Headlight performance

  • Thread starter Thread starter PHEVer
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MJB said:
In order to bring this to Honda's attention, I suggest anyone with a high-beam related issue log a complaint here:

https://www.nhtsa.gov/vehicle/2018/HONDA/CLARITY%2520PLUG-IN%2520HYBRID

I really really like the car, and I've owned 6 other Hondas (10 if I include motorcycles), so I trust that they will fix this.
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Thanks for the link. I used it and opened a complaint. Like you said if we will all take 5 min to do this, maybe we can get some traction on this issue.
 
PHEVer said:
Here is one more picture of fog lights only. They alone can serve as headlights - they are that bright! But check out the glare! :(View attachment 702
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Thanks for the pics PHEVer. I'm thinking of adding some LEDs also but having them trigger with the high beams to avoid adding a switch and wiring to the inside. I'm curious if you have any recommendations about accessing the area you mounted your lights and if you had any pics of yours mounted close up?

Thanks
 
I would like to adjust my headlights up a bit but I can’t find any Phillips head screws that would appear to be the adjustment point. Can anyone provide a photo or a more detailed description of where to look.
 
02Duck said:
Thanks for the pics PHEVer. I'm thinking of adding some LEDs also but having them trigger with the high beams to avoid adding a switch and wiring to the inside. I'm curious if you have any recommendations about accessing the area you mounted your lights and if you had any pics of yours mounted close up?

Thanks
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For your purpose, and if you are going with Diode Dynamic Light bars, I would buy 2x 6inchers in driving light pattern (I purchased Wide Angle) and install them shining thru the upper grill
20180312_1533301.webp

20180226_123448.webp


I used heavy duty corner L-brackets. If you do the same, be sure the bumper can still slide in when you re-attach it. So, your corner brackets must be measured accordingly...not too high. You'd want to attach brackets inverse of mine...on the top side.
20180304_202211.webp


Had I installed the brackets any lower, the bumper would not be able to slide in.

20180305_001730.webp


For the wiring, if you don't want a switch, you'd have to splice into the high beam hot and increase the fuse amperage. Doing it this way will increase your chances of melting wires though. I have no idea what gauge Honda is using for the high beam wiring, but if you are just going to use highs for occassional flashing, it should be ok. Otherwise, I'd use seperate wiring.

There is a video of a Subaru WRX (i think) with the DD 6 inchers as driving lights. They are crazy bright! If you can manage to install them, you will not regret it!...as long as they are aimed well.

 
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Do you think that the 2 x 6 inchers might block too much of the airflow? They look like they might obstruct most of the upper grill, and the light bars themselves might get pretty hot as well. There are a lot of things that use the cooling system, including the battery pack, motor, engine, and inverter. I wish there was a way to be certain that blocking off some portion of the grill would not adversely affect anything. Assuming Honda designed it so you can drive it in Phoenix traffic in the summer when it's 110 degrees, maybe you can block off some of the grille and be OK. Or do you think the air would make its way around the lights anyway (if you can set them back from the grille enough) so this might not matter?
 
PHEVer said:
For your purpose, and if you are going with Diode Dynamic Light bars, I would buy 2x 6inchers in driving light pattern (I purchased Wide Angle) and install them shining thru the upper grill
View attachment 803
View attachment 800

I used heavy duty corner L-brackets. If you do the same, be sure the bumper can still slide in when you re-attach it. So, your corner brackets must be measured accordingly...not too high. You'd want to attach brackets inverse of mine...on the top side.
View attachment 801

Had I installed the brackets any lower, the bumper would not be able to slide in.

View attachment 802

For the wiring, if you don't want a switch, you'd have to splice into the high beam hot and increase the fuse amperage. Doing it this way will increase your chances of melting wires though. I have no idea what gauge Honda is using for the high beam wiring, but if you are just going to use highs for occassional flashing, it should be ok. Otherwise, I'd use seperate wiring.

