Roger23

Are the reverse light bulbs, and the bulbs inside the tailgate (to illuminate the cargo area) LED , Halogen , or Incandescent ?

Rexorg

lil12002

Wander

I think it's more about the distribution of light than the intensity. The linear array of LEDs makes it easier to cast a wide relatively flat beam that makes effective use of the available light. A single LED source isn't as bright as a single HID bulb, but the multiple LEDs arrays are effective. And each source has it's own lens and optical mask in the Acura design.

HID bulbs burn out, they take time to reach full intensity, and they run HOT. There's a reason the trend is toward LEDs.

Rexorg

ednigma

Take a look at the IIHS website link 2018 Acura RDX for the results of the 2018 RDX which gets an acceptable rating vs the Audi Q5 2018 Audi Q5 which gets a marginal rating. Both use LEDs. According to IIHS, many cars have insufficient headlights so they recently started to test headlights and now include them in their safety ratings. In general, HIDs have higher lumen output but draw more power than LEDs. HIDs deteriorate (dim) slowly but much faster than LEDs which have a longer life. The most important factors are projector design and color temperature. Starting with color temperature, the human eye is most sensitive to the yellow-green end of the spectrum so therefore the most efficient light is slightly towards the yellow shade of white as opposed to the blue end, even though the blueish tint gives the impression of a whiter white vs a dingy white (note how laundry detergent is tinted blue?). A color temperature of about 4300K produces more usable light.



Note that these are aftermarket bulbs put into the OEM housings, DON'T DO THIS, putting a bulb type into a housing not designed for it will cause uncontrolled glare for oncoming drivers, especially OEM housings for the USA where DOT lights are designed to throw some light up to light up street signs.



Below is an example of an E-Code (european code) HID ellipsoid projector. Note the sharp cutoff and controlled light pattern as a result of a metal shield inside the projector. The left side of the shield is level with the centerline of the projector lens so it does not rise the further the light travels, the right side is below the centerline (the light image is flipped by the lens) and therefore will rise the further the light travels, thus illuminating the travel lane further down the road whereas on the leftside, the light should never rise above the level of the centerline of the lens (on level roads of course) thus preventing the blinding of oncoming traffic. For right hand drive cars (ie Japan) the pattern is flipped so that the high part of the notch is on the left. Also note, the blue/purple line at the top of the cutoff, caused by chromatic aberration due to shields position slightly out of the focal point between the intense bulb and the convex lens. This gives rise to the blue flickering you see when a car with such lights is driving towards you and hits bumps causing the colored line to flash in you line of sight. Kids think this is cool so they buy blue colored replacement bulbs which has the adverse effect of reducing usable light.




LED chips produce a lot of heat which increases with light output and must be dissipated or the LED life will be shortened. A single LED chip driven at reasonable power levels can't match a HID bulbs light output so without redesigning the projector optics (LEDs throw light out at angle of about 120 degrees versus 360 degrees for a HID bulb). I haven't driven a 2019 RDX at night but I note that it uses seven individual LED modules encased in what looks like metal (good for heat dissipation) and an individual lens for focusing the light. I also assume this allows Acura to engineer the headlamp assembly for good light distribution and throw. Of course LED technology is advancing along, while HIDs are close to their design apex.

TLDR: It could be, I'm waiting for the IIHS headlight test for the 2019 RDX.

Fury63

MHarnois

LOL, I admit I had to look-up votive candles.

pnoi521

MarineOne

I am sure LED votive candles were used!