Mercedes Crafts Advanced Headlights for the 2015 CLS

Mercedes 2015 CLS Headlights (Credit: © Mercedes Benz)

The war to have the coolest, most advanced car headlights continues, this time with Mercedes bragging about the 2015 CLS. The LED headlights are made up of 24 individually controlled high-performance LED lights that can adjust at a mesmerizing 100 times per second. No, that’s not a typo. One second.

While it’s true that a similar configuration has been used on the CLS since 2010, the 2015 model introduces some important changes. The Adaptive Highbeam Assist Plus system now can see vehicles coming toward the CLS, thanks to a camera mounted behind the windshield. The system then adjusts the intensity and range of the headlights so that the oncoming driver isn’t dazzled, which we all hate having happen to us by these wonderfully beautiful and eye-searing LED headlights. Considering that Mercedes says the new system is 2.5 times brighter than any other setup on the market, the ability to adjust like that is probably more than essential. One benefit of the brighter headlights is that they increase the range by 20 percent, which is great for when you are driving on desolate highways in the middle of the night.

Visibility around turns in the road is also improved by the new headlights. The camera sees bends in the road’s surface and starts to turn the headlights by as much as 12 degrees before the driver even turns the steering wheel. The headlights can even more independently of each other. According to Mercedes, you can expect to enjoy another 90 to 180 feet of visibility thanks to the technology. This could come in quite handy while driving on a twisty canyon road at night.