Topic: Dangerous SIGNAL lights. Poor design. Hyundau Santa Fe.

[ktm525]

I was following a "new" Hyundai Santa Fe and was astonished at how inconspicuous and weak the SIGNAL lights were. The small lights are lost in the all red tailight design and are situated at the very edges. The weak light output was washed out in the afternoon glare. Bad bad bad. What was Hyundai thinking?

[Allen]

more revenue for the body shop

[si]

 

[Allen]

here you go...

[tpl]

I am sure those rear light clusters exactly meet the requirements for reflector size, light output and all the rest...  They may well be marginal of course but I have seen some cars where the brake lights could be dazzling even in bright sunshine.

[sirAQUAMAN64]

I quite like the tail lights of the SF. What I will say is I've thought plenty of times that the rear turn signals are too far at the outter edges and would be more effective if they flashed amber.

[dr_spock]

It's an SUV, it should be able to take a hit or two. 

[si]

here you go...

sorry I was hoping you'd be able to post one with the brake lights on as I coudn't find any with google.

I don't recall them being that bad when I saw them in traffic..  It could be worse, like the pink highlander brake lights, or the extremely faint rear LED parking lights on the RX330.

And I know it's not a solution, but if being seen from behind is a worry for you, you can always tastely snip up and paste some red reflector tape.

[random006]

here you go...

sorry I was hoping you'd be able to post one with the brake lights on as I coudn't find any with google.

I don't recall them being that bad when I saw them in traffic..  It could be worse, like the pink highlander brake lights, or the extremely faint rear LED parking lights on the RX330.

And I know it's not a solution, but if being seen from behind is a worry for you, you can always tastely snip up and paste some red reflector tape.

The problem mentioned had nothing to do with being seen, rather it had to do with seeing the brake lights come on.  In many situations on busy streets, the distance between cars can disappear very quickly if brakes are suddenly applied and the car behind does not notice soon enough.

I hate those monochromatic light blocks on the rear of cars such as the Santa Fe.  Each light should be clearly delineated with a thick border or better yet a black outline.  Furthermore, the lights should be separated so that the brake lights are not in the same enclosure as the rear taillight.  Better still would be to have the two red lights separated by the white reverse light and an amber turn signal.

[tpl]

I totally agree. The visibility of the rear light cluster should ALWAYS be more important than styling.

[tenpenny]

I was following a "new" Hyundai Santa Fe and was astonished at how inconspicuous and weak the brake lights were. The small lights are lost in the all red tailight design and are situated at the very edges. The weak light output was washed out in the afternoon glare. Bad bad bad. What was Hyundai thinking?

It's too bad they couldn't come up with something crazy, like a third brakelight, in the middle, mounted up high or something.

[random006]

Here is a close-up of the stock Santa Fe tail light:




Here is an example of a decent 3rd party replacement:



No doubt there are others but that is what turned up in a cursory Google search.


By contrast, here is what Hyundai made for the Veracruz:



One has to ask:  If the company could make a decent light group for the Veracruz, why not the Santa Fe?

[si]

   that aftermarket one looks soooooooo bad.   

Honestly I think the stock Santa Fe tails look great!  They're not bling but still attractive enough to catch my eye to their message.

[Allen]

I agree, I really don't see a big issue with the standard lights

[ggweci]

The non-NA ones look even better imo... they break up the "sea of red" that the NA ones have.



the headlights with the orange bulbs, instead of reflectors look better too:

[1TSX]

Early Matrix models had poor taillights, IMO. Not bright at all.

[Bullet Blue]

I quite like the tail lights of the SF. What I will say is I've thought plenty of times that the rear turn signals are too far at the outter edges and would be more effective if they flashed amber.

100% agree. When is NA going to make ambers mandatory like other parts of the world

Here is a close-up of the stock Santa Fe tail light:




Here is an example of a decent 3rd party replacement:



No doubt there are others but that is what turned up in a cursory Google search.


By contrast, here is what Hyundai made for the Veracruz:



One has to ask:  If the company could make a decent light group for the Veracruz, why not the Santa Fe?

Ah but Huyundai gives all red tails for the Veracruz too...I don't know why

[ktm525]

I was following a "new" Hyundai Santa Fe and was astonished at how inconspicuous and weak the brake lights were. The small lights are lost in the all red tailight design and are situated at the very edges. The weak light output was washed out in the afternoon glare. Bad bad bad. What was Hyundai thinking?

It's too bad they couldn't come up with something crazy, like a third brakelight, in the middle, mounted up high or something.

With all the road grime flying around the third light is pretty much useless in about 10 seconds of driving. The third light on my Volvo wagon has the same issue. It is integrated into the rear spoiler which gets mucked up real fast.

OOPs just noticed my first post I meant the SIGNAL lights were weak, far placed and washed out. 

[random006]

  that aftermarket one looks soooooooo bad.   

Honestly I think the stock Santa Fe tails look great!  They're not bling but still attractive enough to catch my eye to their message.

I think you're missing my point and by extension the point of others here who dislike the stock light group. It doesn't matter whether a given design is ugly; I'm sure there are other models and products out there to please most any taste.  What matters is function.  The point is that the uniform colour and the relative brightness of the lights conspire to make it difficult to see their message, especially in daylight.

[ktm525]

  that aftermarket one looks soooooooo bad.   

Honestly I think the stock Santa Fe tails look great!  They're not bling but still attractive enough to catch my eye to their message.

I think you're missing my point and by extension the point of others here who dislike the stock light group. It doesn't matter whether a given design is ugly; I'm sure there are other models and products out there to please most any taste.  What matters is function.  The point is that the uniform colour and the relative brightness of the lights conspire to make it difficult to see their message, especially in daylight.

I agree. Rear signal lights should be amber. I don't want to sound like a Volvo love fest but the old V70's rear lights are hard not notice.