New Car Tech | Automatic Full Beam Lights, How Do They Work?

I had the use of a Volvo XC60 while my BMW was in the body shop for repair. In this video before the Volvo had to be returned I see how it's automatic full beam headlights work. Were they any good?
Social Media
www.ashleyneal...
/ ashleynealdrivinginstr...
[e-mail]
/ lessontracker
The Apps
Pupils - apps.apple.com...
ADI - apps.apple.com...
Amazon Links
Sony a6400 Camera - amzn.to/2xVCrn0
Sony FDR X3000 Action Camera - amzn.to/2YVoPDh
VIOFO 4K Dash Cam A129 Pro Duo - amzn.to/3fEouLg
DJI Osmo Action - amzn.to/2WN7BWg
Joby Suction Cup Mount - amzn.to/2YYQ68a
RODE Wireless GO Microphone - amzn.to/3cmSBEZ
#newcartech #drivingtest #volvo

[@SurgeDashcam]

You don't have to be a car person to appreciate how good technology like this is. Very satisfying to see too.

[@scottlaaa]

Bmw so once it goes wrong out of warranty it won’t be cheap, my boss had a bmw x5 the ring headlight went it cost him £500 to replace!

[@Soundsofthetrackattacker]

@@scottlaaa It's actually the rental volvo in this video. His BMW was still in the shop and he wanted to show off some of the features of the Volvo in this video.

[@Grahamvfr]

@@scottlaaa Haha, my grandad probably said that when they replaced starting handles with starter motors.

[@atikulislam4079]

The timing of the lights are brilliant.

[@scottlaaa]

@@Soundsofthetrackattacker I thought it was his bmw 😂 volvo are expensive for parts too

[@kevinbarker3366]

A number of years ago now, an old police class 1 advanced driving examiner, (not many of those left) quoted to me, "do we develop technology too take control from the driver or do we develop drivers to take responsibility for their own actions ".

[@dakerbal]

We develop technology. That's how innovation and progress works - would you still want to drive without TCS and ABS?

[@ashley_neal]

I would have asked him whether he ordered wind up windows with his latest car instead of those electric ones!

[@dominicfindlay]

@@ashley_neal not the same, you still have to trigger the window to go up and down. For the lights you are expecting the car to decide when to do it. It's still a 'dumb' computer. There was that viral automatic brake fail where the CEO/manager got hit by the car. (A volvo) As long as there's a way of controlling it manually if you want to, then its not bad. With the Tesla model 3 so many options are only accessible through the touch screen in the middle. Kinda dumb.

[@ashley_neal]

@@dominicfindlay as you say it’s still a dumb computer so you still have to oversee it constantly, especially knowing its limitations.

[@GMBasix]

@@ashley_neal I think that is one of the problems, though. Increasing automation removes the driver's sense of responsibility. The language of road responsibility is often tailored to avoiding responsibility. "Accident" - they don't happen; "the pedestrian was struck when the car veered off the road" - the driver drove it off the road, more like. "The lights didn't dip because the system wasn't responding" - the driver failed to control his lights. If we add a system that introduces fallibilities which we then have to monitor, why introduce it? Why not just remain used to the flappy lever that controls the lights and retain the responsibility of when to use them?

[@kierantyrrell8842]

My dad has them on his car and he loves them. Technology is apsalutaly fantastic these days

[@whophd]

Found this feature by accident - 5 years ago I rented a Mercedes S-Class for my 40th birthday (I wanted to try 200 km/h in Germany, visiting from Australia) - and I was being deliberately lazy on the drive home from the party … when, suddenly, voila! The high beam “curtained” and showed me that it had about 5 or 10 segments that carved up the scene ahead of me. It was a bonus birthday present 🎁

[@CycleCalm]

There's even higher tech matrix headlights on Audis, BMWs and some others which are supposedly able to track and follow where other cars are, and only dip a precise section of the beams around them. Meant to detect pedestrians on unlit roads and 'highlight' them too. Seems very cool if it works, though it only takes it to mess up once to cause an accident if it's something you just rely on and are too complacent. Cornering lights, whether by extra lights on the side or steering ones, I think are a more important addition and probably a great safety feature that should be mandated on all new cars if they aren't already.

[@geko7844]

The auto high beams on my car are pretty useless. Once, they basically flashed someone out of a junction whilst I was approaching at 50mph. At least the brakes worked properly ...

[@karlbbb]

To be fair, most use a camera system which can recognise oncoming headlights and tail lights ahead. If a car comes from a side-road, it doesn't match those two profiles so they don't see a reason to shut off the main beam.

[@geko7844]

@@karlbbb I’m not concerned about them not recognising emerging cars - I can switch it off myself. The issue is when it switches them off, then back on and off quickly which looks like I’m flashing the waiting car - so they emerged when I wasn’t expecting them to.

[@nathant8951]

@@geko7844 what car is this out of curiosity?

[@geko7844]

@@nathant8951 New Peugeot 2008 (don’t say anything 😅)

[@nathant8951]

@@geko7844 Your secret's safe with me 😉

[@TobyField]

I do have a problem with auto high beam. When I cycle on unlit country roads, my front light isn't bright enough to trigger the headlights on all of the cars I've encountered so far.

