Nuclear Nick wrote: ↑Sat Feb 19, 2022 7:12 am
It's complete nonsense to suggest that the Gen3 LED lights are somehow sub standard, unsafe, unfit for purpose, etc, and they are most certainly not grounds for rejecting a car. Good luck to anyone wanting to try that one.
This bias comes from comparing other cars' light patterns and it is natural to feel a change from one car to another. Some cars are better than others at different things but that doesn't mean any are unfit for purpose. Modern LED headlights are more than capable of lighting up the road at speeds well in excess of legal or safe driving speeds, but different patterns in different cars just need getting used to. We all need to adjust our speed to the conditions and the limit of our vision, and that includes understanding the affect of ageing on one's eyesight, particularly at night, and on reaction times.
I’ll grant you there is a degree of comparison, but not bias. Lights have gone through several improvements in the last 10 years. In my experience, and having driven cars with and without all manner of tech, the light cone, not just that they are LEDs, in my Gen 3, on dipped headlights, is well defined, just not with enough range to cope with travelling comfortably in the outside lane of a motorway at anything faster than legal limits when not following another car. My vision is still uncorrected (tested about 3 months ago) and my driving style is not aggressive enough to require pin sharp reaction times. It is a very subjective issue, I’ll grant you, but it has skewed my overall experience of driving a Porsche, which, in the daylight is second to none.
Yes, lighting has improved a great deal, to the point where we are now comparing outstanding with excellent! I once had a 520 beemer with xenons, which were very good indeed, probably better than my Macan, and in turn the Macan is better than our Yeti, all with xenons. But all three hugely better than halogens.
I think in part some of these differences may be down to the fact that the light manufacturers have to conform to the design of the car rather than having a free hand to use the best reflector design etc. It's interesting that in Scandinavia quite a lot of cars are fitted with large, long range spot lamps, presumably to see roaming Elk in the far distance!
But, with respect, may I say that dipped beams of any car are not designed for 'anything faster than legal limits' on motorways, or even below the legal limit. Having driven a demonstrator Defender with matrix lights I can see why they might be popular since they allow full beam to be used while cutting off dazzle to other vehicles, thus overcoming the limitation of dipped lights at higher speeds.
Yes, indeed, matrix lights are the best I’ve had on my old X3; they are without comparison to anything else that I’ve driven. I would hope that by the time the BEV Macan is released, they will at least be an option. One thing I’ve never actually done is a night time test drive. It will be something I’ll be doing in the future if possible. In the meantime, my ire at my current light cone projection pattern will just have to get put to the back of my mind so I can concentrate on the many other obvious positives of the car.
Rarecolour wrote: ↑Sat Feb 19, 2022 11:16 am
Never driven a vehicle with Matrix headlights, but I think the PDLS+ are pretty good headlights, no complaints here.
You lot should try driving a new Sprinter, normal headlights are awful.
Yes, I miss my last BMW's matrix lights. That is my one regret about the Macan especially when it comes to trying to overtake those doing 30 to 40mph on dipped headlights on a road with a speed limit of 60 mph.
But the Macan's PDLS + LEDs is better than a previous BMW on halogen's and is the difference below Matrix enough to send me to a Q5 with Matrix lights, no, because the Macan excels over Q5 in other areas.
All car purchases involve some degree of compromise
I think there must be something wrong with the OPs setup. I have a Gen 3 S and I have been surprised at how good the (standard PDLS) headlights are on dipped beam - to the point that road furniture is lit up in a way that makes me think I'm on full beam when I'm not.
Maybe its because the Macan is higher up and I'm coming from a 4 series it catches the signs more, I'm not sure, but there is no way I would call the headlights a borderline safety problem.
I have PDLS + on my 2017 Macan S , & I think they are the best headlamps of any car that I have owned. I have never owned an Audi as I don’t have a shaved head or large gold chains, & I use the indicators . I get the graduated dip beam on the Macan and I find the headlamps fantastic on country roads particularly @ junctions & corners with restricted view, also where road signs are in the view. I suspect the same headlights are maybe not so useful in urban areas.
Toddie wrote: ↑Sat Feb 19, 2022 1:59 pm
I have PDLS + on my 2017 Macan S , & I think they are the best headlamps of any car that I have owned. I have never owned an Audi as I don’t have a shaved head or large gold chains, & I use the indicators . I get the graduated dip beam on the Macan and I find the headlamps fantastic on country roads particularly @ junctions & corners with restricted view, also where road signs are in the view. I suspect the same headlights are maybe not so useful in urban areas.
Hi, Toddie.
Can you describe how your headlights transition from main beam to dipped headlights? Mine just move automatically from main beam to dipped with nothing between. The cone of the dipped headlights should also extend slightly as speed gets above 83 moh. I can’t see any change. I’m now wondering if I have a fault! The junction cornering lights do work though.
Hi jharrower, I am out in it tonight, so I will take a careful note of what happens, but from memory the lights do dip in stages, not just in one jump. The lights definitely extend in dip more than 4 car lengths in front, as regards the speed increase again I will have to look. I will report back tomorrow. One question to ask is, are the headlights on a gen 1 car the same as a gen 3 car?
. I get the graduated dip beam on the Macan and I find the headlamps fantastic on country roads particularly @ junctions & corners with restricted view, also where road signs are in the view. I suspect the same headlights are maybe not so useful in urban areas.