Headlight upgrades can be aesthetic, practical, or both.
All that extralight has to be aimed at the road, and not into the eyes of oncoming drivers.
The beam pattern is a product of the reflector and lens in a typical headlight assembly.
Some headlight upgrades involve replacing the entire headlight assembly.4X-images / E+ / Getty
Other headlights use projectors instead of reflectors.
Installing brighter bulbs will just shine even more light in the wrong place.
Most headlight upgrades focus on brightness, but you cant ignore the beam pattern.
Wesha / CC-BY-20 / Wikimedia Commons
Simply adjusting your headlights so they aim in the right direction can also help a lot.
Are Fog Lights an Upgrade?
Different types of headlights age differently, so it isnt always obvious when a replacement is called for.
Replacing worn-out headlight capsules is a very easy process that just about anyone can do at home.
In other cases, you may have to work a little to gain access to the capsules.
When you do replace old headlight capsules with new ones, it’s important to do them in pairs.
This bang out of upgrade literally just consists of removing the old capsules and installing the new ones.
Like replacing worn-out headlight capsules, upgrading to brighter versions should also be done in pairs.
Upgrading to HID Headlights
HID headlights are much brighter than your typical halogen bulbs.
In fact, this upgrade can actually require somebasic electrical wiring workin addition to replacing the headlight assemblies.
This is technically possible in some cases, but you may end up with a poor beam pattern.
In the worst-case scenario, this may leave you unable to see at night while also blinding other drivers.
The way to get around this is to replace your headlight assemblies with projectors.
That said, LED headlight capsules are available as drop-in upgrades.