[@seberous]

That's pretty impressive. Being able to turn them on and off automatically is amazing, but being able to angle them to avoid glaring people is as well, that's just awesome. Although if you get too used to them, going back to manual lights would be a bit tricky.

[@simonpage9980]

Did you know Cadillac had auto dip headlight as option in 1956 and Citroen had turning headlight set up on DS back in 1960s so not new just reinvented --- good ideas but if they could invent function to prevent stupid driving would be great ----- Another brilliant video

[@anon1903kg]

Got to see this first hand in a fancy Audi rental while working in Germany back in 2019, was pretty impressed with what it was doing. I expected it to dip completely for the on-coming cars but you could clearly see it was selective with how much it dipped. Great stuff.

[@roberttaylor465]

We have a kuga fitted with it, didn't know when we bought it, I initially thought what a gimmick but now we're use to it it's quite useful and it hasn't blinded anyone yet, great.

[@PedroConejo1939]

I've just driven home from work and then sat down to watch this. Bizarrely relaxing. My car is 13 years old so nothing as fancy as the Volvo but it does have auto on/off headlights, which mostly work well but don't detect fog. It also has cornering lights (these are not fog lights, they're in addition to those) that come on with the steering left/right. Now that is something that is really useful here in the sticks but it has no means of detecting traffic that falls within the beam. I'm still a few car purchases from having something fancy with matrix lights though.

[@jonhedgerows]

I have an XC60 - just one thing to watch with auto headlights is that they don’t recognise either cyclists or pedestrians. So you still have to stay aware of your surroundings, and dip your lights for some road users. But the way the car ‘cuts out’ a shadow for other motor vehicles is fantastic.

[@tonymiller3182]

We've adaptive headlights on both our cars, and generally, they're very good. My only issue with them is with lorry drivers coming towards you; their higher driving position means they're often dazzled by the main beam before the sensors on our cars pick up the lorry's headlights. We're often driving across the Pennines on the A66, and I've been flashed so much by lorries that I now switch to manual dipping when driving on that road at night.

[@12crepello]

08.15 I don't think it recognised the vehicle from the side. It dipped because your speed was below the specified limit. My Qashqai auto dips below around 18mph.

[@jonhedgerows]

I have an XC60, and you’re right, if you slow right down such as at a junction it dips the headlights.

[@sassyboofle6983]

That was very interesting to watch , there are a few factors whether the oncoming car or the one you are following has all of its lights working properly ,then your sensors may not pick it up or the lay of the road , the amount of people and or luggage in your vehicle . These lights are very clever but still nothing beats a human for being able to decide if it should go on or not and as the cars all catch up with each other for tech then it will be as you say rolled out . Have them on our own and find I don’t like them as can make me lazy and or if they get defective in some way or reason ie dirt on sensor . But still very clever . Volvo is a good make , one of the safest . These videos are really great to watch and thank you for allowing us to comment , 👍

[@matt_ken]

A little experiment where you drive towards a car with auto full beams and show how fast/ slow it is compared to a driver paying attention.

[@friendofallcats3544]

My father owns a Volvo V60 T8 and that car has brilliant automatic headlights, I can even get close to other cars and they stay on on the outer edges of the light bundle. Can't wait to see this tech become available as an aftermarket part to retrofit into older models!

[@michael_houghton]

Got automatic main beam lights on my Leon. Was bit nervous using it at first but once I saw it worked well I use it all the time now.

[@patricksavage8519]

Have an XC60 with LED adaptive headlights. Works really well 95% of the time. Some road signage especially if it has a largely white area will cause the headlights to dip which can be distracting when negotiating something like a sharp bend. That said the system as a whole is very clever.

[@lordnick1575]

My ford fiesta does it too, it's so useful. I've never paid much attention to how it works but occasionally if I interrupt the automatic fullbeam and turn it on/off myself, it sometimes seems to cut it out of the auto mode, so I just have to be careful not to think it's working when it's not.

[@CJ0175]

I've got Matrix LEDs on my A6 and they're fantastic. You can see the beams splitting around cars in front, or tracking around vehicles coming towards you. Not had anyone flash me yet, so can only presume they're doing a good job.

[@tonyb1223]

Had this on both the Peugeot 3008's I've owned, never had any problems with it, I live in a semi rural area with country roads and drive a fair bit at night, its never failed me switching between dipped and full beam 😁

[@stefanb155]

My experience with those on various cars: The adaptive ones that can dim individual zones are amazing on country roads. You see a lot more than with dipped beam, even when following a car, or with oncoming traffic, The ones that can only switch on/of full high beam are pretty useless. They need too long to switch on when no one os in front, and often too long to switch off with oncoming cars. And since the full beam with LED lights is daylight bright, it takes a second or two to adjust the eyes back to dipped beam. This gets tiring after a while if the automatic is switching every few seconds. With those i prefer to stay at dipped beams, and only use manual high beam if i am sure i can use them for a longer time. Where they all struggle more or less is on motorways. The cam often can,t see the headlights of oncoming cars since they are hidden behind the guard rail/divider in the middle. If the other car is same height or lower it’s still ok-ish, since if you can’t see his lights, he can’t be dazzled directly by yours. But if you are in a low sedan, and he’s in a high box van... For some reason all the vans don’t have position lights on the roof like the HGVs do. But sometimes the system also struggles to pick up those and dim the area in time. It amazes me that it is still allowed to sell new cars with shitty halogen bulbs main beam these days. While questionable systems like lane assist and blind spot warning become mandatory. (Those can be good, usually are good in mid range+ cars, but in cheaper/basic cars i often find them useless or even dangerous)

