Dusk Sensing Headlamps Sensitivity

[Dave R.]

OK so I'm playing with all the options on the new Prius. Mine has dusk-sensing headlamps. The first time out, they seemed to be keen to switch on, and then not switch off. There's a setting in SETUP/CAR for "sensitivity" of the auto headlamps.... but there's no indication which way this goes.... Does ++ Sensitivity mean the lights come on sooner (ie in brighter conditions)??? or does it mean that the system is more inclined to switch them off again when it is not as bright?

Unfortunately it's getting darker in the mornings and evenings, so I'm more likely to have the headlamps on at all times, so don't have much opportunity to investigate.

[Joseph D]

OK so I'm playing with all the options on the new Prius ...

Hi Dave,

Apologies for being off topic, but was just looking at your Fuelly log as i was intrigued by your 0.9 mpg stat. Surely you must have done more than 6 miles on 30.39 litres of fuel?

Cheers

JD

[Sagitar]

From the appearance of the Fuelly footer on Dave's post, I am guessing that it has not been set up properly?

[timberwolf]

The car was probably supplied to the customer with only a 1/3 of a tank of petrol. I am surprised there isn't an automatic way to disregard suspect entries from the mpg calculation on fuelly.com.

[wass]

I thought that Dave's fuelly figure was quite amusing. It certainly brought a smile to my face.I was wondering what size of taxying airliner was actually more economical than Dave's prius. Tanks are noted for their spectacular fuel consumption figures could Dave's prius possibly be less economic than a Chieftain?

[Dave R.]

Well spotted. It's because the Prius is brand new, and fuelly has only 1 entry - the first full tank with 6 miles on the clock! Hopefully the numbers will look a lot more sensible when I enter the second fuel-up. :)

[Opifex]

Isn't there a way to tell Fuelly the starting mileage? If not my mpg would be spectacular if I joined now with 27,000 miles already on the clock.

[kithmo]

Well spotted. It's because the Prius is brand new, and fuelly has only 1 entry - the first full tank with 6 miles on the clock! Hopefully the numbers will look a lot more sensible when I enter the second fuel-up. :)

I would disregard (delete) that fuel up as it will knock your average mpg right down.

[kithmo]

Isn't there a way to tell Fuelly the starting mileage? If not my mpg would be spectacular if I joined now with 27,000 miles already on the clock.

You don't have to tell it the starting mileage, you tell it the miles since the last fuel up (trip) and it tracks the miles covered since you started on fuelly, not the miles the car has done.

[Dave R.]

As you will see, I've updated fuelly with the second tank of petrol, and fixed the first entry (fuelly thought it was 6 miles travelled not 6 miles on the clock!) so now have a more respectable 55mpg.

So after that diversion, back to topic..... can anyone advise what the impact is of setting the headlamps to be more or less "sensitive"?? (AND which way the control works..... e.g. setting minus means it will be darker before the lights turn on, or setting minus means it will need to be a lot lighter before the lights turn off etc.

[ticktockmac]

It's a pity this thread was hijacked: I'd love to know the answer to the auto dusk sensitivity question too

[Dave R.]

It's a pity this thread was hijacked: I'd love to know the answer to the auto dusk sensitivity question too

Quite agree - I'd really like to know what the "sensitivity" setting is all about.

[Joseph D]

... I'd really like to know what the "sensitivity" setting is all about.

Why don't you just adjust it one way or the other and see what happens? Then post your results back here.

[The Director]

Personally I find the 'dusk sensing' headlamps a bit of a waste of time. They come on and stay on when not needed but don't when they are needed in heavy rain or fog. Which may account for the number of people you see drivng around without lights in poor visability. It would be interesting to know how to adjust them though, where is the setting?

[Dave R.]

Personally I find the 'dusk sensing' headlamps a bit of a waste of time. They come on and stay on when not needed but don't when they are needed in heavy rain or fog. Which may account for the number of people you see drivng around without lights in poor visability. It would be interesting to know how to adjust them though, where is the setting?

Hi Director

The headlamp setting is one of the "SETUP / Vehicle" options on the "touch and go" screen.

Its to get the setting right to put the lights on when it gets dark, and to get the lights off when it brightens up that I'd like to understand how the "sensitivity" setting works.

As I mentioned earlier, thanks to shorter hours of daylight, I need my lights on for most of the time these days, so don't really have a chance to play with extreme settings to see what "sensitivity" really means.

There are a number of other odd settings (and meaningless) that can be changed.... Unfortunately the manual just says that the control options are "set function xxxxx on/off" - without actually explaining what function xxxx does. One day I'll get round to digging out the manual and listing the functions here.

[daveybee]

I'm guessing (although, sometimes Toyota go counter-intuitive) that, - means less sensitive so switching the headlamps on in darker situations, + means more sensitive so you'll be flashing away like a good 'un. That's how the wipers on the Auris seem to work.

[Dave R.]

Thaks Daveybee - I must admit I've now given up on the adjustment - whatever happens the lights will come on and go off when THEY want to.... which means most of the time now that it is winter :( Just wish the manual was more clear.

I still like the idea (saves remembering to switch on and off) though yesterday had the unfortunate conditions of fog on a bright day - so needed to operate manually.

Also another crazy "feature" is that at the end of a journey, when you switch the car off, the lights stay on until you open the driver's door.... why? It would have made sense to set up as a "show me home" feature - leave the lights on for 15 seconds AFTER the car has been locked to illuminate the path to the house.

[The Director]

That was my point, you can't rely on them so probably best to operate them manually.

[daveybee]

I agree, for absolute control, manual is the only way to go, however, for 95% of the time, auto works for me. The turning off thing is useful for passengers, but not a lot of good for the driver - the 15 second (or adjustable to 30 sec) "show me home" thing would be good, and would only be a software update but I don't think it would be anything that would be implemented for existing owners.