Rav 4.5 headlights abroad

[Islandape]

I didn't want to hijack the other headlight thread, but it reminded me that I want to take the RAV abroad next year.

Does anyone know if the Design/Icon LED lights need beam deflectors? I can't see anything in search on this subject.

Thanks!

[Avalon]

Light source type is irrelevant, it’s a RHD car designed to drive on the left with lens optics set to illuminate the left side of the verge/signs and not the right side. You’ll be visiting a country of LHD cars driving on the right, your optics require beam deflectors unless you like dazzling people and being fined.

[philip42h]

Aparently it is Eurolites diagram 168 for the RAV4 with LED headlights - same as the Corolla:

Thanks for asking - I'll need to get sorted if we ever get allowed back onto the continent. Though, TBH, and don't tell anyone, if I can avoid travelling at night I simply leave the stickers in the glove compartment ... 😉

[Islandape]

I've heard that Eurolites tend to claim everything needs their stickers, but some Xenon/LED lamps dip vertically with no raised area on the nearside this don't need them.  My wife's Hyundai Kona being one example from memory

I have a couple of spare Eurolite sticker sets, but this was an Amazon related ordering accident a few years ago before the current model came out so the instructions aren't there for mine.

I'm being lazy, I need to go out at night and aim the headlights at a wall somewhere I guess.

[philip42h]

On 7/3/2021 at 4:17 PM, Islandape said:

I've heard that Eurolites tend to claim everything needs their stickers, but some Xenon/LED lamps dip vertically with no raised area on the nearside this don't need them.  My wife's Hyundai Kona being one example from memory

I have a couple of spare Eurolite sticker sets, but this was an Amazon related ordering accident a few years ago before the current model came out so the instructions aren't there for mine.

I'm being lazy, I need to go out at night and aim the headlights at a wall somewhere I guess.

Did you ever get around to checking?

I remembered just now when putting the car back in the garage - the cut-off looks dead flat to me; no uptick to the left (or right) at all ...

[Avalon]

3 minutes ago, philip42h said:

Did you ever get around to checking?

I remembered just now when putting the car back in the garage - the cut-off looks dead flat to me; no uptick to the left (or right) at all ...

TBH you have an English plate, you’re likely to be fighting a loosing battle if pulled without them at night.

[Islandape]

Not I haven't had a chance, wife's off work for a week and I'm not driving anywhere at night, or during the day either at the moment.  Crazy time to buy a car I suppose!  Your Excel has slightly different LEDs I think so I do need to look.

As to Avalon's comment, there's always the possibility that post Brexit that might happen and I'll bear it in mind thanks. 🙂

TBH I've never had any police related issues in Brittany where we tend to go, but who knows going forward?

[Avalon]

If you have written proof that they aren’t required, then as long as you are carrying it with you, it should be no problem. But probably advisable to have something in the appropriate language from an official source just to be on the safe side.

[Terry10]

Hi 

If it’s of any help many years ago, I think 2008 I had a new Citreon C4 Picasso.

Had a holiday home in France that was about a 300 mile drive down so was very interested in getting the headlight issue correct.

Spoke to the supplying dealer and they assured me that I did not need headlight converters.

I asked for confirmation of this in writing and Citreon not only did this but it was repeated in french on the reverse side of the letter.

apparently the headlights are set to straight ahead so it makes no difference.

I would have thought that things have moved on and majority of vehicles are the same now

regards Terry

[Islandape]

Belatedly, I remembered to check the lights.

To me, it looks like the Icon/Design LEDs work the same way as the Excel/Dynamic ones - no NS lift, a flat beam in other words.

[philip42h]

4 hours ago, Islandape said:

Belatedly, I remembered to check the lights.

To me, it looks like the Icon/Design LEDs work the same way as the Excel/Dynamic ones - no NS lift, a flat beam in other words.

Quite by chance I checked the wife's C-HR this morning - also LED headlights; also flat as a pancake. A useful next step would be to get confirmation from Toyota that we are good to drive on the continent as we are. (If I remember, and I get a response, I'll post back! 🙂)

[Roy124]

As the headlights are adaptive it presumably reacts as required.  How it works on manual I dont know.

[philip42h]

16 hours ago, Roy124 said:

As the headlights are adaptive it presumably reacts as required.  How it works on manual I dont know.

ER, no ... the car / system does know which side of the road you are driving on, let alone which side of the road you are supposed to be driving on ...