[@RiverMersey]

Yesterday, I had a tiny Kia (cheap) something following me in busy traffic. When we stopped at traffic-lights, the car automatically switched the headlights off, when the car began to move switched the lights back on again! Great idea to avoid causing dazzle in leading car's read-view mirrors!

[@Peakwanderer]

I do that all the time using a switch, perhaps the driver of the kia was doing the same.

[@scottlaaa]

Wish drivers would use their handbrake at traffic lights and not just press down on their brakes dazzling whoever is behind!

[@RiverMersey]

@@Peakwanderer Yes, I understand that it could have been done by the driver using a switch. However, the correlation between the car stopping and starting with the lights being off and on was extremely accurate on multiple stop-points. Just made me think it was an automatic feature on the Kia

[@Peakwanderer]

@@scottlaaa indeed indeed, when I mentioned this here I was told new cars leave the brake lights on with the handbrake now, no idea which cars but yet another ill conceived innovation from car manufacturers if true.

[@RiverMersey]

@@scottlaaa yes, I agree - that's how I was taught how to wait; using handbrake only. Possibly the only thing that is worse than waiting using footbrake is waiting while riding the clutch - each time I see that I fully expect the clutch to give out at any moment and the car to roll back into mine!

[@hugoburton5222]

I have a 1st gen XC60 with adaptive headlights. And yes, it's only the dipped headlights that turn, not the high beams. You can only really notice it when you make a turn (for example, into a road. So like at least 70° or more. It's not really noticable with small inputs at any kind of speed.

[@nemz7505]

Only seen BMW adaptive lights and they do make driving safer, not been flashed yet.... One thing that does concern me is driving past cars with ridiculously bright white dashboards at night. Manufacturers should be nudged towards a standard so dashboards can be White or any colour during the daytime and change to Red or Amber for nightime driving. Any white light in your dashboard displays at night, will dramatically affect your eyes ability to adjust to the darkness.

[@joshwilliamson3428]

Love the channel, love the Volvo and their impressive lights. My 11 year old golf doesn’t even have Bluetooth. Such a jump from modern cars to cars just a decade ago

[@ben_9134]

I'd love to see a test of how these lights deal with motorcyclists. I'm constantly being full-beam dazzled by cars while riding and I often wonder if it's automatic headlights to blame.

[@thomasDLC]

I've experienced these on a ford ranger service loan car. They were working well until 1 time they failed to disengaged high beams when a car was approaching. After that I didn't use them. I was kinda liking them until that happened.

[@allancumming3743]

I was on holiday in the UK a couple of years ago, and we were driving a rental Nissan with this feature to visit friends on Mull. Very dark, mid winter, on very narrow roads. Frequently, when the high beam hit a reflector on the roadside, the high beam would switch off significantly reducing the visibility ahead. We drove a long way very slowly!

[@johnbower7452]

I didn't have it on my new car (too low in the range) but the Skoda Octavia has full beam that blocks part out if it detects another car. So basically the full beam stays on but doesn't blind the other person. Very clever. I can't help but feel as a driver that too much is being taken away from us now. If it carries on like this you'll be out of a job as we won't need to be able to drive.

[@wipeout456]

They’re very good, the automatic matrix led lights on my Audi operate brilliantly

[@nafangibby]

Auto LED full beams on my MK8 Ford Fiesta ST3 are really good 😀 they work 90% of the time and I’ve never blinded anyone. Wouldn’t get a car without them!

[@Aliburgo1]

My 2016 A6 has the LED segment headlights, the only thing it has had issues with is a new Porsche Macan, which has the full width strip rear light, so it didn’t recognise it as the rear of a vehicle. Software update needed perhaps?

[@capnskiddies]

Pretty poor considering an Audi A7 has a similar rear lamp.

[@Aliburgo1]

@@capnskiddies Agreed, and the new etrons, perhaps they didn’t know that was coming in 2016 and hasn’t had that system updated since

[@ClaireYunFarronXIII]

I love this feature. My car has it. My next car will have it too, but it is way more advanced and adaptive. The car"s high beams will always be on, but more adaptive and clever than my current car. The lights do a curtain-like effect when adapting and turning with the steering wheel. I love looking at it, and more noticeable to see them working.

[@radishpea6615]

On "tight" country lane corners will the headlights dip as you approach a corner? I was told not to take a "tight" corner on main bean as it masks the dip beam or even main beam of an on coming car approaching the corner. What about pedestrians, does it dip for pedestrians walking towards you?

