I heard a rumor that all car companies are doing away with Xenon next year (except Mercedes) because of complaints with blinding drivers, is this true?

 

It is not official yet. What makes Mercedez xenon better?Is it made of gold? Oh no!
The issue was focus on the xenon and FAKE HID's in the SUV's.Notice that Lexus is not installing HID in their trucks because of the high headlights/bumper line levels that is glarring to lower cars.There's no HID in Lexus LX,GX and the RX was installed as an option just lately because the RX bumper is lower compared to LX&GX.Now, in the case of LS,GS,ES & IS, their HID is equipt with dymanic auto leveling that adjust to the vehicle load, therefore, the concentration of the beam is always projected to the ground.The heated issue was about those FAKE bluelights and other HID wannabe paraphernalias attached to the reflectors (mostly in the suvs) that cause so much glare to other lower vehicles like sedans and others.
Whatever glaring lights others may use in their cars, to many Lexus drivers, this would not be of great concern (I guess) because almost all Lexuses out there are equipt with auto dimming rear view and side view mirrors.( some Toyotas have this as option) By the way, most of the complaints are HID from high-mounted suv lights and fog lights.Most of these so called HID's are not actually hid's.Halogen bulbs tinted blue and of high wattage ,cheap costing installed in the reflector housing. In contrast, real HID's cost more ($500+ in Lexus as option with dynamic auto leveling) and I saw in some brand new Mercedez costing $1,200.00 or more. Maybe this over pricing makes Mercedez an exception to the rule?

 

If we could just get the SUV owners to turn off their fog lights we would all be better off. Nothing compares to the blinding that an Explorer can give you with its fog lights on.

Doug

 

If we could just get all the morons to turn their driving/fog lights off!! Pontiac drivers seem to be the worst offenders around here, but they are by no means the only ones. And there are an awful lot of Lexus owners that do the same thing, sad to say................

Just one of those driving IQ tests: lights on = brain off.

 

Probably the same reason why Lexus do not have HID as an option to the foglights. Lexus foglights are halogen/bulbs and some are colored amber/yellow(past&present).But still, there are a lot of people that want to convert their foglights into HID ( am not guilty) and not contented with what the car originally has.Also, some people DON'T like the amber foglights of their GS/IS while others like it very much.Amber does not really bother me at all (personal preference)and infact gives the GS/IS a distinctive look compared to similar looking Jaguars & Mercedez E series at night.

 

There is nothing wrong with having your driving lights on, after all, they are called driving lights, not while-you-are-parked lights. The problem is all about beam pattern and aiming. Also, when people put tall tires on their SUV/Truck, rarely do they adjust their beams lower.

Whenever I have my lights on, my driving lights are on. As far as I'm concerned, the option to turn them off is silly.

 

I always turn my light switch to "auto mode" almost always! So, there were many times I am guilty of driving with my lights on especially when dark clouds or bad weather that the lights will turn on automatically. There were also cases when my sister borrow my car a night before and forget to turn off the switch, so when I am in a hurry in the next morning, I ended up driving with my lights on (sometimes) including foglights.I think the Lexus dynamic auto leveling feature (in all HID) would resolve the glaring issue.

 

Many states require you to have your lights on when it's raining. Lights are not only there to help the driver see where he's going, they help other drivers see him. What's really stupid is the guy driving around in his white or silver car in overcast, rain, or light fog thinking "Why do all these stupid people have their lights on?" It's so we can be seen.

Jeff

 

I think you are confusing the fog lights with the driving lights.

I guess that some car manufacturers are calling fog lights driving lights. I know that most pontiac owners and most truck owners (seems to be ford and dodge) also think that their fog lights are driving lights - maybe they are called that in the manual? Either way, those are much brighter than the standard driving and regular headlights and just so happen to be right in the eye of the passenger car driver.

 

I'm using it in the context that mooretorque used it in. Rather than nitpick over the semantics, I think we can all agree that regardless of how bright the light is, if it is properly aimed and has some kind of beam patern that does not splay light in all directions it shouldnt effect other people. I can shine a million candlepower spotlight at your feet and have no different effect on your vision than a headlight would.

 

That's why we have a DRL (daytime running lights) as a new safety feature so that other driver can see us better. Why some other people out there are bothered with the DRL's? They want to overide (turn off) the DRL because they are annoyed. Many Lexus' DRL's can not be turn off at all nor switch to turn them off. In my friend's Toyota Camry LE, there's a switch that can turn off the DRL's aside from the auto mode designated as:..".Off....park...On.. auto...DRL Off" VS. our Lexus' "Off...park...On..& ...auto mode" switch only. My new LS430 doesn't even have "DRL Off" switch ,so I just leave it that way.

 

Agree. It just seems that so many of those lights are pointed directly at my eyes!