lespaul1021
Newly Enlightened
- Joined
- Nov 16, 2015
- Messages
- 18
Watching the news this morning I saw a report of the IIHS testing headlaml performance on new cars. You can find an article here- http://www.iihs.org/iihs/sr/statusreport/article/51/3/1.
They test around 30 new midsize cars and give ratings based on high and low beam approximate seeing distance based on distance of a 5 lux measurement. They are somewhat vague on the details but say they are measured on straight and curved approach vectors with high and low beams with more weight given to straight line distance and low beams. They say they measure for excessive glare on low beams bit I don't see and specifics on how. They also test the performance of auto beam switching and curve adaptive lamp systems but not much detail is given. Also they do NOT check for optimal aim , instead testing how they come from the factory. They say because most consumers will not have the aim checked and they should come properly aimed from the factory for this reason.
The only lamps to recieve a good rating were the optional led lamps on the new prius. They say the worst performing are the bmw 3 series halogens and give a great deal of cars marginal to poor ratings ( with the best available option of lights installed).
Personally I am happy to see any attention brought to the state of headlamp performance and while I am not sure if their test methods are the best ( particularly the 5lux threshold and the lack of optimal aim) I would really like to hear what others think about this?
They test around 30 new midsize cars and give ratings based on high and low beam approximate seeing distance based on distance of a 5 lux measurement. They are somewhat vague on the details but say they are measured on straight and curved approach vectors with high and low beams with more weight given to straight line distance and low beams. They say they measure for excessive glare on low beams bit I don't see and specifics on how. They also test the performance of auto beam switching and curve adaptive lamp systems but not much detail is given. Also they do NOT check for optimal aim , instead testing how they come from the factory. They say because most consumers will not have the aim checked and they should come properly aimed from the factory for this reason.
The only lamps to recieve a good rating were the optional led lamps on the new prius. They say the worst performing are the bmw 3 series halogens and give a great deal of cars marginal to poor ratings ( with the best available option of lights installed).
Personally I am happy to see any attention brought to the state of headlamp performance and while I am not sure if their test methods are the best ( particularly the 5lux threshold and the lack of optimal aim) I would really like to hear what others think about this?