Problems Only Car Enthusiasts Understand: Toyota Corolla’s LED Headlights

For new 11th Generation Toyota Corolla owners, LED Headlights are one of the best standard options on a compact car. For car enthusiasts driving at nighttime not in new Corollas, here’s the only problem. 

As of this moment in car history, lighting technology has been doled out between three (or four) options: Halogen, HID, LED and (in a few instances) LASER technology. While HID’s have become common place amongst even mid-range cars, LED lighting technology has only crept into either high-end cars like the Porsche 918 or offered as an option on volume sellers like the Ford F-150 and the all-new Honda Civic.

There’s one car that defies this current logic and turns the world for car enthusiasts upsidown.That car is the 11th generation Toyota Corolla. Offered as standard on all new Corollas since 2014, there are literally hundreds of thousands of LED headlight equipped compact cars roaming around. In 2014, Toyota sold 339,498 units and last year they sold 363,332 units in the United States alone. This poses a conundrum only car enthusiasts driving at night can understand.

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Say for example you’re driving along at night from work in the fast lane when all of a sudden a bright pair of headlights approaches from behind. Using current logic P.E. (Pre-Eleventh Gen Corolla), you signal right and give way to an obviously much more expensive and faster vehicle. Is it one of those new Kia K900s? Maybe a Cadillac CTS-V? Or perhaps a Bentley Mulsanne? And then it passes you. A Toyota Corolla.

In a fit of rage colloquially known as Nightime FIJAC (F—,It’s Just A Corolla), you curse the day that the a car with an MSRP of just $17,300 just trolled you into thinking it was something more special. For a fleeting moment, you got your hopes up that there was something exciting barreling down the road but had those hopes shattered at the site of that bulbous best seller passing by. Really, only a problem car enthusiasts can understand.

It’s the end of an era. As LED lighting technology becomes cheaper and more reliable, soon most (if not all) cars will have LED headlights. No longer can you rely on the mere temperature of the approaching headlight behind you as an indicator of class and speed. Now the modern car enthusiast has to recognize certain LED Patterns and nuances in temperature to really gauge what kind of car lurks in the rear view.

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As for current Corolla owners, we’re happy for you. Just know that when the sun goes down and you pass a frowning motorist mouthing the words to FIJAC, now you’ll know why.