Old vs New: How Much Brighter are Modern Truck Headlights? [Video]

A lot of developments have been made in automotive technology since 1985. Airbags, ABS and traction control are now standard features on just about every new vehicle. Headlights are another area in which technology has developed significantly since the 1980s. However, many new vehicles are not rated very highly as far as headlight brightness. Here is a comparison showing you the difference between old and new headlights.

To highlight the difference, we took our 1985 Chevy K10 “Big Green” and a 2017 GMC Sierra 2500 All-Terrain X to a country road in the middle of the night.

There is certainly a noticeable difference between the two trucks. Big Green’s lights are much more warm and soothing to the eyes.

Modern Truck Headlights

The GMC, by contrast, has a much harsher blue/white light. However, this, coupled with the GMC’s LED lights on its sports bar, give the GMC a lot of light. The country fence that we used as a benchmark was almost completely lit up thanks to the GMC’s excessive use of LEDs.

To get a good visual comparison of the advances in headlight technology since the 80’s, be sure to watch the whole video!