While driving our long-term A4 Avant home at dusk the other night, I passed another '09 A4 headed in the opposite direction. The new LED eyelids really stood out, and when combined with the HID nozzles, give the new A4 a Transformers-esque visage: Are the Autobots cached among us as Audis? The radio never tuned itself to scene appropriate stations (though thanks to satellite radio, this is a manual option), and no one even partially resembling Megan Fox needed a lift on my route.
On the A4, the LED brows work well, throwing a cool even spread of bright light, but our left HID cannon always seems to run a little hot and high. As wild as Audi could have gone with the styling of the new LED beamers, they get a little credit for keeping things in check with just a mild bit of curvy whimsy. Did the little LED string need to hook under the HID beams in an inverted and slightly arched brow? Probably not, but this is Audi, who's set the bar of late for classy and understated design. What happens when the rest of the automotive world gets a hold of this stuff?
Once these slick LED lights work their way into the regular automotive supply chain, how long before designers start stringing up their cars like Christmas trees? We're likely to see headlights formed into illuminated logos, grilles outlined marquee style, or perhaps an option to have your name spelled out in the taillights ("Whoa" on the left, "Trixie" on the right). As LED technology advances, how long before we've got Lite Brite on wheels, with each corner of the car customizable from an in-dash display (if a Toyota, you'll have to be stationary, with the car in Park of course).
LED lights are likely to only get smaller and brighter, opening up an entirely new palette for car designers, and of course, marketing input. Making cars safer and more visible would be a nice perk, but how do you see this lightshow evolving?
Paul Seredynski, Executive Editor @ 6011 miles
DLu says:
10:34 AM, 01/20/09
i really like how Audi did the LED's in the R8 and A4 (and A5/S5 etc). seems like how Xenons started only in luxury brands, now i've only seen them in the V8 Vantage (love the inner corner placement), some 911's (low in the front bumper/spoiler, which i think makes it look like pimples).
headlights seem to go through cycles of favoring small or low profile (remember those terrible flip-up lights and hideous headlight smoky cheap plastic covers) ro large and gaudy (like how the Sable used to have the entire front end light up). i think we are going through a gaudy phase. soon we will outgrow it probably and, with the improved LED technology, have ridiculously small headlights (i remembered the early 90's Integra's looked too small at the time)
cruiserhead1 says:
10:50 AM, 01/20/09
Just wait, LED's will light up cars like Santa Claus on crack. I love the Audi's though, they look fantastic with the LED strips.
But for the restraint Audi has shown, I know a Mitusbishi or (X) will come along with a 1000 LED, Pep boys 12' spoiler version to really cheese-ify the LED world.
There is a lot of LED potential- I see most of it in the interior of the car though.
dougtheeng says:
12:03 PM, 01/20/09
I can't wait for more LED lighting. Like DLu said, there will probably be some neat car designs coming out with really small lights because of the LED technology. It is just another opportunity for designers to be creative.
roar02ram says:
04:38 PM, 01/20/09
Bring back flip-ups!!
MS3lvr92 says:
05:02 PM, 01/20/09
If I was driving this car, I would just leave the running lights on all the time just so people can gawk at their LED beauty.
billt9 says:
05:34 PM, 01/20/09
LEDs, they consume nearly no power. Leave them on! Even while parked! Watch as it glows through the night... neighbors driven insane...
platf1 says:
10:06 PM, 01/20/09
What do you mean "...but our left HID cannon always seems to run a little hot..."? Is it brighter than usual (and given how bright Xenons are, how can you tell)?
estreka says:
10:25 PM, 01/20/09
LEDs have been long overdue. I can't wait for TV technology to catch up.
cwc1 says:
05:52 PM, 01/21/09
I never had a car with retractable headlights, but they seemed cool at the time.
On the early '90s Integra, I thought its too small headlights looked like beady little eyes. I just never caught on to the look. And the Toyota Celica of the same era had the other extreme - huge round headlights that weren't even uniform between the inner and outer set. Both just seemed quirky to me, and were not a good kind of different.