[@inasteinbergs1393]

Thanks for the info., very interesting. I haven’t got auto headlights on my nearly 25 Jeep Cherokee 😂 but your video goes some way to explain to me why when some cars are coming towards me around a bend, their full beam doesn’t dip until that car actually sees my lights, which means that I’m blinded for a second or two. Then their full beam is back on before they’ve fully passed me, often at my side window. My habit is that I will manually dip my lights before the bend when I see other vehicles lights coming towards me & put them back on when I have completely passed that vehicle. Have a good snowy day.🙂

[@sparkatron9334]

You ran a video recently about only using indicators when it helped others and so using your brain to actively monitor your environment and respond correctly. Surely similarly here we should manage our own lights to suit conditions, then we would have our minds tuned in to look out for others ahead - or do we just let the computer do it. Trouble is this type of tech makes us think less and be lazy and even worse when we temporarily drive someone else's car without this tech we can cause problems for us and others. We can often detect a car's highbeam shining upwards and towards before it comes into view. We should drop to dip beams just before then or just as they come into view so that the other driver sees we have. Waiting just a few extra seconds for the tech to respond is enough for some people to react negatively or is potentially dangerous as they are blinded for longer than necessary.

[@broadsword6650]

I had not even heard of this system but it is very impressive. I’d say it was better than “automatic”, it’s “intelligent” and makes better use of the directable high beams than a human driver could do, so that they are actually an aid to safety.

[@grahamnutt8958]

Before watching this upload I did have an opinion about this.... and it wasn't positive. Having now seen this; although I am not yet 100% convinced, will reserve judgement until the time I experience it for myself. My preference has always been to manually control everything - with one major exception; cruise control is one thing I have used in the past and found it to be of some benefit. Everything else..... I'm "old school" for a reason and refuse to rely on 'tech' to get me out of trouble...... even ABS can be a hindrance. Upload appreciated...... even an old dog can learn new tricks 👍

[@Jonc25]

Speedo, temp gauge, fuel gauge, heater and radio. My perfect vehicle! 👍

[@grahamnutt8958]

@@Jonc25 I'm slightly more advanced than that lol but you definitely have the right idea imo. Despite being designed in 1958 - with facelifts and the ALL huge improved engine circa 1968 from a 3.0L straight six to a 3.5L V8 - certain additional gauges help. Fuel/water temp prerequisites; oil pressure, ammeter and the good old rev counter do help. I don't rely on any other driving aids except for power steering - absolutely required in my car. It would be impossible to park without this lol. When things get back to some semblance of 'normality'; Ash is up for a drive..... offer extended to yourself as well. JayEmm on cars also interested..... Need to get it retrieved from the workshop 😔. Missing it lots!

[@Jonc25]

@@grahamnutt8958 Driven a couple of 3500 SD1.Not had pleasure of a p5. 👍

[@grahamnutt8958]

@@Jonc25 SD1 same engine as my P5(B)... the B denotes it as the V8 Buick engine; also used in the P6 by many 👮‍♂️👮‍♀️ forces. The P5(B) sadly only had option of 💩 3 speed Auto which loses a lot of power versus manual. Apparently the same V8 lump is, or has been, used in many Army, Air Force or Navy Military 4wd; possibly 6wd applications. Your contributions to Ashley's channel are appreciated; even a veteran can take note. Respect.

[@Jonc25]

@RoseTintedWindscreen 😄

[@callumlaird5158]

One of my fav features in my Volvo!

[@AdamCalow]

I have Matrix Headlights fitted to my Audi A3. I find them especially useful on motorways as I can use the adaptive full beams on unlit sections, even when there is other traffic on the road. In general, they make night driving much more pleasant and I find myself looking forward to driving on dark winter evenings to get the chance to use them. It is a shame that car manufacturers don’t do more to explain their benefits, as I think they are a major safety innovation. They will be on my must-have list for all future car purchases.

[@MrBenjaminHDM]

I have this tier of adaptive high beams on my Volvo where it paints a shadow on vehicles in front and oncoming vehicles. It's superb for lighting up the pavements or whatever else is either side of the road so you can better anticipate risks without glaring other drivers. Really love them but very occasionally I get flashed as the system hasn't reacted quite quickly enough. The change speed can be altered in the menu system too.

[@mr.baconmontages8929]

Automatic Headlights on my Astra are amazing, however they are not automatic dipping/full beam, they only turn on and off and they work very well. Automatic full beam lights are generally not as good as a person as they work on a set of fixed parameters whereas a person can judge each situation, like when you see lights before a bend, both cars tend to dip before they blind each other whereas auto lights will wait til it sees the vehicle which is often too late to prevent dazzling a driver

[@CED99]

I think these "matrix" style LEDs are very clever giving maximum light for safety, while preventing you from blinding other cars

[@Azurren]

Automatic full beams are fantastic! Can't wait for the day these come as standard on every vehicle so I'm not blinded by every other vehicle :P Can remember my first ever encounter with a car equipped with smart headlights when I was riding my 125. Rather than "dipping" it was almost as if the car was projecting darkness directly at me, like someone was holding a perfectly motorcycle shaped shadow puppet in front of the oncoming cars headlights.

