is it me yaris cross headlights seem brighter then my yaris

[MardyMarvin]

My wife has a yaris cross and I have the yaris. I drove hers the other night and I swear her headlights are britter then my yaris. I dont mean the height I mean they seem to be much brighter and further reach both in front and on the sides. Then using the full beam again seemed brighter. Sure they are not but I also noticed with hers there is a distinct RGB separation on the top of the beam which I cant see on mine. She only has a cross design and mine is the yaris excel. I have even checked the height adjustment wheel to see if she was on a different setting but nope.

I think I was just underwhelmed how lack luster the lights seemed on the yaris since its a the new model and my wifes cross is the now previous model.

Does anyone know if this is a real thing or am I just going bonkers which I would not be surprised at 

[Cyker]

What spec Yaris and Yaris Cross do you have?

My first thought is it probably is just the height - The YC's beams are significantly higher up than the Yaris'. I hate as I do almost all SUVs as it's right at eye-level for me 

[MardyMarvin]

1 hour ago, Cyker said:

What spec Yaris and Yaris Cross do you have?

My first thought is it probably is just the height - The YC's beams are significantly higher up than the Yaris'. I hate as I do almost all SUVs as it's right at eye-level for me 

mine yaris is an excel and my wifes is a cross design. 

I thought about the height but are they not regulated as to the level of the beam in the various regulations.

[Cyker]

They are and are generally aimed at the same point, but the Cross' will be closer to your eye line because it's physically higher up. That's all I can think of...

 

[TonyHSD]

You are absolutely right about the difference, well spotted. 
The reason is one and very major - the cross uses projector led where Yaris uses led in reflector lights which are less powerful and does not provide  so good light pattern. This is also present in Corolla 19-22, where only excel in uk comes with these projector led. Later models 2023 onwards all specs except icon Corolla comes with projector headlights. 
This is not only Toyota but many more manufacturers. 
Prius and Prius plus with led in projector together with Corolla excel and Mercedes s class has one of the very best car headlights. 
The worst ones of all cars make and models are Toyota icon Yaris and Yaris cross which uses halogen bulb filament and one bulb for both dipped and high beams which makes those so bad that I don’t know how they are even legal. 
 

[Cyker]

Are you talking about the previous gen Yaris? I'm pretty sure the current Yaris and YC are all projector LED, except for the Icon (Which as you say is halogen!)

My Excel is definitely projector and is plenty bright!!

[TonyHSD]

15 hours ago, Cyker said:

Are you talking about the previous gen Yaris? I'm pretty sure the current Yaris and YC are all projector LED, except for the Icon (Which as you say is halogen!)

My Excel is definitely projector and is plenty bright!!

Yaris mk4 even the very last model aren’t projector led but led in reflector units where cross always had led in projector units. 
Just leave icon specs  a side, these are simply a joke. 
Here on all models except icon. 
 

[MardyMarvin]

1 hour ago, TonyHSD said:

Yaris mk4 even the very last model aren’t projector led but led in reflector units where cross always had led in projector units. 
Just leave icon specs  a side, these are simply a joke. 
Here on all models except icon. 
 

so its not me going mad then thats good to know and interesting thanks for the clarification. So it looks like they decided to keep lights that were designed for halogen bulbs but stuck in LED where as the cross was designed for LED. 

[TonyHSD]

24 minutes ago, MardyMarvin said:

so its not me going mad then thats good to know and interesting thanks for the clarification. So it looks like they decided to keep lights that were designed for halogen bulbs but stuck in LED where as the cross was designed for LED. 

Both types are dedicated led units however the projector style even if it has same brightness it provides more concentrated and more powerful light pattern giving the wider and brighter field ahead and on the side where the reflector type are very bright if you look directly into the lights but the light field is not as bright , it’s like less powerful light in general, and something that you have noticed in direct comparison  as I did too, but many just can’t see the difference. 
I drive only at nights and i do pay attention to cars headlights a lot.  
These projector led by Toyota are one of the very best car lights of all cars. 👍

[Cyker]

How comes the beam pattern is so flat in dipped mode and doesn't change intensity when you switch between high and dipped...? 

Normally reflector headlights have nowhere near as sharp a cutoff as mine has...!

[TonyHSD]

40 minutes ago, Cyker said:

How comes the beam pattern is so flat in dipped mode and doesn't change intensity when you switch between high and dipped...? 

Normally reflector headlights have nowhere near as sharp a cutoff as mine has...!

LED technology 👍

[MikeSh]

2 hours ago, Cyker said:

How comes the beam pattern is so flat in dipped mode and doesn't change intensity when you switch between high and dipped...? 

The 'kerb-searcher' uptick with most reflector lights is part of the lens design, hence the black stick-ons needed for travel to opposite-side-of-the-road countries.

I don't think projector lights can do this - cos physics/optics - so they just have the flat cut off (probably produced by the mechanical flap that does the dip, but that's a bit of a guess). Side benefit (major benefit for the car maker) ... same light module for both LHD and RHD.