RX8Club.com - Headlight pattern

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Headlight pattern

I have read a few posts on the headlight pattern in front of the car. With darkness coming earlier now I, of course, notice it more. It looks a little like this:

----------------
--------------/
--------/

I believe it's lower on the drivers side for the oncoming traffic. Does anyone know for sure if this pattern is actually normal and supposed to be this way?

OOOOPS!

Looks like this (ignore the dots):

...............................__________
..............________ /
_______/

FWIW, mine is the same way and it drives me insane. Was actually going to ask the dealer about it on the next oil change.

Looks like it's normal??? I asked them to check it today when they changed my front struts which stopped my rattling and they wrote on the warranty invoice, healights were checked ok.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Johnboy

Yes, that is normal. The only reason you didn't notice that on your last car is that the stock halogen headlights tend to be not as bright and not have as sharp of a cut-off. When I upgraded my last car's halogens to Philips HiVisibility ones (high quality halogens), I could see the pattern better.

Actually, I guess the other reason is that there's the American SAE pattern and the European (and everywhere else) ECE pattern.

From this wikipedia article:

Quote:

ECE low beams are characterized by a distinct horizontal "cutoff" line at the top of the beam. Below the line is bright, and above is dark. On the side of the beam facing away from oncoming traffic (right in right-traffic countries, left in left-traffic countries), this cutoff sweeps or steps upward to direct light to road signs and pedestrians. SAE low beams may or may not have a cutoff. Proponents of each system decry the other as inadequate and unsafe: U.S. proponents of the SAE system claim that the ECE low beam cutoff gives short seeing distances and inadequate illumination for overhead road signs, while international proponents of the ECE system claim that the SAE system produces too much glare. Comparative studies have repeatedly shown that there is little or no overall safety benefit to either SAE or ECE beams; the two systems' acceptance and rejection by various countries is based primarily on inertial and philosophical grounds.

Essentially, the ECE beams, with the driver's side drop off, are designed to reduce glare at the oncoming traffic.

interesting, i've noticed this as well.

Huh, I kinda like the crispyness of it. But that may be cuz my last car had sukie headlights, I used to drive off the light from the guy behind me.

Just had my headlights AND taillights replaced due to condensation. Guess what??? The headlight pattern is nowhere near what it used to be. It's basically all over the place. I am returning it to my usual Mazda service dealership to fix what the other dealership did. Seven plastic fasteners were missing from the trunk, wheel wells and engine compartment (SPARE PARTS...HA HA) so it won't go back there again!!!!!!!!!