Adaptive headlights

[nealeb]

Anyone have the adaptive headlights, either xenon or LED? I'm interested in comments about how much better or otherwise they are compared to the "standard" xenon lights. I read in the brochure about steering lights around corners, some kind of kerb light for low-speed manoeuvring, and so on, but I'm not clear exactly what they do or how well they do it. I think that the LED headlights might have even more "clever" features but I'm not sure how many cars there are on the road with these fitted.

As an aside, I find it interesting that you see more discussion about cosmetic features like how many spokes your wheels have than about "functional" items. Takes all sorts:) - I'm more concerned about seeing that corner coming up than what I look like going round it!

[dropkickwalker]

Not really answering your question, but the standard S-Line LED and Xenon lights are amazing! The road is lit up with SO MUCH white light, it's hard to see how it could be improved...

[shabazmo]

I have xenon without adaptive lights and wish I had orderred adaptive lights or high beam assist. The problem is the continuous dipping of headlights because the light beam stops suddenly and full beam is required on most country roads. I hope this info helps

[nealeb]

I'm inclined to agree based on what I have seen on various You-Tube clips with demos of the system. They concentrate more on the adaptive bit, which seems to be about steering based on nav system predictions of road shape and looks a bit like black magic! But the high-beam assist bit should be useful as well; coming home on country roads in the dark this evening full beam was great (on the straight bits!) when no-one else was around but as soon as you go to dip the sharp cut-off means that a lot of the road goes dark. I think that the LED headlights go one stage further and shape the light to suit either oncoming or same-side-but-in-front traffic; the idea seems to be to put out light everywhere except where there is someone else already. In any case, having a machine to dip them more quickly than I can react when someone pops up in front would be well-received by anyone coming towards me:)

[nealeb]

As I mentioned in another thread, I had originally ordered adaptive Xenon but was delivered a car with the standard Xenon. As a result, I ended up test-driving the adaptive Xenon lights last night on another demo car from the dealer, and I probably spent around 90mins driving around in the dark to try them out under various conditions.

Overall conclusion is that the standard Xenon headlights are very, very good at illuminating the road, and I have never driven at night with so much light laid down in front of me. However, that is also their disadvantage. The cut-off when you go to dip, which you get a bit paranoid about in order not to dazzle other drivers, is extremely sharp. Once dipped, there's plenty of light just in front of you but in place of the "leakage" of light you get from conventional halogen bulbs there is just darkness beyond that, so there's a dark stretch between you and the lit area in front of the oncoming car. I think that this is what Shabazmo has found with his lights. The high-beam assist lights, though, are continuously dipped from main to full dip based on what the camera on the rear mirror mount sees ahead. Whether you are following a car and its taillights are picked up by the camera, or a car coming towards you, or even (almost always but it can get caught out) a car waiting to pull out from a side road, the lights are progressively dipped so that they are not quite dazzling the other driver. It keeps as much light on the road as possible, and it does work pretty well.

The test car also had the full adaptive "steer round corners" lighting, and while it's very difficult to actually see this working, on fast-ish winding country roads there always seemed to be light on the road, even when the road curved. It was good. There is a YouTube clip taken by an American TT driver where you can actually see the beams swinging from side to side but I think that he chose a particular type of road (plenty of bends on a fast road but with wide verges which show the beam movement more clearly than hedges). I've actually gone for the LED headlights which have even more sophisticated beam shaping. According to a diagram I found on the Audi website these will actually use different dip patterns on each side of the car so that the offside dips to avoid dazzling an on-coming driver while the nearside stays higher to illuminate the edge of the road. We'll see just how well this works when the car arrives but I can believe that having a bunch of separate light sources in the LED assemblies allows more flexibility than the single light source in the Xenons.

I also noticed the "junction lights" come on - as you slow on approach to a junction you get almost sideways-pointing lights to show up the corner. Not quite convinced about this one but it might be useful. Didn't have a chance to take the car to France either to test the "work out which way to dip" function driven by the nav system:)

Overall, though, if you are getting Xenon (as an extra or with the S-line as standard) I would suggest that you try to get a go at the high-beam assist as a minimum and maybe the adaptive lights as well before you commit. You can easily compare it with the manual-dip version as this is still possible even with high-beam assist fitted (just use the standard headlight position on the light switch rather than auto, or disable in the MMI). Do it quick 'cos it will be more difficult to get a good test come the summer months and ligher evenings!

