[the VTEC guy]

I don't know if this fits here but the Bajaj RE rickshaws of the past had ridiculous headlights. A good quality torch of those times had better illumination than the OEM headlight. The utter ignorance on part of Bajaj to not upgrade this for sake of safety till the competition started offering better shows the chalta hai attitude, lobbying and lack of strong rules. I believe this dismal OEM light may have even caused many injuries and deaths to occupants as well as other road users.

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by DCEite

The new generation Swift is one of the worst as far as headlights are concerned.

Surprisingly, the budget hatchback - WagonR - both old and new have way better headlights.

Really, the new swift?
I have the 2012 Dzire and by far the best headlights I have seen.
Id say even better than the projectors in my Fiesta, but I wont, cos thats probably down to using 6k.

Surprisingly, good cut off on the swift even though its just reflectors!

[VW2010]

Worst OEM headlight in a completely different approach is that "kutti Yanai", Tata Ace and these new generation share vans.

The designer is stupid to set up such a powerful lights and at an height which only hinders opposite vehicle. The designer should be blamed for such an arrangement.

Back to topic, i feel swift is inadequate as well and the white lights are absolutely useless in rain. Can hardly see the tarmac.

[prashant316]

I think headlights and tyres are 2 places where manufacturers compromise the most in a new car. The cars that i find have weak headlights include polo, my 2009 dzire, santro, figo, punto, indica, etc.

Cars with bad tyres include all MAruti's that came with JK's, all Tata's and few more.

[arjab]

- Baleno. About as bright as a firefly !

- ESTEEM Type-1. Beam spread, beam range truly bad. No matter what you do to upgrade the stock bulbs (relays, Philips Rally, Osram etc, etc) the thingy just does not ILLUMINATE the road

[sa_kiran]

Originally Posted by rohanjf

So we can conclude that the problem is not with the cars or their designers. The problem is with the way our roads are. .

We can not blame the roads. I've driven my Honda City on all kinds of roads, cities and highways. Low beam is atrocious, whereas high beam is slightly better.

I had my heart in mouth when I was driving on Mumbai-Pune expressway on a rainy night 2 years ago. I struggled to look for the white lane separator, the only thing bright on that night. I could manage because of sparse traffic and everything else about the car is good.

Another heart in mouth condition was when I was driving during very early morning on NH4 in the stretch between Dharwad and Hubli (1+1 lane!). Almost all oncoming vehicles had their high beam on and I could hardly see anything.

When I spoke to Honda dealer regarding this, his reaction was - Yes, I know it and I have a solution for it, shell out 13K/- How come mods work fine and illuminate proper areas of roads? Why can't OEM headlights be equally good?

[sgiitk]

HIDs are fine, but many states are cracking down on them.

[vb-saan]

My vote goes to the 2003 Ford Ikon 1.6 NXT. Extremely bad headlights, and that’s the only negative point I have about the car. But then, quite a few have mentioned the Figo here, and I know a couple of folks who were not happy with the headlights of their Endeavour. Probably a generic weak point for Ford cars?

[k_nitin_r]

The Esteem Di (last gen) has pretty bad headlamps too. The stock headlamps are inadequate. After a relay and Philips Rallye 120/100, visibility slightly improved (using both low and high beam provides a decent night driving experience... pull and hold the stick back, instead of forward for high beam to get both beams... get a cheap relay because it may burn out after extended usage) but the road dividers are still not visible and when there's any oncoming traffic, it's like driving blind. I drove the previous generation Swift and it has a more focused beam of light and so can manage with 100/90 bulbs

The only solution is to fix auxiliary driving lamps:
(i) if you install a bullbar for the lamps, you'll destroy anything and anyone that you crash into with the bullbar
(ii) if you fix the lamps on the bumper, even a slight touch of the footpath when parking would mean you have to throw away the damaged lamps
(iii) Fixing the lamps on the roof is illegal and the traffic fines are enforced by at least some states

[Sankar]

Originally Posted by mayankk

Really, the new swift?
I have the 2012 Dzire and by far the best headlights I have seen.
Id say even better than the projectors in my Fiesta, but I wont, cos thats probably down to using 6k.

Surprisingly, good cut off on the swift even though its just reflectors!

You're right, the headlamps on the new Swift aint poor by any means. If any they're better than the previous gen Swifts. I've compared them side to side.

