[cindy]

 

[Sterling]

Just checked the headlights against my garage door and yes I have the same light pattern. That being true I have found that driving at night this "light pattern fluke" has not impacted the illumination of the road ahead or been at all noticeable to me. I have over 2600 miles on my Palisade with at least 1300 of those miles being night driving. My experience is that the light pattern displayed on the highway is more than amble to allow me to drive safely and confidently. As this is my first experience with LED headlights I am ecstatic overall.

 

[Neil Wright]

Yup, I noticed them the first time I drove at night and they are very annoying as they fall almost directly in the drive path. Never saw a card do this before...

 

[cindy]

yes, extremely distracting and not safe

 

[Chevron41]

Below is a link to a previous thread discussing the headlight beam pattern:

Headlight Beam pattern.

When the headlights are on at night I have noticed what appears to be a lack of coverage to the left of center from the drivers seat. Straight out from the drivers seat would be the 12 midnight position. To the left would be the 11 pm position. Between these positions out at maybe 100 ft. there...

www.palisadeforum.com

 

[Sterling]

Thank you Chevron41 for reposting a comment I had about headlight beam pattern. What you did not read in that posting was that the area was in the form of a triangle. This triangle area of lack of coverage did not impact what was in front of me or within the 100 ft or so of the front of the vehicle. The answer given by others was that the area was designed for the benefit of on coming drivers. Once I considered this and paid more attention while driving at night it made sense.

 

[Neil Wright]

I see what you are talking about, Sterling and appreciate that some engineer figured that this would provide an extra margin of safety for oncoming vehicles, but I disagree.
The location of the dark area is not always in the oncoming traffic lane as it varies with the distance from the vehicle. Further, I live in the mountains where roads are sharply hilly and very twisty; this aberration in lighting coverage means that a deer standing slightly left of center on the pavement will not immediately be seen when cresting a hill or rounding a corner and of course, neither will a pedestrian.
By all means Hyundai, set the horizontal level of the low-beams to stay beneath the eyes of oncoming traffic, but please do give us even lighting across the horizontal plane of coverage so that we know that everything in the vehicle's light-swath is evenly lit and we don't have to guess whether or not something in the 'blind spot' will only become apparent when we approach more closely and the darkened area moves off of the obstruction.
There are many aspects to safety.

 

[Sterling]

I also live in the mountains and drive on 9 miles of very curvy and a very hilly road to get to my house so I understand your concern but do not feel alarmed enough to take decisive action. I acknowledge that driving is a subjective experience and each of us view it differently. Head light beam patterns can be adjusted. You could check with a dealer and have the headlight projection beam pattern checked. Should be covered under the new car warranty. Perhaps Hyundai just misaligned the pattern and it needs correction. At a minimum the triangle of limited visibility issue could be identified to them. If you or another take this course of action and get resolution please keep the rest of us informed.

 

[retgi]

I also live in the mountains and drive on 9 miles of very curvy and a very hilly road to get to my house so I understand your concern but do not feel alarmed enough to take decisive action. I acknowledge that driving is a subjective experience and each of us view it differently. Head light beam patterns can be adjusted. You could check with a dealer and have the headlight projection beam pattern checked. Should be covered under the new car warranty. Perhaps Hyundai just misaligned the pattern and it needs correction. At a minimum the triangle of limited visibility issue could be identified to them. If you or another take this course of action and get resolution please keep the rest of us informed.

Could be the beam pattern may be different in Korea vs USA, yet all cars coming here should be adjusted to meet our requirements!

 

[RonG]

We purchased our Palisade Ultimate about a month ago and have the same irritating light pattern. Has anyone had the problem resolved yet? I suspect the problem is the alignment. If each of the low beam lights; especially the drivers side, were turned inwards slightly, I think the overlap would eliminate the problem.
Otherwise, we really like the vehicle other than a few minor things that were missed (non-folding mirrors, a few non-lighted switches). We traded in a Mercedes-benz GL350 for this vehicle and are amazed how it is like the MB in so many ways, at a fraction of the price.

