or something


His points were:

1) Reflector size is important for headlamp performance. True.

2) Headlamp performance is often ignored in favor of styling and aerodynamic/fuel economy concerns. True.

3) He feels that his Saturn (which model?), which had lamps made by a division of GM (later turned independent company) called "Guide Light," were really good.
 
When I read articles comparing headlights, I very rarely see mentioned this little tidbit that I've observed. Black roads, wet roads; night or day but night is worse. The road soaks up the light.

I own a Lexus with the Bi-Xenon HID's, a Lexus with the LED's, and an older halogen Lexus. The LED and Xenon are "whiter" than the halogens and brighter with the LED's being the whitest and cutoff much more sharp than the xenons. However, when driving either the LED or Xenon vehicles on a black road or wet road, the light gets soaked up into the road making it incredibly difficult to see. Something about the white light soaks into the road. The halogen being more yellow doesn't have this issue.
 
Originally Posted by bbhero
Originally Posted by rooflessVW
LED headlamps are the new norm and thus, are / will be repairable.

Bake the light, remove the lens, change the LED, and seal it back up. Only those that can't DIY will pay the big bucks, same as it is now.

High dollar headlights are nothing new. HIDs have been self leveling since their inception - ever price out one of those?



My HIDs are $200 plus tax.... From AAP and AZ...

Dealership $420 plus tax...

For bulbs. Not the leveling assembly and housing.
 
Originally Posted by rooflessVW
Well then stay in the past.

I'm quite happy with my LED lighting, and I don't anticipate any trouble from them. If they fail, I will repair them.


Who are we kidding? Sealed beam halogens were clearly the best since you just replace the whole thing.
lol.gif
 
"..."We've found that with LEDs and HIDs, manufacturers are having a hard time balancing casting enough light down the road without causing glare to oncoming drivers because of their intensity,"


Definitely true. It's why a lot of newcomers to HID/LED complain about the short throw of their lights.
 
Originally Posted by rooflessVW
Originally Posted by bbhero
Originally Posted by rooflessVW
LED headlamps are the new norm and thus, are / will be repairable.

Bake the light, remove the lens, change the LED, and seal it back up. Only those that can't DIY will pay the big bucks, same as it is now.

High dollar headlights are nothing new. HIDs have been self leveling since their inception - ever price out one of those?



My HIDs are $200 plus tax.... From AAP and AZ...

Dealership $420 plus tax...

For bulbs. Not the leveling assembly and housing.



Ahh yeah... No doubt... The housing for my car $800 a piece...
 
Originally Posted by rooflessVW
LED headlamps are the new norm and thus, are / will be repairable.
Bake the light, remove the lens, change the LED, and seal it back up. Only those that can't DIY will pay the big bucks, same as it is now.
High dollar headlights are nothing new. HIDs have been self leveling since their inception - ever price out one of those?


Oh I'm sure the aftermarket will eventually come up with solutions especially for the highest volume cars. But it'll be a $300 set of replacement aftermarket assemblies. As there's most likely not a lot of repair shops nor customers who can wait 3-4 days for their headlights to be removed, overnight-couriered to a refurbishment facility, and couriered back. Given that plastics are used, which are subject to road and UV damage (even better current-generation plastics), its not very likely that customers will accept the traditional paradigm of receiving someone's refurbished core and sending back a core for refurbishment.

Plus its just one more item on the car that will accelerate losses on the car if there's an accident.
 
Originally Posted by rooflessVW
Well then stay in the past.

I'm quite happy with my LED lighting, and I don't anticipate any trouble from them. If they fail, I will repair them.

Fair enough. I've never priced out these more fancy light options; then again, I've avoided them so far. I buy cheap cars and as a result, the parts seem to stay cheap.
smile.gif
 
Quote
in our headlight tests, we've seen that neither LED nor HID low-beam headlights consistently illuminate more of the road ahead than halogens do. The poorer performers among all headlight types don't reach the 300-foot mark.


Like the article mentions this is partly or all due to the leveling of LED and HID lights. In "low beam" or normal lights, there is a sharp cutoff to prevent blinding other drivers. The light output in projector LED and HID lights must be far superior to halogens (espesically reflector housings). But due to that sharp cutoff it seems like the lights don't go as far in low beam form. At the same time a halogen that casts light further in low beam form would almost have to be blinding oncoming drivers. So its always going to be a balance. I know which I'd rather have when I switch the high beams on though - HID or LED.
 
