Anyone notice the upper bound of the HID illumination profile is not even across the front field of view? It appears to take a step down about midway and is slightly lower on the left than the right. The effect appears with both HID headlights. My guess is the Acura designers attempted to reduce glare to traffic in oncoming lanes. I haven't observed this with the TL HIDs. They appear to be level across the entire front field of view. Comments?

 

All of my cars with projectors and HIDs (S2K, TSX, RDX) are like this. In fact almost all cars have the driver's side light aimed slightly down so as to not blind oncoming traffic, regardless of brand or headlight type. You just notice it more easily on the projectors because of the sharp cutoff.

If your TL is level across, then one or both of the lights are probably not aimed correctly. The driver's side beam should be lower.

 

The uneven profile is not caused by the right head light being aimed differently from the left. Each each light has an uneven profile built in. I tested this by covering one HID and still observed the effect. Then covered the other and saw the same. Acura has designed this uneven profile into each of RDX's HID head lights. I did the same experiment with the TL and did not see the same effect. Try it yourself.

 

aha so i wasnt crazy after all

 

It's a DOT standard in the US. European right hand driving cars are the opposite. Commonly referred to as the cutoff line. there's a template in the back of the projector lens that creates the cutoff line. it's not that they are "aimed differently", just a different template in each light. which has an end result of looking like its aimed differently.

 

I think they might have done it differently on my RDX. The driver's side (left) HID seems to be higher than the right. I should confirm it. Thanks for pointing out that this is a design thing for HID (I've never driven a car with HIDs before).

 

Ah, thanks for the clarification sasair.

 

You can easily adjust each HID level with a Phillips screwdriver. The access is under the hood just behind each HID headlight. I recommend you do the adjustment with your RDX on level ground while your HIDs are illuminating a vertical flat surface, like a garage door or wall. Works better if you are some distance away from the surface.

 

Based on sasair's post, I repeated the left vs. right HID profile experiment with the 05 TL and did see the effect, just not as pronounced as with the RDX.

 

I've had HID headlights before and have seen the cutoff profile in them, but my RDX lights also seem to have a downward angle to their projection. If I am driving next to a concrete barrier on my left the cutoff on the light has a definite downward slope to it.

Also, driving with my low beams (the HIDs) I cannot see anything beyond about 100 to maybe 150 feet. The lights are bright enough, but that is where the cutoff meets the road. I know you need to use the high beams for longer distances, but the end of the light seems awfully close (not horrifically, but disappointingly).

The HID projection on my Audi were level to infinity. I thought maybe the downward angle on the RDX was due to it being an SUV and therefore the lights start higher in the air and may need a downward angle so that the projected light stays out of driver's eyes more, but perhaps they are just misaligned?

 

why don't you just adjust them a little further. just a few turns of the screwdriver. but you're right that it is probably because they sit higher than a sedan type vehicle. You certainly don't want them too high or everyone will be flashing their high beams at you....