The Best and Worst of Automotive Headlights

Higher prices and glitzy new technologies don’t necessarily make for better automotive headlights, a study from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) suggests.

The first-ever study, which rated headlights based on their ability to produce ample illumination without glare, revealed that the best-performing headlights were a product of the entire assembly, rather than just the bulb type. “Generally speaking, the type of bulb does not tell you whether the light is going to be any good,” Russ Rader, senior vice president of communications for IIHS, told Design News. “It’s really about a combination of factors -- aim, bulb type, and the design of the assembly, all taken together.”

Here's a snapshot of those ratings for some of the auto industry's most popular cars. Click the image below to see everything from compact entry-level vehicles to luxury sedans.

The LED-based headlights on the 2016 Toyota Prius v received the lone “good” rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). On the right side of a straightaway, the Prius provided almost 400 feet of visibility. On the left, it provided slightly less than 200 feet. (By federal regulation, left-side headlights are aimed lower than right-side lights to reduce glare for oncoming cars.) It should be noted, however, that the Prius v received its “good” rating only on vehicles that employed its Advanced Technology package. LED-based Prius v’s without the advanced package received an “acceptable” rating, while those using halogen-based headlights were rated “poor.”
(Source: Toyota)

Light-emitting diodes (LEDs), probably the fastest-growing technology in automotive lighting, did well on some cars and poorly on others. The Toyota Prius v, for example, used LEDs to earn the lone “good” rating of the 34 vehicle models tested. But many LED-based headlights also landed in the study’s “marginal” and “poor” categories.

The reverse held true for halogen-based lighting. Although many halogen lights performed poorly, the 2016 Honda Accord managed to get an “acceptable” rating by employing them.

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Illumination performance varied widely from car to car. The Prius v’s low-beam headlights, for example, produced almost 200 feet of visibility on the left side of a straightaway and almost 400 on the right. (By federal regulation, left-side headlights are aimed lower than right-side lights to reduce glare for oncoming cars. As a result, they provide less illumination on distant objects.) In contrast, the low-beam halogen headlights on the BMW 3 Series offered just 75 feet of visibility on the left side of a straightaway and about 125 on the right.

In many cases, the results were dismaying, IIHS said. Too often, vehicles lacked the ability to provide sufficient visibility for drivers. “Some of these headlights are more about being a design statement than about providing enough light,” Rader told us.

For consumers, the bottom line is that there’s no easy way to predict whether a vehicle has good headlights. Even within the confines of a given model, some trim levels offered good illumination, while others performed poorly. The Institute recommends that prospective buyers examine all vehicle options, test-drive vehicles at night, and check the IIHS ratings.

Senior technical editor Chuck Murray has been writing about technology for 32 years. He joined Design News in 1987, and has covered electronics, automation, fluid power, and autos.