New car with good headlights ?

[kaj]

I'm looking to get my wife a new (or newer) car this year. She drives to work on a two lane highway in the dark. This road has a lot of deer crossing and the deer get hit almost daily. Does anyone have any recommendations for a new car (2008 or newer model) that has decent headlights ?
She currently has a 95 Nissan maxima that uses 9004 bulbs and they suck !

 

[-Virgil-]

Too broad a question to answer...can you narrow it down a little? What are some of the cars you have in mind?

 

[RepProdigious]

I would never choose any car over another merely based on headlamps.... Any light can be upgraded/improved for way less money than it would take to modify a car with proper lights to be rebuilt to personal preference...

Just buy a safe/nice looking/good priced car to your (wifes) liking and bring it to some car expert to have the headlights redone, a couple hundred bucks go a long way!

 

[Hamilton Felix]

Just as a personal anecdote: I bought a 2007 Corolla in May of 2008 (dealer had that one marked down because it had 46K and was a 5 speed). It has been a great commuter and has much better stock headlights than most of the cars I've had in the past. I still have the itch to "improve," as I have in the past, but we can see pretty far down the road. I might go with relays, heavy wiring and eventually a high wattage 9005 in the high beam, but it throws a pretty good beam pattern.

On the "improvement" scene: Most of today's cars have a little bitty, streamlined front end, so it's hard to add lights without looking totally weird. One wishes for a truck, with front end protector that has light mounting tabs. I once had a diesel mini-pickup that got good mileage, but I doubt your Better Half would want that sort of commuter vehicle.

Good luck. Enjoy some night time test rides...

 

[-Virgil-]

Any light can be upgraded/improved

That's not true. There are many lamps that cannot.

 

[rocled]

retracted...

 

[MichaelW]

That's not true. There are many lamps that cannot.

Exactly. I won't even consider a vehicle with dual beam headlamps.

 

[John_Galt]

Some newer cars come with HID's. I upgraded the headlights on my truck to 35 watt HID's and it's the best $200 I ever spent. It is true that HID's aren't available for every car, but it's worth checking into...

Please tell me you didn't just put HID bulbs in a halogen reflector. Please, don't...

Please tell me it was a factory option with actual projectors designed for your truck...

 

[-Virgil-]

I upgraded the headlights on my truck to 35 watt HID's and it's the best $200 I ever spent.

Criminy, here we go again.

"HID kits" in halogen-bulb headlamps (any kit, any headlamp, any vehicle) do not work safely or effectively, which is why they are illegal. See here. And keep in mind, advocating the installation of "HID kits" in halogen headlamps falls foul of this forum's Rule 11, which states you will not use this BB to post any material which is knowingly illegal or promotes illegal activity.

 

[-Virgil-]

Exactly. I won't even consider a vehicle with dual beam headlamps.

That's kind of silly. There have been plenty of good dual-beam headlamps over the years, and there still are. There are theoretical arguments to be made in favor of quad headlamp systems with dedicated high beam and low beam lamps, just as there are theoretical arguments to be made in favor of US headlamps, and theoretical arguments to be made in favor of ECE headlamps, and theoretical arguments to be made in favor of projectors, and in favor of reflectors, and in favor of glass lenses, and in favor of plastic lenses...bottom line, good headlamps are better than bad headlamps, and there are good and bad lamps of just about every category. Rejecting a headlamp solely because it's a combination high/low beam unit is not realistic.

 

[Hamilton Felix]

I agree. I've seen good things and bad with both layouts. I remember reading a 1962 Mechanix Illustrated car test in which Tom McCahill was grousing "I still say two good headlights are better than four lousy ones!" Well, Tom (may you rest in peace), the auto industry went to quads in 1958 (except for the 1957 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham and one 1957 Nash), so complaining about it wasn't very productive.

I recall my 1969 Chev pickup with 7" round headlights. After I installed Cibie lights, I added curved lens Cibie 5-3/4" H1 high beams in auxiliary buckets. I figured I had the best of both worlds: nice big lens & reflector on my low beams, and a purpose-designed high beam that really reached out.

I think, given the initial question, the answer is to, one by one, take a night drive in each car that otherwise meets the criteria for purchase. Sure, look at the lights and front end with an eye to improvements, but there's no starting point better than actual experience. I know it's summer in the northern hemisphere, so these will have to be late night drives. But I don't see a better way...

