Your headlights are one of the most important aspects of your vehicle. They’re a safety device, providing light for you and also signaling to others that you are on the road. Cars headlight are the “eyes” of your car, letting you and your vehicle see ahead in low-visibility conditions so that you can safely arrive at your destination.
Improve Your Car’s Headlight
It would be impossible to drive at night without your headlights. If you’ve ever seen someone drive around the city at night without their lights on, this oversight can seem shocking. In city conditions, there is so much electric light that we take it for granted, but outside of the city on country roads with no streetlights, darkness is a dangerous condition. Cars headlight such as high beams and fog lights let us see through fog or snow, and are necessary in certain areas or for off-roading.
Halogen bulbs still come stock on most vehicles and are the low-light headlights we are all acquainted with. These dim options scratch easily and become hazy with perspiration and time, worsening their effectiveness. There are a few ways to make your Cars headlight brighter, improving your ability to see in low light conditions and making road travel that much safer.
Swap Your Bulbs To LED
LED lights (short for Light-Emitting Diode) are commonly bright bulbs. They’re about five times brighter than what halogen bulbs can emit, and also consume just half the amount of energy, and last for nearly ten times longer. LED lights also produce a clean white light, unlike the yellow light of halogen bulbs, making them look even brighter. This white light improves nighttime visibility and helps other people see you better. Upgrading to LED bulbs is one of the best ways to easily and significantly improve your cars headlight performance.
New vehicles now come standard with LEDs, especially higher-end vehicles like BMWs or Audis. The super bright white light beams are difficult not to notice and can be disorienting and disarming against your yellow light halogen bulbs. Thankfully, you can upgrade your lights to LEDs at any time and compete! If you’re looking to do it yourself, your stock headlights can be swapped out to LEDs using a headlight conversion kit. It’s a fairly easy process since modern LED bulbs fit into halogen housing and connect into the already existing power harness of your vehicle.
Upgrade To HID Headlights
HID bulbs (or High-Intensity Discharge) are a new upgrade in halogen technology, though not quite as new as LEDs. HID bulbs are more than three times as bright as standard halogens and are more efficient, lasting five times as long. They’re not quite as impressive as LEDs, but can be an affordable option that is still a dramatic improvement.
As with LEDs, there are simple conversion kits for HID headlights that let you turn your old halogens into functional HIDs. They’re cheaper than LED kits, though the installation is a slightly more complex one that you might need to pull out a YouTube video for. HIDs come in color temperatures such as yellow, white, and purple, and their white temperature lights make them shine just like LEDs, which will drastically improve visibility.
Clean Your Existing Lights
Buying and using a headlight restoration kit is becoming a popular way to dramatically improve your vehicle’s existing light setup. As car’s age, the natural wear on the headlights can make them foggy as moisture perspires throughout the housing. Tiny scratches and dirt can also prevent light from coming through your headlamps as well as it once did.
This is a great method for fixing dull lights on older vehicles. When you restore your headlights, remember that you are only restoring them to their original halogen state, which means they still might not be as bright as you want. Still, if you’re looking for an affordable option this is a great one. This will improve your car’s light emissions and also make your car look cleaner in general. If you need your headlights to be brighter but can’t afford LEDs or HIDs at the moment, start with a headlight restoration kit.
Purchase Some Premium Halogens
Replacing your stock halogens with high-quality halogen bulbs is always an option. High-quality halogen bulbs can emit up to 50% more light, which is another affordable upgrade. Replacing your halogens is a pretty simple and inexpensive task, and not nearly as expensive as a complete retrofit or LED upgrade. If you upgrade your halogens as well as use a headlight restoration kit, you will notice a drastic and immediate impact to your visibility.
Whether you’re swapping out bulbs yourself or looking for a headlight restoration kit, PartsAvatar has what you need to get your car’s headlights back to peak performance.
Do A Complete Retrofit
If you want to improve the brightness of your car’s headlights to the absolute limit, consider completely replacing your halogen assembly with a brand new LED or HID setup. This is called a retrofit and will be more expensive than the other options.
There are some caveats to the retrofit. Not all cars, especially older cars, can be retrofitted with new headlight assemblies. Also, these assemblies can be expensive, upwards of several thousand dollars. You won’t be able to retrofit on your own and will need a mechanic to complete the setup, costing you labor. Also a retrofit is a secondary market customization, which will void any car’s warranty (if you’re still worried about that).
Still, a retrofit will offer a complete improvement to your headlight performance.
Remember, visibility is one of the key elements of safe driving, and if you can’t see the road at night or know that others have difficulty seeing you back, it’s important to make that necessary improvement. It’s always a good idea to keep up with the best auto news and reviews for improving your vehicle, whether it’s headlights, tires, or a new car.
