Off to France - 2017 CHR

[TonyHSD]

I have used these on my car back in 2017. They do work indeed and cut off those angle up beam patterns on the left side.
The easiest way to remove them later is after the car sat exposed to the sun all day. Just pill off carefully and clean with soft cloth and window cleaner spray. Job done. 

[philip42h]

19 hours ago, Notebook said:

anyone know which lights I have?

Your thread became somewhat confused with discussion of LED lights - you could check with your owner's manual to see which lights you actually have. I had a go at downloading the manual for your car and believe that your headlights are the halogen type and you may want to consider carrying the appropriate spare bulbs with you.

For the headlights that would be a HIR2 halogen bulb but that presumes I've picked the correct manual 😉

[Haliotis]

On the subject of levelling (ref. APS), when I could not find a levelling button in my controls I contacted my Toyota dealer.  I was told my 2021 C-HR Dynamic had auto-levelling headlights.  I’m not sure how this works. Is it done by the suspension? - my wife once said she noticed the rear end rise slightly as I switched off and got out.  Or is it some sort of electronic detection system incorporated in the headlight units?

It seems these days, with the modern car, no matter how thoroughly you read the handbook, or the main manual (now only available on line), many things about your car remain a bit of a mystery and are largely accepted on trust.  The only downside to this is that you have to accept and believe everything that you are told when it comes to servicing and charges for same.

[TonyHSD]

Not, the suspension is standard, there is a sensor who monitors the positions of the car body and the lights are adjusted automatically. Sometimes works fine sometimes it doesn’t. 

[Haliotis]

5 minutes ago, TonyHSD said:

Not, the suspension is standard, there is a sensor who monitors the positions of the car body and the lights are adjusted automatically. Sometimes it works fine, sometimes it doesn’t.

That’s a bit disconcerting - if something isn’t reliable, I’d rather not have it!

[APS]

1 hour ago, Haliotis said:

That’s a bit disconcerting - if something isn’t reliable, I’d rather not have it!

They are generally reliable. This is why you don't really know it's there. Toyota use a fairly simple system that just measures the load on the rear suspension and adjusts the lights accordingly. 

[Haliotis]

Tony and APS - thanks for the info, but I’m always suspicious about words like “sometimes” and “generally”. There are quite a number of words in the English language that similarly warn you that something might not always be well.

[TonyHSD]

4 minutes ago, Haliotis said:

Tony and APS - thanks for the info, but I’m always suspicious about words like “sometimes” and “generally”. There are quite a number of words in the English language that similarly warn you that something might not always be well.

The truth is that in real life all of these automated systems does not work always at 100% accuracy. I had few Priuses with auto levelling lights and when fully loaded with passengers I always got flashed by oncoming cars, sorry nothing I could do. Now and then I got super bright lights coming against me, then we pass and I see the same car as mine before, so basically the system for auto levelling has failed on them too. And not only a Toyota but all makes. Teslas lately are really bad. Audi are  another offenders.
The best of all cars to date I noticed are the Mercedes especially the large cars like e or s class. 
The active beam that projects light around the car in front and into the dark area of the road,. Those are even dangerous to the car in front. I noted these and keep watching what happens when a car with these lights drives behind me. It is really bad, I don’t know how they are legal but if the authorities allowed to have cars with yokes instead of steering wheel and cars that the steering wheel blocks the instrument cluster no wonder a dangerous head lights are a norm in latest cars. 
That’s not all. Safety systems fails too, and cause deadly accidents. Most of these technologies aren’t as advanced as they seems to be on paper and those who entirely rely on them often get themselves into a trouble or cause trouble to others on the road. 

[APS]

23 minutes ago, Haliotis said:

I’m always suspicious about words like “sometimes” and “generally”.

Lovely, sweeping caveats aren't they? You are right though. Everything can and will fail, sooner or later (as Tony illustrates above).
The more simple something is, the less there is that can go wrong and consequently the longer time between failures. But we live with these failures as long as the benefits outweigh the perceived risks.

My point was; where other manufacturers may use multiple sensors for ride hight, including ultrasonic height sensors, gyroscopes, and accelerometers, Toyota's is comparatively simple and relies on a single inductive sensor on the rear suspension. Therefore it should, last longer between failures. Generally.  🙂 

[Haliotis]

In my early days of driving, most cars had dip-and-switch, where the left-hand headlight was dipped by means of a solenoid in the lamp that dipped the whole reflector and bulb assembly, and the right-hand headlight was extinguished.  Cars were not as fast then but, with modern lighting technology, on dipped beam the offside headlight could be extinguished and there still be sufficient light for safety.

What I have noticed is, on a two-way carriageway at peak periods, the constant stream of oncoming traffic produces an echelon of bright r/h headlights which combine to give excessive glare, even when dipped.  Imagine, if all those r/h headlights were extinguished, just how much better it would be for motorists in general.

Also, where headlights follow the turning of the steering (as mine do), on a busy road as described above, if the road is curved, such cars curving to the right must, I think, increase that glare to drivers coming towards them.

[Chrisg99]

On 7/29/2023 at 11:22 AM, Haliotis said:

An added thought to the above post.  My headlight beams turn in accordance with my steering.  So, if I was driving in France and taking a bend to the left, would not my dipped headlights turn towards oncoming traffic?🙁

The same as taking a bend to the right in the UK.