[@keithramsay3340]

my 17-plate Mokka X has the full beam assist and I think its brilliant

[@rogerwilco2]

I know that automatic lights are often rubbish if there is fog during daytime. In the Netherlands it is also illegal to use high beams when driving next to a canal, as you can blind people on boats. It is also illegal to use high beams in built-up areas, no matter if there are street lights or not. I am also not sure if it would recognize bicycles or pedestrians properly, given that it does not react to the reflective cat eyes in the middle of the road.

[@monza1002000]

I have these lights on my C4 Grand Space Tourer and they are excellent. The only problem l have found is the system can get confused when you get a row of cars coming for the opposite direction that have a gap between them. Close together, no problem, long way between them no problem but get that 50/50 and the lights go back to main but don't dip immediately for the next. Hope that makes sense. All in all l think they are great.

[@matthewwhittenham7528]

Great to see some car tech which seems to work very effectively. One reservation I've always had with modern driver assistance features however, is the consequences of it not working as expected, in certain cases. If you are relying on a car to do something that is usually your job as the driver, and it doesn't do it, you've then got to realise this before intervening manually. If it didn't exist, the expectation would be that you have to control whatever feature it is manually in the first place, which avoids this issue. Certainly with this feature on that car, it seems to work very reliably (and at least as reliable, if not more reliable than drivers who need to remember to turn them on/off manually - something many seem to have an issue with!). But I'm not sure this is the case with all tech thats fitted to cars nowadays, particularly in cheaper ones.

[@Ep1cure]

All very nice, but I can't help but feel it will be all extra repair hassle and expense further down the line. Like many things, there are pros and cons.

[@derekp2674]

My car's too old to need periodic software updates :)

[@stuartjames1971]

Excellent idea. The more upmarket cars will have these as standard. This one is good because it’s a Volvo. They know what they are doing as do the German manufacturers.

[@bluecardholder]

I have auto hi-beam on my 2016 Qashqai - never had any issues with them dimming for cars in front or coming the other way.

[@Peakwanderer]

Do they dip for pedestrians and cyclists with lights too? and if they don't do you do anything?

[@Daryl...]

@@Peakwanderer depends on the situation, it isn't perfect. My Volvo V40 does at least, again, depending on the situation.

[@harrydebling1]

Hi Ashley. I have not had a car with automatic full beam lights, only standard auto lights. It is something I would go for. My thoughts on the system is it’s a good idea. However when teaching pupils driving at night I would get them to switch on and off the full beam function manually as not all drivers will have this on their cars.

[@ashyye3]

I don't know if i've been living under a rock, but I have never seen this... this is class, wish my Fiesta had this 😂

[@David_Owsnett]

I have it on my Honda CRV. Not used it yet. Going to try it out after seeing this video.

[@readhead12]

I once had such a car behind me on a motorway, about 300 meters. It was horrible. It was constantly flashing me from behind. I think the automatic turned on the headlight, blinded me from behind, regocnized my car and turned itself off for abour 2-3 seconds until it started again flashing for 1 second.

[@ashley_neal]

Sounds like the Police to me!

[@andrewbaines8760]

I have the S90 and the automatic fill beam adjusts the beam angle as well as the full beam, so when there’s lights in the distance it reduces the lights angle but keeps full beam on

[@arcanuke3294]

I think if it just turned high beams on and off I wouldnt really care but the side high beams is actually pretty neat. I think thats a bit too finicky to be worth bothering with thinking about if you had to do them manually but if theyre automatic thats a neat feature.

[@chriscooper5875]

Ashley I do a lot of travelling on the motorway and see loads of new cars driven on the motorway in bad weather conditions with NO rear lights on, but have the front ones on. When I’ve stopped at the services and noticed a driver in front of me in that condition I’ve politely ask the driver do you realise you have no rear lights? they are amazed that although the dashboard indicates that the lights are on but not the rear. Have you come across this at all? Great Videos 👍

[@jhareng]

I saw a van with no rear lights on, but front head lights were on. I knew the owner of the company and sent a message.

[@Maddmank]

The auto dip doesn't work very effectively I've been dazzled loads by them.

[@hybridangel3403]

Some people are just inconsiderate or don't know how to use them.

[@Maddmank]

@@hybridangel3403 I'm talking about auto dip dazzling me, I get dazzled more by modern cars using auto than old cars with a person doing the high/low switching

[@ashley_neal]

Could you let me know how you knew the adaptive full beams were in operation and it wasn’t the driver being a numpty? I wouldn’t have thought you could tell?

[@Maddmank]

@@ashley_neal can't confirm 100% however I use country lanes a lot to get to and from work and when it's mostly 19 plate plus cars that are always dazzling me I can safely assume that most of those cars will be using auto dip lights.

[@RidgwayBrandon]

@@Maddmank a lot of new cars have very bright dipped lights, not main beams, which have dazzled me multiple times on lit roads where auto lights wouldn't come on and drivers don't have a need to manually activate them

[@lewismatthew2747]

Adaptive headlights in my Seat Leon work perfectly. However we also have a Vauxhall Grandland X (Peugeot 3008 with a different badge) and they are useless. It don't recognise cars untill they are way to close, anything reflective confuses it, for example with traffic cones it will constantly switch them on and off as the reflection off the hi-vis reflectors confuse it. But that's if you even manage to get it moving in the first place as changing gear feels like stirring a bag of bolts.

