Staff Director

Night driving in heavy snow is virtually impossible with the new technology headlights on most new cars. I could barely see 20 feet in front of me with the 2013 RDX headlights during a heavy snow squall. I was only able to see in front of me after turning the headlights off. The auxiliary driving lights (not to be confused with the daylight lights) are useless as they will only come on with low beam headlights.

Before some of the ridiculous government safety laws, one could use the auxiliary driving/fog lights in heavy fog or snow. Today's lights are basically cosmetic and useless.
More and more I am disliking my RDX, not because of the car itself, but by phone, navigation and lighting systems which actually counter act these so called "in the name of safety" features.

hand-filer

I find that I drive 99.9% of the time in normal driving conditions and .01% of the time in adverse conditions. Therefore it makes sense to me to have superior (HID) lighting.
Maybe you would have been better off with the base model.

supera

Living in south Louisiana I never get to drive in snow.But on 2 lane roads these headlights cause oncoming drivers to constantly flash their highbeams at me.

blSwagger

You need this:

http://www.autoblog.com/2012/07/11/c...make-rain-sno/

hand-filer

This has been mentioned in a few threads. They might be aimed a bit high at the factory. I've had 3 people flash me in the past 2 months. I'll have them checked when I bring it in for the first service.

mrgold35

I've notice when I first purchased my 06 TSX; I thought the HIDs were the greatest thing ever. They use same power as my old 35w Halogens on my Accord; but, put out 2-3 times the light. Standard HIDs might put out the same intensity of light as a regular halogen car with high beams on. Unfortunately, that extra brightness comes at a price:

- It brings your own night vision down a few notches because it is so bright in front of your car because of HIDs (having a bright instrument panel doesn't help either)
- The near sunlight white HIDs light will reflect more compared to halogens which shine more yellow. You can see more rain and snow with HIDs.

Other than bring the color temp down to below 4300k to halogen levels, I don't think there is much we can do?

KrylonBlue

I've had the opposite experience with HID headlights. I can actually see better in adverse weather conditions than with halogens. Snow is better but rain is night and day better. The road actually lights up and I'm not left with the "Are my lights on" question.

Odd we have different experiences though.

HEAVY_RL

iTrader: (1)

with each experience we need the posters age and last vision test.
I'm sure everyone will have a slightly different need.

kingkong222

-people from Louisiana never seen a car with HID before. I got flashed every time driving to TX passed LA.

mrgold35

Think it also depends on the road markings and the road type (asphalt or concrete). AZ, CO, and TX seem to do a better job of marking the roads with reflective paint lines, signs and markers compared to NM. HIDs in any weather (dry/wet/snow) will reflect more light back to the driver. I've also notice newly paved asphalt hwy are really black and HIDs or Halogen don't reflect light back in dry or wet conditions compared to older graying asphalt or gray concrete roads.

My long term wish is for cars to have LED headlights and fogs. There would be a dash setting for rain and/or snow. The headlights would adjust the color temp and intensity to provide the best driving conditions.

hand-filer

Great idea! Who knows, it might be on someone's drawing board already.

weather

I agree with Hand-Filer....That is a GREAt idea but aren't you going to be so annoyed when someone steals your idea and gets millions and millions of dollars for it! My dad swears he thought about the rear wiper idea before it came to the market - I am annoyed he never acted on it, imagine my inheritance I would be getting *lol*

jfarabaugh

as someone who works with LEDs a lot they could easily implement this in the new RLX lighting system. They can have multi diode LEDs with different color temps. Setup a weather select system that would turn off/on the different diodes and adjust brightness. Most LEDs drivers can dimmed via a 1-10v feed.

musty hustla

I have no vision problems in the snow or rain. I try to look past the snow and not at it.

mrgold35

You might have to add some type of heating and/or wiper system to the glass for the LED headlights and LED fogs in snow conditions. Most LEDs I've seen don't put out a lot of heat. I can see the headlights and fogs getting covered in a sheet of ice/snow mixed with road grunge because there isn't enough heat to melt it like with halogens or HIDs lights. It would suck if the LED lights end up being useless during heavy snow. I guess we can watch the new RLX and MDX to see what happens during the winter months with their headlights.

jfarabaugh

To be honest I always had the same problem with hids

KrylonBlue

I remember when I did an HID conversion on my headlights and fog lamps for my 08 Civic. I ended up doing a Retro on the headlights with TSX Projectors but the fog lamps were nothing but Plug n Play. My fog lamp seal ended up "breaking" later on so moisture was getting in. Moisture got into my fog lens and the dealership replaced them but said it's only a one time thing because HID lights heat up the lamp more than a halogen. I told him that's not true and my HID ran 5 degrees or so cooler and he looked confused.

In the end I ditched the HID in the fogs because I didn't like the glare. But I will say that I've never had an issue with my HID icing up either as it's still plenty warm. And yes, I know this thread is a month old.