IIHS: In many SUVs installed high-quality front lights

The IIHS research: In most of the SUV and the front optics are not tested.

A new study conducted by the insurance Institute of safety of traffic of the USA showed that only two of the 37 SUV involved in the testing have headlamps with high-quality lighting, for which the car has received excellent ratings. Other cars, unfortunately, are equipped with insufficient quality front optics, which according to the results of IIHS testing received an unsatisfactory rating.

The current study was the fourth in which was tested the front headlights of a certain group of cars. Recall that in 2016, the Institute IIHS introduced new requirements for higher awards “Top Safety Pick +” by the results of several crash tests.

Now, in order to enter the rating of the safest cars, vehicles, in addition to good ratings in crash tests, needs to obtain a reasonable estimate of the results of the testing head lighting (front lights).

Accordingly, if the front headlights of a particular model will not get good grades, even if the model has successfully passed all crash tests, it will not get the main prize and of course will not be included in the final annual rating of the world’s safest cars.

And this, despite the fact that many of these models are worth a lot of money.

Said senior research engineer IIHS Matt Brumbelow, the group of medium-sized SUVs that participated in the testing, has the optical quality is a little better compared to small crossovers, SUVs and pickups that have been tested in the last year.

However, as the said engineer, the study continues to present cars that have insufficient quality head lighting the road at night, which jeopardizes the safety of driver, passengers and other road users.

In the IIHS study vehicles were divided into two groups: luxury and not luxury SUVs.

For example, the Volvo XC60 crossover 2017 fell into the category of luxury cars, while the 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe was not related to the luxury car group.

By the way, these two SUV and received high marks for safety as head lighting.

So, at the end of testing experts IIHS found that in the SUV Volvo XC60 and Hyundai Santa Fe front optics safe and quality compared to the other vehicles that participated in the study.

In order for the rating of the quality of the headlights in modern vehicles was more than fair, the specialists of the Institute for highway safety tested all the types of optics are available on a particular model. So at the moment all cars usually use three types of lighting sources: halogen, xenon (HID) and light emitting diodes (LED).

IIHS testing headlights in modern cars, measures how efficiently the light from the light sources is projected onto the road, curb during movement of the machine in a straight line and on a curved path (for example, during a turn).

Engineers Institute measure the reflections that fall on the oncoming traffic of cars by measuring how certain lights dazzle oncoming drivers. It is necessary to determine whether too much the front headlights of a car can blind oncoming traffic.

What SUVs have the worst headlights?

According to a new study by IIHS in the most unsafe headlights recognized as the optics installed on the SUV Kia Sorento.

For example, installed on a Sorento xenon optics has insufficient light beam. The result is headlights at night when driving in a straight line may not provide adequate driver visibility on the road.

Also the car has a serious problem with the quality of road lighting at night during cornering.

For example, to compare the low beam xenon headlights on a Kia Sorento lights the right side of the road is only 45 meters, while the front optics of the new generation Volvo XC60 under the same road conditions illuminates the road at a distance of about 100 meters.

In particular, how did you find the experts of the Institute, the low quality of the front lighting has SUV Ford Edge, which in the basic version is equipped with halogen lights and the more expensive xenon versions.

During testing it turned out that the SUV equipped with efficient headlights that illuminate the road very little if any maneuvering movements.

Also as noted by experts, optics Ford Edge gives unacceptable glare, and the light beam of headlight goes in the eyes of oncoming drivers.

By the way, during testing of the headlights, the engineers found that more than half of the cars participating in testing, give out too much glare. The reason of course is brightness. But there are some cars that are having poor quality and dim lights, still give a dangerous glare.

It is worth noting that glare, as a rule, most often found on high vehicles that include all-terrain vehicles. Remove glare professionals very hard, because compared to the cars front optics SUVs are too high, which ultimately often lead to blinding oncoming cars.

The IIHS rating of the quality of the headlights of SUVs

Luxury SUVs

RATING: GOOD

Volvo XC60

RATING: ACCEPTABLE

Acura MDX

Acura RDX

BMW X5

Buick Envision

Infiniti QX70

Lexus NX

Lexus RX

Mercedes-Benz GLE

RATING: BELOW AVERAGE

2018 Audi Q5

BMW X3

Cadillac XT5

Infiniti QX50

Lincoln MKT

Volvo XC90

RATING: BAD

Infiniti QX60

Lincoln MKC

Lincoln MKX

Secondary SUVs

RATING: GOOD

Hyundai Santa Fe

RATING:ACCEPTABLE

Honda Pilot

Jeep Cherokee

Jeep Grand Cherokee

Toyota Highlander

RATING: BELOW average

2018 Chevrolet Equinox

Dodge Durango

Ford Flex

GMC Acadia

Nissan Murano

Nissan Pathfinder

RATING: BAD

Dodge Journey

Ford Edge

Ford Explorer

GMC Terrain

Hyundai Santa Fe Sport

Jeep Wrangler

Kia Sorento

Toyota 4Runner