[CIC53]

USA Today's car guy, James Healey, fields questions in the current
internet issue which includes some inquiries about interesting
matters involving the MDX. I thought his comments about HIDs
were especially interesting.

http://usatoday.com/usafront.htm

 

[MDXtrous]

The link is just a general link

Can you provide a better link? The link you give brings us to the general USAToday page. Don't know where to find your article.

 

[CIC53]

Missing link

MDXtrous,

Yeah, sorry about that. The article in question was highlighted on
the home page as a link but when I attempted to pass that URL
address on to the forum it would not accept the command. I
noticed later in the day that the link had even been yanked from
the home page. Made several attempts at finding the story but
no luck. It was a transcript of James Healey's live chat in which
he fielded automotive questions. Two or three of the inquiries
related to the MDX. The one that caught my attention asked,
(paraphrase) "The Acura sedans come equipped with HID head
lights so why doesn't the MDX?". His reply was basically this:
"It was a marketing decision that the buyers of SUVs and vans
(Odyssey) typically aren't that hot for HIDs compared to purchasers of the sport sedans and coupes (CLs & TLs). It
requires a major engineering difference from halogens". He went
on to comment that he thought it was inadvisable to try to jerry
rig HIDs into the MDX and that the other subtitute types of
bulbs aren't all that great. At least, that is my interpretation of
his opinion.

Sorry I couldn't get the article to you before it expired.

 

[Drew]

Actually...

this is what he wrote:

<b>san francisco, ca:</b> Thank you for all your expert advice, I love reading your column. Do you know why the Acura MDX does not have HID headlights while the RL, TL and CL have it. and what is the advantages and disadvantages of HID headlights.....they seemed to be very glary to the oncoming traffic.

<b>James Healey:</b> Those blue-white, xenon-gas-ingnited, high-intensity-discharge headlights were seen as something luxury and sporty buyers wanted. So the Odyssey-minivan-derived MDX SUV didn't get them. I don't see them among the features listed for the '02, either.

 

[gs400jon]

I have HID's on my car (Lexus GS400) and they throw out a tremendous amount of light. They are a great safety feature for the driver, although they aren't as impressive when HID's are coming at you.

 

[andrewip]

http://www.usatoday.com/community/chat/2002-02-22-healey.htm

Here is the link from last week chat.

 

[CIC53]

Have any more?

Yep Drew, that is "actually" what he wrote....at least a portion of
it. Do you have the rest of his remarks about headlights and the
other MDX references in the article of March 1st? Thanks.

 

[Edub-MDX]

Re: Actually...

<b>James Healey:</b> Those blue-white, xenon-gas-ingnited, high-intensity-discharge headlights were seen as something luxury and sporty buyers wanted. So the Odyssey-minivan-derived MDX SUV didn't get them. I don't see them among the features listed for the '02, either.

Whoa! Do they really think they know the buyers that well? I will never buy another car w/o HID. I have them in my TL, and they are definately better when driving at night. It reflects the light off of signs and the road so much better.

Not only that, how can they make people pay $35000 for a car and not include this as a standard option. So what he is saying is that the MDX is not luxury or sporty?

 

[Fireblade6]

Well....I Jerry rigged my MDX with HID lighting system and it works PERFECTLY FINE