[auto union]

Have them on our Q7 and am a big fan especially as we are in the countryside with no street lights and winding lanes. The Q7 and A8 also have additional lights which operate when more lock is used shining at almost right angles as well as the main headlights moving with the steering.

[nealeb]

Coming home tonight in my non-adaptive headlights A6, I realised how much better the adaptive lights were when I tested them the other day. The A6 with adaptive lights also has the "sideways" lights that auto union mentions, although I couldn't figure out exactly the conditions under which they came on:)

[f33nix]

For a VW Passat - But should be for the Audi too.

They operate below 40mph, above 40mph they become static.
The extra cornering light comes on below 25mph only and when you are indicating left or right then it lightens up the correct side only.
Also if you are below 25mph and you are turning bends.

I find also when I stop both sides will come on to illuminate the paths.


Correct me if I am wrong but high beam assist was to slow the shutter down when it flips from high to dipped on bi-xenon so that you get a gradual reduction in light and not as shabazmo describes where you go from very bright to what seems like very dark and with sharp cut-off.

I do have a PDF on my NAS drive (offline at moment) and if you wish I can upload for you to see.
The doc contains no trade secrets it is just like a brochure but explains things better.

[auto union]

Our Q7 (2012 Model Year) works above 40mph with full or dipped headlights (Audi state that these start working from approx 12mph) and the additional "sideways" lights come on when (and only when) a certain amount of steering lock is applied and work at speeds of 25mph or less. The lights do need to be set to "Auto" for them to work in adaptive mode.

[nealeb]

In my experience, the high-beam assist doesn't change the amount of light or soften the cutoff between light and dark; it is able to move the shutter gradually and in a controlled way so that the beam progressively lowers as a car approaches. This avoids the all-or-nothing effect of manual switching between main and dip. Seems to work pretty well. It's more than just slowing down shutter movement; for example, if you are following a car and its taillights trigger the assist mechanism, the lights will start to dip just enough not to dazzle the driver in front and as you get closer or further away, the beam height will adjust accordingly. I'm not entirely clear if this is black magic or a pair of trained imps behind the lights heaving away on a couple of levers...

As for speed and adaptive lights - they seemed to be working in my test car at any speed, certainly not restricted to under 40. The cornering lights also came on when I was not indicating, but only at lowish speed. I wasn't really studying them too closely, though, just aware that every so often the area to either side at the front was suddenly brighter!

Just confirmed the spec for my replacement car this morning which will have LED headlights. I'm hoping that these will be like the adaptive Xenon but even better. By the time it arrives, though, the evenings will be starting to get lighter:(

[ricky_s]

Might be worth noting. There is a button next next to the light switched called "All weather lights" I think. Pushing this makes the lights spread out to the side to improve visibility.

I have standard Xenon's.

[nealeb]

I suspect that I'm in a minority here but I'm really pleased that the new A6 has, at last, separated the front and rear fog/driving/whatever they're called now light controls. For many years I've been forced to put on front fog lights in order to use the rear fog lights but now I can choose which I want and use them separately. Ever since I first drove a car with what were then called fog lights, I have never found a use for them. Observation of other cars tells me that they don't make my car more visible, the extra lights can only add glare and possible confusion, and they don't help my vision either. At anything above a crawl, they don't put light anywhere that interests me - my vision is way beyond their pool of light and anything that appears in that light is too close for me to avoid anyway. The only time in probably 3 or 4 cars where they were useful was one dark and wet night when I didn't feel like dismantling the engine compartment to replace a headlight bulb and "driving lights" meant that I wasn't trying to disguise myself as a motorbike.

As I say, probably a minority view, but my thanks to Audi anyway for a number of improvements in the controls in the latest model, this one included.

[shabazmo]

Nealab,
Everytime I read your posts it makes me feel even more sad that i did not order adaptive lights. As you are in Hampshire I would not mind meeting up to see how yours operate.

