[Epic]

So these days OEM are providing car lighting in 3 ways - Halogen Reflector, HID Projector and LED Projector.

In our family garage we have cars having all of the above - VW Polo 1.6 with Halogen Reflectors, VW Jetta & Skoda Superb with HID Projectors and Mercedes GLC with LED Projectors.

I would rate them this way - HID Projector > LED Projector > Halogen Reflector.

OEM Halogen Reflectors have always been the worst and hence I have upgraded the ones on my Polo 1.6 to after market HID Projectors. With reference to LED Projectors vs HID Projectors, I have found the HIDs to be better in terms of illumination. The LEDs seem to be a bit weak.

[nerd1200]

OEM Headlights in the two cars I've owned - NO!

1. Hyundai Accent - OEM 60/55W were not adequate; Upgraded to Osram NBUs. The brightness increased a bit but still not adequate; Finally changed the headlights (since I noticed issues with the reflectors) and upgraded to 100/90W Philips Rallye with Hella relay. That was the best combination IMO for the Accent.

2. Skoda Laura - OEM Low beam projectors were sub par, the high beam was better comparatively; Upgraded low beams to Osram Xenarc 35W (4200K) and High beams to Osram Cool blue Intense (4200K-55W). Visibility has improved drastically. But I'm getting an urge to upgrade to Bi-xenons.

Out of the cars I've driven, I felt the best OEM headlights are the Mercedes adaptive LEDs (C250) followed by FL Mk-6 Jetta's Bixenons with AFS. In contrast, Mk3 Octavias Bixenons were sub par.
Among halogen based ones, I feel Santro Xing and Suzuki Ritz had good throw. None of the newer cars I've driven (with halogens) impressed me in the lights department.

[dhanushs]

My 800 - Yes.
My Ikon - NO.
My Palio - Yes.
My Fiesta - NO.
My Manza - YES
My Jeep - Hell Yes.
My Pajero - Hell Yes.
My Vento - NO.
My City AT - NO.

I've noticed that most Tata cars have good headlights, same with old Maruti & Mahindra cars (Read: Made for India Cars). Newer cars have pathetic lighting.

In fact, I don't really need better lighting from my cars. For example, the lighting in the Vento is manageable, ONLY IF, all other cars on the road have the similar subtle lights. It becomes unmanageable is when you have a blinding light opposite to you.

[Kosfactor]

Voted Yes.

Lets go through the cars that i`ve spent some time with.

'95 Esteem - Just about OK - with 100/90 Philips rally (Car is not with us now)
'97 Esteem - Excellent - Changed it to new Lumax units, 100/90 Philips rally + Custom alignment like our BD sir. (Car is not with us now)
'06 M800 FI - Not good - Changed it to 100/90 and it fried the alternator (Car is not with us now)
07 Verna - Not good - Optics not on my side so did not bother to mess with it.(Car is not with us now)
'16 Nano GenX - Very good for the city, its auto-leveling, so highways are a bit sketchy as the reach is not that good.(Car is not with us now)

'14 Scorpio (Type 2) - Awesome stock headlights - After 2 years I changed them Halonix to Philips essential vision 55/60 and its awesome. For the twisty mountain roads, you need to dip the headlamp down and switch on the fog lamps, works as good as cornering lamps. (Currently with us)
'15 Scorpio (Type 3) - Mediocre Low beam[/b], since this is the twin reflector unit, projector in higher variant is better. (Currently with us)
'18 Thar CRde - Good - I`m still running the stock set up, its good in city and highways, however beam pattern is a bit narrow for mountain roads, dip down the headlamp for twisties help a bit, need to upgrade as per BD sir spec reflectors, i`m searching for them. (Currently with us)

I do not use Fog lamps in cities or highways (unless its very foggy) they create bright spots just ahead of me and prevent my eye`s from being focused further down the road - where i`m going.

[tweaker]

I drive a Jetta and am not satisfied with the OEM headlights. Since mine is a 2012 Comfortline, it gets the traditional Halogens instead of the Bi-Xenons which were standard on the later Highline variants.

The light throw of the low beam I feel is just not adequate to drive safely on our roads. I really need to upgrade the headlight bulbs to something a bit more powerful.

Interestingly, I used to drive an i20 before and the light throw on that Hyundai was absolutely spectacular.

[theqca]

Honday City / Swift - Found the headlights good enough for Bombay but not sufficient to illuminate the highway at night (Satara / Raigad / Nasik) where I drive almost every alternate week.

I think the stock headlights might work on the highway if you drive very carefully at low speeds (somewhere around 40kmph)

[Asish_VK]

No. The OEM light seem to be not adequate in spread at low beam and throw at high beam. Its sufficient in city though (Esteem/Hyundai EON).
Yes. The OEM light seem to be adequate (Baleno).

OT:
But the following has been baffling me for a long time.

Are the headlight of my car bright enough ?

