When I bought my 2013 Sport I noticed that the headlights were really really dim to the point of being almost unusable. I went online and bought some LED bulbs from Amazon that had decent reviews and put them in both that car and my 2015 LX. I ended up having to take them out as my daughter got pulled over (only got a warning) because the cop thought she was driving with her high beams on when it was just that the bulbs are bright. I often get flashed by oncoming traffic thinking the same in my car. I ended up putting in a set of Silverstar Ultras in both the 2013 & 2011 but kept the LEDs in mine for now. Both of my kids have been complaining that the light output is really bad and doesn't provide a lot of light (part of the reason I haven't switched back myself). So, I'm wondering if anyone has any recommendations for bulbs that have better light output but aren't going to be blinding people.

Thanks in advance.

 

Ensure your lights are aimed correctly. Mine weren't from factory. It's a bolt on the back of the lamp that adjust the up and down angle.

 

Those cheap LED bulbs are famous for being really good at blinding other motorists and pedestrians. Put the OEM or similar bulbs back in for your safety and that of others. If you want better light output it needs a projector retrofit.

 

I see there's tons of options for halogen bulbs - as I say I tried the SilverStar Ultras on 2/3 of my cars. I've seen people recommend Philips Racing Vision and OSRAM Nightbreaker Laser. I haven't seen any real decent comparison done in the last few years so its hard to get a good understanding of which would be better. Do you have any suggestions?

 

Wow, here in California no one gets pulled over for headlights. At least I've never heard of it.

You can get different bulbs, but you'll always be balancing light output with light scatter. If you really want better lights you'll have to look into retrofits.

 

Just put Philips NightGuide Platinum bulbs into my mother's truck. They don't last very long and set me back $30 for the pair, but man are they bright. Like wow. They do degrade with use, so we'll be keeping a spare set on hand for when they aren't quite cutting it.

If bright non-led bulbs aren't cutting it, you may want to consider new headlight housing assemblies. Others, I'm sure, will endore restoration kits which are fine and can work fairly well. I've also known guys to just do a delicate few passes with brake fluid (it melts the plastic, so you have to be very careful, watch videos) then buff.
For me, I'll be doing new assemblies soon with basic bulbs, or some yellow low-glare ones. Wiping down the inside of the windshield with a microfiber towel can help a bit too, particularly with received glare and low light visibility.

Plastic dries out and gets hazy. A couple years back I did a restoration kit and it just didn't last for me. My car's parked in the sun :/ so like, two years before it was as bad as before.

If your housings are fog free and the night guide bulbs aren't enough, I'd think a retrofit would be the only option

 

I probably should have mentioned the lenses are very clear on all three cars. The 2013 was the only one that had a little haze and I was able to restore it almost new with the Turtle Wax kit. I saw it on WatchJRGo's youtube channel where he did a comparison of a few kits a while back and that one came out a clear winner and it didn't disappoint.

When you say the NightGuide bulbs didn't last long how long?

 

@jetsaredim I haven't used these before. The last set was supposed to be approximately 100% brighter, and they lasted a year or so before I was told it wasn't enough anymore. They didn't die.
These ones are 130%. Honestly, it's almost like looking at brights 😂 and her lenses are a little hazy.
I'm hoping these will last a year also. Price given was from rockauto.

We live in GA. Dense forest, not a lot of street lights if you venture out onto backroads, which she does when going to visit my sister. We don't want to hit deer, so visibility is important
Cool thing about these vs. leds is that the beam pattern will be as intended and cut off where it's supposed to.
As much as I dig the idea of doing a retrofit, it just seems way too expensive. like 800. Im sure that could be knocked down with some DIY, electrical knowhow.. if someone wants to chime in with said knowhow and post pics of a clean finish, I'll be overjoyed.

 

Hmm, sounds like a good thing to recommend for Project Farm to test.

 

I agree the light output is terrible. I have been considering a Morimoto Mini D2S HID projector retrofit from the retrofit source since I got the car, as my morning commute is always in the dark.

 

I have LED's on my 2007 Fit Sport since 2020. They are really bright and have had no issues.

Bulbfacts is the best site I have seen with detailed reviews. They also have some videos on YT. The high end ones are around $200 (DDM Tuning) and the budget ones are about $50. Their current budget recommendation is NOVSIGHT which you can buy on Amazon. Here the link to the review on BF.

https://www.bulbfacts.com/led-kits/recommended/

 

Saving this

 

I am going to give the Osram LEDriving HL Easy direct replacements a shot. They allow you to use the stock dust cap without modifications. There are also very similar as well. The knockoffs claim to have non-blinding beam patterns but I need to look into if the Osrams do the same. Non-blinding is important to me.

I was going to just get brighter halogens but really do not want to have to replace them every few months.