No love for GX460? I think both pre and refresh look nice. In fact I think all triple beams look good.

 

Just my opinion, I really hated those dotted drls and headlights that were coming out on the Audis in early 2000s.

I thought LED drls on the 4gs were great. They didn’t look overtly sophisticated and had big hulking dots. The LEDs headlights on the 600h were not bad but you can tell they trying out new stuff. I might be a bit biased to Lexus but I don’t even like the new stuff that’s coming out on the new lexuses. They’re straight up tacky, especially the long taillights on the IS and RX

In my opinion again, I think halogen projectors should rule the road right now. You see them on civics that a couple years old. They are amazingly cheap to produce and have amazing performance for halogens. The technology was never fully implemented and benefitted from and now we’re all at the LED stage

 

Halogen projectors? Lol…no. I would never go back to halogen headlights.

 

Halogen projectors have been in use with the 90s. I think they benefitted from plenty of attention even after xenon headlights became commonplace. LEDs just happen to be cheap enough to proliferate across vehicle price segments and even then there's serious gaps in implementation quality.

 

Halogen bulb at best puts out 1200 lumens that is simply not good enough regardless of optics.

 

Pretty sure the first car with DRLs, or at least the first American car with them was the 1995 Chevy Corsica.

I remember taking a long road trip over a few weeks with my father in 1994-5ish and seeing lots of them on the interstate coming the other way.

DRLs aren't mandatory either in the USA, they never have been.

About headlights, I do agree the BMW angel eyes were amazing.

Agree Lexus LC rear lighting is among the coolest I've ever seen.

I have to give a nod to my own car for headlights:



I always was obsessed with the R129, but when they removed the silly headlight wipers that were once iconic and added projector beam xenons that was just the final cherry on top with all the refreshes with all the (then) modern updates that kept it looking so good that made me so obsessed. The contrasting orange side markers aren't really common like this--these headlights look GREAT when on.

 

The 1984 Volvo 240 was the first car with DRLs. Believe it or not, the first American car to have them was the Geo metro. Several other GM models got them directly after.

 

Having both I prefer the looks of the pre-facelift but the matrix LED system is stupid cool. Effectiveness isn't quite as good as the pre facelift in terms of outright range, coverage, and smoothness but the fact it can run highs at all times is amazing. The LS460 still has the best headlights I've ever used though.....

As far as the cars go I like the looks of the pre facelift best, the post has some over styled areas and clutter I dislike. The LS460 looks amazing though in the original trim and F sport trim.

 

Of course they're not as good as HIDs and the newer LEDs but the halogen projector is a good base line for the general public to reach. . Many cars still use reflectors, which are not as good as projectors.

 

Good halogen lights worked well before xenons and LEDs etc. Not as well, but well. I remember a couple old late 90s BMWs had excellent halogen headlights that I had experience with.

 

I would take a cheap car from now vs anything older, the low end is the part of the spectrum that is the MOST helped by getting the newest stuff, high end is different since they are so above the normal cars they are essentially unaffected for 20+ years in terms of remaining "competent" and useful.

A 1999 LS400 is still a decent car, still has good lights, still has okay power, still handles well, and is even quieter than normal cars with a better body and suspension setup unless you look at higher class vehicles......a 1999 Chevy Cavalier is a rolling $#!%box today. My 1992 Saturn was a very very nice example of an older car, but it was a low end car and dear god does it come though when using it in any aspect. My old Jeep "overlapped" with the Saturn and while not impressive it still feels totally fine to use day day but that's only because for it's time it was one of THE best.

 

I knew they were good after I got to experience them on the 16' Siennas. Lit up the whole road and was really easy on the eyes. Yes they are boring to look at but hey driving should be boring lol.

 

My Highlander has halogen projectors. Guess what my number one complaint is on the Highlander (hint: I refuse to drive this car at night).

 

This is going to sound weird, but the less you see on the road the better.

Its more comfortable on the eyes. The downside is that if a rodent ran out you probably hit it.

 

2019 Highlander has halogen headlights? That's unforgivable should be illegal.