[Roy124]

39 minutes ago, philip42h said:

ER, no ... the car / system does know which side of the road you are driving on, let alone which side of the road you are supposed to be driving on ...

You misunderstand.  I think it reacts to the approaching headlights and adjusts accordingly.  With normal headlights in UK, is a car is approaching from an open right hand bend (your right) his dipped beam will deflect towards you. Adaptive should react to your being on the left.

[philip42h]

4 hours ago, Roy124 said:

You misunderstand.  I think it reacts to the approaching headlights and adjusts accordingly.  With normal headlights in UK, is a car is approaching from an open right hand bend (your right) his dipped beam will deflect towards you. Adaptive should react to your being on the left.

🙂 ... you may well be correct - I'm not entirely sure what you are driving at nor quite how it relates to the topic of this thread ... 😉

You appear to be describing the action of Automatic High Beam:

Quote

The Automatic High Beam uses an in-vehicle front camera to assess the brightness of streetlights, the lights of vehicles ahead etc., and automatically turns the high beam on or off as necessary.

This will continue to work on the continent as it does in the UK - but 'all' that does is switch-off the high beams and return to dipped headlights when it 'sees' an approaching vehicle.

The issue relates to driving on dipped headlights on the continent. Traditionally, the dipped headlights on RHD cars have allowed an 'uptick' of light to the left to better illuminate the pavement, verge and road signs. It is this that potentially 'blinds' oncoming traffic when driving on the continent, and is traditionally resolved by masking out the section of the beam that causes the issue. Hopefully the flatter beam pattern of our LED headlights provides an alternative, and better, resolution.

For what it's worth, I don't not believe that UK spec RAV 4.5s have "adaptive headlights" as such. They have automatic levelling (load dependent) and Automatic High Beam but none of the fancy steering dependent "look around corners" stuff. RAVs in other geographies may be different, as may your Corolla ...

[ernieb]

My RAV4 PHEV 2021 certainly has AFS, adaptive front lights.

[philip42h]

1 hour ago, ernieb said:

My RAV4 PHEV 2021 certainly has AFS, adaptive front lights.

Interesting ... and I don't doubt you for a second Ernie, but I can't find any reference to adaptive lights in the specs or brochures for any of the 4.5s - it could well be that I'm not looking in the right place, or looking for the right phrase.

Either way, what 'additional' functions do your adaptive front lights give you?

[ernieb]

@philip42h, apologies you are quite correct, senior moment. It has automatic levelling but my Subaru had AFS and I think I’ve confused the two cars.  The Subaru headlights would track around corners as you turned the car at speeds I think below around 10mph, dip automatically with oncoming headlights etc.

[ernieb]

Having corrected myself I need to do it again.  My Skoda Yeti would give the steer around corners, the Subaru XV would automatically dip if it sensed on coming traffic. Sorry about the confusion, so many cars over the years and so many features all potentially with similar functions but all called by different names.

[Talshia]

This is the dipped beam from my 2019 Excel,

seems flat to me

Keep safe

Paul

[Islandape]

On 7/14/2021 at 4:10 PM, philip42h said:

Quite by chance I checked the wife's C-HR this morning - also LED headlights; also flat as a pancake. A useful next step would be to get confirmation from Toyota that we are good to drive on the continent as we are. (If I remember, and I get a response, I'll post back! 🙂)

I actually asked and the answer suggests someone who didn't understand the question:

Thank you for your email. 

In regards to driving abroad I would recommended you view the DVLA website to check what the requirements are for the country you will be traveling to, please click on the following link for further information: https://www.gov.uk/driving-abroad

Just so you know, the best way to order the correct part for your vehicle is to contact the Parts Department at your local Toyota Centre.

They will help you with advice on what you need, availability, how to order, prices and fitting. This link will help you find them: https://www.toyota.co.uk/find-your-dealer

Thank you for contacting Toyota.

[IanML]

That's pretty standard for a lot of car companies - referring you to the dealer.  They seem to pay a bit more attention if the dealer asks on your behalf.

[Islandape]

They had no idea either. I’m going to follow Avalon’s suggestion and just put a couple of stickers wherever to look legit. I’m confident I won’t be dazzling other drivers anyway. 

[Jill Tate]

How do i know which sort of headlights I have on my 2014 Rav 4? do I follow diagram 168 or 114?