[eugene188]

Since the 1990's when many Asian (immigrant) kids started putting Xenon or HID lights in their cars, I always wondered what the ACTUAL purpose of them was. I know they are whiter, brighter and look cooler than the stock lights. But my question remains why do you NEED them?

I HATE having a rice rocket behind me during the night with those lights because its reflects off the rear view mirror like crazy.

I HATE having an oncoming car at night coming at me with those super bright lights because I can't see anything else.

Everywhere that I've seen cars with those lights in Canada, there was definitely enough street lighting. And if the street lights were a little lacking then thats what the headlights are for. Still not bright enough because you are in the countryside? Well...we have something called High beams which all cars should have.

So WHY do people install these super bright lights that blind all the drivers nearby? (They are not cheap either!)

Can somebody please explain this to me?

[neptune]

Probably the same reason why they can have mag wheels over steel wheels or twin exhausts over single exhausts.....because they can.....

[Phil №❶]

@eugene188,

HID lights use an arc or spark to create light. It is 4 times brighter than conventional lighting & obviously improves night time vision. However, they are not legal to be fitted in some countries, unless the car manufacturer fits them when the vehicle is built. This is because they also have to fit levelling devices to stop them pointing into on coming traffic if the car becomes unbalanced due to road conditions or loads (Trailers  /  Caravans or excess weight in the boot). IMO, they are dangerous & although I can't dispute the increased vision they provide, they are dangerous to oncoming traffic, which, if severely affected, could cause an accident.

I predict that LED lights will replace all other lighting systems due to their ruggedness, cheap to build, very low electrical load compared to all current lighting methods and run cooler than current lighting too. 

[eugene188]

I have never personally been in a car that had HID lights, but I do assume that they are brighter. However, almost all the cars i've seen them on are in urban areas which in my part of Canada means we have street lights. everytime a car like that comes at me I feel like flashing my high beams at them to tell them to turn off their HIDs ( ), but then I would blind the rest of the oncoming traffic too.

[Phil №❶]

Yes you would.

All I can suggest is that you do NOT look directly at the lights. The eye's retina has an increased sensitivity at the focal point of our lens. If you look at the gutter until the car has passed, you can stay on the road safely and not suffer temporary blindness.

[alexeiw123]

@eugene188,

I predict that LED lights will replace all other lighting systems due to their ruggedness, cheap to build, very low electrical load compared to all current lighting methods and run cooler than current lighting too. 

I read an article recently about some prototype cars that are testing LED headlights, was really interesting, opens up new thinking for car designers, no longer require two deep spaces for headlights, rather you can have bright light from many very small areas, and free up lots of space in the front of the car, allowing for more engine room, and improving crash performance even, wish I could remember where I read that.

[Phil №❶]

The top,top,top of the line Audi$200k +, has had them for 4 years, so it proves it is possible 

[RossC]

I have never personally been in a car that had HID lights, but I do assume that they are brighter. However, almost all the cars i've seen them on are in urban areas which in my part of Canada means we have street lights. everytime a car like that comes at me I feel like flashing my high beams at them to tell them to turn off their HIDs ( ), but then I would blind the rest of the oncoming traffic too.

In cars that have reflector headlights, it's down right dangerous to oncoming traffic due to the uncontrolled light blinding everyone, even on low beam.
In a car with projector headlights, the light is more controlled and is no where near as bright out towards the edges of the car. HID's are designed for projector headlights, but because theres so many cheap kits on ebay now ($30 delivered kinda cheap), every clown and his donkey are putting them in any old car..
When fitted though, the difference is day and night from halogen bulbs. They are good for a few thousand hours and burn a third less power as well.

[eugene188]

The only thing I have been able to do with these oncoming cars is just turn my eyes in the other direction so as little of the crazy brightness hits my eye while still keepying an eye on the road!

I could totally understand bright lights in the countryside where there are no lights at night and extra lighting just makes driving SOOOO much easier. But for most cars that stay in the city where it is pretty well lit?

Can't wait for LED lights to become more common, I know how super small and bright they can be. But I bet there will be people modifying them and changing their colours and all that. I just think it is a safety issue when people start messing with the colours. I had one douchebag change all the back lights to WHITE! during the day nobody could see him signalling his turns on the highway, and the fact that his driving style was crap made it so that he ended up cutting off pretty much every person when changing lanes!

[Just Rick]

eugene 188 I run both HID spots and xenon globes in both our I30's and I run all HID's and LED's in our old Commodore,simple reason for me is 95% of my driving is done in the darker hours of the day and I like to see whats in front of me,yes I know what your saying most people who fit these globes do it just for looks,biggest problem with these fitted globes,is people have not or do not get their headlights adjusted correctly,adjust correctly these lights are no worse than again poorly adjusted standard globes

[Just Rick]

forgot to mention also 95% of my driving is done on Rural roads

[snakoil]

I drive mostly very early when still pitch black and late at night
I've installed hid on my previous car and must say it is amazing
You see as well as in daylight, very nice to see bumps and imperfection on the street.
Notr that installing hid on regular headlights is stupid ad the beam is not properly directed and blinds people
Good thin our i30 have projector like headlamps with proper cutoff plates in them.
It will probably be in my list of things to do shortly

[eugene188]

cut off plates...i did notice that my lights would pretty much cut off at a certain height. I think my lights may be angled a little too low, good thing i read something about adjustment pins in the lights. Don't know if I will actually do them.

I can't wait until they start using LED lights more liberally. Even my 3-5W LED flashlights can easily project a bright beam about 100 meters if the lens is focused properly. And my flashlights cost me under $10. I bet you could even come up with a setup that uses only one LED that could be automatically adjusted to different distances depending on your driving conditions. Some kind of solenoid would make those adjustments almost immediately.

[snakoil]

The main issue with LED and laser for driving is because the light they emit is too focus. In driving application you need a big area in front as well as a bit on the side.  A bit of this was overcome by changing the placement of light in LED equipped car(wide line if les instead of round projector for bulbs)
However is the car was not designes for this it might look weird

[Dazzler]

The main issue with LED and laser for driving is because the light they emit is too focus. In driving application you need a big area in front as well as a bit on the side.  A bit of this was overcome by changing the placement of light in LED equipped car(wide line if les instead of round projector for bulbs)
However is the car was not designes for this it might look weird

What does your wife think about this 

[Doggie 1]

 

[Just Rick]

  Good ONYA Dazz very funny