Are LED headlights really any better at night?

quenching

Lots of cars now have LED headlights as standard or an option but can you actually see any better at night than with decent halogen bulbs such as Philips X-treme Vision bulbs?

The other benefits such as longer replacement intervals don't bother me but I'd be keen on seeing better in the dark. I've had cars with Xenon headlights and these did seem better than halogen bulbs but they're fading in popularity now.

Manufacturers claim more this or that but more light for less power doesn't necessarily mean your nighttime illumination has improved.

colm_mcm

Far as I know, LEDs sit somewhere between halogens and HIDs in terms of Visibility.

bazz26

My recommendation is go drive a car with xenon/led headlights at night, then get back into a car with halogens and notice the difference. The halogens will feel like they are two candles placed inside the lens. It was as simple or cheap as just fitting Philips Extreme bulbs then car manufacturers would not be spending more money fitting xenon or led headlights.

ongarite

Had an E60 with Halogen in projector lenses and they were awful.
My current F10 has adaptive LEDs and they are excellent. Wouldn't and couldn't go back to Halogen again.

Widdensushi

Wouldn't and couldn't go back to Halogen again.[/QUOTE]

Same as above, I found myself caught out a couple of times on bendy rural roads where I would have always seen the headlights of other cars coming. I leave the dims on auto now and I am aware of the possibility.

heroics

My F10 has adaptive Xenon's and my wife's 1 Series has halogens. There is no comparison, when driving her car I am always checking if the lights are on.

I will never buy a car again that does not have Xenon/LEDs.

mickdw

I have xenons and I didn't believe they were any improvement over halogen however I recently drove a new passat with halogen lights and I couldn't see a thing so I'm assuming the xenons are far ahead.
The led headlights have other benefits over the basic light strength.
On many models they are smart in that they can leave the majority of beam full strength when meeting a car only adjusting the portion of the light that would dazzle so you don't have to dip lights just let the car adjust as necessary.
They also do far better turning lights than the older versions.

quenching

bazz26 wrote: »

My recommendation is go drive a car with xenon/led headlights at night, then get back into a car with halogens and notice the difference. The halogens will feel like they are two candles placed inside the lens. It was as simple or cheap as just fitting Philips Extreme bulbs then car manufacturers would not be spending more money fitting xenon or led headlights.

The manufacturers are only spending more money as you say for a short period of time until they get it, and more, back from you when you buy the car. I may be a bit cynical but I'm not convinced my welfare takes precedence over profit for car manufacturers, if they could make more money by attaching rabbit ears they would.

I've replaced "standard" halogen bulbs with "upgraded" one such at the Philips ones and they are indeed much better, but still not as good as Xenons I've had. However, Xenons are not commonly installed anymore as LED's are easier and cheaper for manufacturers to install and everyone just assumes they are better, which may not always be the case. Just because its newer doesn't make it better, my 34 year old Mercedes has much better headlights than my modern Toyota Prius or Nissan Leaf (this has particularly bad halogen headlights).

I presume the mentions of E60 and F10 are referring to BMW's? I've had 4 older BMW's (2 Mini Cooper S's but still BMW) and I'm not keen to touch one again.

Any with actual experience of newish Janapese or Korean cars with LED headlights?

Nate--IRL--

I've a year old Civic with LEDs - absolutely no comparison with the Halogens in my previous Jazz. The LEDs throw the light much much further and the cooler colour temperature seem to aid with the visibility also.

The difference in confidence in navigating dark back roads is like night and day (pardon the abused metaphor).

Nate

bazz26

Times have changed along with technology progression. You could argue similar merits between a smart phone and an old dump phone from 20 years ago. Both will still make calls and send/receive texts but the smart phone will do much more too. Do you still use an old style dump phone?

