After all the lifted trucks that have blinded me with their lights right at eye level, I couldn't care less what people think about my HID's. Heck, I've got a '02 and now I want to get an earlier spec hid.
I know it's a bad attitude to have, but HID are a very small percentage of the headlight problems on the road.

 

i think the worst HID are those from the AUDI.. they are very purple too.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by KeithD
[B]S2000 isn't the only car on the road with HIDs that are like this.

 

[QUOTE]I'd rather "blind" oncoming traffic than not be able to see where I'm going.

 

People need to relax and mind their own business.

Agreed!

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Ozy
[B]

I would have to think that the auto leveling only really works when u have loaded the back of the car and the tilt of the car has aimed them upwards.

 

I'm sorry, but I couldn't disagree more. I've been flashed a total of two times in the Audi over my 1.5 years of ownership. I get flashed almost daily when I'm in the Honda. I think the majority's perception is that the Honda is much worse.

 

I think the main reason you get flashed more in the S2K is due to the fact it is in fact a projector. Sincee the beam is aimed rather low, its not always present in a persons sight. Actually very rarely. But when you hit a bump, it pops in and out of a persons sight, which makes it appear you are flashing your brights at them, and also is much more distracting. Not to mention they are probably some of the brightest when they do hit you directly in the eye. The others are less distracting because they are always present in a persons view, especially the big trucks. But the lights on some of the BMW's and other luxury vehicles as well. They can't be aimed like the projectors can, and generally scatter light much more.

For me, those are the worst, since due to my contacts, I get major glare at night. I'd rather be blinded periodically than constantly.

Blake

 

Apparantly this issue is a repeat of when Halogen lights first started to be used in autos decades ago. People thought they were too bright and too blue (apparantly the lights they replaced looked orange to halogens), and pretty much all the issues we're dealing with in our cars were dealt with when halogens started to be used.

As far as the DOT is concerned, there's a big difference between lights that impair someone else's ability to drive vs lights that annoy. One is a safety hazard, the other is annoying.

One interesting tidbit is that most HID lights aren't brighter directly in front than halogens (compare the brightness of the "hot spot" of a HID headlight vs a halogen). However, the better light at angle and the more uniform pattern make it appear to oncoming traffic that they're brighter (this is where the extra light that HIDs produce goes). Plus there's the obvious problem with our cars and the hard cutoff that doesn't occur in most halogen setups.

IMO, the best solution is to put HIDs on everyone's car and wait 5 years. =)

 

I dont find that the HIDs are blinding. They illuminate very well, but i seems like a evenly spread ambient soft light. Ive had S2ks follow me and yes it is annoying but not blinding. A jacked up pickup with regular halogens at eye level, now that's blinding!