One often-discussed issue in Car Chat (though I don't recall any specific threads on it) is whether the added expense of manufacturers using LED's is actually worth it or not in everyday practical driving. Many here seem to prefer LEDs, and it may depend on the specific vehicle/design, although I think this is a very interesting write-up from Consumer Reports on the road-test of the new Chevy Trailblazer.

CR has a partial-paywall, so you may or may not be able to access the whole story, but I copied/posted the most relevant part on the vehicle's headlights.

https://www.consumerreports.org/cars...-test?pagestop

 

...........and, while we're on the subject of headlights/grilles, anybody see a resemblance to the Lexus Spindle-grilles on the Trailblazer....particularly on the blacked-out RS model?

 

I'd think you'd want a lighting that goes the distance vs the super close up bright lighting. Yea the high beam is a great idea, but in high, heavy traffic areas it wouldn't work. Geared towards rural, country roads. See your bring up lighting as the topic, make the ''DRL'' w/ no instrument lighting on.....I see that all the time, fog, late dusk & sometimes at nite as well.....

 

To be honest, I myself am probably not the best judge of a vehicle's headlights, since, Number One, I usually drive after dark (or before sunrise) only about once a week or so, for relatively short distances, Number Two, the area in live in is generally well-lit at night with plenty of street/buisness/residential lights, and there is usually no real darkness except in big power-failures with storms, and, Number Three, because of heavy traffic, there are not many chances to use the high-beams. That's why I don't talk a whole lot about headlights in my reviews/write-ups......for that, there are better sources than me.

I will say this, though....even when I did more driving in dark conditions, such as when I was still at work, out socially with friends, or as a pilot, I never had any problems with the halogens of the period....and, indeed, except for the short bulb-life and replacement-needs, I thought they were a huge advance over the old incandescent/sealed-beam units I learned to drive with in the 1960s.

 

There is absolutely no contest in my experience. I have found LED lights, particularly adaptive lights, to be far superior and I would want them on any car going forward.

 

In most cases, I'd tend to agree with your point of view, particularly at higher speeds.

 

There is absolutely no contest. I will never buy another vehicle with halogen headlights. The headlights on my new S560 are the most incredible headlights I have ever had, I can only imagine how good they are overseas when they can unlock the matrix high beam function.

Even HIDs pale in comparison to a good set of LEDs. The Pacifica still has HIDs and they are yellow on the road in comparison.

 

Its all about implementation, we've had a thread on this not too long ago.

 

Not just yellow.....some of the ones I've seen have a strong bluish tint.

 

Well, yes. HIDs have a whitish/bluish tint to them compared to halogens. LEDs are much whiter though, and compared to LEDs HIDs actually look a little yellow.

Halogens are about 3,600k color temp, factory HIDs are 4100k, LEDs are 5500k or so.

 

Halogens usually always have the same color temperature, unless the bulb had color coated glass - remember in the late 90ies and early 00's a bunch of cheap so called "xenon" bulbs sold online that imitated the color of "HID" lights and with all kinds of outrageous claims on the package promising superior performance? These always performed way worse than uncoated halogen bulbs, since a lot of lights was lost because of the tint.

HID and LED bulbs can be had with various color temperatures. In the mid 00's during the craze of HID kits there were various color kits sold, up to 30,000k purple light. There are "warm white" HID bulbs as well with 2,700-3,000k color temps, although they are not generally used in automotive applications. I used to have light fixture in my backyard that used a Philips warm white metal halide (HID) bulb.

With LED nowadays they can achieve pretty much any color of the visible spectrum, so they don't have to be 5,500k. Generally the 4,100k is considered optimal since its the closest to sunlight and considered pure white, although even with 4,100k you can see hints of blue caused by the optics near the cutoff.

 

I have all 3 right now.... hard pass on halogens. Upgraded/replaced the stock LS 4300k bulbs to 5000k and they are excellent (noticeable difference between stock and aftermarket, the latter being “whiter”, without being blue. The TourX came with LEDs and I really like them.

 

IIHS has a thorough headlight testing proceedure. For a vehicle to get their top rating it has to get a G in the test. In nearly all of the cars that I've looked at there, cars with upgraded LED's got the top rating. After having cars with them it's a must have for me.

Headlight test and rating protocol (iihs.org)

 

The color temps for OEM lights are actually limited by DOT regulations, that's why all the factory HIDs are 4100k etc. I definitely remember the "coated" xenon bulbs!

 

I would agree that OEM LEDs are ideal in almost all aspects. They tend to last much longer than halogen bulbs, and performance doesn't degrade over time. LED lighting is supposed to last the life of the car, so it's one less maintenance item for the owner. Light spread is better and visibility is improved for both the driver and oncoming traffic, because OEM LEDs usually come in housings that utilize a projector lens or some other means to focus the light more efficiently than a halogen reflector. The sharper cutoff line means you get good visibility without blinding oncoming traffic. LEDs also make tech like BMW's Adaptive Lighting and MB's Multibeam lighting possible (though we don't get these features in North America).

The only issue I have with OEM LED headlamp lighting is the way some manufacturers integrate them. As an example, on my CX-9, there is no "bulb", the LEDs are built into a board in the housing. If the LED lighting were to fail, instead of replacing the bulb, you have to replace the whole housing (or source a used/junked headlight and attempt to DIY the component replacement).