New headlight suggestions

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theholycow
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Re: New headlight suggestions

Post by theholycow »

Does the Jetta have the dual-filament bulb single fixture for low and high beam, with the inner fixtures just used for flash-to-pass or DRL? If so, make sure your high beam indicator is working properly and headlights are aimed properly. My 2008 Rabbit NEVER got flashed in 45,000 miles.
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Re: New headlight suggestions

Post by potownrob »

theholycow wrote:Does the Jetta have the dual-filament bulb single fixture for low and high beam, with the inner fixtures just used for flash-to-pass or DRL? If so, make sure your high beam indicator is working properly and headlights are aimed properly. My 2008 Rabbit NEVER got flashed in 45,000 miles.
i think the DRLs are the little lights at the bottom of the headlight thing, and then it looks like there are two lights on each side. i only got flashed once (well, twice by one car passing me); could've been for a deer or something but usually they flash once (not once then again a few seconds later). lights do seem to shine higher than in other cars but they're also brighter. i haven't checked the aim of the bulbs. i may just leave it unless i keep getting flashed or get pulled over.
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Re: New headlight suggestions

Post by Shadow »

I get flashed in my Audi probably about 2 or 3 times per month. But it ALWAYS happens when I'm cresting a hill and the oncoming car is right in the path of my headlights. The Audi does have self-leveling projectors, but that still doesn't help when I'm cresting a hill and the oncoming car is coming up the other side.

I noticed that the Acura TL (not the current generation, the one right before it) seems to be a big offender when it comes to blinding oncoming drivers. It's almost like they have headlights that aren't self-leveling and are aimed too high from the factory or something.
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Re: New headlight suggestions

Post by potownrob »

the best is when the person flashing you has stadium lights as headlights :shock: :| :evil: :lol:
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Re: New headlight suggestions

Post by bk7794 »

http://autos.yahoo.com/news/do-high-pri ... 41757.html
Shadow wrote:I get flashed in my Audi probably about 2 or 3 times per month. But it ALWAYS happens when I'm cresting a hill and the oncoming car is right in the path of my headlights. The Audi does have self-leveling projectors, but that still doesn't help when I'm cresting a hill and the oncoming car is coming up the other side.

I noticed that the Acura TL (not the current generation, the one right before it) seems to be a big offender when it comes to blinding oncoming drivers. It's almost like they have headlights that aren't self-leveling and are aimed too high from the factory or something.
I hate when peoples stock HIDs are not leveled correctly. Once I was driving back from fairfield county and this guy in an SUV who had HIDs from the factory (it was a lexus) was behind me. The cutoff point was so high that I can see it on the tree line. Either that or he had his high beams on.

I also see people flashing their lights when the other car has halogen lights. I've been victim of it.
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Re: New headlight suggestions

Post by Shadow »

bk7794 wrote:
I hate when peoples stock HIDs are not leveled correctly. Once I was driving back from fairfield county and this guy in an SUV who had HIDs from the factory (it was a lexus) was behind me. The cutoff point was so high that I can see it on the tree line. Either that or he had his high beams on.

I also see people flashing their lights when the other car has halogen lights. I've been victim of it.
Most likely, he had his hi-beams on. The thing about HID projector headlights is that they all seem to have a VERY sharp cutoff to avoid blinding other drivers. What a lot of people don't seem to realize is that most HID projector headlights use a mechanism to create that sharp cutoff. When the driver selects his hi-beams, the only thing that changes is that the cutoff mechanism moves out of the way and allows full illumination. In other words, nothing at all changes with the actual lights or the brightness, its just that the shield moves out of the way and allows full illumination. So if you could see his lights up on the trees, I can just about guarantee you that he had his brights on.
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Re: New headlight suggestions

Post by bk7794 »

Shadow wrote:
bk7794 wrote:
I hate when peoples stock HIDs are not leveled correctly. Once I was driving back from fairfield county and this guy in an SUV who had HIDs from the factory (it was a lexus) was behind me. The cutoff point was so high that I can see it on the tree line. Either that or he had his high beams on.