[aerohit]

I think this has less to do with car and more to do with the people.

This is because most people in India drive with high beams ON, due to which Indian eyes are becoming weaker.

Similarly, when people complain their horn is not loud enough, this is because Indian society have become deafer over the years due to so much noise pollution!

This is my perception, what is yours?

[CANPUSH]

Originally Posted by coriollis

I agree to your views about our road conditions, but our cars do have problems as well.

Cheers!
Abhijeet.

I agree. rather than lights, it is the road and traffic conditions. If one is confident about road even minimal lights are good enough.

We have so many obstructions.. potholes, sharp curves, broken curbs, non-existing shoulders and more than all that live obstacles like people crossing highways, two wheelers, three wheelers and tractors travelling at slow speed or worse, traveling in opposite direction in wrong lane. Add to this the vehicles travelling in opposite direction (in correct lane) with their high beam on.

The drivers in a car travelling at 70 kmph+ has to be vigilant to locate and avoid all these obstacles and he obviously needs assistance from head lights to travel safely. I think little better lights can help. I also believe that lights with formal geometry (round or rectangular shape rather than elongated, curved, tear drop and all such shapes) and Fresnel lens perform better. e.g. old jeep, ambassador, 118NE, etc.

[Aroy]

This discussion till now is really about whether you can see the road in all conditions or not.

I doubt that you can see the road with any except "search light" intensity beams when the lights from the oncoming traffic shines on your eyes. That may be the reason why users of low slung cars are blaming their lights, and the users of tall SUV are happy.

The whole problem is compounded by users who have fitted HID and go about with high beam on in the city. These lights not only blind you instantly, but the blindness may persist for many seconds, resulting in accidents. Definitely the answer is not to get those HID for your self, but educate the road users in the etiquette and manners.I have a friend who insists on driving with high beam even on well lit streets and he refuses to listen to any reason for driving with low beams.

To check whether your beams are well designed -

- go to a lonely stretch of straight road at night, preferably one which has a lot of trees on the sides.
- The low beams should spread the light but cut off vertically, so that they do not hit your eyes when you are in a car. That means that at a distance of 10m they should hit your knees and not your eyes. They should also spread across the road so that both the shoulders are clearly visible.
- The high beams should be parallel to the ground, with a sharp cut off in both the vertical direction and on the right. If you can see the trees lit up beyond the car height, the beams (or the alignment) is defective.
- Fog lights should be low with a very wide spread.

[supertinu]

Originally Posted by CANPUSH

I agree. rather than lights, it is the road and traffic conditions. If one is confident about road even minimal lights are good enough.

We have so many obstructions.. potholes, sharp curves, broken curbs, non-existing shoulders and more than all that live obstacles like people crossing highways, two wheelers, three wheelers and tractors travelling at slow speed or worse, traveling in opposite direction in wrong lane. Add to this the vehicles travelling in opposite direction (in correct lane) with their high beam on.

The drivers in a car travelling at 70 kmph+ has to be vigilant to locate and avoid all these obstacles and he obviously needs assistance from head lights to travel safely. I think little better lights can help. I also believe that lights with formal geometry (round or rectangular shape rather than elongated, curved, tear drop and all such shapes) and Fresnel lens perform better. e.g. old jeep, ambassador, 118NE, etc.

You do bring up a interesting perspective. So far on this thread I pretty much see all sub 10lac segment cars being complained about. So either all manufacturers have poor headlight design or we expect excessive illumination due to all the issues pointed out above.

Based on my experience with Ikon, Figo and Santro I believe that Ikon is worst of the lot. I had to upgrade to 90/100 watt bulbs which made it tolerable though not exceptional. Comparatively i find the stock bulbs on my Figo definitely brighter but high beam has a weird throw and doesnt spread well. Overall combo of headlamps and fog lamps on figo are usable for me. Comparatively I find Santro HL best of the lot. Very good throw and spread at high beam. Even in incoming traffic i always find Santro HLs most annoying or bright.

Lastly I agree with Aroy. Most cars have satisfactory illumination on an empty dark road, its only with incoming headlights that problem is hugely compounded.

[NevGin]

My Vento. Has got to be the worse OEM headlamps I have come across. So much so that I drive with them off and leave only the fog lamps on.