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LT wrote:

> Looking at used Pilots. Is it correct that the Pilot went to a
> better/brighter headlight in the '06 model? I have night vision issues and
> this is important for me.
> Thanks
> LT
>
>
My wife bopught a 2005 Pilot a couple of years ago and though the
brightness is just fine, I really don't like the extremely sharp cutoff
of the low beam headlight beams.... It is so sharp, there is essentially
NO light above about waist height from the headlights. While this may
be a "good thing" relative to oncoming traffic, it is an incredible PITA
(in my opinion) when I drive the pilot, because I just don't think I can
see nearly as well as I should. As she recently bought a Civic Hybrid,
I went out and cranked up the angle a bit, and now it's a lot better
(still don't get anyone flashing lights at me) as I can see better, but
you really need to look at the patterns. I've never seen a headlight
pattern with so sharp a cutoff. The reflectors must be extremely
precise, as when you are on low beams, there is absolutely NO light
above a certain plane. Unless the aim was wrong from the factory, I
feel it was bordering on unsafe. Now that I've aimed them up a bit,
things are more to my liking, and still nobody seems to notice. The
beam is pretty bright (where it is, that is) and even, without any
noticeable hot spots, so they must have done their homework with the
design. Even with the aim directed up, I rarely see the edge of light
above the hood level, so it isn't in the eyes of oncoming drivers. My
guess is that they were just not aligned quite properly when we got the
vehicle, and during the 60,000 miles my wife put on it, she probably ran
high beams a good portion of the time anyway, once she left town (we
live about 25 miles from town, on a two lane rural road).

Now that she's got the hybrid, I'm thinking about putting aftermarket
bulbs in to kick up the wattage a bit, as I have "night vision" issues
(apparently inherited from my father). During dusk I have a hell of a
time, but once it gets really dark, no real problems for some reason
(though I assume once real darkness occurs, my pupils dialate so I can
see reasonably well, where during dusk they haven't adjusted yet. Of
course, it seems that the majority of the drivers here use High beams
until it gets really dark... Perhaps they also have dusk issues and are
trying to compensate. Needless to say, I don't drive at dusk unless I
really have to. Unfortunately, as I don't do any really long distance
driving anymore, my typical "night" is during dusk hours, so I'm looking
for the brightest lights I can get away with without causing problems
for the oncoming traffic. Oddly enough, the beams of the hybrid, though
with seemingly just as sharp cutoff, seem to be aimed better to start
with. The only thing I can imagine is that the pilot factory aim was to
accomodate throwing several hundered pounds of cargo in the back (which
would move the beams upward) without causing oncoming drivers any
distress, where the civic hybrid assumes the front/rear balance will be
essentially unchanges with load.

--Rick