No : when I drive.
Yes : when someone drive the same model in opposite lane(& blinds me with his high beam)

[abhinav.s]

My previous car the Fiesta 1.6 had very good stock headlights which served the purpose for the city as well as highways. But barring this car all the others that I have owned (Zen, Spark, Alt0 K10 1st gen) and the current New Figo TDCi all have very poor headlights. The New Figo low beam is dangerous even for city roads with pot holes as you will not be able to spot them until you are very fatally close to them!!

[drhoneycake]

Tata Tiago : Absolute garbage. Swapped with Tigor's OE Projector headlamp. Much needed improvement. Since this car doesn't see the highways much, no more lighting upgrades for this car in its lifetime.

Fluidic Verna : OE Reflector headlamps are a joke. My wife's two wheeler lights up the road better than both the headlights on this car. Swapped to OEM Halogen Projectors (imported from Korea, not the Indian unit)-major improvement.

Maruti Alto800 : Brilliant output. Stock halogen reflector headlights are excellent. Infact it seems to surprise me that the smallest and cheapest car in our garage has the best road lighting.

In conclusion, my experiences with OE headlights are not that great. I voted NO

[NST440]

My inputs on the cars i currently run:

Tata Safari Dicor 2016 : Poor output, immediately changed to a high output bulb, even the stock fog lamps( Minda) are just Ok and not great, Installed Hella 700 FF and they make it far easier to travel at night.

Fiat Punto 2013: Satisfactory , not poor but does the job, could be better though.

Elite i20 Asta (O) : DRL with projector headlamps are just Wonderful, no need to upgrade and the cornering lamps are just great

I really feel some companies prefer to put low output lamps with a view to cut costs but that comes at an expense of safety, especially in our nation where rarely one will find a well lit road even on the highways.

Auxillary lights are the way to go but i feel it must be seen that they do not blind the traffic and have throw on the road rather than the oncoming vehicles.

[Sangre]

Great to read so many opinions on OEM Headlights. I'm in the minority here since I've voted Yes for my current Ecosport. Ever since I bought it in Dec'17, I've driven about 2K Kms at night on the highway, ranging from the GQ to pitch dark (at 6.30 PM) forest roads. I think the low beam is acceptable in terms of brightness, but not the reach. The high-beam on the other hand, I think, is acceptable for both brightness and reach.
Few things that I think work in my favour:
1. My highway speeds are strictly less than 90-100 (night / day)
2. I try to use my available night vision by not using the high-beam / fog lights (which light up the area very close to the car's front and makes you to strain more to see far off) unless really necessary
3. I try to safely follow a well driven bigger vehicle


Ofcourse, all these points I picked up from bhpians itself on various threads.

[k149in]

My 2015 Fiesta has excellent OEM lights with low beam and high beam. For highways in TN, I find low beam more than adequate.

[Yieldway17]

I drove for 5 years in the US with a 12 year beater car and yellowed out headlights and didn't have any issues driving on streets and highways with that car. And never used high beams except for couple of times on country roads.

But I have a brand new car here with bulbs replaced to supposedly better than OEM ones and still can't see anything on the road.

Of course, high beam usage is the primary reason. But it's also because of poor quality of paints used for lane markings, non-existent warnings and reflective signs, thick bushes on the median giving that uncertainty, vehicles without working tail lamps etc. adding up.

I used to love driving at nights but now dread driving after sunset anywhere in this country. Causes massive strain to eyes and overall health let alone the safety

Edit: Also, I'm surprised to see that people here are complaining about 100/90 W bulbs! And I thought 60/55 W on my Jazz was an upgrade. No wonder people can't see well when we ourselves as educated members in this forum are brightening up our vehicles like stadium lights.
.

[Turbohead]

Interesting results! Looks like there's never enough light!

Voted no.
Car: VW Vento

The single barrel headlamps of the Polo/Vento are probably the worst I've come across! They spread light in all directions and not on to the road even with the low beams. The visibility was so bad that I had to upgrade to the 90/100 W bulbs! Although the results are better, I'm pretty sure oncoming traffic are blinded even with the low beams! Infact I can see the overhead signboards lit up with the low beams. And yes, I did get the bulbs focused.

Our Grand i10 with the stock 55/60W bulbs give better visibility at night!

I wish night vision windshield was a real thing!

[Rocketscience]

Our Cruze had really mediocre headlamps which were good for driving to a max 80km/h (which in that car was a joke, especially on empty roads) in pitch darkness, would be a lot of risk to take it over it because of poor coverage. Same for our previous generation i20. Both were pretty poor.Thankfully our daily route (via nh8 to Gurgaon) is completely and properly lit.

Both our current cars have comparatively much better and sufficient headlamps, in all the 4 and a half years our Honda City's OEM lamps never felt insufficient and seperate bulbs for low and high beam greatly help here. Double the light i suppose if you use both.
Creta came with decent headlamps too, although low and high beam are taken care of by 1 bulb, the projector helps expand the throw and the fogs have a decent reflector too. We changed the entire setup to xenon for these and they are pretty damm good, yes, teaching the always-on highbeam guys a lesson is well taken care of.