This was exactly my point above. Just because you have a car with HID's or LED's doesn't make them any better than halogens. North American lighting standards are way behind the rest of the world.

 

sjd- do yourself a favor and drive one back to back at night and you will see wat i mean. you can argue all you want but i being an owner of all 3 cars i know wat im talking about. GL to you and have a happy thanksgiving.

 

I've driven many cars over the years including the current GTI and STI so I am familiar with 2 of your 3 cars and the Golf R uses the same lights as the GTI anyway. I didn't say they were as poor as the Fit's lights, I said they are still rated poorly by the IIHS. Being an owner doesn't mean you know what you're talking about, it means you're a fanboi.

 

I, too, find the GK's lighting inadequate on cloudly or rainy nights, but ok for clear nights in the city.

Also note that as we humans age, over 50yo our eyes are less sensitive to light and therefore need more illumination to perceive the same light intensity as the young punks.

 

yah, if one's driving in the city with good street light illumination it's probably acceptable.. but i live out in the burbs where some streets are in wooded areas in pitch darkness. unless i use high beams i cant see much of anything especially in the rain and would NEVER be able to see deer dat could pop out of nowhere. if i have oncoming traffic i cant use high beams and makes for an unpleasant drive.

i dont have this problem in my cars and my wife should not have to either. thinking about getting her a new NX next year when the GK hits close to 30K.

 

I found the Fit's headlights on both high and low beams be be poor on the staightaway, equally poor on both sides, and truly awful on curves, equally awful on both sides. I agree with the insurance co report that they don't present glare to oncoming drivers.

 

My low beams are surprisingly very nice. I do find it odd that Honda chose to go with a flat cut-off instead of the traditional right/passenger side uptick.

The high beam pattern however is atrociously miserable. light and dark spots, beam scattered all over the place. IDK what to do that would fix this.

I have ordered some high powered LED bulbs that can be variably indexed, so I am wondering if that will help. If nothing else, my low beams will have even more power and I will just manually aim them a bit higher.

 

Those of you complaining about the headlights on the GK should've driven a GE. Those were awful.

 

Or an e30/e36 with stock US market lights

 

I had a problem with the headlights after I got the car but I raised the aim a few degrees and it's made a big difference. Also agree that it would be nice to have a bit more side illumination ... I often use the EX's fog lights for that but don't like to keep them on all the time.

 

My S2000 lights are way brighter than my Fit's.

BUT they are much more focused & I find my visibility is worse with HID projectors than with the classic halogens in my 2012 Fit.

I welcome new technology, but gimme my old school lights until the new ones are better setup.

 

I have owned a GE. Maybe that’s why the GKs lights don’t seem that bad.

 

I didn't find that raising the aim a little bit helped much. If I raised it any further than I did I think the high beams would be too high. My main complaint is with the side illumination. I'm glad to hear you found your fog lamps helpful because instead of replacing the headlamps with brighter lamps, and adding DRL's to the the bumber, I've been thinking instead about simply adding white fog lamps. Only problem with that is that I'd have to snake wire from the bumper to the cabin, in order to add a switch. I might have to add a relay too, depending upon how much juice the fog lamps draw and how many amps a suitable switch is rated for.

 

Yeah the fogs have turned out to be maybe the best part of the EX upgrade; it was a pleasant surprise when I realized how well they illuminate beyond the corners.

 

Yes, the fog lights are excellent to fill in the edges around the front of the car. Seems I get something like 150 degrees or so of coverage on the 2018? There's quite a bit of throw to them, too. Last night they came in handy when I was going down a dark residential street, it helped a lot with scoping the curbs for parking.

 

does any wonder whether a honda rep or marketing guy read all the complains and address it for the next models?

 

I think they read the complaints and also hire focus groups. The result is that every model change the vehicle gets softer and less focused toward it's original market until the car gets discontinued all together due to lack of interest.

For any given car people are going to generally say that it could use more space, be quieter, and ride better. If the marketing department is in control, the result is death to anything sporty. This is why the best cars come from engineering based companies and not marketing based.

 

gotta pay for safety and people in this demographic rather they don't pay.
so there you go. unless mandated hondas not going to change cause you folks won't pay.

 

WTF are you talking about? The Fit added Honda Sensing for 2018, one of few cars in this class to offer these features.

If you’re still going on about headlights, it’s already been pointed out that the headlights offered on most cars in North America rate poorly regardless of price point.

I seriously think you’re just still here so you can brag about the more expensive cars you own to us lowly Fit owners. Keep in mind that some of us own a Fit because we want to, not because it’s all we can afford.

 

OK, friends, let's all settle down. We're here to discuss cars, not dreams. Our cars are a compromise between what we want and what can be produced within $$$ limits, and marketers often overrule engineers on the product.
Meanwhile let's continue to share advice and experiences to make our car better, safer, more enjoyable. Stay calm!