[@jimg492]

My car has auto full beam. I've only had it since xmas and used it very little. It's pretty good apart from one thing. If driving in a built up area which changes to a national unlit road, the main beam activates way too late. I'd like to have a manual override by preference.

[@123owenboy]

The issue I find with auto full beams is they tend to dip when there's a reflection from a street sign, I had it on a hire car on an unfamiliar road abroad and the system kept dipping for the sign telling you there was a sharp corner coming up... just when I needed full beam the most!

[@will4may175]

The trouble with them, is I am still constantly watching them when cars appear to make sure they do the job, so I may aswell turn the feature off and do it myself. My wifes Fiesta has auto main beams, but they have a flaw, if an on coming car causes them to lower, then goes past the lights go back up fine, but if instantly another car appears the light are slow to react as if they were still in the switching on mode and couldn't react until it had finished, as the Fiesta auto mains come on gradually. The only feature I do like is the extra side lighting when you turn, my S-Max had it aswell, it's great for when turning into your driveway at night so you don't run into anything.

[@nicksh1990]

My car has auto headlights. I can't stand them. They're nowhere near as intuitive as a person. I can see the lights of a car coming around a corner and drop my full beams before they come around, avoiding blinding them for even a second. My auto headlights won't pick up on that, instead waiting until the other driver is facing the car, meaning they get an eyeful of full beams for up to a few seconds, which I feel is much more hazardous. It also doesn't work across a distance. Where I live, there is a road which is straight and flat (old roman road laid the foundation), and it often takes a while for the car to realise there's one ahead, by which time I've been flashed and had to turn them off myself. As a result, I much prefer to forego the automation in that regard, and prefer to use my own brain for it.

[@clickrick]

Thanks for the first-hand feedback. It was exactly these sorts of situations where I imagined it could fail, along with failing to spot cyclists or pedestrians and when you or I would, that would put me off paying extra for such a thing.

[@nicksh1990]

@@clickrick 100% agreed, keeping an eye out for anything other than a motorised vehicle is a must. It -sometimes- picks them up, but not reliably enough to let me be comfortable with it.

[@thedoctor007dfw]

Agreed. I have them on my Skoda Octavia and another downfall of them is if a car is waiting in a side road on a country lane to pull out, it won't pick them up for obvious reasons. My car has LED headlights as well and whilst it's nice that I can see into the future with them, full beam is going to blind someone coming the other way.

[@DeeSock]

I am still learning how to use but this has been my experience too for the matrix type. Blinds the numerous nightime truckers on motorways and too slow to react to oncoming traffic on country roads and dangerous in city in case of inadvertant flash. The video shows following other traffic which is a benefit though and helps mask oncoming traffic from experiencing the initial glare

[@jfletcher1029]

The new Mercedes S Class has 1.3 million mirrors in the headlights to help with this function. They can also work as a projector.

[@ronniebrown6225]

My 2017 Ford Focus Titanium X has what they call Ford's intelligent lighting system, It has HID headlights. It uses auto main/dip on the headlights. It has the cornering facility whereby whichever way I am turning the HID light swivels into the corner another bulb next it then illuminates to light the area straight ahead where my headlight has turned away from. I love the system and leave it on all the time, in fact, my lights are always on auto. Another thing the ford system has is that if like in the video a pedestrian ( or animal) is at the side of the road a beam of light comes from my fog light toward that area to warn me there is someone there. I think all cars should have a system like or similar to this.

[@georgecromar4094]

How well sorted is that light system!😎

[@Creator245]

I really like the auto high beams function, tho I think the more modern "lazer" type headlights which only dim sections of their beam to not dazzle you, don't seem to be very consistent. I'm constantly seeing cars with these types of headlights not detecting my car until I'm fairly close, as well as not working very well in a fog. The auto high beams on the normal LED headlights seem to be the best option for now.

[@dukeofdevon5608]

My 60 plate insignia has this on as well as adaptive head lights, best feature by far but have to make sure for the auto high beam that the sensor is completely clean or it doesn’t work properly. I think also it only works over 25mph

[@stefanb155]

Matrix LED on Insignia/Astra is really good. Unrivaled when it came out, still one of the best today. The transitions are really smooth and easy on the eyes. Only shortcoming is that it’s not linked to steering angle. (And afair no jets for washing, in winter you often have to stop to clean the headlights)

[@neiltill7414]

Brilliant technology, I definitely don't have it in my car, I live in the countryside so this type of thing would be very useful to me, I'd definitely look for it in my next car.

[@Shaneisace]

5:50 you can see the lights move to left to where you're steering that's pretty cool it does that xD (When the high beam deactivated)

[@MK-1973]

Very interesting Ashley, thank you. One question - can you instantly override it, e.g. for a pedestrian, someone sat in a parked car with only sidelights or no lights, or if you were shining your main beams into someone's front room? Would it pick up a cyclist, with or without lights? All that said I can see why you were impressed with the Volvo's system. That main beam either side of the vehicle in front is a great feature.

