PDLS +??

[Neil1911]

Hmmmm, maybe Gen 1 had microchip control whereas Gen 3 relies on clockwork?

[Nuclear Nick]

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?

Gen1 likely to be xenon whereas Gen3 will be LED. The PDLS+ features are the same I believe but not sure about the beam patterns.

[Toddie]

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?

Gen1 likely to be xenon whereas Gen3 will be LED. The PDLS+ features are the same I believe but not sure about the beam patterns.

Nuclear Nick, my headlights are deffo LED PDLS+ they are not xenon, it says LED on the build spec, when you look @ them there are the 4 LED’s in a square. Colour of them is definitely LED as well.

[Deleted User 4752]

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.

Thanks

So the light cone changes when you reach speeds that are illegal in the UK. That doesn’t sound terribly helpful or well thought out.

[pmg]

So the light cone changes when you reach speeds that are illegal in the UK. That doesn’t sound terribly helpful or well thought out.

Porsche would argue why waste lumens lighting an area well beyond braking distance, better to brighter illuminate the area directly in front of you

[Bluesnose1812]

So the light cone changes when you reach speeds that are illegal in the UK. That doesn’t sound terribly helpful or well thought out.

But very useful when you decide to get away from Eunice and go bombing down the autobahn tonight for a few days in Switzerland.

[Nuclear Nick]

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?

Gen1 likely to be xenon whereas Gen3 will be LED. The PDLS+ features are the same I believe but not sure about the beam patterns.

Nuclear Nick, my headlights are deffo LED PDLS+ they are not xenon, it says LED on the build spec, when you look @ them there are the 4 LED’s in a square. Colour of them is definitely LED as well.

Ok that’s good, I must admit I can’t recall exactly when LEDs first became an option and then later standard, but as I said, most GEN 1 cars are likely to be xenons while some were halogens. The four LEDS around the headlight were also present on xenons.

[Toddie]

Hi jharrower, so headlights tested last night, I still think that they are great, there Is definitely a gradual transition from full main beam to dipped, but the road conditions were to poor to test the extended beam pattern @ higher speeds, with a lot of rain standing water & mist etc. From memory this works well and the beam does extend as the speed increases. I left the headlights on the auto dip last night & travelled about 25 miles round trip without a single returned flash @ me, as the approaching car gets nearer the beam seems to shorten in length until it dips. Hope this helps.

[jharrower]

Hi jharrower, so headlights tested last night, I still think that they are great, there Is definitely a gradual transition from full main beam to dipped, but the road conditions were to poor to test the extended beam pattern @ higher speeds, with a lot of rain standing water & mist etc. From memory this works well and the beam does extend as the speed increases. I left the headlights on the auto dip last night & travelled about 25 miles round trip without a single returned flash @ me, as the approaching car gets nearer the beam seems to shorten in length until it dips. Hope this helps.

Hi, Toddie

That’s great. Thanks for the feedback. My lights don’t appear to dip in stages. It may be that the conditions haven’t been right for them to do so. I’ll have a few more night trips to assess them again before going back to Porsche for another check. I wonder if it’s a ‘chip’ thing? Although I’ve not seen it mentioned on here as being one of those issues.

Thanks, again.

[jharrower]

Just an update, having had my Gen 3 S back at the OPC for the lights to be adjusted, and another separate issue at a different time.

I’ve had loan cars both times for a couple of days, both Gen 3; one base one S, both with only PDLS and the S with air suspension, as mine has. I would expect that PDLS+ should be no worse than my loaners’ PDLS.

In both loan cars the dipped headlights are way better than the dipped headlights on mine. Beam pattern higher (further) and slightly wider.

My car had the PDLS+ ‘raised’ to the max in line with MOT guidelines. Both loaners lights were noticeably ‘higher’ than mine.

I’ve raised the question as to why mine are STILL not as they could be, only to be told mine have been adjusted as high as they legally can. I then questioned if the two loaners were ‘illegal’?

OPC slightly stumped but did say the loaners may need to be lowered!! My SE said that all these things are checked on PDI, so they should all be ‘legal’.

Upshot is that, given the lighter nights, I have been told by the sales manager to contact him when the nights get darker earlier and they will compare/check the lights on my car against others I’ve driven.

I know they could change the lights on the loaners, but I doubt they will. I’ve also tested my lights and those of the loaners in identical conditions on the same pieces of road. I know what they could/should perform like.

I know there are others that have said their PDLS+ are extremely poor, and the converse. I’ll update once I get some definitive agreement from the OPC that my eyesight is not shot, and I know there is a fault with the auto functionality, too.

Any comment welcome, especially confirmatory that others experience has been negative about their own PDLS+ with air suspension on a Gen 3 S.

Thanks.