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2020 Explorer headlights


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Hallelujah they're both LED. One of the few things Ford did right when it comes to the new model year and standard items vs options. But they still left incandescent turn signals in the "LED Taillamps", on EVERY trim. Yuck. I just coughed up a hair ball.

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Unfortunately just because they are LED doesn't mean they are good. IIHS is now testing headlight performance on a lot of newer vehicles. My 2017 Ford Fusion Sport has LED low and high beams, my 2018 Explorer XLT has LED low / H7 high, and the 2020 Explorer has LED low/high, and F-150 Lariat w/ 502A and higher trims have LEDs as well. 2020 Escape Titanium has LEDs as well. Out of these, the Escape Titanium has the most lighting performance for low and high beams. The Fusion Sport and Explorer are inadequate in many of the test criteria, and the F-150 isn't that great either. However the 2016-2019 Explorer low beams are very good. I can attest that the first day I drove off the lot with my 2018 XLT, the low beams lit up everything. I never felt the need for more lighting, and my 2018 does not have fog lights (the LED foglights are worthless on my Fusion Sport). So using the Fusion Sport and 2018 Explorer IIHS data as baselines, I'd say the 2020 Explorer and F-150 LED headlights aren't going to be as good as the 16-19 LED low beams. But the 2020 Escape Titanium should have really good LED light output.

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4 hours ago, metroplex said:

Unfortunately just because they are LED doesn't mean they are good. IIHS is now testing headlight performance on a lot of newer vehicles. My 2017 Ford Fusion Sport has LED low and high beams, my 2018 Explorer XLT has LED low / H7 high, and the 2020 Explorer has LED low/high, and F-150 Lariat w/ 502A and higher trims have LEDs as well. 2020 Escape Titanium has LEDs as well. Out of these, the Escape Titanium has the most lighting performance for low and high beams. The Fusion Sport and Explorer are inadequate in many of the test criteria, and the F-150 isn't that great either. However the 2016-2019 Explorer low beams are very good. I can attest that the first day I drove off the lot with my 2018 XLT, the low beams lit up everything. I never felt the need for more lighting, and my 2018 does not have fog lights (the LED foglights are worthless on my Fusion Sport). So using the Fusion Sport and 2018 Explorer IIHS data as baselines, I'd say the 2020 Explorer and F-150 LED headlights aren't going to be as good as the 16-19 LED low beams. But the 2020 Escape Titanium should have really good LED light output.

 

That is so true just because they are LED doesn't automatically make them better.  My 2017 MKX had the luxury package with full LED headlights (they were also supposedly "adaptive" and didn't adapt at all) the low beams were ok but the highbeams were not that good at all you almost couldn't tell the difference between low/high.  The previous 2013 MKX I had before the 2017 came with standard HID headlights which extended the beam pattern further than the LED and the highbeams were incredible for distance and spread. 

 

But I will admit Ford is getting better with the LED headlights.  I have 2019 Fusion Energi Titanium with LED headlights and they are excellent, very wide beam pattern on the low beams you almost don't need the highbeams at all.   And thankfully the whole car LED: headlight, taillight, front/rear signals.  Actually the Fusion front turn  signals look awesome the fade in/out with the LED DRL which change color to amber then back to white.  It is ridiculous that they don't put full LED in the Explorer it is not exactly an entry level vehicle.

 

My 2020 Aviator has the Pixel LED headlights and they are fantastic probably the best headlights I've ever seen yet but I haven't had an opportunity to test them extensively at night or with the highbeams yet. 

 

There's no reason why any carmaker today should still be making anything with an incandescent bulb in it anywhere.  LED's have improved in quality and come down in price steadily for years, I don't think they are still using incandescent to save a few pennies but also because they burn out often so it gives dealers/mechanics more things to replace that they can charge you for.  I tried changing front turn signal bulb on 2018 Escape myself and you almost need to remove the front wheel and all the trim around the wheel well just to get to the bulb socket.  The goal is to make bulb replacement a PITA so that you bring it to the dealer and get charged.

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My Fusion Sport should have the same LEDs as your Energi Titanium. They're what I'd consider OK but they have a hard time illuminating far enough on the road especially in the dark with rain, ice, slush, and water-logged potholes. My 2014 SHO had factory HIDs that I always thought were garbage but couldn't fathom how HIDs could be so bad... until I pulled up the IIHS data for the SHO and sho'nuff, the headlights are garbage. I have no problems driving in the dark with my 18 Explorer LED headlights, and I do a lot of driving in the dark especially in bad weather. However, I'm not very confident with the Fusion headlight LEDs in bad weather conditions. The Fusion LED DRL/turn signals are nifty like you described. I've also had ice build up on my LED headlight lenses because they don't emit heat/IR at the lens like HIDs and halogens. Thanks to FMVSS, the US doesn't have a requirement for headlight washers like UNECE.

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  • 2 months later...
On 4/16/2020 at 9:30 PM, metroplex said:

 

Thanks for the post. I was looking for something like this

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On ‎4‎/‎3‎/‎2021 at 8:12 AM, WalterPPK said:

LED is the way to go. Try to replace the turn signal lights, tail/brake lights to LED's

Can you just replace the bulbs?

I have a 2017 Limited & would like to replace the turn signal & brake light bulbs

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