Imagine how bad it is for sedans and subcompacts. Hell, the Crosstrek is just an Impreza lifted a few extra inches. I drive a Crosstrek as well, and if it's bad for us, it must be next to impossible in lower cars.
Speaking of Imprezas, I bought an STI in 2006 that had very high intensity headlights. Not LED, but as intense as what you see in modern cars today.
That model year of the STI (and maybe others) had a little dial on the dash that would allow you to change the angle of the headlights up or down. The user manual doesn't describe the purpose of this feature, but my best guess is that it's for when you're driving on a lot of hills. Aiming down gives you better visibility and prevents blinding people.
Every other car I've owned hasn't had this feature. It's puzzling they don't, but also almost as puzzling that the STI does.
I often think about how it might be a fun project to introduce a micro controller and an IMU or similar so the headlights can automatically adjust themselves based on the angle of the car, but then I worry I'll be over working the existing components.
> my best guess is that it's for when you're driving on a lot of hills
It’s for when you have people or stuff in the back, so the car squats a little. I think it’s mandatory over here in Europe, at least I’ve never seen a car without it.
Auto leveling is also mandatory for headlights above a certain limit, at least in my country (not sure about LEDs, but e.g. my car has xenon headlights that are weaker on purpose, because if they were any brighter, they’d have to be able to auto-level and have a cleaning system).