[robbyg]

nealeb
thanks for a well written review. You have convinced me.
The question for me now is to LED or not to LED. Please post how you find those when they arrive.
When do you expect delivery?
rob

[nealeb]

Tried to write a reasonably objective review despite the excitement at playing with a new toy and there's no intention of rubbing any salt into wounds:)

Replacement car with LED headlights not due until end of March, at the last count, but the dealer seems pretty confident that he has a solid build date booked. Apparently lead time is fairly extended at the moment but they were able to change the spec of a car that they had already booked a build slot for. So no demos available until then:( Unfortunately there just don't seem to be many LED-equipped cars around.

[Sauron]

A quick general question on adaptive headlights/high beam assist. Recently picked up my second hand A7 (I know this is A6 forum but should be same and larger patronage) that was advertised with High beam assist and adaptive headlights. First off I have to say that I'm impressed with the light output of the Bi-Xenons although from the limited exposure I haven't really noticed the headlights turning into corners and I haven't noticed the 'cornering lights' at junctions. Am I missing something and it's all very subtle, are they possibly faulty or is it possible that I actually only have the high beam assist?

Now within the MMI I can select adaptive headlights on/off (ie it's not geyed out like the night vision option) and on my audi 'Headlight-Range adjustment' is identified as optional equipment, however, unless I'm missing something the dash indication (the white headlight symbol with an A in the top right corner) is the same for both beam assist and adaptive, so how do I confirm I have the adaptive and if yes have full functionality?

Your responses welcomed.

[retired99]

This might be of use; the light switch needs to be set to 'auto' as well as making the selection in the MMI for the adaptive light function and main beam adjustment features to work.

[Sauron]

retired99
thanks for response. I'm happy with the selection requirements and the main beam assist works well, dipping and back to main beam as required. My question was more how do I know the headlights are doing there adaptive thing as well as the high beam assist taking care of auto dipping of the headlights? As I mentioned the indications beyond the MMI selection (with lights auto and high beam assist/adaptive headlights selected by pushing the light stalk forward) appear to be the same if I only had high beam assist or adaptive and high beam assist?

The fact that I can select both via the MMI and on 'my audi' I have Headlight-range adjustment and Xenon plus indicated I think I have the adaptive as well, however, as mentioned although the lights are good I just haven't really noticed the lights swivelling and the cornering lights on my previous Mondeo Titanium X St were more pronounced.

regards

[fernar]

I have adaptive lights on Xenon lights - the advantaged of these light has already been covered in the above threads.... I am please with the product - but you need to be aware that there are some limitations...

1) It does not work that well on roads with dips/hills - I have a rad near me where there are many dips, which means that these dips confuse the adaptive system resulting with the oncoming driver getting blinded - in these situations I have manually dip the headlights

2) The speed of changing from main beam to dipped - the change is gradual vs a sharp dip

So you need to adapt the use of lights a little to take into account the differences.... but as I stated I am very happy with the adaptive lights.

[Sauron]

Fernar

thanks for response and clarification regarding limitations. I agree that the lights are good and have noticed the gradual dipping from main beam which I like but wondered if the high beam assist on its own has the same effect? Only had the car for a week and only a few short journeys to the train station in the dark (2 miles country lane, 2 miles A road and 1 and a half miles in town) so may just not have had enough exposure to notice the adaptive benefits yet, but wanted to make sure the car was specked as per how the audi garage advertised it!

regards

[neil s]

thanks for response. I'm happy with the selection requirements and the main beam assist works well, dipping and back to main beam as required. My question was more how do I know the headlights are doing there adaptive thing as well as the high beam assist taking care of auto dipping of the headlights? As I mentioned the indications beyond the MMI selection (with lights auto and high beam assist/adaptive headlights selected by pushing the light stalk forward) appear to be the same if I only had high beam assist or adaptive and high beam assist?

This is the first car I've had with adaptive headlights (or xenon) so I've nothing to compare it to, but I have noticed that the 'bending' of the lights from side to side is quite subtle. One thing that is more obvious is when you start the car in the dark and the lights do their little alignment dance (or whatever they're doing). The focus of the light moves up and down, wide and narrow and then a little side to side shimmy. I assume if you didn't have the adaptive lights then this would be limited to just the up and down movement.

On the other hand, the cornering lights do seem to be more pronounced - I notice those going on and off quite frequently.

Neil.