I also see people flashing their lights when the other car has halogen lights. I've been victim of it.
Most likely, he had his hi-beams on. The thing about HID projector headlights is that they all seem to have a VERY sharp cutoff to avoid blinding other drivers. What a lot of people don't seem to realize is that most HID projector headlights use a mechanism to create that sharp cutoff. When the driver selects his hi-beams, the only thing that changes is that the cutoff mechanism moves out of the way and allows full illumination. In other words, nothing at all changes with the actual lights or the brightness, its just that the shield moves out of the way and allows full illumination. So if you could see his lights up on the trees, I can just about guarantee you that he had his brights on.
Wow, interesting feature. Thanks for explaining. It's amazing how much headlights have advanced I hope one day I can have a vehicle with Xenon headlights.
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Re: New headlight suggestions

Post by Rope-Pusher »

bk7794 wrote: I hope one day I can have a vehicle with Xena headlights.
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Re: New headlight suggestions

Post by six »

The kind of opposite happens here. Around here (an urban area), a bunch of people drive around with their highs on, and nobody seems to care. I flash them, and they're oblivious as to why. It's not like it's hard to see; hypothetically, I can drive around 90% of the areas around me without lights at all no problem. Law-enforcement doesn't seem to care either, yet less than 10 minutes after one of my bulbs burned out (I didn't even make it to my destination yet), I got pulled over for headlight failure. What was I supposed to do? It was after midnight. Go to a 24-hour Walmart to buy a new D2R HID bulb, which they don't even have? Even then, I still had to GET to Walmart. It's not like I carry around a spare bulb just in case, and even if I did, I'm not going to pull over to the side of the road in the middle of the night to swap it out... I'm rambling...

It's starting to piss me off. :x
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Re: New headlight suggestions

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six wrote:The kind of opposite happens here. Around here (an urban area), a bunch of people drive around with their highs on, and nobody seems to care. I flash them, and they're oblivious as to why. It's not like it's hard to see; hypothetically, I can drive around 90% of the areas around me without lights at all no problem. Law-enforcement doesn't seem to care either, yet less than 10 minutes after one of my bulbs burned out (I didn't even make it to my destination yet), I got pulled over for headlight failure. What was I supposed to do? It was after midnight. Go to a 24-hour Walmart to buy a new D2R HID bulb, which they don't even have? Even then, I still had to GET to Walmart. It's not like I carry around a spare bulb just in case, and even if I did, I'm not going to pull over to the side of the road in the middle of the night to swap it out... I'm rambling...

It's starting to piss me off. :x
I upgraded my lights to one of those phillips bulbs that burn brighter and left my old ones in my trunk. This how they won't give me a ticket to get it inspected.
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Re: New headlight suggestions

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six wrote:The kind of opposite happens here. Around here (an urban area), a bunch of people drive around with their highs on, and nobody seems to care. I flash them, and they're oblivious as to why. It's not like it's hard to see; hypothetically, I can drive around 90% of the areas around me without lights at all no problem. Law-enforcement doesn't seem to care either, yet less than 10 minutes after one of my bulbs burned out (I didn't even make it to my destination yet), I got pulled over for headlight failure. What was I supposed to do? It was after midnight. Go to a 24-hour Walmart to buy a new D2R HID bulb, which they don't even have? Even then, I still had to GET to Walmart. It's not like I carry around a spare bulb just in case, and even if I did, I'm not going to pull over to the side of the road in the middle of the night to swap it out... I'm rambling...