[@rickbat]

yes you can, just pull the stalk back once to turn the high beam off, my xc40 doesn't seem to pick up cyclists very well, unless they have very powerful expensive light systems fitted

[@AlexLapinski]

What a great example! I wouldn't mind a feature like this myself.

[@barneylaurance1865]

Does it have a motorized control stick that moves when the machine decides to turn the full beams on or off?

[@stephenevans2518]

The main thing that annoys me about modern headlights is that all the focus is on auto fulbeam and steering round corners, whereas more of an issue than either of these IMO is the fact that as soon as you go over even the smallest brow of a hill the dipped beam is blinding all oncoming traffic. If you can steer them round a corner, how hard can it be to make the lights angle down when approaching the brow of a hill to maintain a consistent angle relative to oncoming traffic??

[@whoeverwhoever400]

the question is, will it turn off if you catch up to a car from behind?

[@markwright3161]

Does the BMW system not turn them off if they're too close to traffic in front? I met a couple of vehicles with a 5 series tailgating and got blinded by their driver's side headlight being on full beam as I passed. I assumed it was because the camera that determine when to dip the lights is behind the interior mirror in the windscreen so it didn't detect me before the driver's side headlight was already shining past the car they were following. Also, there are points here where I thought this system seems a bit slow at turning the right beam(s) off, 35 seconds starting from 10:00 on with those few cars. I can see the advantage of lights that illuminate around traffic, if you dip your lights just before an animal runs out in front of you you will likely not see it, but lights around oncoming traffic would give you more of a chance, but there are times when I will have lights dipped before the oncoming vehicle comes into view, say around a corner with trees or telephone wires on the outside or over a hill to reflect light and it only takes a fraction of a second to dazzle someone with a 'flash' of LED or whatever the other high intensity one is. These systems will never be able to do that otherwise their own reflections off such things would cause them to dip/blank when full illumination is needed. Does dipping full beam yourself in situations like that completely cancel the auto dipping setting or does it automatically start again when you return to full beam? If you can't dip manually in the middle of this setting without cancelling it them I think it's a flawed design, particularly if you want to dip for pedestrians for example.

[@RyanTaylor1997]

A lot of people are just driving around with high beams on/poor headlight alignment which can completely blind us on bikes so I keep having to put my highbeam on when I cant see because of some cars/vans.

[@trucktalkvideosandy8185]

My Golf don't have them but very smart very cool...

[@Wildmutationblu]

I have this tech on my new Ford Kuga ST-Line X but I don't like it as it is slow to turn the full beam on when driving with no street lights.

[@user-rfyl4t]

Very interesting video!

[@steveford7271]

Have been dazzled or partly blinded by some of those led’s from oncoming cars, I do find that it can be quite dangerous.

[@jfletcher1029]

I love this in my car but 99.9% of the time I have no use for it because I drive in London. For dark country lanes and motorways it’s absolutely brilliant.

[@AKAMustang]

Wow, that was very impressive, I'd be totally happy with making use of this tech.

[@thescottishpanda5]

Could you review the XC60?

[@Sluetch90]

When was this filmed , the xmas lights seem a bit late depending on the day of filming

[@scottlaaa]

Wish every car had automatic headlights, can’t tell you the amount of drivers i see driving in the evening without their lights on!

[@Grahamvfr]

Unfortunately often it is the people with auto lights because theve accidentally flicked off the auto function, so don't bother to check haha.

[@scottlaaa]

@@Grahamvfr drivers are retards at times

[@karlbbb]

The worst part is cars with DRLs that are on day mode because the person has forgot to put their dipped beam on. DRLs go to dim mode when sidelights or dipped beam is activated, so it's very noticeable when you're in a tunnel and a car is coming towards you without headlights on because the DRLs are designed to scatter light everywhere, compared to the more directional headlamps.

[@scottlaaa]

@@karlbbb drl’s are a big reason why drivers forget about headlights i see cars all the time driving with just them on. My car has drl’s and they are just as bright as my headlights

[@karlbbb]

@@scottlaaa they look like headlights are on if you’re in traffic and see them reflecting on the car in front, but in any other scenario it should be very obvious your headlights aren’t on. Like a few people here have already said, it’s drivers who aren’t paying attention and don’t understand how their car works.

[@javiTests]

I have a '09 ford focus with normal halogen lights and the other day I drove a 6 months old Seat Leon with LEDs like an hour at night... The low beam already looked like high beam for me! 😂 That showed me how crappy my normal halogens are (and they are totally fine, good bulbs and the headlights are totally fine). Then I used the automatic high beam and they worked quite well but sometimes they took a bit too much to switch to low beam for my liking. I get dazzle now and then by these new cars so not all of them get it quite right. Having good lights is a very important feature but I think a human with a driver license should be capable of turning the high beam on and off, so I don't think it's a very important feature and as other user have commented, more things to go wrong in the future.