[Sauron]

Neil

thanks for response, I'll check for the sideways wiggle next time I start it in the dark.

anyone out there with just the high beam assist? If so is the adaptive lights option greyed out in the MMI?

regards

[diecastsink]

Bi-xenons with HBA, no other menu choices visible in the MMI, greyed or anything. Cornering lights (with all-weather lights) programmed by myself. And everything works only at light switch set to auto.

[Sauron]

diecastsink

thanks for the input and confirms my opinion that because it was selectable in MMI it must have been present. Obviously I need to find an appropriate road and pay more attention to what the lights are doing.

Equally, I think Audi could make it easier on 'my audi' by using the same language as the brochure regarding naming options.

Thanks again

[M1tchy]

I've been reading this thread with interest as my wife has adaptive xenons on her A5. I have full LED headlights on my A7 and have previously had adaptive xenons on my insignia.

So what I've noticed: when spec-ing the adaptive xenons, the only difference between them and normal xenons is that for £300 (at the time she bought hers) you get motors added to the lights that make them swivel around corners. An additional £65 (again at the time she bought hers) you can have the high beam assist.

Do they swivel? As far as I can tell - NO! It doesn't matter if you are driving at speed, slowly or static, I have never noticed them move. (Have just been told she has noticed it!). However, on my Insignia, they clearly moved.

The only adaptive function I do notice is the drop from motorway light to normal. After driving at 80mph when you slow down and get to about 62mph there is a notable drop where the lights lower themselves out of motorway mode. I have never noticed the lights move to city mode or country mode (I think they are the other settings).

When turning a corner the cornering lights come on and throw light 90degrees left or right. This works from about 30mph or less when your indicators are on, or when your steering angle exceeds a certain point. To test if you have the lights active just dry steer your car while stationary and look for a light coming on left or right of your car. (It can be activated via VCDS if its not on from factory).

The high beam assist is active from 40mph and above (again can be changed via VCDS and mine and the wife's now work from 20mph). It detects oncoming cars and dips the light, it needs to pick up a certain level of light before it will dip (again the level can be set via VCDS but mine seems to work well so have left it at the factory level). Occasionally it won't dip if the oncoming car is going down a hill or is blocked by a central reservation barrier etc.

Hope it helps but any questions ask away. The wife says I'm a light geek!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[Sauron]

M1itchy

thanks for the detailed response and comparison between the various vehicles. As I said, in terms of light output and the functionality of the high beam assist, I'm really happy with the headlights, however, in the limited night driving to date I hadn't really noticed any swivelling by the headlights and the cornering lights are not as pronounced as they were on the Mondeo.

It was because of this I had a slight niggling thought that the spec of the car might not quite have been as presented (test drive by day so unable to check it). Now happy that all as is as it should be and as Audi intended it - I'm still grinning whenever behind the wheel or indeed just looking at it!

With respect to the whole 'light geek' thing, if you prefer I could go for 'light enthusiast' instead but isn't 'geek' the new 'cool'?

regards

[M1tchy]

No worries, hope it helped. I think he only way to confirm if you have the adaptive lighting or not (as I can't see them move while driving) is, when you switch them on (or they automatically come on) and the ignition, the following will happen:

Xenon only: the lights will come on, dip down and then come up to the position required for driving.

Xenon with adaptive light: the lights will come on, dip down then move left and right. They will centre themselves then come up to a level position for driving.

LED: the lights will come on, dip down and then come up to the position required for driving.



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[Sauron]

M1tchy

Ill check for the left right movement when I next get the chance.

regards

[johnsimcox]

The following two pictures show the difference between a Bi-Xenon and a Bi-Xenon with Adaptive.

23334 23335

The description of the mechanism and how it operates is as follows:


Implementation of different light functions

In bi-xenon headlights with adaptive light, a rotating roller is fittedin the headlight between the gas discharge lamp and the lens. Theroller has different contours around its circumference. The variouslight profiles can be implemented by rotating the roller with anadustment motor.

The complete projection module consisting of the gas dischargelamp, roller and lens can be moved in a horizontal and verticaldirection by two other servomotors

The vertical motion allows headlight range adjustments to bemade. The horizontal swivel function is utilised for the curve light.

[wolkenkuckuck]

Couldn't you just check the codes on the label in the boot? I'm not sure what the codes are for these options, but it seems to be the solution in other cases - I'm sure someone will be able to say what the codes are.

