IIHS test of headlamp performance

[SubLGT]

Just a tidbit from the IIHS test protocol:

"...Headlights are tested as received from the dealer. Although many headlight problems could be resolved by adjusting the aim of the lamps, IIHS doesn't change headlight aim. Few vehicle owners adjust the vertical aim of their headlights, so leaving the aim the way it was set at the factory makes the testing more realistic. Horizontal aim also is important, but in most vehicles it can't be changed after the initial factory setting.
Readings are taken 10 inches from the ground for visibility and 3 feet, 7 inches from the ground for glare…"

 

[Bill Idaho]

I would like to see what the results showed which vehicle as being the "best". (Car, pickup, SUV, and even motorcycle)

 

[-Virgil-]

This is interesting, I have been complaining about the headlights on my 2014 Wrangler since I bought it. I know Jeep has a large aftermarket following, but I don't want to have to buy aftermarket headlights as soon as I buy a vehicle.

Your choices are to buy better headlamps or keep living with the poor factory items. If you choose to buy better headlamps, shop carefully and consult a bona fide expert; there are tons of offerings on the market, all hyped as an "upgrade", most of which are junk,.

The F150 has an option for factory HIDs?

The previous-generation F150 did, yes. The new one has base halogens or optional LEDs.

 

[SubLGT]

Some interesting articles about the IIHS tests, one from John Bullough and one from NY Times.

http://newsroom.taylorandfrancisgro...adlights-increase-driving-safety#.V6LCV-mmReV

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15502724.2016.1204798

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/15/a...you-new-tests-blame-your-headlights.html?_r=0

 

[SubLGT]

The pickup truck ratings have been released:
http://www.iihs.org/iihs/news/desktopnews/most-pickup-trucks-have-poor-headlights-iihs-tests-show

Of the 23 tested combinations of truck/headlights, 14 had excessive glare.
The F150 LED headlights had both excessive glare and inadequate illumination.

 

[MTerrence]

The pickup truck ratings have been released:
http://www.iihs.org/iihs/news/desktopnews/most-pickup-trucks-have-poor-headlights-iihs-tests-show

Of the 23 tested combinations of truck/headlights, 14 had excessive glare.
The F150 LED headlights had both excessive glare and inadequate illumination.

Sad! No wonder truck drivers are always monkeying around with their headlights and ill-advised modifications - in spite of their natural mounting height advantage, they still can't get the job done. On some of these models, too, the high beams are darned near useless.

 

[Alaric Darconville]

The F150 LED headlights had both excessive glare and inadequate illumination.

I wish I were surprised, but Ford's been a bit dim when it comes to headlamps. They've done some headlamp blunders (then again, they ALL have) but Ford's come up with some doozies (mostly because they optimize for low cost and long life from halogen-based lamps. Now they optimise for not caring at all about performance so long as the switch makes the lights come on with these LED lamps.

 

[Magio]

Sad! No wonder truck drivers are always monkeying around with their headlights and ill-advised modifications - in spite of their natural mounting height advantage, they still can't get the job done. On some of these models, too, the high beams are darned near useless.

Agreed. The highbeams added absolute no addition illumination on the Silverado. Im no headlight engineer but I really don't think it's that hard to make a highbeam that shines further than the lowbeam and still be compliant. Just looks like sloppy engineering combined with poor aim to me.

In some of the headlights even reaiming them won't help as the beams have no reach yet still manage to produce excessive glare. If you aim the lights higher to see farther it seems the glare will also increase even more. You would have taken 2 steps forward and 2 steps back.

 

[SubLGT]

Does excellent headlight design really cost an automobile manufacturer that much more than mediocre design, that it becomes prohibitive?

 

[fastgun]

The recent tests rated headlights with "good" being the best.
So far Toyota Prius V and Honda Ridgeline have received a "good" rating.
In the current new vehicle market, both of these vehicle costs would qualify as being near average.
Some vehicles costing much are more rated much worse.

reading a 2017 Toyota report that said something along the lines of....perfected headlights on this model. I found this an interesting point to bring up.
Normally the only discussion that the rags talk about is the new LED or what ever technology. I am glad that the headlight quality is finally brought up.

 

[KXA]

Does excellent headlight design really cost an automobile manufacturer that much more than mediocre design, that it becomes prohibitive?

It shouldn't. It's about the Wall (Mart) Street mentality. Maximum profits for as little effort as possible. AKA, greed.

