Wow, not one reference to Preston Tucker in this whole article. I searched for "Tucker" and the only match was C. Delores Tucker. Not what I expected.
Why is America stuck with bad headlights?
251–260 of 493 posts
Re: Why is America stuck with bad headlights?
#252Earlier quoted context omitted.
All it takes is aftermarket lighting with the cutoff in a different position and nobody willing to bother reaiming the lights. I see this a lot. The low beams are notionally not too bright but they are pointing forward without any effective cutoff.
Isn't it checked? In my country it is part of the standard check during the mandatory technical certification of the vehicle every few years.
The only thing i ever have to do in California is a smog check. I drive regular cars and I take care of them, but I never had to test for anything other than smog check here to renew the registration.
Re: Why is America stuck with bad headlights?
#253So, basically the same reason we have bad everything . Our institutions and regulations are outdated relative to the rest of the world, so we get stuck with shitty stuff.
For instance: payments. Europe and Asia got chip cards and tap-to-pay decades before we did, even though Mastercard and Visa took part in their invention. America had credit card infrastructure first, so our payment networks were stuck with it, while other countries could start off with better stuff.
Without the consumer demand that Google/Apple Pay (and later coronavirus) created, we still probably wouldn't have widespread tap-to-pay.
Re: Why is America stuck with bad headlights?
#254Even more importantly: Why is America still stuck with cars that honk when they're locked and that have indicator lights flashing in the same color as the tail-lights? One is a nuisance, the other one a straight-up safety issue.
The dealer will disable that for you. I couldn’t stand it, yes let’s tell everyone I just unlocked my car.
I like it for locking, especially on large parking lots where not one is bothered by it anyway. Most honks on double locking are short and not as loud as normal honking. I never used it in a residential area but for supermarket parking lots it's a nice feature and I can't see how it would bother anyone.
Re: Why is America stuck with bad headlights?
#255Earlier quoted context omitted.
re: "aftermarket xenon bulb setups" Is this still a big problem? While I would have agreed with you, say, back in the 2000s when the whole "import tuner" craze was in full swing, I don't think this is popular anymore. The car mod scene seems to be close to extinct now, with whats left being a lot less crazy than those in the past.
We also missed out on the yellow sodium headlight craze in Europe during the 80s or 90s. Headlights in the USA must be whitish in color. Anyone know why?
I have no idea but could be related to use of the color yellow for caution / hazard lights, construction vehicles or turning lights.
Re: Why is America stuck with bad headlights?
#256If it can detect cars and de-illuminate, it shouldn't be too hard to detect and spot-light other things for safety, like people, animals, debris.
Mercedes has a good demo video about current state of this tech (EU only) - when you drive a car with it, it’s literally magical. Alternative tech uses a projector-like screen with 4K resolution, allowing for very precise light control. Here is a demo: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0OJjvYPV3oc
Are they actually developed by Mercedes? Or do they have exclusive contracts with a supplier like Bosch?
Re: Why is America stuck with bad headlights?
#257Earlier quoted context omitted.
Tesla’s lack tons of stuff that’s standard or an option on other high end cars. They need to catch up on things like ventilated and massage seats, HUD, CarPlay, bird view cameras and many many more. They’re effectively simple cars, with powerful computer and drivetrain. Adding localized and very complex feature is likely very low on their to do list, especially as their RD spending is ridiculously low, and trending d…
I read that Tesla does have ventilated seats. That Tesla isn't a fan of HUDs (I think they are OK but not important at all). That bird view cameras aren't possible unless Tesla moves their existing cameras or adds yet more. It's silly to call them simple because they lack some esoteric features while ignoring useful features they have that other cars don't, such as dynamic software updates (and many others such as th…
> I read that Tesla does have ventilated seats.
It was very short lived option.
> It's silly to call them simple because they lack some esoteric features
Esoteric to people buying used 10 Toyota’s (there nothing wrong with that btw). But standard in high end cars. I’ve listed only few that come to top of my head, but it’s very long list, from features, through tiny gadgets in interior, sound insulation, and many others
> while ignoring useful features they have that other cars don't, such as dynamic software updates
Exactly as I said, powerful computer.
Tesla is really good at computer stuff and drivetrain stuff. But they are very poor at rest of the car stuff. There’s nothing wrong with that - different people have different priorities for what they want from their cars.
But let’s not dismiss validity of the features, just because someone’s favorite toy doesn’t have them.
Re: Why is America stuck with bad headlights?
#258Earlier quoted context omitted.
Lake country + Sunday night = high beams. When people improperly load vehicles, especially when towing things like boats, the headlights tip upwards. You were probably seeing overloaded vehicles, trailers with high tongue weights because they pushed everything to the front rather than center the cargo over the axle. That pushes the back of the truck down and the headlights up.
Made even worse by levelled or lifted trucks with headlights that aren't even properly adjusted in the first place.
Whats funny to me is those leveled trucks get going at speed the wind pushes their noses up making them squat down the road. Blinding everybody in the process.
Re: Why is America stuck with bad headlights?
#259Earlier quoted context omitted.
Even the came-with-the-car headlights are often dangerously bright, no need to assume they're aftermarket.
I've noticed newer Toyota headlights's are really bright and angled too high up. That or Toyota drivers leave their brights on more.
It's funny you say this, because I got a lot of flak on Reddit for saying the same thing.
You can see this effect clear as day when it's foggy - every other vehicle with projector headlights are aimed down, at the road, yet Toyota's (and Corollas especially it seems) are very blatantly aimed up, and at best are exactly level (which is still incorrect).
Honda drivers, on the other hand, seem to leave their high-beams on as a hobby. Over the 100k miles I've put behind the wheel of my truck in the past year, I could count on one hand the number of cars that have left their brights on, total. You'd need both hands to count the number of Honda's daily.
Re: Why is America stuck with bad headlights?
#260Earlier quoted context omitted.
I guess I'm really old. Before Fast and Furious, I lived through the slammed mini truck / monster car stereo (speakers, speakers, speakers) craze of the late 80s. And before that there were many, many trends, like muscle cars, etc. It's always been like this...
The Fast and Furious franchise is, not unlike the late 2pac, a reflection of the community. A percentage of America has always been modding their cars and an even larger percentage enjoys dreaming about modding cars - the films draw from that, not the other way around.
It's a mutual thing. The Fast and Furious franchise draws from the car culture in America, but the car culture in America also draws from the Fast and Furious franchise. If the director had chosen to highlight slightly different aspects or de-emphasize certain aspects, car culture in America would be different (though stray too far, and F&F is potentially no longer the same mega-hit).