Agree with whqqsh and many others.Tell you what else annoys me too. People who persist (and get away with) using those bloody yellow fog lamps in tandem with the main lights. way too bright and distracting.
vtecintegra,
May 16, 7:12pm
It's been a lot longer than that - my 99 and 02 Nissans both had Xenon low beams
bigfatmat1,
May 16, 7:15pm
Adr rules stipulate vehicles with hid lights must have a auto leveling system. This covers a lot of vehicles in nz. I also agree about eyesight. If I drive at night without my contacts I find most headlights bright. And annoying. Contacts in hardly any headlights will bother me
spirogryo,
May 16, 7:20pm
My own lights are too bright when they are thrown back at me by those STUPID reflective road signs.Any warning value is lost as they cant be read till the lights fall of them.
kiwikid2005,
May 16, 7:29pm
Yup, without Google-ing it, I did assume Xenon probably went quite a bit further back than the year 2012 I mentioned. I guess though, the newer the car, the more likely it'll have HIDs would've been a better way to put it! But yeah, my car's a 1995, so I'm hardly an expert in these things!
vtecintegra,
May 16, 7:36pm
I remember being wowed by the HIDs on the neighbors (then) brand new Pathfinder Q32 - this must have been back in 98 or so.
Then again the whole reason it was so impressive back then was how rare it was - nothing like now.
mooy,
May 16, 7:41pm
What I don't understand is that trucks that are of course larger than cars but why do they need more lights that a car? And often I see cars driving with no lights or only park lights and they can see ok and people with 4wd need spot lights that are brighter than their head lights to see.
2sheddies,
May 16, 7:42pm
Not that any of my old wagons have had the new fangled lights, so not speaking from much experience, but I reckon once you had a car with the new xenon lights, you'd never be able to go back to the old ones. They'd be like candles and you probably wouldn't be able to drive.
Same as TV's. once you've had a big 50" screen, you find a once huge 32" akin to a computer monitor!
2sheddies,
May 16, 7:56pm
Gidday munch! Good to see ya!
robotnik,
May 16, 8:38pm
ADR rules require headlight washers, but most Japanese imports with HIDs don't have these. People drive on dusty NZ roads get dirty headlights and then the bright HIDs get refracted everywhere blinding people.
bigfatmat1,
May 17, 8:08am
Xenon lights and hid lights two different things. Most people would not distinguish the difference between xenon and halogen. Bulbs only between xenon or halogen and hid
tweake,
May 17, 8:35am
absolutely. but down side is, while its good for you, its not good for oncoming traffic.
pauldw,
May 17, 8:37am
When you're dividing up bulb types remember that HID uses Xenon.
vtecintegra,
May 17, 9:15am
Non-HID Xenons are not fitted OEM, they're typically aftermarket
elect70,
May 17, 10:38am
i thought it was just me , they are bloody terrible , have to dip headlights otherwise cant see the road . .Nothing wrong with the old ones but i guess some ass warmer at NZTA decided they wernt reflective enough .
gunhand,
May 17, 10:43am
Nope, me too, if you drive for a living at night having these signs reflecting back at ya becomes tiring, then add some rain. Not sure if being up high in truck makes any difference at all, but low down it's a pain.
timmo1,
May 17, 2:51pm
Guys, make sure your windscreen is clean INSIDE AND OUT- If it isn't, light will bloom and become more dazzling as it hits the windscreen.
elect70,
May 18, 10:02am
^^^ yep if its wet its 10 times worse , almost need to turn lights off & use the fog lights . only
shoked,
May 20, 7:16am
Agree with OP many newer cars way too bright on standard beam
mm12345,
May 20, 10:33am
Some eye conditions (cataracts in particular) can have the same effect - but would need to be particularly bad before they cause you to fail AA vision test. If night vision/glare is a problem despite clean windscreen, then a proper eye exam is a good idea. At least then, even if nothing can be done immediately, you can adapt your behaviour to suit the driving conditions for a known reason - it's your problem to deal with appropriately - not someone else's fault.
That said, I'd like to wring the necks of some of the dorks on the road with over-bright and/or maladjusted headlights. Also I think we've gone overboard with large reflective signage which is sometimes so bright that your eyes haven't re-adjusted quickly enough to properly see the damned corner or other hazard that the sign was warning you of in the first place.
socram,
Jan 23, 4:50am
There are also far too many premises with high powered floodlights facing the road, that can be a real problem in wet weather.
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