IDOTH: Red illuminations on the back of cars look cheap and tacky
A couple of other offenders:
Saw a Merc today with a similar treatment. I do not enjoy them. But the VW ones are the worst.
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I think it looks cool, I am very much into the "future" look of these cars. I am speaking from a European perspective. I know there are some differences in what / how lights can be used on cars in EU/US, so I can only speak for the former.
The thing about lights being blinding is true here as well though, but that has nothing to so with these strips, it's purely the headlights.
I'm geographically European as well. But, hey, different people like different things and that's ok. The VW is the worst offended in my mind, that red glowing logo just looks like cheap plastic to me.
This shit Ford is doing with their grille is the fucking worst. d the headlights being on and you've got a bright glowing ball of light heading towards you at night.
They go on the front! Everybody knows this!
Acceptable!
This is even worse.
Didn't Ford start that a long time ago? Looked bad then too.
It was Mercury Sable that I was thinking of, back in 1986. But apparently lit logos and emblems go back further than that in a few models, with the Wolseley in 1932.
Light up Mercedes badges were some of the earliest that I can remember. In the early 2000s.
Updated my post. It's been a thing for a while, just not as common as now.
Ah yeah forgot about those front panels in the Sables. Such future.
Porsches (and Audi, BMW, Merc) had rear reflector panels across the backs in the 80s too. Heckblende, and Radwood enthusiasts pay big hugs for vintage ones.
You mean brake lights?
No, these are confusingly NOT the brake lights. They're decorative red lights that are always on.
Brake lights are for pussies.
I take the fuse out to make sure everyone behind me is paying attention.
nah dude, black out the lens for that cool stealth effect.
No.
Hyundai decided “cheap aftermarket cutouts” was the look they were going for on the ioniq rear bumper lights. Like someone ordered them from the JC Whitney catalog.
Even worse, in Europe, on lower trims, this is the amber turn signal... And it's incandescent 🤢
Also, at least in Canada, all trims of the IONIQ 5 come with these horrid, abhorrent LED reflector head lights. They piss light everywhere while being dim and not lighting up cross walks. I rented a 2024 Ultimate trim and was always getting caught off guard with pedestrians crossing the street because it doesn't light the sides of the road. Straight up dangerous.
It’s been pretty amazing to watch, in my lifetime, car headlights regress from being basically a solved problem to… “simultaneously bright enough to dazzle oncoming drivers, but too dark to see pedestrians.” It’s almost impressive how badly we’ve managed to fuck this one up.
It's ridiculous! 2010 to 2020, a lot of cars had projector halogen bulbs. Great! I had a set in my 2020 Elantra, I put high end Diode Dynamics LED bulbs in there and they were perfect. Not too bright, excellent cut off, excellent lateral visibility, good beam pattern.
Every 2019-2020 Elantra (AD-PE) had these projectors on every trims. Newer Elantras now have reflector LEDs on all trims below Luxury. Like what the hell happened?
And it's not like we just stopped developing projector technology either. My 2026 K4 Hatchback GT-Line Turbo Limited has projector LED beams with a notch cut out for the opposite lane of traffic to avoid glaring oncoming drivers, dedicated and automatic high beams (whether the implementation is good is debatable, I would have rather had soft dimming high beams to not make other drivers think I'm flashing them), yet every trim below uses an array of three projector LEDs on either side.
IMO we just need to ban LEDs in reflector housings. I think that would solve part of the night glare issue. They're not even good for the drivers, they're dimmer than halogen!
It's very annoying. I used to enjoy driving at night quite a bit, but now I avoid it because other drivers' headlights give me eye strain 😅 I'm just like, who actually likes these things? Who is asking for them? Anecdotally, it feels like everyone I talk to hates them.
I agree the "cyber" aesthetic is stupid. Aesthetics are subjective, I guess.
Porsche does them good but but most suck. especially BYD and VW look like toys
Yeah i think Tesla started this trend? Now a lot of new car have that. Kinda like Tron or cyberpunk stuff which that dork from Tesla love. It's nice at first but it's getting stale.
do they stay on or activate with the break lights. more visibility for break lights is a good thing. if they stay on though what is the point.
Fix lights
They stay illuminated as shitty looking running light.
Usually these type stay on as part of the running lights, and then the brake lights illuminate more lights or make these brighter.
yeah i mean i guess the regular break lights kinda work like that. might be on and then get brighter. as long as they have some function then I don't see an issue.
So you dont like the logo/name illuminated, or the rest of the brake light designs as well?
Not a fan of the light strips that have started appearing, but it's the logos mostly. They just look cheap.
Yeah like, in theory, it could be cool, but whenever I see them on the road, they don't look that great.
They're not there to look cool, they're for safety...
I know that one says p o r s c h e
but, if you squint your eyes a little it becomes Ai slop letters.
The shop ai letters strive to be the Porsche logo. It’s a pretty well made logotype. It’s the one thing most German car makers usually get right.