Auto Headlight Dipping

[Pagey179]

I have just changed from a 2018 Honda Civic to a 2021 Corolla GR Sport.

The Honda had auto dipping headlights which very seldom didnt function correctly. They dipped when behind cars or when cars were coming towards me. They also stayed dipped when under street lights.

My new Corolla is totally different whilst it does work... sort of.... It seems to ignore street lights and just goes on dipped or main beam dependent on the cars around. Also on the open road it doesnt always dip when it should.

I found a setting "light sensitivity" which is variable from -2 to +2 I have tried it and driven it at "0", "-2" and "+2" settings and doesnt seem to make any difference. Any Ideas???

[AndrueC]

This has been brought up many times. I switched to a Corolla from a Jazz and I agree that the Corolla is not as good. I had a chance to use it last night for the first time in a while and eventually had to switch it off. Other markets have access to matrix LED lights that create a shadow around other cars. I just hope their logic is better than what has been employed in the Corolla.

[Rosgoe]

1 hour ago, Pagey179 said:

I have just changed from a 2018 Honda Civic to a 2021 Corolla GR Sport.

The Honda had auto dipping headlights which very seldom didnt function correctly. They dipped when behind cars or when cars were coming towards me. They also stayed dipped when under street lights.

My new Corolla is totally different whilst it does work... sort of.... It seems to ignore street lights and just goes on dipped or main beam dependent on the cars around. Also on the open road it doesnt always dip when it should.

I found a setting "light sensitivity" which is variable from -2 to +2 I have tried it and driven it at "0", "-2" and "+2" settings and doesnt seem to make any difference. Any Ideas???

That light sensitivity setting that you refer to is for the auto headlights to go on and off according to the ambient light outside these settings don’t make much difference either!

[Rosgoe]

I don’t find mine to bad it dips when a car approaches in time but haven’t found out what it’s like when following a another vehicle.

sometimes it will briefly flash them to high beam under street lights but as Andrue has said I more often than not use them manually.

[Swanthecat]

Mine seem to work OK and would also say that newer streetlights are so bad these days that it is no surprise the main beam operate.

One thing I often worry about is situations where a car ahead is waiting to come out of a side road. It is possible that the main beam coming on could be seen as flashing your lights to let them out

[Pagey179]

Thanks for all your comments and help. Looks liike its back to switching manually to be courteous and safe... 😕

[Rambler56]

2 hours ago, Rosgoe said:

I don’t find mine to bad it dips when a car approaches in time but haven’t found out what it’s like when following a another vehicle.

sometimes it will briefly flash them to high beam under street lights but as Andrue has said I more often than not use them manually.

I don't bother with the auto dipping function, it's bad enough when cars with LED headlights are coming towards you where dip looks like they are on main beam.  A recent study indicated that more drivers complain or have a perception of brighter approaching lights which is mainly due to LED headlights.  The niggle I have is headlights coming on automatically due to the auto lights setting when I drive through various 'dark' section of road, giving people the impression I may be flashing them.

[Cyker]

Yeah, I've always been a big opponent of DRLs and LEDs - They're just too damned bright. Having been on the receiving end I'm a lot more concerned about other drivers now that I am also one of these LED-blinding jerks. It wouldn't be so bad if they e.g. dimmed at dusk but mine just goes straight from Very Bright LED DRLs to Very Bright LED Dipped Beams and skips over the much more appropriate sidelights completely. It's especially annoying when it's broad day light and you go under a tree or overpass or some other shade and the system decides to turn the dipped beams on for no good reason. I've also found the auto-main beam function a bit of a mixed bag and prefer to do it manually as the system just can't predict oncoming cars like I can.

The worst thing is there is no Off switch for the damned thing! Just Auto!!

IMHO it should be law that all LED headlamps are matrix ones that automatically shade when over other cars. Right now they are an even bigger menace than HIDs were. It's almost impossible to see pedestrians, cyclists, bikers and those damned e-scooters because of the sea of LEDs nowadays.

 

[TonyHSD]

Matrix, no , don’t say that, these are even worse. If you ever experienced driving on dark country lanes and a new suv follow you with those matrix led lights behind I am telling you you will change your mind completely. These are similar situations to someone flashing at you with very powerful torch 🔦, human eyes can not adopt so fast to light changes and soon you will find fatigue and headaches., worse for people with glasses. Even can blind you completely, how these had been approved for use is beyond me. If the cars drives themselves and you don’t pay attention to what is happening around perhaps would not be a problem. The problem with matrix lights is that they emit very bright light and the light pattern changes frequently and so human eye can not react fast enough and can lead to confusion and blindness. , ok good for the owner but dangerous for all others. 