 

[Magio]

Perhaps the most astonishing thing from these test is that people's subjective impressions of vehicles headlights have been remarkably accurate, and also probably explains why HID kits and the like are so popular and why they wont be going away anytime soon. Its the OEM manufactures skimping on lifesaving equipment deliberately, in a large portion of the time, that's driving people to do unsafe things to their headlights in effort to improve them. There are some people who are just idiots out there, but, it is my opinion that most people that seek to modify their headlights to increase their ability to see at night have good reason to want to do so. If headlights were actually good, and provided great illumination the drive to modify headlights would drop substantially. OEM's can thank themselves for this problem.

This quote from IIHS chief research officers sticks in my head.

"If you're having trouble seeing behind the wheel at night, it could very well be your headlights and not your eyes that are to blame," says David Zuby, IIHS executive vice president and chief research officer.

 

[-Virgil-]

Perhaps the most astonishing thing from these test is that people's subjective impressions of vehicles headlights have been remarkably accurate

No, they really have not. That conclusion cannot realistically or reasonably be drawn from anything the IIHS has published about specific headlamp systems' performance.

Its the OEM manufactures skimping on lifesaving equipment deliberately

This also cannot reasonably or realistically be concluded from anything the IIHS has published.

The results IIHS has been publishing are very educational, for sure, but the lessons they contain are not "Hey, yeah! Everyone who's been complaining is exactly right, all these headlights suck!".

The best-backed conclusion by this data is that headlamp aim is extremely crucial to glare output and seeing distance from a set of headlamps, and a whole lot of headlamps are not optimally (or just plain badly) aimed. Please refer back to post #24 in this thread and the data analysis done by one of the USA's foremost vehicle headlighting researchers, John Bullough (read his analysis here).

Once you understand that crucial context for these results, then you can accurately start to glean meaningful information about the inherent performance characteristics of whatever specific IIHS headlamp system test you want to look at. If you see a system that gets no glare demerits and gives short seeing distance under all conditions, that's probably a set of headlamps aimed too low. If you see a system that gets a bunch of glare demerits but has long seeing distance across the board, that's probably a set of headlamps aimed too high. If you see a system that gets no/few glare demerits and has seeing distance across the board that's neither way too short nor way too long, you're looking at a well-designed and well-aimed set of headlamps. Bunch of glare demerits and short seeing distance, now that's probably a poorly-designed set of headlamps.

 

[SubLGT]

Wonder what some pickup truck owners think of the IIHS tests, and lighting in general? Some of it will make your head spin.
http://news.pickuptrucks.com/2016/1...hts-could-leave-you-in-the-dark.html#comments

Some excerpted comments:

This test is so flawed. With equal lighting, cars will always out-illuminate the road better because the headlights are closer to the ground.

What a bunch of crap, I have a 14 f150 with hid's. best lights ever. by a wide margin

My led package silverado is so bright people have pulled over beeping on the side of a dark highway multiple times. I get flashed often. With the led fogs on its like daytime in front of the truck…...One of the most impressive things on the chevy to me is the led package look at night. Its menacing And very bright.

I had a level kit in this truck. I took it out after a few months of torturing people on rural curvy highways….Maybe the projection is wrong like mentioned above? I'm not versed in optics.

The other problem are the federal light regs themselves. They were written for incandescent bulbs and are thus rated in wattage only, and there are no regs of light color. As everyone knows, LEDs in particular use far less wattage to produce the same amount of lumens (correct measurement of light output) - thus a 55 watt LED would be street-legal, even though it would have 4 times the lumens of a halogen.

All these new headlights are too damn bright, every night im blinded by so many cars and trucks.

 

[SubLGT]

xxxxxx

 

[Alaric Darconville]

Some excerpted comments:

Its menacing And very bright.

*It's

And it really shows the mindset of people like that. They want to use their lights to bully others, or to prove they are so incredibly manly or something. ,

And the rest of those comments-- just too many for me to stomach picking it all apart. It's a good demonstration why designing lighting systems should be left to genuine experts.

 

[SubLGT]

His infatuation with "menacing" headlights will eventually get him into a road rage incident.

 

[MTerrence]

His infatuation with "menacing" headlights will eventually get him into a road rage incident.

Ironically, his headlights seem to do a better job shedding light on his mindset than they do on the road. Go figure.

 

[Hamilton Felix]

It would be interesting to see the same test run, after each vehicle had had its headlights very carefully and professionally aimed.
As is, heeding Virgil's observations on factory "aim" at installation and maybe again by the dealer, this test does not mean much. I think folks would like to know how good these lights are when they are properly aimed.

 

[64.5vette]

This test means a lot. 99.9% of drivers dont know you can aim lights. Unlike in the EU the US has no culture of correct aim. This test will force manufactures to either aim them correctly or develop better lamps, as next year cars cannot be a top safety pick plus without good lamps. As we all know that is a very important marketing point of auto manufactures, so the marketing department will get on the dealers A$$es.