Horrendous visibility when snowing

LeisureDave

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 21, 2023
Location
Castleton Ontario
TDI
2000 Jetta tdi
Exactly what the title says. The headlights suck, even worse now that I put led bulbs in them. The snow just becomes a white sheet in front of me to the point where I just turn the amber lights on with the euro switch and drive practically in the dark at night because that’s slightly better than with headlights on. What the heck vw. Is it possible to make the amber lights as bright as when the turn signal is on, but all the time? Are there any half decent budget fog lights?
 

ZippyNH

Veteran Member
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Apr 22, 2015
Location
Southern NH
TDI
2015 JETTA TDI SE
Unpopular opinion....
With LED you are just seeing where the light is actually going.....that's why other drivers HATE retrofited cars....they are blinding because the light is going places it shouldn't.
Solution is new headlight..glass if you can find a pair, preferably OEM/HELA. And then halogens...
BUT honestly, old fashioned halogen bulbs that get replaced BEFORE they burn out and get weak is still a decent option, especially if you add a set of driving light when in area's without other drivers.
Many people try to run halogens till they burn out...but honestly they usually have already lost 50% of their brightness long before that happens
 

JDSwan87

Black Swamp Thing
Joined
Feb 9, 2014
Location
Michigan near Toledo
TDI
2001 Jetta TDI, 5 speed Lagoon Blue Metallic(sold); 2005 Jetta TDI Wagon auto
It’s more a problem with spread, from what I’m reading… are hid projectors tight enough to not cause unwanted reflection?
A proper retrofit is an amazing improvement over stock MK4 headlights. But you're gonna pay for quality materials and then your labor/downtime for fab and install.
 

Nuje

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Location
Island near Vancouver
TDI
2002 Golf 6MT; 2015 Sportwagen 6MT; 2016 A3 e-tron 6DSG
The headlights suck, even worse now that I put led bulbs in them
And therein lies the problem!

There's a reason that any time someone mentions putting 20,000lumen (or whatever insane number) LEDs into their stock headlights, there's a chorus of us here saying "PLEASE....JUST DON'T!".
As mentioned above, not only do they blind oncoming drivers because the spray (LOTS!) of light everywhere, the color temperature of those lights (6000K or even higher) is absolute garbage on anything except the (usually) dry concrete freeways of Los Angeles.
Snow - you get blinded by the light reflecting off snowflakes;
Rain on black pavement - the road just disappears.

Again, LED bulbs in stock headlights: Just say no, kids!

FWIW, I was just out in my 2002 Golf that has HID projectors with 4500K bulbs and while not great (I mean, west coast snowstorm = jumbo-sized snow"flakes"), it was certainly more than adequate for driving at a speed that'd be reasonable for the road conditions.
 
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Vince Waldon

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Apr 25, 2009
Location
Edmonton AB Canada
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2001 ALH Jetta, 2003 ALH Wagon, 2005 BEW Wagon
Toss out those LEDs, get yourself a set of Silverstar Ultras and a polish kit for the headlamp lens (if they are not crystal clear)... pretty much as good as it can get with a 20 year old headlight design.

One other thing to check would be alignment... if one or both housings are aimed high the low beams will cause scatter and the hi beams will miss the road.

That said, horrible visibility in snow is a classic LED bulb complaint, as the cut-off is poor or non-existent and it's all about brightness. :)
 
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northern diesel

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 5, 2023
Location
Northern BC
TDI
2006 mk4 TDI Jetta Wagon
I was driving on a dark stretch of highway on a really bad visibility night recently and there was a person behind me with a very powerful amber coloured light bar and what looked like two led amber fog lights.
I was surprised at how well they lit up the place but also somehow the amber did not blind me in my rear view mirror. It’s got me looking for an amber curved light bar to mount on the roof rack.
Nilight amber bar Amazon roughly $100 CAD
If I get one I’ll report back
 

irishjetta

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Joined
Feb 2, 2024
Location
Ridgefield CT
TDI
'03 Jetta wagon, 300k miles
Snow - you get blinded by the light reflecting off snowflakes;
Rain on black pavement - the road just disappears.
I can attest to that! I’m only getting around to changing the LEDs installed by the PO in my car, but they are trash. And oncoming traffic’s worst enemy. Nobody wins.
 

KrashDH

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Dec 22, 2013
Location
Washington
TDI
2002 Golf
Ok let's all back up here. Yes, LEDs in halogen housing bad.

But we're talking about a snowstorm. An HID retrofit in a snowstorm is going to produce the same result. And intense light reflection off snowflakes (or heavy rain too) really will throw the light everywhere.

The wavelength of light from an HID or LED is going to worsen the situation... Same as when you flip your high beams on. Ever notice how visibility gets worse?

There's really only one solution in really heavy rain or snow. You need a different wavelength of light. Amber/yellow is the solution. Not just side markers, but I'm taking about a light that can project. Along with this, you need to be able to kill (turn off) your headlights and ONLY emit the amber/yellow.

Halogens will be better in storms because the light is less intense and it won't reflect as much off show or heavy rain. But wavelength of light plays a huge roll.
 

