Quote:
Originally Posted by Rich Sandor you mean, more annoying than improperly installed aftermarket HID...?
cuz factory HIDs are just fine, IMO. |
There are many things wrong with HIDs...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Inaii Unless they're cresting a hill. then it hurts. |
That's one. HIDs throw out almost as much light as high-beam headlights, and concentrate it in a pool close to the front of the car. Sure you might be able to see every pebble on the road and it might feel more reassuring, but the extra light in the foreground can only harm long-range vision.
The intense glare from oncoming cars, especially when cresting a hill as Inaii mentioned, can be very uncomfortable, even dangerous.
Another side effect of the extra light is the glare off wet roads for oncoming drivers. While the cutoff and optics generally project the light lower than the head of an oncoming driver, all that light has to go somewhere and reflects off the wet road.
Throw in color and intensity shifting as the HID equipped car followes dips and bumps in the road and they're just downright annoying.
Lastly, if HIDs were never approved as OE for automakers, we wouldn't have all these botched retrofit jobs by people trying to make their economy cars look like premium German sedans.
HIDs provide little benefit to the driver, most of which is outweighed by the drawbacks to other drivers. They're a marketing tool used by automakers to make owners think they have a premium lighting system. Blue lights belong over top of the K-Mart discount bin. Not in headlamps.