As I said, go spend some time in a car with decent xenon or led headlights and report back. If you think halogens are good enough to do what you want from them then fine but I don't buy into your take that xenon/led headlights add little or no value and are just another money racket.

honda boi

What's your opinion on these lads for older cars (>10 years old) Know a few people who got them and said there better then halogen but I was of the opinion they blind other drivers ???
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F272630602803

SBPhoto

When i had the Toyota Avensis they had halogen lights and i found them poor, Bought the Audi A3 which had the Xenons and they were brilliant. then changed to and A6 Sline with LEDs and these are the best lights i ever had slightly better and more even than the Xenons.
Drove one with the Matrix Leds the other night and it was like driving in the daytime, absolutely brilliant. Wouldn't go back to anything without leds. also unlikely to joint the one eye bandit club with LEDs. as they are nearly maintenance free

JoeA3

There's not much between LED and Xenons... LED's maybe a little whiter but light output is similar from my experience.

Halogens do not belong on a modern car. Really really crap.

quenching

Nate--IRL-- wrote: »

I've a year old Civic with LEDs - absolutely no comparison with the Halogens in my previous Jazz. The LEDs throw the light much much further and the cooler colour temperature seem to aid with the visibility also.

The difference in confidence in navigating dark back roads is like night and day (pardon the abused metaphor).

Nate

Terrific, thanks for that, a Civic wasn't on my radar until now!

bazz26 wrote: »

Times have changed along with technology progression. You could argue similar merits between a smart phone and an old dump phone from 20 years ago. Both will still make calls and send/receive texts but the smart phone will do much more too. Do you still use an old style dump phone?

As I said, go spend some time in a car with decent xenon or led headlights and report back. If you think halogens are good enough to do what you want from them then fine but I don't buy into your take that xenon/led headlights add little or no value and are just another money racket.

I'm not saying LEDs are a money-making racket, that's precisely why I asked the question, I've no real world experience of them. I've had Xenons and they are indeed better, but I'm not asking about them. LEDs are different technology and hopefully live up to whats claimed of them, I intend to try them but at the moment its much easier to ask here from people with direct experience of them.

SBPhoto wrote: »

When i had the Toyota Avensis they had halogen lights and i found them poor, Bought the Audi A3 which had the Xenons and they were brilliant. then changed to and A6 Sline with LEDs and these are the best lights i ever had slightly better and more even than the Xenons.
Drove one with the Matrix Leds the other night and it was like driving in the daytime, absolutely brilliant. Wouldn't go back to anything without leds. also unlikely to joint the one eye bandit club with LEDs. as they are nearly maintenance free

Thanks, if only it wasn't an Audi

kerten

I think LEDs are cheaper to produce than xenons(but not cheaper to buy as usual) so manufacturers moves to this direction.  I also think headlights are safety equipments and having halogen headlights should be treated as a minus like any other safety equipments likes in NCAP.  

I just bought a 2016  car with halogen headlights(couldn't find one with xenons specced). While rest of the car is perfect, headlights performance is on par with my 2005 focus maybe less. Bought usual philips 130% bulbs to put in and will adjust them to see more then 15 meters ahead

Micky 32

My Passat has the full LED's, i have had halogen, xenon and now LED and without doubt the LED is the best. However when i was in the states i had a Nissan rental that had dip LED's with halogen heads. They weren't that great!

DaveyDave

I think it depends on the shape of the headlight too. The difference between my mam's old i30 and my Golf is insane. Golf has a much further and more evenly beam pattern and is also brighter, slightly whiter colour too. High beams is the same story, very wide and high illumination and much brighter. i30 had a more round enclosure while the Golf seems to be square, this reflects in the beam pattern where the i30 would round off a lot on high beams and the Golf just throws a giant square beam pattern.

I've no issues with the lights on my Golf but I'd probably get dynamic LED headlights on my next car though. It's a right pain driving the backroads without highbeams on just because there's a car in the distance.

Micky 32

I have the dynamic ones, very cool the way it works.

Woodie40

I have an Audi with full LED’s. I noticed a big difference both on dipped and the main beam. From a safety point of view, they’ve given me extra confidence whilst travelling at night. I live in the country and the amount of people I meet walking in dark clothing on the roads is unreal.