[twintopp]

i had the matrix lights on my previous astra , they are brilliant (pardon the pun) to drive with , the corolla auto function i find is just ok. but i think a lot of dazzle could be reduced if folks took a second to set the headlight adjuster instead of leaving it on the highest setting.   

[Cyker]

Are we talking about the same thing Tony? The sort I'm talking about tracks other cars and 'turns off' the light where it sees other cars, so you can have e.g. the main beam on but it'll have a blob of darkness around the car in front. Having a good system would hopefully solve the blinding-other-drivers problem that increasingly bright headlights is causing.

Some of the ones I've seen are really impressive, the 'shade' tracking multiple oncoming cars as they pass, and cars in front as they change lanes. Even react quickly enough to avoid the 'bounce-flash' that anyone who's driven at night will have experienced many times!

Some of them are a bit rubbish tho', not enough resolution or good enough software to track vehicles properly.

 

[TonyHSD]

1 hour ago, Cyker said:

Are we talking about the same thing Tony? The sort I'm talking about tracks other cars and 'turns off' the light where it sees other cars, so you can have e.g. the main beam on but it'll have a blob of darkness around the car in front. Having a good system would hopefully solve the blinding-other-drivers problem that increasingly bright headlights is causing.

Some of the ones I've seen are really impressive, the 'shade' tracking multiple oncoming cars as they pass, and cars in front as they change lanes. Even react quickly enough to avoid the 'bounce-flash' that anyone who's driven at night will have experienced many times!

Some of them are a bit rubbish tho', not enough resolution or good enough software to track vehicles properly.

 

Yes exactly the same lights. They definitely provide the most light and the largest area however they are ultra distracting to the other drivers. When they turn on and off they create a constant light change (flashing effects) that really distract the other road users. Been followed by cars equipped with matrix led on a dark country lanes and never been a good experience. You need to experience yourself to understand what I mean. It’s like the car behind is flashing at you all the times or someone from behind is playing with powerful torch 🔦 all around your car, even not directly towards you, but you can still sense the bright lights around  and in a complete darkness it’s very annoying and even dangerous imo. 

[Konrad C]

Cyker and Tony have brought up something I noticed with LED lights. They all give a bright bluish light compared to halogen versions. The problem is that it can be more blinding, even in well lit streets. I notice that mobile phones have blue light filter mode on screens, to reduce eye stress. 

here is an idea. In well lit area's LED lights can have a 'warm' setting, then colder blue setting on main beam when on unlit roads. Get it working with better auto dip system.  

[Yugguy1970]

I agree.  Leds are unnecessarily bright.

I always preferred the look of hids tbh.

[Luke717]

I like the auto-dip functionality. I don't find LED lights on other cars too bright. I've yet to have anyone flash me or hoot if they think I'm dazzling them. I find the responsiveness of the bi-LEDs very good.

Just my 0.02 😊

[Pagey179]

I love the auto dipping. I'm fine with LED type lights. My last car which I'm comparing the Corolla to was a Honda Civic EX with LED lights and auto dipping which worked pretty well perfectly. I just find the Corolla hit and miss on the reaction of the dipping function especially keeping going on to main beam under street lights. The Honda coped fine with that... 

[nielshm]

This morning, I've been writing a complaint to Toyota Denmark. I might never get a answer, but it's important for me to let them know, that costumers are anything but sattisfied.

If Toyota would, they could easily adress this issue. My mechanic is confident, that it's all about proper software or algorithms to learn the front camera to choose correct settings. If that is the case, it's even more hillarious, that nothing happens.

I've done 77.000 km. by now, my car is 2 years and 3 months. And I have no trust in this issue beeing solved.

It could be nice to hear from Corolla Cross owners, if they experience the same thing, or all the bugs from the "old" Corolla has been sorted out?? As more Corolla Cross units gets sold, time will tell.

[FROSTYBALLS]

2 hours ago, nielshm said:

It could be nice to hear from Corolla Cross owners

The Corolla Cross isn't on sale yet in the UK, and as the majority of our members are in the UK, you're unlikely to get much, if any, feedback.

[Popama]

On 12/3/2021 at 10:15 PM, Cyker said:

.........

The worst thing is there is no Off switch for the damned thing! Just Auto!!

............

