Today marks the beginning of my third week as a Prius owner. I'm still learning a lot about the vehicle and I hope someone can fill me in regarding the HID headlamps. What does the term "self-leveling" mean? Also, how long do they last as opposed to the halogen type? Any info would be appreciated! Thank you.
Someone else posted in another thread that they should last 3000 hours, which probably translates to over 90K miles. Self leveling: If the car's front to back angle should change, to to change in load, like if you bought that fantastic new 30" CRT TV, the car will detect the change in the distance from the rear chassis to ground, and adjust the angle of the headlamps accordingly. This way, you aren't shining on treetops and blinding people with those HIDs. The reason for this need is that the HIDs do not change intensity from low beam to high beam. Instead, the top end of the beam is masked so that you don't blind people. If the car's angle changes, so does the mask, and you start acting like you have the highbeams on.
Thank you for the information! Living here in the northeast with poor highway lighting, I really appreciate the HIDs.
