What are people doing about headlights? Leaving on all the time and relying on the auto off feature or manually turning them on at night? If the former, any thoughts about the lights burning out if on all the time?

 

When I'm out and about I leave the headlights on and I've set my MID to turn off after 15 seconds. When I drive home and am done for the night, I turn them off manually. No reason to have them on during the day.

 

i usually lock twice to beep at night and they shut off the second time you press lock

 

But, do you leave them in the "on" position all the time and just let them click off with the auto off? Sort of like having DRL? Or do you manually put them on at night? Thanks.

 

I have not turned them off since taking delivery almost 3 weeks ago. They are too pretty to leave dim.

 

I manually turn them off at night. It's no big deal. And during the day I have DRLs, because I live in Canada.

Regarding them burning out -

I thought these HIDs were like an arc of electricity as opposed to a regular bulb? So, it'll take some serious damage to the light casing or something in order for them to malfunction? err, I don't know. I need a HIDs for Dummies book. In any case, I'm extremely impressed with the lights. Driving down a tree-lined street at night is awesome, the way you can see such a clear-cut line where the light projects. It like a laserbeam!

 

With My 2000TL with HID Lights I have used them all the time when I am driving since ACURA/HONDA does not put DRLs on U.S. made cars. I have used the lights since day one of ownership & that will be 4yrs next week. I do not leave the lights on most of the time in the auto off feature. I just turn them on at start up & off when I am before I turn the car off. The lights are just as bright as when I purchased the car new 12/28/99. I have about 44,000 miles on the car.

 

Auto-on when dark would be nice considering the electronically lit instumentation. I find that an unlit instrument panel keys me to turn on my lights. With the instrument lights on all the time I have occasionally not put my headlights on when driving in well lit areas at night.

 

I have a 00tl and my lights have not been off for 31/2 years. Any reason Acura does not put drls on US version tl? It's not the cost, the car is already wired for them.

 

I turn on lights when I start and off when I stop...I leave them on during the day as a safety factor. I turn them on and off manually because I don't want to get into a habit with them that does not transfer to my other cars!

 

Good question. GM I believe has DRL's on all North American cars as standard.

 

i've got a quesiton..
does any body know how to adjust the headlight so that i can aim a bit higher?? just a bit....

 

Only dealers can do that...

 

Wasn't there someone on this forum who said they adjusted their headlights higher and now all the drivers going in the opposite direction think they're highbeaming them?

 

I am confident there is an adjusting screw per headlight...
I just dont know where it is. And unless one has modified their suspension, I dont really see the need to raise the headlight beam.

 

I also like the way this looks. Just wondering, though...

Do the rest of you get a perfectly even horizontal line? I actually get a line that looks something like the below:


------------\__________

(The picture above is inaccurate in that in reality the angled part of the light does not extend above the line.)

Also, I'm not sure now, but it may be more like this:

------------v-------------

I noticed this immediately, and of course wondered if this meant my headlights were slightly out of alignment. But they work so well, I guess I wanted to write this off as being "normal." What do you guys think? Do your do this to, or do you have a perfectly aligned horizontal line all the way across, with no funny stuff in the middle?

Thanks!
Andy

 

My other car is a 2001 Audi TT Coupe with Xenon HID headlights. The light pattern on it is exactly as you describe above. I believe the lights on our TL's are specifically designed to "cut off" the beams on the left side to reduce glare to oncoming traffic. And. obviously, they intentionally throw a slightly higher pattern on the roadside to the right.

Some of you may be aware that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued a call for public comment regarding perceived excessive glare from oncoming HID headlights. They received many, many complaints. There has even been some chatter that banning these lights has or will be considered. To date, to my knowledge, no decision has been reached.

As a safety engineer, specializing in transportation related issues, I urge you folks not to change the factory settings on your HID headlights unless, of course, they are indeed out of adjustment. And, I suggest you check that alignment on a headlight adjustment stand at your local vehicle inspection station.

For more info on the NHTSA comment process, go to their web site. For more info specific to the headlight issue, go here.
http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/nrd...2003/perel.txt

 

Sorry, I couldn't understand your draft, but probably know what u're talking about.

There are many threads already discussing this issue. The purpose of doing so is to reduce the potential damange to opposite drivers...

 

The lights have steps more or less like this...

--------------------------
--------------------/
----------/

there is also a yellow tone around the edges, which matches my friend's BMS 330 Ci Xenon lights...

This is on purpose as daveinmass said, to reduce glare on incoming traffic. Many cars do this.
High beams come from the same light, but it feels like a cover is removed from the lens when you hit the button, you can actually hear it activating...

 

I leave the headlights on always.... they're soo cool

 

1. Yes, it's on purpose to have this kind of headlight pattern, short on driver side and long on passenger side.


headlight beam pattern


2. About how the high beam is working and why do we frequently hear the flap sound when using high beam...

Acura said:

Previously, the TL had HID (High-Intensity Discharge) low beams coupled with conventional halogen high beams. The new TL headlights feature HID high and low beams, as well as built-in fog lamps. These bi-function HID high/low beams are made possible by a shutter device that mechanically controls the light output of the HID unit. When the driver selects high beam, an electric solenoid in the headlight moves a shutter forward, opening up a greater reflector area inside the headlight. When the lights are operated on low beam, this shutter repositions to act as a cut-off to keep the lighted area closer to the vehicle.

Compared to the previous TL, the new headlights dramatically increase the illuminated area, and are nearly 50 percent more effective at long range. The fog lamp illumination has also been increased.



Happy Holidays.