majormojo

I've never driven a car with HID headlights before, so please pardon my ignorance, but I have a couple questions about them.

1) I notice there is a very definite line at the top separating where the light shines and where it doesn't. I assume this is normal for this kind of light, probably to avoid shining directly into the eyes of other drivers. My question is: Should this line be perfectly straight? Mine has a couple of "notches" or ledges along the top (easily seen when shining on a flat wall) and I wonder if it indicates an alignment problem.

2) I've read about "auto-leveling" HIDs. I'm guessing this is a system that automatically adjusts the aim of the lights up/down to correspond with the vehicle movements over bumps etc, to compensate for the '"bouncy" effect of the lights shining on objects at a distance. Correct?

fdl

Yes this is normal. The left side (when looking from inside the car) should actually be a step lower since it will hit oncoming traffic.


Yes, bumps, hills ect. Its pretty cool actually.

TinkySD

My understanding is auto leveling HIDs have nothing to do with compensating for bumps on the road. auto levels compensate for the load in a car ever time it starts up. For example if you start a car with a heavy load in the trunk the front end might be tilted up slightly. To keep from blinding other drivers the auto leveling brings the light level down. Old auto leveling systems(maybe brand new ones are different) aren't what you would call active..or adjusting ever mile of road you drive.

fdl

There are definatley headlights that will level over bumps and hills. The auto levelling hids in the BMW will actually level as you brake or accelerate. They call them dynamic auto-levelling headlights though...so it might be something that not all auto-levelling headlights can do.

finalheaven

Headlights that face left or right depending on your steering wheel change is called what then? I know that this is an option in some cars. I think BMW has them.

DEVO

majormojo,

The line (dark then purplish to white) that you are talking about has nothing to do with HID lights but more with the LENS. Put a halogen bulb in there (same spot) and you will get the "line" effect.

And yes... the auto level is as you describe it.

majormojo

Yes, that's exactly what I see. I find it a bit distracting, but I'm sure I'll get used to it. At least I know it's normal.

Devo, what you say makes sense. Looks like an artifact of the lens rather than the bulb.

Thanks everyone for taking the time to answer my questions. Much appreciated.

moda_way

BMW and Lexus have HID systems called "Adaptive" HIDs. Adaptive means that it is both auto-leveling and intelligent to aim the beams while turning into a corner. To do this it has to know your speed, the angle of turn and parallel track to the road surface.

As a history lesson, Cadillac was the first to introduce North America to HID lights.

dbjb

the "line" that appears from the HIDs on the TSX is the same line that appears from my s2000 HIDs. This is a stark contrast to the much softer feel that the HIDs in my father 01' TL have.

Is this difference due to the lens, or did honda change their HIDs?

Bass Mechanic

interesting you guys brought this up. i was kinda dissapointed with teh line you speak of, comming from an Acura TL the diffuser lense in that HID setup looks more like regular headlights as far as the beam pattern. i really like the look of the more blue Audi looking light the TSX has but i hate the fact i cant see very far up the road wiothout using the high beams. last night when i got home i tweaked the up down adjustment on the driver side and moved it up a little. i will drive the car tonight and see how much it affected the driver side illumination. if i dont like it ill move it back. but as for oncomming traffic the beams are so low to the ground that i dont see how it would blind anyone unless your cresting a hill. even with the factory setting this would still happen but i just cant stand not being able to see far down the road with lights that have more than enough capability for it.

iNteGraz92

it's the lens. projector lenses give you a nice cut off and the light under the cut off is nice, bright, and concentrated. reflector headlights, like your dad's tl, scatter the light out onto the road. the output of reflectors isn't as nice as projectors IMO.

fdl

You'd be surprised how much it can blind on coming drivers. You dont have to be going up a hill...even a very slight rise in the road can do it. I have been high beamed a few times already from drivers who think i have my brights on.

TSXnT-dot

I personally think the TSX HIDs are fine.
The auto levelling HIDs are indeed based on vehicle loading and not on road surface. The confusion that it is based on the topography of the road is a common mistake.

idx

Exactly. I was flashed virtually every time I met a car on a crest and several other times as well. Although I was on a winding dark backroad that's fairly bumpy, so I could really see the HID line bumping around. Although a flash of my real brights did the trick.

-r

Bass Mechanic

update with the car parked about 20 feet from my garage door i had moved the drivers headlight up about 1 inch the light goes further down the road by at least a foot or so. after moving the drivers side up about 1 inch i matched the passenger side one so they are even and it's definitly better and i still dont see the light entering into anyones back windows and the pattern is still well onto the ground.

i used to get high beamed by drivers with my TL headlights. more often than not people who do that i think are just stupid people that see the light is whiter than a low beam halogen and they think they are too bright for a low beam.
usually you get beamed when traveling along an interstate highway. It's because on a highway its usually pitch dark and your eyes adjust to that light level so any oncomming lights look brighter. in the city it's not that much of an issue. but you know if people paid more attention to the road in front of them rather than looking into your lights it wouldnt bother them.

DEVO

I love them on my S2000, it's the old FU lights... I don't have to do anything and people pull over to get out the lights. I love when people try to get in front of me on a merging lane, I let them and then they get all pissed because my lights drive them mad. They are adjusted correctly so it's not like I'm pissing them off on purpose by raising them. But there are distances back from a car that are really annoying.

TSXautoXer

I was cery much accustomed to euro-spec headlights and was very puzzled why american spec car's headlight is loosely focused when I first got here. And I also thought the lights are too dim. Finally with the HID on TSX, I felt at home again.

p/s: euro-spec headlights have that sharp cutoff even on halogen system, and it's a lot brighter as well.

1SICKLEX

Way off. Mercedes Benz was. BMW second. Caddy just put them in the STS in 2001. The Lincoln Mark VIII was the first American car and they could not get them to work for shit.The 2nd. HIDS were auto-leveling (shit in trunk, road angle) but as stated, the new (3rd) generations turn with the steering wheel and some do adjust to large bumps in the road.

I like reflector, nice and white and clear. Projector lamps do not dispurse the light as effectively and give this blue purple color to on-coming traffic when any little bump unevens the car.

I hope Acura did not make the HIDS in the TSX as easy to steal as the CL/TL.

TSXautoXer

Just looked at your signature. Gallardo? Murcielargo? Countach?