Auto Full Beam and Dip

Technical Forum for the Porsche Macan
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Tom 2000
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Post by Tom 2000 »

Experienced this last night for first time. Seemed to work okay but i did have to manually dip once as a car was approaching. Is the system generally reliable?
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Paul
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Post by Paul »

I gave up on mine and have turned it off (with LEDs) ...it wasn’t quick enough to go to full beam, or quick enough to dip for my liking .... (a bit like the auto wipers....either that brief tad too slow.....or just a shade too fast!)
I also don’t like the normal auto lights function - turns the lights on much earlier than I would (and sooner than other cars in our “ stable”) and leaves them on far longer than I would (and than our other cars do)
Last edited by Paul on Sun Nov 19, 2017 8:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Tom 2000
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Post by Tom 2000 »

Noted. I might give it one more go and if it misbehaves off it goes. It would be simpler to work it manually that have to keep watching it.
Macan SD Vocano Grey. LEDs, Pano Roof, PSE, Sports Chrono, PASM, Sports Design Mirrors, 21" Sports Classics in Black, lots of other extras.
http://www.porsche-code.com/PJ2XHAR5 for the day that this works again.

987 Boxster 2.7 (2006)
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andreas
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Post by andreas »

Paul wrote: Sun Nov 19, 2017 7:31 pm
I also don’t like the normal auto lights function - turns the lights on much earlier than I would (and sooner than other cars in our “ stable”) and leaves them on far longer than I would (and than our other cars do)
I don't think that's a bad thing.
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John_M
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Post by John_M »

Paul wrote: Sun Nov 19, 2017 7:31 pmI also don’t like the normal auto lights function - turns the lights on much earlier than I would (and sooner than other cars in our “ stable”) and leaves them on far longer than I would (and than our other cars do)
My last car seemed to switch lights on much earlier/off later than previous ones had (very similar to Macan) - the wisdom of the forums was that is was to do with height of the Sun in the sky as opposed to brightness - low level Sun and lights were on, which makes some sense as even though it is bright out you can sometimes struggle to see things with Sun in your eyes/being reflected off of things.

Since they are always on when I would switch them on (except maybe foggy) I just leave them to switch on/off as they do and stopped worrying as I don't think they cause inconvenience during daylight to other drivers and may help them if sun is low.

The first Car I had with auto-lights seem to leave them later than I would, but tended to want to switch them on going under some bridges :?:
Col Lamb
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Post by Col Lamb »

Early lights with auto cannot be a bad thing if it aids being seen better.

Main beam auto dip can be a bit sluggish. Does not auto dip when catching a car going in the same direction.
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Nuclear Nick
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Post by Nuclear Nick »

A Police driving instructor told me he switches off auto lights because his lights coming on suddenly could be misinterpreted by another driver as a flash to proceed. Could be nasty!
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johnd
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Post by johnd »

Nuclear Nick wrote: Sun Nov 19, 2017 9:10 pm A Police driving instructor told me he switches off auto lights because his lights coming on suddenly could be misinterpreted by another driver as a flash to proceed. Could be nasty!
Just goes to show that there's no perfect solution. Your instructor's notion would be OK if you were always aware enough to switch the lights on when the light levels required it. But it's all too easy to forget, especially if driving for an extended period later in the afternoon and through the progressive onset of twilight. Personally I'd have thought that auto lights were the lesser of the two evils and less likely overall to cause any incident.
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Post by John_M »

Nuclear Nick wrote: Sun Nov 19, 2017 9:10 pm A Police driving instructor told me he switches off auto lights because his lights coming on suddenly could be misinterpreted by another driver as a flash to proceed. Could be nasty!
Now I could see that for first car I had with auto-lights (around 2000), they could be very fast on & off when the light changes quickly (e.g. going under bridge), but all the later ones I have had they tend to come on and stay on so much less likely to be thought of as a flash - then you have to weigh up the likely hood of that and it causing an accident compared to all those who tend to drive off without any lights at (saw two while out walking Thursday evening in dark) and the chance of that causing an accident. I'd make an auto-light position a requirement on all cars (as well as fog lights that only stay on until ignition switched off)
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Rab J
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Post by Rab J »

The auto dip function is a bit odd with the Macan LEDs I found mine still showing the blue dash light for a few seconds after the lights had dipped. The LEDs seem to gradually switch off and on some elements of the light matric as it sees the need. I must admit it had me worried at first but in all the time I had the Macan I never got flashed by an oncoming car thinking my lights were on beam.
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