I test drove an S2000 at night for the first time and was absolutely floored by how obnoxious the cutoff was at the top of the S2000's headlight pattern.

Most other cars I've driven had the headlights just kind of fade out at the top of the pattern; the S2000's by comparison seemed so sharp it looked as if the top of the pattern were actually being physically blocked somehow.

Is it just me or do the S2000's headlights seem to cut off very sharply, and IMHO prematurely a the top of the beam pattern? This seems like it would make them a bit less useful than they otherwise might be, and since most of my fun driving gets done at night, this is my area of widest experience and headlight performance is very important to me.

It certainly seemed to make them a bit less useful than the pattern from say the Audi TT or Porsche's Litronics, Consumer Reports not withstanding.

Anyone else?

 

i thought this was because it uses a better xenon type of headlight which beams out further of a distance? i thought i read that somewhere...

 

I believe they're set up that way so beams do not blind other drivers. If you drive around a little, you'll notice the cutoff occurs right about half way up the door of other cars. What do you need to have illuminated above that point anyway? Street signs pick up enough reflected light to be clearly visible.

 

I don't want "visible" signs, I want blinding.

Both the Audi TT and Porsche Litronic headlights will light up a speed limit sign quite a ways down the road and in an almost blinding fashion.

Meanwhile, an Audi S4 I drove had its beam pattern cut off the lights so that the signs were barely any more visible than they are in the same car equipped with halogens; its were the most disappointing HID headlights I've experienced to date.

Perhaps it was because of the dip in the road and the fact that the S2000's HIDs are not self-adjusting. Still it was very disconcerting to have to turn on the high beams to illuminate things that are well lit by other vehicles' low beam HIDs.

However, this was just a test drive and may have been representative of a "worst case" scenario; still, knowing how the TT and Porsche HIDs light things, not to mention the BMW HIDs which do an even better job, it was disturbing enough that it made me rethink whether I'd want an S2000 as a "night driver" car...

 

hehe.. does it really bother you that much that you actually not drive it at night ??


in any case.. i think they look the cleanest in the rearviews.. hehe.. purplish blue look.. if you really wanna see the signs in front of you.. theres always high beams

 

Not "not drive it at night," but headlight performance is a primary concern because I drive my cars primarily at night.

Therefore, if a car doesn't have absolute primo headlight performance, I've either got to get rid of it or can't consider it in the first place.

That's one (of many reasons) I ruled out a 2001 Audi S4, coupled with the nose dive/rise on braking/acceleration that made the headlights dip/rise a good few inches every time you hit the brakes or stomped on the gas...

 

Good Luck

 

I don't see why you found this deserving of a

I listed a few vehicles whose headlights were, IMHO better than what I saw last night with the S2000.

If that's just the way the S2000's headlights are, that's fine.

But I don't think the fact that I drive my cars almost primarily at night and so headlights are important is a comment worthy of derision...

Where I primarily drive (northern Colorado foothills) good headlights are doubly important if you don't want to meet with a deer, elk or even a good sized raccoon or fox. Any of these can put an end to your fun drive real quick.

 

I don't see any problem with the stock headlights on the S. You should also be concerned with other driver's safety when driving with "blinding" lights also.

Get yourself a good set of driving lights, and use them when you need them.

 

the headlight patterns are one of my favorite aspects about this car! to each his own I guess