[@peterhurst]

That's pretty impressive, nice to have a real world test to see. What do you make of the brightness of LED lights over Xenons? Any other observations on reliability (of the Beemers obvs)

[@rogerking7258]

I won't ever use the things. I've driven several cars of different makes with them and I have suffered flashing from oncoming vehicles because I didn't dip, I've driven with very short visibility when full beam didn't come on, I've had the lights dip because of reflective road signs, etc. Yet another deeply flawed technology leading drivers to think that they have to take less responsibility for their road behaviour. And don't even mention "intelligent" cruise control; I very nearly got rear ended on a dual carriageway when the road curved right - I was in the outside lane just coming up to overtake a lorry when the system decided to interpret the lorry as being directly close in front of me and slammed my brakes on.

[@ianprince1698]

after several years of not driving, I bought a little run about Toyota which had auto lights, great. even put the lights on when going through the tyne tunnel, I then had the car serviced and the engineer switched it off! so I was driving around at night with no lights, of cause I was stopped by the police. had to hunt around the car for the light switch. no prosecution I must have won the prize for the best excuse of the shift.

[@ivorwhitecar]

My Fiesta Sport work van has this. They are okay on the straight but useless on bends.

[@scottking869]

Lot of lights not days effect my eyes. A lot of times i have to turn my middle mirror down

[@Grahamvfr]

5.30 adaptive steering lights on my i30 only work on dipped beam. When you start up the bmw see if the headlight beamd shimmys from left to right this is a check system. If they don't it won't have it.

[@karlbbb]

i30s don't have adaptive lights do they? They're just cornering lamps? I'm lucky that the dipped and main beam is done by one single projector on my Focus, so even on main beam the lights move left/right with the steering wheel.

[@Grahamvfr]

@@karlbbb yes they do on the premium (2016)model that I have, my previous se model only had cornering lights.

[@TheWhiskeyMan-rk7qv]

Have you heard more about the lorry driving lessons, or is that postpone due to the current global situation?

[@ashley_neal]

LGV training has unfortunately been suspended

[@TheWhiskeyMan-rk7qv]

That's a shame, but don't give up. Hopefully if and when the world gets back to the way it should be the opportunity will be there again. I wouldn't mind doing the course myself.

[@karlbbb]

I have these on my Ford Focus. Worth noting as well that there's often a minimum speed requirement - on mine it's 40km/h (25mph), below that they just revert to "normal" adaptive headlights regardless of the road having street lighting. Another interesting thing it does is actually alter the beam pattern when you're on street-lit roads below 50km/h (31mph), widening the headlight aim and flattening the beam pattern giving a more intense light closer to the car which is suitable for lower speeds. Then, as you speed up, the headlights aim slightly closer to centre and revert to a more traditional beam pattern I can already see people in the comments poo-pooing features like this as though they make the driver lazy. I completely disagree - I still check that the car has done what I'd expect in the conditions. That means if it starts raining, I will check that the car has turned on the dipped beam (which should happen 10 seconds after the rain-sensitive wipers start wiping on continuous mode), I check that the auto high beam turns off when cars are approaching. I also understand the limitations of how the system works, and have recognised that sometimes on unlit stretches of motorway the opposing traffic's headlights are often obscured by the centre barriers which means the car thinks there is no oncoming traffic and puts on full beam, which of course I then override. There is a scourge of people who have probably never even touched their owners manual after getting a new car, especially one loaded with all the modern-day features like high beam assist etc. If people spent an hour just sat with their owners manual and then observe how their car reacts in certain situations we'd all be better for it.

[@Peakwanderer]

It's good that you're so switched on, pardon the pun, it's those that aren't that are the problem. You've not quite sold it to me given that you're still thinking about the auto features and making sure it is doing what it is supposed to do, might as well do it yourself.

[@karlbbb]

@@Peakwanderer If people keep a mindset that these features are an "assist" rather than a replacement, it makes the most sense. If I take the auto high beam for example, then 99/100 the system works perfectly, switching on the full beam on a dark road, and dipping them again as a car approaches or I get back to a lit stretch. I never feel like I'm nannying the car, it's just kept in the back of my mind that maybe I'd have to step in.

[@capnskiddies]

@@karlbbb I love reading a car manual. I get to find out the workings of all the stuff I couldn't afford to spec. 😂 Next time maybe.

[@L5GUK]

I'm interested in your thoughts. I have a 2013 320d and one of my dipped beam bulbs have failed. What halogen bulb do you think from experience is the best compromise between 'perfomance' of the light beam and life span? Money isn't really an object providing that they last a while. Fortunately I've never actually had a bulb go in one of my cars, so it's the first time I've really had to consider this and the information is all either people complaining because they didn't install them properly or read the product description or marketing nonsense.

[@jhareng]

A bit late but have a look at various youtube videos comparing different bulbs. You will also see the ones that project the farest have the narrowist beam, not ideal in my opinion. Had loads go even 2 at same time coming out of work at 5.45pm north Shrops in middle of no where, its dark so much so the lights at Telford at 11 mile away light up near pitch black. Drove home on driving lights and side lights A442. Must change mine in a 120D Could probably name the amount of times used full beam in 44 years on one hand.

[@timothymoulden1901]

What engine did the Volvo xc60 Have and what year was it?