 

[-Virgil-]

Yeah, it's a tough question, and night drives in a car you plan on driving at night are a great idea, but unless you are a highly and specially trained automotive lighting engineer, you cannot determine whether a car has good or bad headlamps, only whether you feel comfortable driving with them; the two are often very different answers. It's extremely difficult to identify good headlamps by eye even if you are such a trained individual. Bad headlamps are easier to ID by eye. The problem, then, is...how do you get the answer you need? Consumer Reports magazine has been testing headlamps for some years now, but remember the GIGO principle; their findings are in accordance with their test protocol, which defines any kind of a low beam cutoff as very bad and contains other provisions that are questionable (at least).

 

[Russ/TN]

I would suggest a set of high quality fog lamps to help avoid hitting deer.
The fog lamps have a much wider beam and light up the woods on the sides of the road whereas the headlights are mostly concentrated on the road itself.
The deer usually pop up out of the darkness on the roadsides and that's what where you want to be able to see to avoid them.

Also, look out for the deer that is following the one that you can see!

 

[Hamilton Felix]

Ah yes (he chuckles), Consumer Reports. After comparing some of their vehicle tests to what I could read in Road & Track or Car and Driver, I realized they are mostly expert in dreaming up tests, but not necessarily at all expert in what it is they happen to be testing. :shakehead

I see your point(s). "Comfortable with" is definitely subjective (Kathleen will drive on Low, when I'd definitely be on High). And even if you try to match up your road tests, followed by observing the beam patterns against a wall, you're still not getting a controlled scientific measurement.

Probably the best that "Joe Average" can do, is night time test on a section of road with distance markers of some sort so he'll have a comparison he can write down, followed by taking notes and maybe pictures of the beams against a wall.

Another night driving factor, separate from headlights, is whether or how badly the dashlights reflect off of the windshield. I recall adding a column mounted tachometer to my F250, only to learn that I'd better build a hood on it or else the illuminated gauge would drive me crazy at night.

 

[-Virgil-]

I would suggest a set of high quality fog lamps to help avoid hitting deer.

Nope. That's not what fog lamps are for, and it's not what they do. See this thread.

The fog lamps have a much wider beam and light up the woods on the sides of the road

True (if they're good fog lamps) but the distance range at which they give the width is so short as to make any deer they light up totally irrelevant: if one of them is going to run in front of your car, you're going to hit it, period. Fog lamps create the subjective impression of good/better/safer lighting, but they do not provide it at any kind of normal dry-weather road speed, because they do not have the distance reach to illuminate deer or any other roadside obstacles far enough in advance for you to change course, stop, or even meaningfully slow down in time to avoid them. Furthermore, by adding extra foreground light, fog lamps significantly reduce the driver's distance visual acuity. His ability to see obstacles in time to avoid them is worsened, not improved.

 

[Kuryakin]

Sure they can! All it takes is $$$$$$.

That's not true. There are many lamps that cannot.

 

[-Virgil-]

Ah yes (he chuckles), Consumer Reports. After comparing some of their vehicle tests to what I could read in Road & Track or Car and Driver, I realized they are mostly expert in dreaming up tests, but not necessarily at all expert in what it is they happen to be testing.

I agree.

I see your point(s). "Comfortable with" is definitely subjective (Kathleen will drive on Low, when I'd definitely be on High).

Yep. One of the best night driving safety devices that can be had on a car is a good automatic beam selector. Most drivers don't use their high beams nearly as often as they should.

Another night driving factor, separate from headlights, is whether or how badly the dashlights reflect off of the windshield.

Bigtime. Most people do not appreciate the degree to which the dashlights (reflected or not) reduce their ability to see what they need to see on and near the road. The dashlights have a rheostat for a good reason; they should be just bright enough to see what needs to be seen without having to peer or strain, and no brighter.

 

[Kuryakin]

I used to have deer whistles. Initially I installed them backwards by accident, and the deer kept following my car...

I'm looking to get my wife a new (or newer) car this year. She drives to work on a two lane highway in the dark. This road has a lot of deer crossing and the deer get hit almost daily. Does anyone have any recommendations for a new car (2008 or newer model) that has decent headlights ?
She currently has a 95 Nissan maxima that uses 9004 bulbs and they suck !

 

[Kuryakin]

I used to have deer whistles. Initially I installed them backwards by accident, and the deer kept following my car...

 

[jamesmtl514]

since you want to buy the car for the headlamps. 2008 and more recent BMW and most Mercedes 2007 and up.