CantWrite

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Jun 8, 2021
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Placerville CO
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2005 Passat Wagon (BHW/5-spd conv, 03T). I keep in touch with the (2) ALH's I sold.
once you get new housings and halogen bulbs (10 watt increase over stock) or the retrofit kit installed. Aim them per Daniel Stern’s instructions. Then Buy yourself a pair of BluBlocker Sunglasses with the orange lenses.

this
 

PakProtector

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 5, 2014
Location
AnnArbor, MI
TDI
Mk.4's and the Cummins
Even what is considered low end, micro H1 projectors are better than halogen reflector buckets. They HID will usually need a bit of bulb positioning re-work( shim the base to align them properly ).
A pair of these, stuffed in where the e-code's fog light reside work quite well.
Micro H1 2.0 Bi-Xenon HID Projectors – Lightwerkz Global Inc

I suggest ordering them of Aliexpress; get the 2" color... :)

Note the similarity in the provided pics...LOL

Run them with the halogen reflectors. While a sharp cut off looks neat, and protects the on coming folk from HID flamethrowers, having a wee bit o' leakage provided by the reflector bucket is more than a little bit useful IMO. Basic ideas for building a set for yourselves in my media. Those show the 1.8" Mori projectors, and the 2"-ers are decidedly an improvement( and they have the stepped low beam that is also desirable ). Load them with 4000K bulbs. 4500K max.

When completed they draw no attention to themselves like stuffing a big projector in the bucket would.

Douglas
 

Lug_Nut

TDIClub Enthusiast, Pre-Forum Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 20, 1998
Location
Sterling, MA. USA
TDI
2015 GSW 6M in S trim the other oil burners: 1967 two stroke Sonett 1988 Bolens DGT1700
What is the condition of the lens? Polycarbonate is a great material for that application, -> but.... <-, they are susceptible to breakdown by solar UV that leads to hazy, cloudy, appearances, not only from you looking in, but for the light trying to come out.
The pattern created by the filament orientation and the reflector shape may well have a defined upper cut-off in low beam when the lens was new, but the lack of surface clarity of an old PC lens may scatter enough light that the illumination is not only diminished down on the road, but is increased up above horizontal where the snow reflects back in your eyes.
 

Sting

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 20, 2004
Yeah, I ran Silvania LEDs in my car for a couple of years. Not horrible light, but not as good as I thought. Before my recent US road trip, I switched back to Silvania Ultras and there was a marked difference (better). Agree with the above - the OEM headlights as they are really aren't made for LEDs. That said, if you don't run DRLs (I have the TFL pin taped on my headlight switch), a set of halogens should last awhile. Although my adjusters don't work anymore, the light output seems about right for the halogens, as I recall, so I'm waiting to replace them until there is a good reason, or I can find something decent with glass lenses. God I hate polycarbonate lenses. :mad:
 

J_dude

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Location
SK Canada
TDI
2003 1.9l “Jedi”
God I hate polycarbonate lenses. :mad:
They’re not that hard to refinish, just sand and clear. Grab a spare set from a picknpull yard to minimize downtime if you have to keep the car on the road.
When you run as much gravel road as I do glass lenses do not last long.
 

Sting

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 20, 2004
When I had my E30, I had that clear 3M film for headlights put on my lenses. Stuff worked really well. (y)
 

ZippyNH

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Joined
Apr 22, 2015
Location
Southern NH
TDI
2015 JETTA TDI SE
Tip...try rotating the LED 90°...
On some models (of bulbs) it can improve or possibly worsen the light output.
When I had my E30, I had that clear 3M film for headlights put on my lenses. Stuff worked really well. (y)
Had similar on my MINI, and a Toyota Highlander. Installed new, kept them in perfect shape, no yellowing.
Works on plastic AND GLASS as the 3m stuff is actually VERY thick (protecs from rocks and sand), not just like a window tint film for anybody that was wondering.
 

Sting

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 20, 2004
Tip...try rotating the LED 90°...
On some models (of bulbs) it can improve or possibly worsen the light output.

Had similar on my MINI, and a Toyota Highlander. Installed new, kept them in perfect shape, no yellowing.
Works on plastic AND GLASS as the 3m stuff is actually VERY thick (protecs from rocks and sand), not just like a window tint film for anybody that was wondering.
Hmmmm... maybe I'll reinstall the LEDs and try again. Never thought something like that would work.
 

Nuje

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Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Location
Island near Vancouver
TDI
2002 Golf 6MT; 2015 Sportwagen 6MT; 2016 A3 e-tron 6DSG
Those show the 1.8" Mori projectors, and the 2"-ers are decidedly an improvement( and they have the stepped low beam that is also desirable )
Allow me to emphasize that you want to avoid the 1.8" option. I tried those as well, and wow - just not a whole lot of light. I wanted "small" so that the projector would have more room under the lens and the 1.8" did provide that, but it simply was not worth it. 2.0" is astonishingly better (not sure how/why that 0.2" makes that much difference, but it does).
 

Nuje

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Location
Island near Vancouver
TDI
2002 Golf 6MT; 2015 Sportwagen 6MT; 2016 A3 e-tron 6DSG
They might suck less, but they will still suck :rolleyes:
If I may rephrase: They might suck less, or the might suck MORE.... but they will still suck :rolleyes:

As @KrashDH outlined, color temp (aka wavelength) is way too high on most LEDs. Yellow-ish is 2700K-3000K; most LEDs are past 6000K. And on the wet roads frequently seen on the west coast where you are, @Sting....I wouldn't waste the time in trying to rotate those bulbs to see what you get.
 

Nuje

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Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Location
Island near Vancouver
TDI
2002 Golf 6MT; 2015 Sportwagen 6MT; 2016 A3 e-tron 6DSG
Potato / tuber ;)
But yes, I understand that. Most lights don't publish their wavelength, while they do state their Kelvin rating, so going with the K is a reasonable cheat. :)
 

PakProtector

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 5, 2014
Location
AnnArbor, MI
TDI
Mk.4's and the Cummins
3800-4000K is also near the peak efficiency temperature for HID's. So you get more light, and of that you can see it better... :) No purple HID's for me IOW.

Douglas
 
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