As I set out for my morning commute, 4am EST, I was reminded again how much I really like the factory high beams. I'm so used to having fog lights that I was worried the lack of having them would be a huge detriment to driving in the dark, but the high beams really illuminate those deer (and zombies) hiding off the side of the road. I'm wondering if folks that have replaced the factory lights to HID or something else have seen improvements, or whether there are good/bad things associated with changing them. On a similar note, I've found myself on at least five occasions now walking away from the locked Prius only to realize I left the lights on, then unlocking and switching the things off. Is there a way to enable what I can only think to call the Hey, You Left Your Headlights On You Dummy noise? Baring that, I'm thinking my only safe recourse is to just put a black sticker over the light sensor so that my lights come on and then shut off every time on their own. Kind of a poor man's automatic headlights.
Yes, upgrading the headlights and fog lights to HIDs makes a HUGE improvement in visibility. I will never again own a car with halogen lights. Do a search in the Modifications section to learn more about upgrading. For decent pricing on HID kits I use DDM Tuning. In fact, I'm upgrading my stock 35w HIDs to 55w HIDs this week. The stock fog lights on my 2005 were upgraded from halogen to HIDs and that made a huge difference in visibility, especially off to the sides of the car.
I had them configure that when I bought the car ... to turn off the lights IMMEDIATELY and not wait the 30 seconds. REV
Nice, is that something that can be set through any kind of nav screen interface or crazy button/key combinations, or is it only through the dealer's laptop plug-in? I guess technically I'm fine with the lights automatically shutting off after 30 seconds, except for the raging paranoia that'd have me peeking out the window all day making sure they were off.
What about just hitting the lock button on your remote 2x, (twice) and your light will go off. You won't have to wait the 30sec that it should auto do! Or I hit the door lock button on the door once then the remote button once as I walk up to my house! And the lights go out. hope this helps
Remember, however, that since the headlight switch is in the "on" position, that the headlights will come back on when you power up. (on my 2006, that is)
