For the glare police

[Hokiefyd]

Yeah, some are definitely better than others. The older Cadillac Escalades with factory reflector HIDs are particularly bad. I also see a lot of glare from older Nissan Maximas and Infinity QXes from their reflector HIDs. The older Acura TLs, with their reflector HIDs, don't seem to be nearly as bad. Toyota also had a run of reflector HIDs in Lexus ES cars and Avalons, and they seem okay, but still pretty bright (maybe a bit "glarey").

 

[Ursae_Majoris]

Originally Posted By: Ken2
Originally Posted By: Ursae_Majoris
I was followed by lifted up truck last evening, that had aftermarket HIDs in headlights and foglights. They were all on, at 5 o'clock at night with no hint of fog in the air. (BTW, the sun does not set until 10 in the evening at this time of the year in AK, in case you are wondering) I turned my rear view mirror on the night mode, and it still was bright.

Wouldn't it be great to have a kid in the back with a big mirror to reflect the truck's lights back into that driver's eyes? (I know, not smart nor safe, but maybe satisfying.)

Yep.

 

[rslifkin]

Chevrofreak - That's the way to do it. If you can tune the bulb's output pattern to work well with the housing it's in, you can put an HID in just about any housing without glare. Of course, projectors are often easier.

 

[TheTanSedan]

HID = ghetto glare

That light nimbus all seem to have are nothing but a pain for other traffic. I do a tremendous amount of night driving (work) and even the "factory" HID's are a problem. The cheap ones just stand out more (or unadjusted, etc). In the end they're not what they should be.

 

[rslifkin]

The big problem I see isn't so much factory HIDs, as much as factory headlights on cheap cars. At least one side is almost always misadjusted, even on pretty much brand new cars, so they're continually blinding people.

I've seen HID setups that are blinding, but when done right, they're fine. I tend to prefer the light output from a well-designed halogen reflector setup better for my own vehicles (HIDs are too white, I like the more yellow-ish light, and most projectors have poor usable range on low beam due to a giant light blob right in front of the vehicle, then nothing past that).