Headlight performance

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I agree with everybody that our headlight are wimpy; especially the “high” beams.
But this might be a little bit of a help to some. I thought the pattern gave way too much light close to the front of the car so I had my dealer check the alignment and they found they were aimed too low from the factory.
After realigning then to the proper height, I just drove them in the dark tonight. Results: low beams gave much better illumination down the road but it only marginally helped the “high” beams. Might be worth the time to check if you’ve got a lot of illumination too close to the car.
 
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KentuckyKen said:
I agree with everybody that our headlight are wimpy; especially the “high” beams.
But this might be a little bit of a help to some. I thought the pattern gave way too much light close to the front of the car so I had my dealer check the alignment and they found they were aimed too low from the factory.
After realigning then to the proper height, I just drove them in the dark tonight. Results: low beams gave much better illumination down the road but it only marginally helped the “high” beams. Might be worth the time to check if you’ve got a lot of illumination too close to the car.
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I think mine also point too low. My car was parked level at top of hill with lights on, while I carried something down the hill. While walking up hill, I thought wow those are bright lights. I was 30 ft lower than the car. Any idea how dealer adjusted? I did not see typical adjusting screws under hood.
 
Sorry, no idea. I just picked it up and drove off. Just looked at them and I can’t find where you get at it either so don’t feel bad. It must be hidden under all the plastic.
 
KentuckyKen said:
Sorry, no idea. I just picked it up and drove off. Just looked at them and I can’t find where you get at it either so don’t feel bad. It must be hidden under all the plastic.
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I just found them. Super easy to access. Found a helpful video on adjusting the Fit's headlights. They are on top edge near metal frame. Use Philips driver to adjust up or down. Moved mine up 1/2 inch. Will report tomorrow on improvement.
 
You can only adjust the entire assembly. I don't think you can adjust high beams separately. I'll take a picture tomorrow. When you know where the screw is, could not be any easier.
 
Yeah, I know. Our so called high beams are almost worthless. I want to use your info to adjust mine a tad higher than dealer did to see if helps.
Wish we could make your upcoming tutorial a stickie so it would be easy to find.
 
Thanks for all this info. I try to only rarely drive at night due to poor night vision. However, when I do drive at night, I really need good headlights. My only evening/night trip so far has been on the very well lit highway here so I didn't notice. I will plan to drive my truck for any night trips until we get the headlight situation sorted.
 
iluvscuba said:
Can I get a confirmation that for all those that are disappointed in the Clarity headlight, you are comparing with more powerful HID type light? What about comparing with cheaper car with regular yellow headlight, is it better then?
I am asking as I have only have cars that use those cheapo yellow headlight and in wet pavement, it is almost useless so if it is an improvement, I will be ok with that
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I am just comparing it to the stock high beam headlights on my 2007 Odyssey minivan and my 2003 Accord, both of which throw light farther down the road (albeit dimmer). My Clarity high beams, although bright, are aimed almost exactly the same as the low beams. I'm easily overdriving them at 40mph at night. There is an adjustment for the lights (see the user's manual), but looking under the hood, it looks to me like the adjuster might adjust both the low beams and high beams at the same time, in which case raising up the high beams might make the low beams too high. I don't know if the high beams can be adjusted independently of the low beams. From the comments on this forum, it seems like the high beam issue might be a design flaw that Honda needs to fix. If all Clarity owners let Honda know about this, maybe they'll do something to fix it.
 
What part of the Texas Hill Country are you in? I'm in Austin!
dstrauss said:
The "high beams" are a misnomer - very poor illumination, especially on dark roads away from city lights - very little additional coverage to pick up deer or other animals lurking on the side of the road (Texas Hill Country).
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PHEVer said:
Is anyone else disappointed with our headlight performance? I feel like the luminosity is equivalent to halogens, but with cooler temperature. I installed fog lights to supplement, and it does a great job, but there is too much glare...so much so, I am afraid to turn them on! Any other suggestions?
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It’s the best I have experienced- don’t even need brights!



Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
 
LAF said:
It’s the best I have experienced- don’t even need brights!



Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
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LAF, either you got the 1 in a million Clarity with decent headlights or I have to ask when is the last time you saw your ophthalmologist. All the rest of us are in the dark.
 
KentuckyKen said:
LAF, either you got the 1 in a million Clarity with decent headlights or I have to ask when is the last time you saw your ophthalmologist. All the rest of us are in the dark.
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Ours also seems much better than our previous cars. VW Jetta, Honda Accord, Toyota Sienna. Part of the perception might be a sampling error, folks are more likely to mention something that bothers them than something that seems fine.
 
Timothy said:
Ours also seems much better than our previous cars. VW Jetta, Honda Accord, Toyota Sienna. Part of the perception might be a sampling error, folks are more likely to mention something that bothers them than something that seems fine.
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Good point Timothy. That almost always skews any survey.
Do your headlights seem better than your previous cars at illuminating the area close in or projecting longer down the road or both?
Mine put out a lot of illumination right in front of the car that makes them appear to be better than they are but don’t actually yield much usable light farther out. As such on higher speed hwy type driving, I feel like they are inadequate and I’m over driving them. It’s almost like they’re pointed down too far despite having my dealer adjust them.
 
KentuckyKen said:
Good point Timothy. That almost always skews any survey.
Do your headlights seem better than your previous cars at illuminating the area close in or projecting longer down the road or both?
Mine put out a lot of illumination right in front of the car that makes them appear to be better than they are but don’t actually yield much usable light farther out. As such on higher speed hwy type driving, I feel like they are inadequate and I’m over driving them. It’s almost like they’re pointed down too far despite having my dealer adjust them.
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Most of our driving has been on small local roads with little need for high beams. Both my wife and I feel these roads are very well lit by the Clarity. I will pay more attention to situations with the high beams.
 
KentuckyKen said:
LAF, either you got the 1 in a million Clarity with decent headlights or I have to ask when is the last time you saw your ophthalmologist. All the rest of us are in the dark.
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My wife must have the same problem because she commented how bright they are- we came from a 2010 Prius- maybe they stunk. But then again we see well with them so maybe the 10 of the 800 people who bought Claritys commenting here are the ones with poor eye sight.
 
LAF said:
My wife must have the same problem because she commented how bright they are- we came from a 2010 Prius- maybe they stunk. But then again we see well with them so maybe the 10 of the 800 people who bought Claritys commenting here are the ones with poor eye sight.
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Could be. My low beam headlights still put most of their illumination close to the car and make that area very bright but don’t give me hardly anything further away. I’m now going to try checking aim (despite having dealer adjust them) using some u-tube videos. I want distance but not at the expense of blinding other drivers. My high beams add very little unlike all other cars I have owned. Glad yours are working out for you.
 
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Halogen lights (old) are not as bright as HID lights, but the Halogen lights light up the road better during rain. For this reason, a lot of HID lit cars use Halogen fogs.

I don't know how LED's compare to HID (don't own a Clarity, yet). I do know that i'd much rather have HID lights than Halogen.

LED's might be a budget item. They take less energy to run and they never go out. I could see all cars using LED's in the future. They must be good because they are putting them on high end cars. I don't recall if BMW or Mercedes have any models with LED....
 
I adjusted my Clarity headlights upwards (5 minutes with a Phillips-head screwdriver). The high beam reach is significantly improved, but still disappointing compared to my older cars. I may nudge the lights up a bit higher. I suspect that even at the maximum legal angle, the amount of light might still be inadequate.
 
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