[Sauron]

johnsimcox

thanks for the info and the photos; although to my non-trained eye I must admit other than the labels I'm struggling to see any difference between the 2 images. I'm away from the car until tonight but having generated such debate I'll have a good play when I can and report back.

wolkenkuckuck

interesting, I wasn't aware of a any label but I'll have a look for aforementioned and await anyone posting the codes on here.

regards

[johnsimcox]

johnsimcox

thanks for the info and the photos; although to my non-trained eye I must admit other than the labels I'm struggling to see any difference between the 2 images. I'm away from the car until tonight but having generated such debate I'll have a good play when I can and report back.

wolkenkuckuck

interesting, I wasn't aware of a any label but I'll have a look for aforementioned and await anyone posting the codes on here.

regards
The label is in the spare wheel well and also in the service book, although with the shift to electronic service records not sure if the more recent A6s come with one of those or not. Based on the Order Codes in the brochure I think that the code for Main Beam Assist is BN7 and Adaptive Lights is PXB.

[diecastsink]

Has anyone tried if the highway light (raising dipped beam when driving over 2 mins over 90mph) really works with C7 xenon plus?
It should not require adaptive lights? I can get the coding, if one wants to try ...

[M1tchy]

Yeah I have it on the A5 with adaptive xenons and the A7 with all LEDs. Don't need to be doing 90mph though. I drive at 80 and don't notice it kick in but notice it drop back to normal range at 62mph.


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[Sauron]

Just quickly started the car in the garage to look for some of the afore mentioned traits. Must admit didn't really notice the up down left right shimmie (perhaps due to short distance between lights and garage wall) but turning steering wheel to left or right while stationary did bring on the turning lights; although as previously mentioned they're not as bright as expected and not as bright as the Mondy turning lights, although I would say the A7 Xenons have the edge overall.

Having confirmed presence of turning lights and the fact that adaptive lights are an MMI selectable option I'm content that spec includes both HBA and adaptive. I'll now try and pay more attention to noticing the various light distribution adjustment modes (town, motorway etc) and look for evidence of the dynamic cornering lights (headlights turning into the bend) over the next few days and report back.

edit. Morning drive - paid specific attention to main beam direction and can confirm lights do point into direction of turn.

[Johnny31]

Just quickly started the car in the garage to look for some of the afore mentioned traits. Must admit didn't really notice the up down left right shimmie (perhaps due to short distance between lights and garage wall) but turning steering wheel to left or right while stationary did bring on the turning lights; although as previously mentioned they're not as bright as expected and not as bright as the Mondy turning lights, although I would say the A7 Xenons have the edge overall.

Having confirmed presence of turning lights and the fact that adaptive lights are an MMI selectable option I'm content that spec includes both HBA and adaptive. I'll now try and pay more attention to noticing the various light distribution adjustment modes (town, motorway etc) and look for evidence of the dynamic cornering lights (headlights turning into the bend) over the next few days and report back.

edit. Morning drive - paid specific attention to main beam direction and can confirm lights do point into direction of turn.

You can even tweak the effect: I noticed the difference when you play with the dynamic/comfort/auto setting for adaptive lights...

[Sauron]

Johnny31

funny you mention that. While reading the manual last night I noticed that adaptive was a selection under the car settings and specifically selected Dynamic this morning. Perhaps that was the difference and why I noticed them move.

[BigAid]

I thought I'd bought Adaptive Xenons from the advert and when I got to the dealership had a nice surprise of having full LEDs (& heated front seats) - It wasn't in the dealership when I bought it (at a separate site being valeted apparently) so the sales guy hadn't physically seen it to pickup they'd mis-advertised.

I think they look great and was amazed at the amount of light they give out.

The drop from Full Beam to Normal is significant and is a distinct line there is no bleed at all.

You can see the faint lines of the segments if the headlight washers have just cleaned the glass :-)

High Beam assist has been a bit interesting - normally it's fine - but occasionally your have to manually dip as it's not picked up the other car and you'll end up blinding them and getting flashed if you don't.

It also seems to drop down automatically occasionally if your on a dark country road and see a lot of reflection off a sign when you don't want it too.

[Sauron]

Big Aid

good result.