 

[saxman242]

I doubt it is actually a problem as much as designed to be that way. It's a dip in the beam to limit glare for oncoming drivers. All projector based headlight systems do some sort of dip like this, however, most just stay dipped off to the left side.

If this bothers you, you can adjust the headlights from side to side so that the dip on each light doesn't overlap. You will end up causing more glare for oncoming traffic, so if you do this, you should also aim them down a bit.

 

[anthpalisade]

I have a SEL without options so it came with non LED. I swapped in LED. That said the beam pattern was similar with either Bulb with pretty sharp cut off about side mirror height.

Naturally the LEDs are brighter and whiter. I do find the cut off less satisfying then my old remaining 2005 Honda Odyssey. Basically feels like less well lit overall.

 

[RonG]

I talked to the service dept. at the local Hyundai dealership today and he gave me a copy of Technical tip #19-005 which explains the rational behind the LED headlamp beam pattern. In part, the bulletin states "these notches indicate the vertical centreline of each headlamp and are used for headlight aiming purpose. Do not replace the headlamps or attempt to remove the notches". In other words...get used to them.
I think because the lights are so much brighter and whiter than we may be used to, the notch in the beam pattern is more noticeable.

 

[dellis87]

Glad I’m not the only one. I posted to the reddit forum a few months ago about this. My dealership told me to contact that Hyundai corporate. I did that and they told me that it was how they designed it, just like the previous customer stated. I find it extremely unsafe, but nothing I can do about it.

http://imgur.com/a/FbVdBRo

 

[saxman242]

What do you find unsafe about it?

 

[anthpalisade]

As discussed the notches and beam pattern stopping around side mirror height are meant to avoid blinding drivers coming in the opposite direction. When conditions permit Auto headlights activates the High beams until oncoming traffic is detected.

 

[ancdmd]

Headlights aren't designed to illuminate EVERYTHING in front of you, they're also designed to allow oncoming drivers to see you. Unfortunately the more you illuminate your foreground, the more you blind anyone that is coming toward you. Needs to be a balance. I find many headlights to be very bright and uncomfortable, some are downright blinding. As a driver, the illumination of the road in that photo looks pretty good to me, and as an oncoming driver I would appreciate the courtesy of that small dip in the beam pattern. I haven't yet bought a Palisade yet though so this is just IMHO.

 

[dellis87]

What do you find unsafe about it?

I live in a heavily wooded area. Deer are very prevalent and can sometimes be standing in the center of the road. My lights seem to darken the whole oncoming traffic lane. I get that they are not supposed to illuminate everything but I do expect them to illuminate the road in somewhat of a consistent way. I still get the flashes from oncoming traffic. Even on low beams.

 

[anthpalisade]

Understood. Do you have LED headlights (SEL Premium or Limited)? You can swap them out if you don't for around $50 to $100 give or take (depends where you mail order them from). Generally this will not change the beam pattern, but will potentially increase the light output and light throw if you get a pair that works as advertised. Note that most after market LED also come with a screw to adjust orientation since LED are not omni directional. Sometimes they end up throwing more light to the sides otherwise.

Good luck.

 

[saxman242]

I live in a heavily wooded area. Deer are very prevalent and can sometimes be standing in the center of the road. My lights seem to darken the whole oncoming traffic lane. I get that they are not supposed to illuminate everything but I do expect them to illuminate the road in somewhat of a consistent way. I still get the flashes from oncoming traffic. Even on low beams.

The palisade lights put out a ton of light and light up vastly more than most vehicle headlights. Yes, there is a pronounced dip there... Only because they're providing more light than you're used to in other areas around it.

Most vehicles have lights without as clearly defined as a cutoff, so there isn't a much contrast. They aren't lighting up more in that oncoming traffic area... They're just lighting up less everywhere else.