There is a video of a Subaru WRX (i think) with the DD 6 inchers as driving lights. They are crazy bright! If you can manage to install them, you will not regret it!...as long as they are aimed well.

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Thanks for the pictures and info. I've wired leds like this before and just used the high beam to run a rely that is bringing power from the battery to the lights. How hard was it to take off the bumper.

Thanks again for the pics.
 
MJB said:
Do you think that the 2 x 6 inchers might block too much of the airflow? They look like they might obstruct most of the upper grill, and the light bars themselves might get pretty hot as well. There are a lot of things that use the cooling system, including the battery pack, motor, engine, and inverter. I wish there was a way to be certain that blocking off some portion of the grill would not adversely affect anything. Assuming Honda designed it so you can drive it in Phoenix traffic in the summer when it's 110 degrees, maybe you can block off some of the grille and be OK. Or do you think the air would make its way around the lights anyway (if you can set them back from the grille enough) so this might not matter?
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I may be wrong, but cars in electric mode don't really need that frontal air circulation; it's for the ICE and the radiator. see Tesla's design. Also the Kia Optima PHEV has a rotating front grill to completely block the airflow to improve aerodynamics. The Volt, and even Prius Hybrid, have minimal frontal air penetration. So, I would not be concerned at all about placement of lights in either upper or lower grill (just not both! I've considered this! Lol!). There is also another air intake on the bottom right of bumper. I would not block that one. Yes, I believe sufficient air does make its way around the lights should the car actually need it.

As far as difficulty level in removing bumper? Well, I am certainly no mechanic and was working alone....I'd say 8 out of 10 the first time. I was only able to use the Accord bumper removal video on Youtube as a guide. But there are some differences with our car (all more difficult differences!). For example, the very top plastic cover also has clips on the anterior side (Civic/Accord do not). Also, there are two clips that connect the front grill to some structure near the headlights (one on either side). When trying to force the bumper straight out (removing all clips along the top and side edges of bumper), the 2 said clips were so stubborn, they would not detach without a fight!

Then, there is re-attaching the bumper. This was diffcult becuase the holes on the underside weren't lining up for me to re-clip. Seriously took over an hour trying to force like 6 or so clips! Next time, I'm just going to widen each stubborn hole with a drill! :D

Knowing what I know now, and if I have to remove the bumper again, I'd say 6 out of 10 difficulty.
 
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The 2019 Honda Insight's headlights (and the 2019 Pilot's headlights) received the top rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, as reported by CNET's Roadshow. How much better are they than the Clarity's headlights I wonder? We already have a gen 1, a gen 2 Insight, and a Clarity PHEV in our family of just 2, so I can't justify buying a 3rd Insight right now to test its headlights.

> The 2019 Honda Insight and 2019 Honda Pilot have both
> earned the IIHS' Top Safety Pick+ designation. This is
> offered to vehicles that earn top marks in a variety of crash
> tests, in addition to evaluations covering headlights and
> crash-prevention systems.
>
> The 2019 Insight didn't just do well, it passed the IIHS' tests
> with a perfect score. It earned a Good rating in every single
> one of the crash tests, including the new-for-2018 small overlap
> passenger-side test. The Insight received the top Superior
> rating for its crash-prevention tech, which is standard on every
> trim. Its LED headlights also earned a Good rating, never
> exceeding glare limits and providing adequate illumination in
> every direction.

I wish the IIHS would test the Clarity PHEV, but being such a low-volume model, I'm not surprised they haven't.
 
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Personally, I find the headlights to perform just like any other car I've had. Other than the different LED glow, distance and spread of the light pattern is just fine. High beams add noticeable distance as well.
 
Last night was the first time I've driven a long distance at night. It seems fine to me. In fact, everything reflects much better with these lights than I'm used to. Signs, car reflectors, and even ... police cars. Marked police cars often have reflective tape of some sort on them. I've spied a few hiding in the dark way down the road now, even when Waze hadn't had any reports (I'm thinking because other cars aren't seeing the officer-in-wait).
 
