I have a 2012 Prius and I am pretty disappointed with the headlight performance. I never had a problem with visibility in other cars I owned, but I have a lot of trouble seeing at night in the Prius especially in the rain. Has anyone replaced the bulb in any way to improve night vision. Dave
Dave, There is a thread in the plugin forum right now about this issue. There are bulb alternatives, but it appears the primary problem is the excessively low aim from the factory. You can slightly adjust the lights up and see if at helps. If you want more, the H11 low beam can be easily swapped for an H9 with nearly double the output.
Lots of threads similar to yours. You can adjust the aim of the lowbeams up as they come aimed pretty low from the factory. Many others get aftermarket HID kits to replace the halogen bulbs in the OEM projectors. Lastly, some get HID projectors retrofitted into their factory headlight housings. SCH-I535
Here's the thread from the plug in forum: http://priuschat.com/index.php?posts/1895717[\url] SCH-I535
aiming of the lights can be an issue. am glad that my jdm Prius came with a manual dial to adjust the beam hight
Havent had a chance to do a real good before and after of my HID retrofit, but I think even this shot makes it plain.
Looks like your aim is too high. The car seems to be in a slightly different position in the two shots, but the cutoff in the oem pic is near the base of the poles with the reflectors. The after shot, who knows where the cutoff is, because it's lighting up the whole other side of the street. That would be painful glare to anyone that's looking in your direction. Also, there is a dark area in front of the car which also suggests the aim is too high.
I have to agree, that second picture looks like it will be blinding oncoming drivers, especially people like me who have aging eyes developing cataracts (surgery is still a long way off). But without a centerline reference, I cannot tell if the high light is directly at the oncoming cars where it would be quite bad, or off the right side where it would be more acceptable. A pattern pictured against a flat wall would help.
I understand you are the HID police and all, but the aim is currently as recommended. At 25 feet the cut off is 33 inches. I will say I did take make a few adjustments over time, so it may be slightly higher in this shot, but nothing over 36 inches. Maybe this will help, you can see the light going under the mirror of the car in front of me.
The center of my headlamp is about 29.5 inches off the ground. If the cutoff were at 33 inches at 25 feet, that would mean the plane of the cutoff is rising, not falling. I don't believe that is legal in my area. It certainly isn't friendly to oncoming drivers.
I going to go with the Morimoto xb35(h11b) HID kit -6000K -50w should be plenty bight enough for me. H11: Morimoto Elite HID System - HID Systems from The Retrofit Source Inc
Did you get a chance to install 50w HID's from Morimoto, I just ordered one, but little skeptical now regarding heat issues if any on 50w HID kits? Would appreciate your reply.
