[SCORPION]

Headlights seem to be the most common equipment on a car that buyers seem to be unhappy about. Must be the most upgraded component in a car, in the Indian market. I dont think as much thought goes into making an effective headlight as what goes into making it aesthetically pleasing and gel with the rest of the car. Form takes precedence over function, at least among mass market manufacturers. I see makers like Audi, BMW and Mercedes spending more money on headlight design, bulb design and their effectiveness. They go gaga over their matrix, laser and bixenon lights. Not so much from mass market manufacturers. Never seen a Hyundai, Ford or Toyota, for instance, going all out advertising how good their lights are.

Most issues we face on the road are due to us motorists being inconsiderate to each other. If everyone sticks to low beams except when required, the need for more powerful headlights will come down.

[arunphilip]

Originally Posted by SCORPION

Headlights seem to be the most common equipment on a car that buyers seem to be unhappy about. Must be the most upgraded component in a car, in the Indian market.

I think this is also influenced by both reviews and prospective buyers doing test drives in the day time, in the vast majority of cases.

As a result, there isn't the opportunity to assess the performance of headlights. Other metrics like space, comfort no doubt influence buying decisions, so imagine what it would mean to a potential buyer to read under 'Cons': "The headlights are rubbish, their throw is inadequate on the highway".

A failed sale is the most effective feedback mechanism for a seller, unhappy customers at the ASC come a distant second.

Originally Posted by mathur2012

A lot of people have given positive feedback about osram night breakers, I tried them but didn't find them sufficient as well.

Osram Night Breakers, Philips Extreme Vision, and similar bulbs are not a solution, they are a stop-gap compromise (I say this as a user).

They give you incrementally more brightness that can be dropped in directly, without any changes. For anyone not keen on making changes to their car, it is an alternative. They are not a substitute for higher wattage bulbs, or other lighting technologies (like HID/LED/projectors).

[BeantownThinker]

Voted NO

TATA Indica V2 (2004) : Never felt the need to upgrade (Car no longer in use)
TATA Manza (2010) : Never felt the need to upgrade (Car sold)
Hyundai Verna 4S (2015) : Halogen in projectors absolutely useless. Have upgraded to 4300K 55W HIDs. Still feel they are inadequate.

I am of the opinion that, in case of projectors, having one pair of hotspot is not adequate to do duty on both low beam and high beam. There has to be separate hotspots of low beam and high beam. What I mean by this is, when you switch from low beam to high beam in a projector, the hotspot does not really shift, and just that the full intensity of the bulb is revealed.

Did not feel the need to upgrade headlights in either of my TATA cars as halogens in reflectors created separate hotspots for low beam and high beam.

This is just my opinion. Yet to test in real life.

[sooraj.naik]

I've voted Yes.

The yes is for Opel Insignia's Adaptive forward lighting.

[mathur2012]

As evident by poll results, OEM headlights are insufficient for most people, A lot of people have given positive feedback about osram night breakers, I tried them but didn't find them sufficient as well.

[superbad]

Not satisfied with the low beam in my Ciaz. It's throw is inadequate even when the headlamp leveling knob is set for the longest throw. Any ideas/suggestions to improve this would be welcome.

[roshanjathanna]

Im happy with OEM headlight s on my i20 CRDI Hyndai provided OSRAM head lamp bulbs.

[recshenoy]

We had old zen (MH410) and it illuminated the road reasonably well. But here I have voted "NO" because of my first generation Figo.

Generally people test drive vehicles during day light and the critical headlamp brightness is not tested during test drive. In the end people go for an upgrade and fill streets with high beam LED lamps (or "white lights") blinding everyone. Perhaps now a days there are options like zoom car etc where you can hire and test all round capability of the car.

For me headlight is a very critical safety feature for a vehicles. Good headlight becomes a necessary safety feature like ABS/AIRBAG due to ever increasing potholes, blinding AHO LED lamps of 2 wheeler, people or animals crossing poorly lit roads . Many a times I see 10-15% reduction in the speed due to poor headlights. Also, because of 4 lane roads, now a days people tend to find all type of shortcuts to reach opposite lane. Even yesterday I faced this issue, bike in front of me on fast lane suddenly decides to cross over to opposite road through rain water drain channel. Luckily I was on high beam and could slow down.


Similar thread about worst OEM headlights.
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...headlight.html (Worst OEM Headlight)

[AutoInt]

Voted No for my 2011 Vento TDI. Still running on the OEM headlights. High beam is somewhat okay. Low beam is inadequate and only the fog lamps comes to little rescue.

[speedmunster]

It is a mixed bag in my case. Most of my earlier cars had pathetic lighting with the exception of the Indica, which was adequate. My Innova's lighting was just about average until the headlight bulbs were upgraded to 100/90 Osrams.

In the existing garage:
Scorpio: Decent
Fiesta: Excellent
Honda City: Decent

[mathur2012]

Originally Posted by superbad

Not satisfied with the low beam in my Ciaz. It's throw is inadequate even when the headlamp leveling knob is set for the longest throw. Any ideas/suggestions to improve this would be welcome.

Did you try Osram's Nightbreaker?

[McLaren Roxx]

Voted No for Hexa

Although it comes with a twin Projector + High beam setup, light output is below par, especially for a vehicle of its size.
Many owners are converting their setup to LED which provides slightly better output. But in my opinion, Tata should have provided this as stock.
Upgrading to a higher wattage 90/100 setup, especially for the projectors is not an option due to its small size and resultant heat generation.

[Fan@Automotive]

Was not happy with the stock headlights in my Getz (2008 model), till I plugged in a pair of LED bulbs (costing 12.5 k) from Philips. Am not happy with the stock headlights in my Rapid (2015 model). Low beam being a projector setup is very weak while the high beams though being a regular reflector setup compensate for the weak low beam, making city driving difficult.

On the other hand am really impressed with the stock headlights of my Honda City (2015 model).

[revvenant]

Originally Posted by thoma

I think the award for most pathetic headlamps should go for the Figo/Aspire twins. I literally feel like not having headlamps at all when out on the highway, such is the OEM lamps from Ford.

Moreover, there is a known issue of blackening of the headlamp reflectors in these cars which could not be solved even upon replacement!

Fully agree with this, were it not for the fog lamps I wouldn't dare go out on a highway at night.

[amods]

Voted NO for my Polo CL 2015. The low beams complemented with the fogs are great for city drive. But the high beam is a nightmare.

Quoting one incident from trip to Hampi few months back. We left in the evening and due to construction going on the Hospet-CDurga stretch, it got completely dark on the highway. It was raining lightly and one stretch of newly laid smooth tarmac was completely invisible on high beams even without any oncoming traffic.
It was so scary it felt like I was driving in a dark cave.. had to reduce speed to 30-40kmph and let a truck pass me and followed him. Looking for suggestions on best possible replacement - If anyone could please help, that'd be great.