How come there isn't an off switch on your unit ?
There are 3 positions on the low beam switch Auto, DRL only and On. ( I see that some from the US even have a DRL off option )

[AndrueC]

To be fair I'm still not entirely sure there really is a problem. Once or twice I've gritted my teeth and left the lights to do what they want in situations where I felt there would be glare and no-one has ever flashed me. There is one interesting situation near me. A straight stretch of road on a moderate incline for nearly mile. Heading toward Banbury there's a short sharp rise and fall. The car doesn't bother to dip the headlights until you're actually quite close to oncoming vehicles going up the other side.

Now I'd have thought it would cause dazzle but I've noticed when I'm coming in the opposite direction that a few other cars don't dip and I don't get dazzle. I can clearly tell that they are on main beam and the are basically facing me but it's fine.

https://goo.gl/maps/a8hvFeXDN1RVcZuq5

https://goo.gl/maps/gJyXeabmq91co3x66

So I'm wondering if the car just understands how distance reduces the impact of dazzle where I only consider direction.

[newda898]

It really doesn't work well on the Corolla. On my last car, a Fiesta, it worked brilliantly and would straight away turn the main beam off as soon as it detected any other lights so you could leave it on and trust it. This system simply doesn't. Leaves them on far too late, sometimes misses cars completely.

[Pagey179]

4 hours ago, AndrueC said:

To be fair I'm still not entirely sure there really is a problem. Once or twice I've gritted my teeth and left the lights to do what they want in situations where I felt there would be glare and no-one has ever flashed me. There is one interesting situation near me. A straight stretch of road on a moderate incline for nearly mile. Heading toward Banbury there's a short sharp rise and fall. The car doesn't bother to dip the headlights until you're actually quite close to oncoming vehicles going up the other side.

Now I'd have thought it would cause dazzle but I've noticed when I'm coming in the opposite direction that a few other cars don't dip and I don't get dazzle. I can clearly tell that they are on main beam and the are basically facing me but it's fine.

https://goo.gl/maps/a8hvFeXDN1RVcZuq5

https://goo.gl/maps/gJyXeabmq91co3x66

So I'm wondering if the car just understands how distance reduces the impact of dazzle where I only consider direction.

Maybe... The only reason I started this topic is I was getting flashed by a few people. I tend to just leave it on auto now. Most people seem to be fine with the amount of time it takes to dip. Heading out of the dark nights and mornings nowso wont notice it as much until the autumn again.

[AndrueC]

3 hours ago, newda898 said:

It really doesn't work well on the Corolla. On my last car, a Fiesta, it worked brilliantly and would straight away turn the main beam off as soon as it detected any other lights so you could leave it on and trust it.

The thing is that isn't necessary and it would make me less keen to trust such a system. For instance you don't have to dip your headlights as early when approaching a right-hand bend and potentially not at all, depending when you meet the oncoming vehicle. Just because you can see someone's headlights doesn't mean they are being dazzled. Even if they can see your headlights it still doesn't mean you are being dazzled. The beam spread for LED headlights can be closely shaped to further reduce the risk. The area of illumination that causes dazzle is predictable and there's no reason why the car's computer can't use that to determine when it's actually necessary to dip the lights. Indeed a number of manufacturers have systems that 'draw a shadow' around vehicles in front and essentially keep the lights on main beam all the time.

And just to be clear I still don't entirely trust it and override it often.

[nielshm]

In my car it works 2/3 times out of 10. I get flashed right away. If the road is 100% straight and level it might just work. If there a sligtly bend or curve, going up or down, it's doomed to fail. 

But catching up to slower traffic is a different matter. Seeing the red tail lights in front makes the light dip, even with more than 100 meters to go. 

[Cyker]

I just do it manually as, like the radar cruise control, I'm just far better at anticipation than the auto systems  

I still get flashed occasionally when I'm not even using my high beams so I just chalk it up to people like me who hate LED lights... (If you can't beat 'em...)

 

7 hours ago, Popama said:

How come there isn't an off switch on your unit ?
There are 3 positions on the low beam switch Auto, DRL only and On. ( I see that some from the US even have a DRL off option )

Not quite; The switch positions are:

• Auto (i.e. car decides on Front DRLs at 100% brightness, rear sidelights Off or Main Beams as below)
• Side Lights (DRLs dimmed 50%, rear sidelights On)
• Main Beams (Dipped or Full, rear sidelights On)

No off! This means I get some weird situations in broad daylight where the system will keep turning the dipped beams on and off because I'm driving under trees or overpasses or something and my only options to stop it doing that are to switch to side lights or main beams.

The stupid thing is there *are* models of Mk4 that have a 4-position light selector that includes an Off position (Which presumably would be just DRLs and nothing else), and I don't know why they'd go to the expense of having two different stalks unless it's a compliance thing. (i.e. some countries require an Off and some countries prohibit it?)