Headlights on 2006 Sonata

[Brian Nystrom]

I know the purpose of it, however, the assumptions aren't right for
where I live. This sharp cutoff is only useful if you always drive on
smooth, flat roads. Here in northern PA and upstate NY, either
assumption is good on virtually any road I drive other than the
interstates. And even then only on certain stretches.

In the real world, a sharp cutoff is dumb and is very annoying as you
now see a rapidly varying intensity from oncoming car headlights rather
than the fairly steady intensity with the old sealed beams. Maybe the
intensity was higher on average in the old days, but I much prefer that
to the "flashing" affect of the newer light designs.

The alternative would be worse, which is having the full height beam
blinding you. At least with the cutoff beam, it only occasionally pops
up enough to be an issue. IMO, it's an advancement, as it allows
brighter headlights with minimal annoyance to other drivers. No, it's
not perfect, but there is no better alternative. Besides, there's
nothing you can do about it.

Also, the right side of my Hyundai's pattern is cut-off pretty far to
the right. It doesn't illuminate signs well on low beam, not as well as
my 94 Chevy truck, and it makes the white background signs so bright on
high beam that they nearly blind me!

I haven't experienced those problems. Perhaps your headlights are aimed
too far to the right. You can try bringing them back to the left a bit.

The cutoff portion of the pattern
extends clear across the road well onto the berm as I can't see the road
ahead worth beans when going down into a dip.

That's what high beams are for. Switch to them or simply flash them if
necessary.

I haven't pulled up to a wall yet to look at the pattern in more detail,
but will try that some night to see if I can tell where the cutoff ends.

It's certainly worth a shot. You may find that the two beam heights are
not aligned or that one or the other is aimed off to one side. When
attempting to determine the aiming. I've found it easiest to stand on
the center of the rear bumper and look over the roof and hood.

 

[Brian Nystrom]

The problem with them is that they bother oncoming traffic to the point that
they turn their high beams on, subsequently negatively affecting my ability
to see.

So flash your high beams back, so they know that you have your low beams
on and you're not being a jerk. If you educate other drivers, eventually
they'll get used to modern headlights like we all must do.

Not all new car headlights are that way. The very worst ones are the
HID headlights on the high end cars. The problem is that there is a
significant amount of light being projected above the road surface from the
lights in my car.

Of course there is. You need to be able to see down the road and also up
on the right side of the road to read signs.

Headlights are just brighter now, plain and simple. The only "fix" to
your complaint would be to go back to the older, dimmer headlights that
we complained about for not providing enough visibility. You can't have
it both ways. Yeah, sometimes it's irritating, but the alternative is
less visibility overall, which I don't see as an improvement.

 

[Mike Marlow]

The only "fix" to
your complaint would be to go back to the older, dimmer headlights that
we complained about for not providing enough visibility. You can't have
it both ways. Yeah, sometimes it's irritating, but the alternative is
less visibility overall, which I don't see as an improvement.

Hmmmmmm.... I never complained about the old headlights. They worked fine.
I have noticed that all of my cars that are in the 2000 plus vintage (2000,
2003, 2004) do a much worse job at lighting the road in up and down dips
than the older cars used to. High beams or low beams - makes no difference.
These new lights may have some benefits (though I have yet to put my finger
on what the benefits are), but they certainly have some drawbacks as well.

 

[Matt Whiting]

The alternative would be worse, which is having the full height beam
blinding you. At least with the cutoff beam, it only occasionally pops
up enough to be an issue. IMO, it's an advancement, as it allows
brighter headlights with minimal annoyance to other drivers. No, it's
not perfect, but there is no better alternative. Besides, there's
nothing you can do about it.

No, an alternative is to have more of a Guassian distribution with just
the tail going high enough to be seen by oncoming drivers. My Chevy
truck is close to this and it has great headlights, probably as good as
the Hyundai, and doesn't "flash" incoming drivers.

I haven't experienced those problems. Perhaps your headlights are aimed
too far to the right. You can try bringing them back to the left a bit.



That's what high beams are for. Switch to them or simply flash them if
necessary.

I'm talking about the high beams. The cut-off is still rather
pronounced compared to my pickup.

It's certainly worth a shot. You may find that the two beam heights are
not aligned or that one or the other is aimed off to one side. When
attempting to determine the aiming. I've found it easiest to stand on
the center of the rear bumper and look over the roof and hood.

Yes, definitely worth looking at when I get a chance.

Matt

 

[Matt Whiting]

Headlights are just brighter now, plain and simple. The only "fix" to
your complaint would be to go back to the older, dimmer headlights that
we complained about for not providing enough visibility. You can't have
it both ways. Yeah, sometimes it's irritating, but the alternative is
less visibility overall, which I don't see as an improvement.

I believe I have both with my 1994 Chevy pickup, so I know it is possible.

Matt

 

[Matt Whiting]

Hmmmmmm.... I never complained about the old headlights. They worked fine.
I have noticed that all of my cars that are in the 2000 plus vintage (2000,
2003, 2004) do a much worse job at lighting the road in up and down dips
than the older cars used to. High beams or low beams - makes no difference.
These new lights may have some benefits (though I have yet to put my finger
on what the benefits are), but they certainly have some drawbacks as well.

I agree. The Sonata may be a little brighter than my Chevy pickup, but
I haven't parked them side by side to tell. You can't tell any big
difference going from one vehicle to the other from a brightness
perspective. The only difference is the truck is much better for
driving on hilly back roads.


Matt

 

[Mike Marlow]

I agree. The Sonata may be a little brighter than my Chevy pickup, but
I haven't parked them side by side to tell. You can't tell any big
difference going from one vehicle to the other from a brightness
perspective. The only difference is the truck is much better for
driving on hilly back roads.

Yup - it's the dips and dives that black right out with all of the newer
lights.