012TL-GLM

Just came back from the campground. Hardly any light pollution. The LED headlights are just ok in pitch black. The HID's on my TL are definitely superior vision. The brights in the RDX wash out, and really look awful especially against yellow road signs. Not the end of the world but I do miss my HID's at night when not in the TL

carbonTSEX

Interesting. I actually like the LED's. They are bright and clear. The 4G TL projectors are cloudy and aren't bright enough. The best setup was my TSX by far!

RSX_Takashi

Keep in mind that on the TL you are sitting closer to the ground and on the RDX you are sitting a bit higher off the ground.

You have to compare apples to apples. In other words, get a TL with HID headlights and compare it with a TL with LED headlights.

Desert Ridge

Surprised to hear this. Both my wife and I think the LED headlights on our new RDX are wonderful.

012TL-GLM

traded in a 2010 MDX with HIDs for the RDX - the MDX was very comparable to the TL - my eyes just don't think the LED brights are as good. on standard mode there isn't much difference, but the brights just wash out to me. Oh well

Comfy

Do you mean the low beams are equivalent to HIDs and high beams are not good enough or vice versa? Or both low /high beams are not good?

012TL-GLM

The high beams are my issue, they just seem to wash out

Comfy

LED lights are not great for high beams. That's my conclusion.

johnhyre

If you live in snow country. the led,s do not put out enough heat to
melt the snow off the lights

RSX_Takashi

That's why we use something called a brush to remove the snow off the headlights.

rockyboy

Same here. The LED lights are amazing. It makes the road so clear because it's so white and helps to contrast objects. On top of that, it lights up a huge swath of road. I can see far and wide. These are the best looking and functioning lights in its class.

sn0wman72

How does that work out for you on an hour long drive through the snow?

RSX_Takashi

I got the car 3 weeks ago and I drove through the rain for the fist time yesterday. I have not driven through snow yet.

Based on the LED bulbs I have on my flashlights and in my house, I think the LEDs does get hot when they are turned on. They should be hot enough to melt snow based on touch. As I said before I have not tried it out yet.

Comfy

Is the snow accumulating on the headlights such an issue....? I mean don't they have other solutions such as headlamp washers / wipers in decades old vehicles....?

rockyboy

I live in Canada and most winters we get a few massive snow storms. When you're driving in a snowfall, snow accumulation on the headlights is not an issue as your car is moving and the snow doesn't really have the chance to accumulate as it follows the laws of physics in bouncing away due to the velocity of your car. The temperature of the headlights has nothing to do with snow accumulation. The LED headlights are 5 x brighter and last 20 times longer than regular lights and save energy due to negligble heat loss. When you park your car in a snowfall then it can accumulate as with any part of the car but you just use a snow brush.

RSX_Takashi

You are incorrect once again!

Snow does accumulate on your car based on the speed you are driving, where the wind is blowing, and whether it is wet snow or dry snow, as well as the condition of your car. If you are coasting > 70 km/h (~ 44mph) in a dry snow storm, snow will less likely accumulate on your car. At lower speeds, if the wind is blowing at right direction, if it is wet snow, if the metal of your car is slightly warm, if the curvature of the sheet metal or hood/headlight design on the car is just right, or if your car is super dirty and stuck with mud or dirt, snow will accumulate and might require physical removal.

The brightness of the bulb and how long it last has nothing to do with snow accumulation.

rockyboy

Of course some snow accumulates, but we're talking in the context of whether it interferes with the headlights and whether the heat emission of the headlights has a practical effect on the snow accumulation. Having driven through many snow storms, I can tell you it does not. If you're driving at even city driving speeds, hardly any snow will accumulate on your headlights. So the Acura Jewel Eye headlights (best headlights compared to any of its competitors) are fine for winter driving.

RSX_Takashi

How can you proof that? You only got the car for < 1 month.

This is not DPRK. We don't need more propaganda to show that you don't know anything.

Also, Jewel headlights from Acura is not the best design I have seen. There are better ones out there but you will never know as you are always mis-informed.

andysinnh

Having driven in NH for nearly 43 years, I can give you two situations where headlight heat comes in handy. First is when you start up your car either in the morning or after a long day of work, and the car is covered either in ice or heavy wet snow. The heat generated by the bulbs loosen the ice/snow off of the housings and allow you to get those completely clear (while the rest of your grill has this "cement" still attached even with your best effort to get it off). This is when a good old-fashioned halogen bulb is great. The second scenario is when driving into a heavy storm with that same "cement" type snow falling from the sky. That stuff sticks to everything, and if your lights have no heat, they get covered and you have to stop and clear them off. The heat from a halogen bulb seems to be enough to do the trick to keep the housing clear.

Now - how often does that happen? Maybe once or twice a season in the latter, and maybe a few times a month in the former. and you can get around it. I wouldn't hold out the heat for the lights to be a make/break decision on the lighting type. I do know I'm more than happy with the HID's on my '15 RDX and the wife's '12 TL, and am not in a rush to get to LED's unless they're on the next car I happen to be looking at getting.

YMMV.

andy

Desert Ridge

You guys really need to move South.

Nexx

my RLX head lights are by far the best head lights I've ever driven with.

RSX_Takashi

"012TL-GLM and Comfy" are correct. The LEDs High-beams are quite washed out compared to the HID counterparts. I have driving bi-Xenon adaptive headlights and the high beams has a more focused beam pattern than the LEDs that came with the RDX. I am unsure whether the headlights on the RLX suffers from the same problem but I can confirm that on the RDX.

In summary: for those of you who are driving with HID lights, you are not missing out so long as the HID bulbs are generating the same level of output as when the bulb is new and the lights does not come from a "drop in" kit.

snorf

I'm not so sure that it's a question of xenon or LED, but may be more of a question as to how strong the lights are. We had a 2010 Toyota venza with xenon headlights. Best lights we've ever had in a car. Our (short-lived ownership) 2015 Nissan altima had xenon headlights that were horrible. They were more like the sealed beam lights (pre-halogen) and were almost dangerous to drive with at night. Our RDX are great lights - not as good as the Toyota xenons, but excellent lights. They aren't quite as bright and don't have quite the width of coverage as the Toyota xenons, but are excellent lights.

RDX10

I just thought I would add a couple cents in. Is it fair to say that the halogens or other non led bulbs make the housing hot which would cause snow to stick to it and then freeze when you turned off the vehicle. But having led's that don't get hot, would prevent that ice buildup.

Therefore, having non-LED headlights solves the problem created by the heat, by producing heat. And the non-LED headlights don't have that problem and therefore it is much easier to clean the snow (not ice) off of them when you needed to.

wb2ee

I liked the LEDs so much I changed over the Halogen OEM fogs to Morimoto type S LEDs. Color temp nearly matched to the LED headlights and didn't take 15 minutes per side. Direct replacement. Also just replaced the 921 reverse lights with 50W Led projectors.

guytdt

I drove my 2016 at night the first time tonight. I feel like it's halogen headlight except it's quite white. I have CBI on my 2015 and the light it put out is intense. Guess I need time to get used to the darkness. But it's worth my sacrifice for the jewel eye look

yesrdx

Has anyone done actual comparisons between the stock halogen fogs vs. the Morimoto LED bulbs? The only comments I've heard are that "they match the jewel eyes" but not much about the actual performance. If it's more of a "show" modification and not a road visibility upgrade, I think I'll stick with halogens.