Originally Posted by DHjr
When I read articles comparing headlights, I very rarely see mentioned this little tidbit that I've observed. Black roads, wet roads; night or day but night is worse. The road soaks up the light.

I own a Lexus with the Bi-Xenon HID's, a Lexus with the LED's, and an older halogen Lexus. The LED and Xenon are "whiter" than the halogens and brighter with the LED's being the whitest and cutoff much more sharp than the xenons. However, when driving either the LED or Xenon vehicles on a black road or wet road, the light gets soaked up into the road making it incredibly difficult to see. Something about the white light soaks into the road. The halogen being more yellow doesn't have this issue.



That is very true. Hence, some people use yellow fog lights to improve the visibility.
 
Years ago there was an engineering article that stated and showed how projector headlamp assemblies always were more efficient than any reflector could be. My boss had a 2010 range Rover with auto level hid headlights. I dont care what consumer reports says they blow away distance abd width of any halogen set up on any vehicle I've ever driven.
 
However, when driving either the LED or Xenon vehicles on a black road or wet road, the light gets soaked up into the road making it incredibly difficult to see. Something about the white light soaks into the road. The halogen being more yellow doesn't have this issue.

That right there is my observation as well. They are really worthless when it snows or rains.
 
My LED headlamps illuminate in inclement weather significantly better than any halogen bulb that I’ve had. I’ve always had trouble seeing wet blacktop with halogen beams not so with the stock LEDs on my Toyota.
 
Originally Posted by rooflessVW
Originally Posted by bbhero
Originally Posted by rooflessVW
LED headlamps are the new norm and thus, are / will be repairable.

Bake the light, remove the lens, change the LED, and seal it back up. Only those that can't DIY will pay the big bucks, same as it is now.

High dollar headlights are nothing new. HIDs have been self leveling since their inception - ever price out one of those?



My HIDs are $200 plus tax.... From AAP and AZ...

Dealership $420 plus tax...

For bulbs. Not the leveling assembly and housing.



Ahh yeah... No doubt... The housing for my car $800 a piece...
Mine auto level and list for about 2k each at the dealer but online they're discounted to about $1200. Can get them at rockauto for about $620 and on eBay used ones are $300-$450. They also have active curve illumination so they also swivel about 12 degrees right or left depending on the angle of the steering wheel. But no night vision.

 
Mine auto level and list for about 2k each at the dealer but online they're discounted to about $1200. Can get them at rockauto for about $620 and on eBay used ones are $300-$450. They also have active curve illumination so they also swivel about 12 degrees right or left depending on the angle of the steering wheel. But no night vision.

I have an old W211 MB with Bi xenon Active curve light and I love em. Never had an issue. When I drive wife's Sienna with halogen bulbs, I feel like I am driving my Dad's Hillman car.
 
I have an old W211 MB with Bi xenon Active curve light and I love em. Never had an issue. When I drive wife's Sienna with halogen bulbs, I feel like I am driving my Dad's Hillman car.

The list price on the W211 headlamps have come down, around $1000 now, used to be around $1500, they're still about $540 on rockauto though. They seem to lower the price of parts as the car ages. Mine are still the original bulb. I guess at one point I should probably get new ones, they might become slightly brighter.
 
The list price on the W211 headlamps have come down, around $1000 now, used to be around $1500, they're still about $540 on rockauto though. They seem to lower the price of parts as the car ages. Mine are still the original bulb. I guess at one point I should probably get new ones, they might become slightly brighter.
They definitely will. As HID’s age, they start creeping up in color turning more blue while getting dimmer. On my old Durango it had what I presume were the factory 4 year old HID bulbs which are supposed to be 4150k in color. They were bluer than the replacement Osram CBI’s at 6000k!
 
It's notoriously hard to measure but the spectral reflectance of asphalt is lowest as you tend towards the violet end of the spectrum. That's why bluish light is the worst.
 
CR is plain wrong on this one.I own a 2019 Toyota Camry with LED headlights.They are the best I have owned,period.Vertically the beam has a very defined cutoff,they are wide horizontally and have a much longer distance.The high beams really throw the light a long way.I'm 67 and as you age your night vision deteriorates and I appreciate the safety these light offer.
 
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