I will not EVER own a car again without either LED or HID. It's hands down a deal breaker. Halogen and Incandescent bulbs are worthless nowadays. LED's are far brighter and run significantly longer than any other option. The ONLY drawback is that OEM LED headlamps are not serviceable. You either have to be willing to solder a $1500+ headlight circuitboard, after getting it apart (some require baking in an oven), or pony up for an entire replacement lamp assembly.

But, OEM LED's should last 10+ years easy. Far longer than 90% of America keeps cars.

 

Realistically, the only factory LED headlight design that could possibly lose to halogen is something like early Nissan Leaf. Anything modern, and its probably not even a contest.

 

same goes for taillights too - but I HAVE seen some not functioning (newer and 5 year old cars) - I thought there was some type of law that required all the lighting on a car be user serviceable.

 

I get blinded by HIDs and LEDs more often than I would like, but 70% of the time it's aftermarket lighting in halogen reflectors. The other 30% it's lifted pickups who haven't re-aimed their headlights. OEM HIDs and LEDs are usually not a problem because most of the time, they are properly aimed and use projector housings to minimize light pollution above the cutoff.

 

I do, all the time, but it tends to mostly be pickup trucks. I rarely have that problem with other vehicles outside of hilly roads, where I catch the beam right in the face coming over a crest, for instance.

 

Hmmm. That law would make sense to me.

I've often remarked that the LED headlights are one of my favorite features on the WRX. I assume that they're related to the LED Lexus headlights that debuted a MY or two before my car did, but I've never looked it up.

I am proponent of LED turn signals. The car pulled over on the side of the road on a foggy, dark morning is much more noticeable with LED hazards IMO.

 

You're probably catching it from pickups because of their higher-stance, which allows their "Low" beams to be roughly at eye-level.

Another place you will see it (though only for a moment), is when oncoming vehicles go over speed bumps/humps ahead of you, which temporarily raises the angle of "Low" beams into your eyes.

 

Exactly, My wifes car has halogens and I had to pick her up at the airport one night in the rain and it was strait up dangerous.

 

I have no direct experience comparing halogens to LEDs, but I do have it with HID's compared to LEDs. I own an S2000, which has what was considered at the time one of the best implementations of HID in a OEM automotive application, but when compared to the LED setup in our RX or the one in my BMW 530e, its inferior in terms of light output. Now some of this may have to do with the fact the the headlights in the S2000 are approaching 16 years old now, but the bulbs themselves were replaced recently with OEM equivalent bulbs (4100k OSRAM D1S). Anyhow, nobody will be able to convince me that Halogens will be able to produce more light output than a properly designed OEM LED setup.

 

I posted this question in another thread but didn't get enough info to make a decision. What would be the best replacement headlights for this car? LED, Halogen, etc? The mechanic I talked to said he would NOT recommend replacing the standard bulbs with anything else because it could throw off the computer. Is this true? Or is he misinformed? He is considered a "master" mechanic so I quit looking to replace the bulbs/lights. I rarely drive at night, except in emergencies - and that was my concern because I live in a rural area with LOTS of deer, hogs and other wildlife and it is 40 miles to the nearest hospital. Any help would be greatly appreciated including specifics of what to buy and have put in. Thank you so much.

 

I'd go with the Tech's advice. The electrical system in your vehicle was designed for the type of lights it came from the factory with.

 

Well, I sure was hoping he was wrong! All the cars in my area are having their lights replaced due to the danger of these rural roads. And I was hoping that getting brighter lights would work in this car. Disappointed. But thanks for the opinion, guess I'll stick with what I have.

 

Does your car have the optional bi-xenon headlights? Either way you can at least upgrade the high beams.
https://www.morimotohid.com/morimoto...9005-led-bulbs

The Morimoto 2Stroke 3.0 is great because it will work at low voltage which means your daytime running lights won't flicker.

 

In my experience...no doubt whatsoever LEDs are superior to prior lighting systems.

 

Probably because LED has higher energy efficiency with lower power consumption, hence multiple LED bulbs can be used simultaneously for more light volume in Lumens.
LED's can also switch on instantly for flashing, and they last up to 50,000 hours.