It's starting to piss me off. :x
what's funny (in relation to this thread being active now) is my driver's side headlight went out last night (yes, less than a week after picking up the car and the car is only a year old). i ended up replacing it myself (not as easy as expected) and yes, the dealer will reimburse me. when i went to advance auto planning to replace it there, i saw there was bad lighting there, and so i went home to replace it.
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Re: New headlight suggestions

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six wrote:The kind of opposite happens here. Around here (an urban area), a bunch of people drive around with their highs on, and nobody seems to care. I flash them, and they're oblivious as to why. It's not like it's hard to see; hypothetically, I can drive around 90% of the areas around me without lights at all no problem. Law-enforcement doesn't seem to care either, yet less than 10 minutes after one of my bulbs burned out (I didn't even make it to my destination yet), I got pulled over for headlight failure. What was I supposed to do? It was after midnight. Go to a 24-hour Walmart to buy a new D2R HID bulb, which they don't even have? Even then, I still had to GET to Walmart. It's not like I carry around a spare bulb just in case, and even if I did, I'm not going to pull over to the side of the road in the middle of the night to swap it out... I'm rambling...

It's starting to piss me off. :x
Actually, that sounds like a good idea. I should buy a set of spare bulbs for my 4Runner and keep them in the glove box. They're probably due to burn out soon anyway.
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Re: New headlight suggestions

Post by bk7794 »

potownrob wrote:
six wrote:The kind of opposite happens here. Around here (an urban area), a bunch of people drive around with their highs on, and nobody seems to care. I flash them, and they're oblivious as to why. It's not like it's hard to see; hypothetically, I can drive around 90% of the areas around me without lights at all no problem. Law-enforcement doesn't seem to care either, yet less than 10 minutes after one of my bulbs burned out (I didn't even make it to my destination yet), I got pulled over for headlight failure. What was I supposed to do? It was after midnight. Go to a 24-hour Walmart to buy a new D2R HID bulb, which they don't even have? Even then, I still had to GET to Walmart. It's not like I carry around a spare bulb just in case, and even if I did, I'm not going to pull over to the side of the road in the middle of the night to swap it out... I'm rambling...

It's starting to piss me off. :x
what's funny (in relation to this thread being active now) is my driver's side headlight went out last night (yes, less than a week after picking up the car and the car is only a year old). i ended up replacing it myself (not as easy as expected) and yes, the dealer will reimburse me. when i went to advance auto planning to replace it there, i saw there was bad lighting there, and so i went home to replace it.
What'd you replace it with?
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Re: New headlight suggestions

Post by potownrob »

bk7794 wrote:
potownrob wrote:
six wrote:The kind of opposite happens here. Around here (an urban area), a bunch of people drive around with their highs on, and nobody seems to care. I flash them, and they're oblivious as to why. It's not like it's hard to see; hypothetically, I can drive around 90% of the areas around me without lights at all no problem. Law-enforcement doesn't seem to care either, yet less than 10 minutes after one of my bulbs burned out (I didn't even make it to my destination yet), I got pulled over for headlight failure. What was I supposed to do? It was after midnight. Go to a 24-hour Walmart to buy a new D2R HID bulb, which they don't even have? Even then, I still had to GET to Walmart. It's not like I carry around a spare bulb just in case, and even if I did, I'm not going to pull over to the side of the road in the middle of the night to swap it out... I'm rambling...

It's starting to piss me off. :x
what's funny (in relation to this thread being active now) is my driver's side headlight went out last night (yes, less than a week after picking up the car and the car is only a year old). i ended up replacing it myself (not as easy as expected) and yes, the dealer will reimburse me. when i went to advance auto planning to replace it there, i saw there was bad lighting there, and so i went home to replace it.
What'd you replace it with?
Sylvania Xtravisions, the old standby. Went to the dealer today with the receipt and theyre gonna cut me a check once they cut through the red tape.
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Re: New headlight suggestions

Post by bk7794 »

potownrob wrote: Sylvania Xtravisions, the old standby. Went to the dealer today with the receipt and theyre gonna cut me a check once they cut through the red tape.
Interesting. What light did they have in there? You notice a difference?
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