New IIHS Headlight Test May Shine Light On Sierra/Silverado

[Gorehamj]

John Goreham
Contributing Writer, GM-Trucks.com
3/30/2016

One of GM-Trucks.com's top news posts was "Are the Headlights Dim In Your '14 or '15 Sierra?" That story did about twice as well with pageviews and comments as our typical well-read stories. Readers filled our pages with comments about dim headlights in GM trucks. Until now, there has been no objective third-party testing to help buyers to judge the effectiveness of headlights in the cars and trucks we buy. That is changing. Today, the Insurance Institute For Highway Safety (IIHS) released its first-ever ratings for headlights. The Institute has a new Vehicle Test Center with an indoor test track ideal for conducting such tests. The tests are not subjective either. IIHS uses sensors that read the amount of visible light from both high and low beams in a variety of driving scenarios. The group gives extra credit for adaptive headlights (that swing side to side) and auto-high-beams, but only if those systems actually work well. The group also takes points away if a vehicle's headlights blind on-coming drivers in low-beam mode.

 

 

 

When IIHS gets to trucks we will be sure to bring the results to you ASAP. For now, you can check out the results of the mid-size car evaluations. Only one vehicle scored good, a Prius V with optional LED lighting. You can see how the Malibu did here.

 

[newdude]

I smell a big change in the automotive headlight coming...HID and LED will be the standard from this point on probably. If halogen sticks around, they better function better.

[Nargg]

I've read a lot about this poor headlight issues with GM trucks. I found my '15 LTZ to be some of the best headlights I've ever used. Not to say they couldn't be better, I'm sure they could. I'd like to see the IIHS test on each year model and feature availability of the GM trucks. The '16s are supposed to have really good headlights from past models. My wife has a new Cadillac SRX, and those headlights are pretty good too. They have the high beam assist, which is very nice. Plus the lights follow the turn of the steering wheel, to light corners better.

[Sierra Matt]

Subscribed

[SgtShiv]

I would imagine the K2xx will receive poor ratings just as the other GM products did.

[newdude]

I would imagine the K2xx will receive poor ratings just as the other GM products did.

 

If they backwards test prior years yes. Chances are if they just do the 2016 and forward years, K2 pickups should do fine (HID standard LED on higher trims). The K2 SUVs might not do so hot though, except for those with HID lighting or the Escalade with its LED lighting.

[Rock1500]

I smell a big change in the automotive headlight coming...HID and LED will be the standard from this point on probably. If halogen sticks around, they better function better.

They normally are not bad. My car is not bad at all. It's just on this truck they sucked.

 

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

[Matthew Cooper]

The LTZ has the projectors. The LT has reflectors and they suck. I had a '16 loaner and holy crap! The head lights were amazing. He'll just the LED fogs put out more light then my '15 high or low beams.

[pendragon]

My 16 Denali lights are pretty good, not as good as the 4 SAE approved Rigid driving lights that I put in the grill but acceptable around town

[Cnmx27]

My 2014 sierra has the worst headlights ever. I've been a die hard gm guy for years and 14 trucks but with my new one I'm pissed. The dealer won't do anything,gm won't do anything. I replaced my bulbs with led's no help. I love my gm trucks but the problems I've had with the dealers over the last 6-8 years has me thinking my next truck might not be a gm.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk

[SgtShiv]

If they backwards test prior years yes. Chances are if they just do the 2016 and forward years, K2 pickups should do fine (HID standard LED on higher trims). The K2 SUVs might not do so hot though, except for those with HID lighting or the Escalade with its LED lighting.

 

I believe that the Caddy has HID's as well, which still earned lowest rating and if you read the article LED's weren't a guarantee for better lighting..

 

"One of the best headlight systems evaluated has none of the new technology. The basic halogen lights on the Honda Accord 4-door earn an acceptable rating, while an LED system with high-beam assist available on the Accord earns only a marginal."

 

I could be wrong though without knowing what advantages and disadvantages were found to achieve the ratings they gave.

[ben17314]

Ordering hid kit for my 2016 tahoe if that doesn't fix it i may try something like a fx-r projector retrofit with hid. The light output sucks with factory halogen projectors

[deputy]

Try driving a 2014 sierra texas edition in the rain at night.... Wow>>>>> you basically have to come to a stop and wait for the rain downpour to let out so You can'tsee where you aregoing. Not good. Driving at night is very stressfull and eye straining to the point of taking headache medications once you are done driving. Any wayt to fix this extremely dangerous problem? this should be considered a safety hazard to drivers and any others on the road. This issue needs to be addressed and resolved asap. And GM still says there is nothing wrong. So why are they changing the desing on the 2016's trucks.

 

Someone tell them to do it in the rain, just by driving at night does not cover the whole story.

[barry G]

I learned lights with aicraft.

they ran so long the tungsten revelealed to be the resistance in two directions for things many feet away.

 

I have revolved around it since.

Heat was another scary thing below 110000 pounds of fuel.

 

anyway...

I found surrounding the old standards of 35-65 watts comes to life if surrounded by LED.

I mean parking lights, not surrounding the head lamp literally. Ever had a dream some idiot ran with what you said and did something backwards or misinterpreted?

the lack of warm lamps is yet another error in real world with snow and ice and even fog.

 

 

the full led in head lamps is colors that are not quite accustomed to...without the lumens we all know.

A circus out there with the modern light show.

 

my subaru looks like a dwarf star for example.. LED head lamps for a couple of years now. I jumped in to make that the experiment starting in 2007.

 

the problems are cheap to fix.

 

my 1996 GMC is so bright I had to aim driver side towards the right side of the road.. offset from the norm.

I was annoying people even on low beam.

Very bright old tungsten now.. the entire truck is LED otherwise.

 

the gm truck problems go way back...not difficult with some education.

something not mentioned is the old style opaque parking up front.. barely visible even on big watts.

I still see them occasionally.. new vehicles.

[Rock1500]

My 2014 sierra has the worst headlights ever. I've been a die hard gm guy for years and 14 trucks but with my new one I'm pissed. The dealer won't do anything,gm won't do anything. I replaced my bulbs with led's no help. I love my gm trucks but the problems I've had with the dealers over the last 6-8 years has me thinking my next truck might not be a gm.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk

There is a tsb that replaces the light bulbs with what I believe is a 65 watt version. They were better than the original. I just swapped them with some LEDs. While nicer and whiter the verdict is still not out if they are better for me.

 

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk