In the last few years, car headlights seem to be much worse with glare. I don’t know if people no longer turn down their high beams, or if it’s raised trucks or aftermarket bulbs, or just shitty car design but it’s getting much tougher to see at night. And my teens complain more, so it’s not just me getting old
I’m looking for a way to improve my nighttime safety without adding to the problem.
Does anyone have experience with aftermarket LED bulbs for fog lights? Are they enough brighter to help see the road in the glare of oncoming high beams, while being enough lower to not just blind other drivers?
Sounds like your lenses are fine. If you want to try it, Subaru people have been using H9s by trimming the tabs a little. They’re slightly higher wattage for noticeably more light, while seeming to be an acceptable amount of additional heat. They’re a high beam bulb, so they have no glare cap (painted tip). Presumably, the housing has its own cover over the bulb - it’s a no go if not. Personally, I passed on the H9 in my car and instead picked the basic Philips H11. Philips does a litter better than Sylvania, I chose basic for clear glass instead of tinted, dimming “whiter” bulbs, and didn’t want to risk toasting the coating inside my headlights of a different brand.
I don’t know your specific model’s output. I would test the lights with an actual obstacle 100ft away, which is just over 1 second away at 60mph. About 6 car lengths. In a world filled with dazzling factory lights aimed wrong, drivers using glaring PnP bulbs, people cluelessly using brights all the time, and assholes throwing light bars on the front, I’d want to make sure you and your drivers have the right expectations for lights.
Social pressure may make it really difficult to convince anyone that plain yellowish halogen are superior. I continue to see it in the headlight community.