LouA

From what I can see, Bi LED headlights are standard on the 2018 RX. Bi LED Adaptive headlights are an option as well as the triple beam LED headlights. What is the difference between Bi LED And Adaptive Bi_LED

gottabekin

I believe it moves the headlight as you turn left or right.

Nail34

Yup, and I really like this feature.

Kansas

Only the optional LED Adaptive headlights get an "Acceptable" rating from the IIHS. Both the standard LED and optional triple beam LED headlights are rated "Marginal". Relatively few headlight systems have earned the IIHS highest "Good" rating.

Click on the "Headlight" link on the left side of the following web page to see the information: http://www.iihs.org/iihs/ratings/veh.../rx-4-door-suv

ericsan13

Arbitrary ratings are fun, let me try. I find the looks of the triple beam LED to be "Great". The regular headlights look "Marginal". Even corollas have HIDs now - only multi-LED systems are luxury features.

tomtom74

Corolla has Bi-LED standard, and Multi-LED available. Not HID.

ericsan13

Wow, that's even better than HID.

Kansas

IIHS headlight ratings are based on extensive scientific testing and are not in any way arbitrary.

If "only multi-LED systems are luxury features", then what does that make the entry level sub-$25K Honda accord with its 20 LED headlight system? Does it make it more than three times more luxurious than an RX with the triple beam system? Of course not.

There is certainly nothing wrong with you valuing looks over performance and safety. That is an individual choice. Others may choose otherwise.

ericsan13

By arbitrary, I mean they assign a marginal/good rating instead of giving us useful metrics. What defines marginal? Good? How much light is outputted from type of system? What is their definition of useful illumination distance? When I tried these different systems they all looked the same to me.

The line between luxury, premium, and base are becoming more and more blurred. Sedans are having a harder time selling so these typically optional features are getting pushed down to base models. The number of LEDs is not the metric for luxury (lol 20 LEDs?). It's that you typically see only luxury cars having multi-LED systems. But as time passes, luxury features become common features. The accord is a good example of that and I'm sure when more cars switch to LEDs it will no longer be a luxury item.

Of course, to each their own. I never meant to imply otherwise. Just because the accord has LED headlamps doesn't mean it looks good.

signdetres

The number of LEDs is insignificant and is not what defines a luxury feature. LEDs are a reinvention of the lightbulb per se, which is why you're seeing it being used across the board. It's new but mainstream and relatively cheap. It's the modern day filament.

It's the way the LED technology is used such as in the video below where the cars are able to keep high-beams on at all times while shielding other cars and people around from being blinded by using individual LEDs. The vehicle is able to specifically choose what areas of the road to light up and which should not be illuminated such as vehicles in front or around, highly reflective signs, etc. This is a luxury feature, currently at least.

Kansas

Look at and compare the graphic images on the IIHS website that show how each headlight system performed straight-ahead, on gradual left and right curving curves and on more sharply left and right hand turns. The graphs provide very specific data on how many feet ahead the headlights illuminate on both low and high beams under the various scenario. You're no different than most people in that all the systems look the same when you test drove them. You were going by a "seat of the pants" evaluation like most people do. Unfortunately, most people including me seem to be impressed by how much foreground light is produced by a headlight system during a casual evaluation. What is more important is how far into the distance the road and objects are illuminated which is much harder to determine in a casual evaluation.

LED headlights stopped being a luxury item a long time ago. The 2012 Prius v my wife usually drives has really great quad LED low beam headlights with halogen high beams. The 2015-up Prius v has even better single bi-LED low/high headlights and was the very first vehicle that got the IIHS highest "Good" rating and its headlights aren't even curve adaptive. The future of automotive headlights may not be LED at all and instead is more likely to be laser. Laser headlights are already being used in Europe and have been approved for a couple of European cars sold in the U.S. Similar to the video that signdetres posted, a single laser can be engineered to act as if it contains hundreds or even thousands of tiny headlights that can operate individually and automatically to keep from blinding oncoming drivers, pedestrians, etc. while essentially being in high beam mode all the time.

I hope the IIHS continues to test headlights and crash test vehicles so that I don't have to do my own seat-of-the-pants evaluations and simply hope for the best.