I went to look at fog lights and wanted to see if anyone who has done this had any recommendations on where to put them. The dealer recommended square lights with four leds mounted behind the lower grill. Any thoughts on if this would be better than behind the upper grill? I was thinking that they would be less visible the lower they were on the car. There didn’t seem to be enough room behind the lower grill for horizontal leds.
 
Low-mounted sounds great for fog lamps. I've been interested in getting them, too. I don't have a strong opinion (yet) on the Clarity high beams. I have owned several Hondas and several German cars over the decades, and foggy conditions were when I really cursed the Honda lights vs. the others.
 
Having also a new 18 Ody, I do like the headlights better on the Clarity. But prefer the high beams of the Ody. And auto high beam...
 
I wish we had rear fog lights. My Ford Transit Connect van (made in Turkey) has them and it's great when the rain reduces visibility to dangerous levels, or dense fog. Problem is, some people with European cars (that usually have them equipped) in the US drive around with them on all the time so it looks like they are riding their brakes.

But I find it preferable to driving with hazards on when you can barely see in front of your car.
 
I just completed a 7 hour road trip in the dark on a rural mountainous route and was impressed with the lights. Unlike other posters, when I forgot to turn down the brights, I was flashed immediately.
 
PHEVer said:
It's the online car review that got me on the headlights. They said they are super bright. Baaahhh. So coming from HIDs since 2000 and then prius LEDs more recently, I was optimistic. Anyways, I purchased aftermarket (Diode Dynamics ss6's wide lens) as this car doesn't have any native fog light option. I installed them behind lower grill. I figured, if I ever need to remove them, there will be no apparent damage/mods to the car. They come on with switch when car is turned on. It's pretty easy to connect them to headlights, if you want to, but I personally didn't want to tamper with/tap into the headlight wiring. Also, they are advertised as being street legal as fog ights due to it's beam pattern (if aimed correctly). Here are some picsView attachment 688 View attachment 689 View attachment 690
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I went to look at some Rigid 6-across horizontal fog lights today. The place I went to is recommending that I install them on the outside of the lower grill on either side of the front license plates. Did you look to do that and if so what made you decide to mount them behind the grill? I can’t see ever taking them off. Like what you did they are going to put them on a separate wire so they will operate at my choice. The upside is that they will stay on even with the high beams on.
 
RickSE said:
I went to look at some Rigid 6-across horizontal fog lights today. The place I went to is recommending that I install them on the outside of the lower grill on either side of the front license plates. Did you look to do that and if so what made you decide to mount them behind the grill? I can’t see ever taking them off. Like what you did they are going to put them on a separate wire so they will operate at my choice. The upside is that they will stay on even with the high beams on.
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I did look to install them on the outside initially. I decided against that for 2 reasons: 1) Potential theft of fog lights, and 2) aesthetics. Mounting lights on the exterior would have had the lights protrude farther out than then bumper as I didn't want to cut through the lower grill. Not sure how deep Rigid is, but if you can find shallow fog lights, installation per the recommendation you got probably would have been best. Here are some Clarity pictures from the Rose Parade...
Rose_Bowl_Parade.webp
 
PHEVer said:
I did look to install them on the outside initially. I decided against that for 2 reasons: 1) Potential theft of fog lights, and 2) aesthetics. Mounting lights on the exterior would have had the lights protrude farther out than then bumper as I didn't want to cut through the lower grill. Not sure how deep Rigid is, but if you can find shallow fog lights, installation per the recommendation you got probably would have been best. Here are some Clarity pictures from the Rose Parade... View attachment 2725
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I ended up installing the rigid fog lights on the inside of the top grill. They make a huge difference and now my wife wants them on her CR-V. I decided I didn’t like the look on the outside of the car (and didn’t want to drill through the bumper). Putting them on the bottom would have required cutting through the plastic grill. The lights run hot and I didn’t want to chance them melting the plastic grill.
 
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