Halogen -VS- LED Headlights with pictures

Nice job--clearly shows how the LEDs are brighter & whiter. A more natural light color, and better light distribution.

Hmm, don't mean to pick nits, but. The perspective of both pictures (really where each car was stopped) seems to be different. The darker narrow band of asphalt just past the hood is quite a bit further ahead in the LED picture - also witness the nearer lampost on the right cannot be seen in the halogen shot.

So all things equal, the LED (V) car was further away from the end of the road as depicted. But still seems to illuminate the area better / clearer.

I have the V, and very pleased with the clean, even, bright white illumination - although feel my lighting distance may need to be adjusted. And will have checked at my first service appt.

Thanks for these pics!

Thanks

First of all I want to say, thanks for the pictures. Great job. I think it clearly shows a difference between the two light sets. I'm hoping there was no Photoshop involved, or any other sort of editing. As noted above, the cars are clearly not parked in the same spot as you can see the light post on the right in the below picture as well as the curb, or the above picture does not show both. Hence the car must be parked further away. If that's the case, then there is actually a big benefit to having LED headlamps, besides just having a luxury car look at night. This makes me reconsider not getting these lights. Presently driving a 1994 Honda Civic hatchback, I think it was a great automobile for its time. It fit my needs and my budget at a time, it's also relatively roomy, great handling and very good fuel economy. But with 420,000 km on it already, the time for replacement as soon. The biggest flaw with the car has been it's weak lights. Driving mostly on dark unlit highways, this cars is awful when oncoming traffic shines it's headlights at you. The headlamps do a great job at lighting the bottom of overpasses as I drive underneath. Not so great at lighting the road. This makes me exocentric about good headlamps in my next vehicle. LEDs on the Prius might suddenly be worth it. Would have to get a set of 15" wheels for winter so the car is drivable in bad weather. The Touring package 17" are not for the long hard Canadian winters. Have to see if the 15" can be put on the Prius that has 17" equipped tires.

No sharp cutoff like the HIDs in the Lexus.

Great comparison shots, Paradox!
If only there was a set of HIDs to add to the mix!

Although it doesn't show in the photo here, the vertical cutoff of the low beam LED's in my V is very dramatic. While I'm sure it's nice for oncoming drivers or city situations, going from high beams which apparently have no vertical cutoff to the lowbeams when approaching traffic (either oncoming or from behind) is practically like turning off the lights. Sure there is fantastic illumination right in front of the car but just a bit further down the road it's black. My impression is that the vertical aiming of the LED's is actually within spec but I would prefer that they they were adjusted a tiny bit further up which still shouldn't annoy other drivers but would reduce the radical change between the high and low beams.

p.s. I've also done the white bulb change-out described in a different thread and am very pleased with the overall result. The replacement bulbs aren't quite as white as the LED's but are much closer than the original yellow ones and I don't feel I've given up anything in terms of rural night driving as compared to the HID BiXenons on our other cars.

Jim,
Agree with you completely. The LEDs are fantastic, but the cutoff is dramatic. I don't do much night driving on dark roads, but when I do it's very noticeable. Have to believe it would be a problem on a very dark road driving 40+ - easy to outdrive the illumination. And the high beam difference is dramatic.

Would be interested in the specs from a safety standard standpoint. And wonder if Hacks will figure out a workaround adjustment...

That's what I mean by the more obvious vertical cutoff of the HIDs in the Lexus. If the Lexus were in the photo, it'd show in the photo. Unfortunately, nobody has been able to explain why this is. Height differential? Different projection lens?

Great pictures. Nobody can accuse this thread of this:

Makes me wish even more that the LED headlights were an option with the solar package

You did a GREAT job with these beamshots. Thanks a lot.

While the cuttoff might be very visible against a close target, these pictures are very clear in showing how it is not a problem at all in real life. Halogen do not allow us to see any more detail or subject far away, that's all I need to know.

Thanks for posting those; I was wondering about the difference too. Now if we could get Halogen, HID and LED all next to each other that would be very cool.

Is it possible to just simply swap out the lights to the LEDs? I'm sure we will see some used parts down the road, just have to wait, and get them to replace.

Did your 2006 have projectors?
I wonder if having two projector lenses in each housing produces
a sharper cutoff compared to only having one lens in each housing.

Do the two lenses cause the sharpness of the cutoff to run longer
horizontally? On single projector lensed headlights, isn't the "middle section" of the horizontal cutoff usually where it is sharpest? Since there are TWO lenses in each housing, is that simply widening the sharpest, "middle" section of the cutoff?

I'd love to see that. I plan to install some good fogs soon.