After owning a CT and other cars with less-than-bright headlights, I'm on the prowl again. Looking at the Prime, it looks like it uses the Acura/Honda jewel headlights. Does anyone have feedback on how these lights illuminate at night?
They sure look nice, as do the tail lights which I like much more than the "Z" tail lights on my 2016 model. Let's hope the Prime headlights are just as good as the LED headlights on the 2016 regular Prius. Outstanding. Best and brightest headlights I've ever had. Check YouTube road-test reviews for the Prime. Lots of videos.
It's a very similar design to Acura headlights--multiple LED projectors, although the Prime uses 4 lowbeam projectors where Acuras have 6. They may very well perform better than the Liftback headlights. The Accord and Civic use a different design, with downward-facing individual LED reflectors and no lenses.
I am hoping that they will be super bright, like bi-xenon headlights in the GLK. I wonder if they swivel or have a wide cast.
Based on the MSRP of the vehicle, I doubt you could find better headlights and taillights in this price range. Very impressed by the quality
I'm used to regular Lexus halogens now, so I think it will be an improvement. I would like to see better visibility in the dark!
IIHS started a headlight evaluation program of 2016 cars recently. Of the 31 midsize cars tested with 82 types of headlights, only one rated "Good", the Prius v. Hopefully Prime takes it up another notch. FTA: "A vehicle's price tag is no guarantee of decent headlights. Many of the poor-rated headlights belong to luxury vehicles." New IIHS ratings show most headlights are lacking
I think they are only currently testing vehicles larger than the Prime ( & Prius). Notice they did not test the 2016 Prius.
The projector assemblies in the 2015 Prius v "5" tested are the same as in the 2016 Liftback, made by Koito.
I hope the Prime rocks their charts. I have been a little turned off LED low/high beams, but I was using the cheap ones to replace the halogen lights.
Note that different versions of the Prius v have three different headlight designs. That rating applies to only one trim level: Five equipped with Advanced Technology package. Many other cars on that list also have different lights on different trims, and their best rating applies to only a single version.
The Five with AT is the one with LEDs, and the same LEDs as the 2016 Liftback. As far as OEM LEDs vs. drop-in LEDs in a halogen housing: no comparison. I tried out a set of those drop-ins before retrofitting Koito projectors; yes, they are bright but most of that output is spread too much below the cutoff which increases foreground lighting at the expense of distance. Because of the resulting increased contrast, the ability of the driver to see in the distance is diminished. With actual LED projectors, the light is concentrated by the bowl design in a hotspot just under the cutoff to improve distance lighting.
Not the same since it's a different setup (quad LED vs. bi-beam LED) but just so you have a frame of reference, here's a 2016 Prius headlight review
Right, the linked article says that. The best rating for each of the tested cars could be halogens, HID's or LED's depending on trim level. The base halogen equipped Accord outperformed the up market trim with LED's and high beam assist.
With one huge caveat: "A vehicle with excessive glare on any of the approaches can't earn a rating above marginal." I think this is a major flaw in how IIHS set up their testing. If a particular headlight option improves visibility it will still earn a "marginal" rating if their (proprietary) methodology indicates excessive glare; at the same time, we don't know how they're measuring glare or what their hypothetical perfect headlight looks like. If you read subsequent press releases, exactly 1 out of 11 pickups and 0 out of 17 SUVs were rated "good"; at least three of those SUVs were knocked back to "marginal" on the basis of glare alone, according to their write-up. ETA: And the truck article says that 14 of the 23 headlights tested were rated "marginal" or lower based on "excessive glare."
I found this: "Quad-LED headlights are now standard, with the inner pair functioning as daytime running lights and the outer pair as highbeams (all four are illuminated under ordinary conditions)." Review: 2017 Toyota Prius Prime is a practical solution for the present, but no Tesla - The Globe and Mail
There's an error with that statement. Inner pair as DRL is correct. But the inner pair is also the high beam. When the low beams are on (outer pair), the inner pair are illuminated softly as accent lights. (Kinda like what Mercedes did in the mid-2000s when it had a small 5 or 10W bulb within the high beam housing to softly illuminate the high beam housing when the low beams are on). Here are the photos I took from the NYIAS. Parking lights on. Softly illuminated high beams (inner pair), amber parking lights and (on Advanced models), corner LED accent lights Low beam lights on (outer pair). Inner pair is still on. High beams on (Inner pair are at full intensity)
