Haveing seen some other German motors turn on their lights when in bright sunshine, and having driven in some blinding sunshine having left my prescription sunglasses at home () I have a theory why they come on.

To make you stand out. Seen a number of high end BMW's and Mercs have theirs come on after coming out of some average/shadow light into blaring sunlight.

Surely we all cant have defective sensors? Is it just a German thing?

It could be a German thing, as some of the VAG range automatically turn their headlights on when doing around 90mph and more.

I have auto lights on my octy vRS mark 2.

They come on when you reach a certain speed and stay there.

For example if you accelerate to say 90 mph on a motorway (not that i condone that ) and maintain that speed they come on as a safety device (according to the manual)

I am assuming the german cars do the same.

It may even be some weird regulation they have over in euroland !

No, these cars werent ginning it

BUT, I didnt really notice them fully UNTIL their lights came on. After that they ceased being a car with glare on their windscreen in my rear view mirror, and became a blue BMW etc etc.

If the above makes sense?

I now virtually always drive with at least the side lights on, and on meets dipped beams on to make myself aware.

I understand what you mean about having them on in bright sunshine as it allows people to see you, especially if they are driving into a low sun in the evenings.

I now virtually always drive with at least the side lights on, and on meets dipped beams on to make myself aware.

I understand what you mean about having them on in bright sunshine as it allows people to see you, especially if they are driving into a low sun in the evenings.

Yup, which is why I'm now thinking it's by design rather than a fault. Which if it should, then as many dont do it consistantly means our sensors are faulty or badly set :confused:

Haveing seen some other German motors turn on their lights when in bright sunshine, and having driven in some blinding sunshine having left my prescription sunglasses at home () I have a theory why they come on.

To make you stand out. Seen a number of high end BMW's and Mercs have theirs come on after coming out of some average/shadow light into blaring sunlight.

Surely we all cant have defective sensors? Is it just a German thing?

Have noted that when tunnel lights are switched on (supposedly switching on in tunnels and off when out of them) they just stay on after coming out. Seems like a characteristic Skoda/VAG problem. Others found the same?

Have noted that when tunnel lights are switched on (supposedly switching on in tunnels and off when out of them) they just stay on after coming out. Seems like a characteristic Skoda/VAG problem. Others found the same?

Yep I have this problem, but only if I start the car in high contrast light situation e.g. in petrol station forecourt on sunny day or this week when I left home at about 6:30am with the sun bright but casting long deep shadows where my car was parked. I start the car, the lights come on, then I move into full sun and they don't go out. I switch the tunnel light off i.e. to 0 and wait switch it back on to tunnel, but the lights come on again even though I am now in full daylight. They only appear to reset after I have stopped and started the car again. On average British weather days there is no problem and lights behave as they should on in tunnel off when I come out. Very strange, was going to mention it when it goes in for its service next week. Maybe it can be picked up by a fault code?

Nope. Tunnel lights work fine for me.

I do the same as Simbo99 - just leave headlights on all the time. The reason being that in all light conditions my car is more visible. The necessity of this was confirmed driving around Devon last week in bright subshine going from shade and bright sunshine. When you are in one, and a car is coming towards you from the other they are very hard to see because of the change in natural light. BUT if anyone had their lights on they were clearly visible.

The reason why I started to leave my headlights on was because I read that the UK is looking at introducing a law/legislation that all cars will need to drive with at least their sidelights on - like you get with any Volvo.

How often at dusk do you see drivers without any lights on, when sunlight is getting very dim? Just leaving your headlights on means that you never have to think about needing to turn them on.

I do the same as Simbo99 - just leave headlights on all the time. The reason being that in all light conditions my car is more visible. The necessity of this was confirmed driving around Devon last week in bright subshine going from shade and bright sunshine. When you are in one, and a car is coming towards you from the other they are very hard to see because of the change in natural light. BUT if anyone had their lights on they were clearly visible.

The reason why I started to leave my headlights on was because I read that the UK is looking at introducing a law/legislation that all cars will need to drive with at least their sidelights on - like you get with any Volvo.

How often at dusk do you see drivers without any lights on, when sunlight is getting very dim? Just leaving your headlights on means that you never have to think about needing to turn them on.

While it is difficult to argue against this potential proposal in principle it is not disimilar to the situation regarding Hi-Vi clothing.

The idea, obviously, being that wearing hi-vi makes you more visible but in practice the wearing of hi-vi clothing has become so de-rigeur that everyone now wears it for the most trivial reason..........ergo everyone ignores it or doesn't notice as it's the norm.

The same with lights on during the day...............if everyone had them on it wouldn't make much difference as no one would stand out.

Just bear in mind that the fact Volvo use daylight running lights is because the sun doesn't come up over parts of their country for most of the winter :eek:

Only an opinion of course

I see where you're coming from afcb ian. But in my example of driving in bright sunshine into and out of shadow the cars without lights were hardly visible, but the cars with their lights on were clearly seen.

I got some Philips Blue Vision sidelights and fitted those in mine vs the factory dull yellow tint ones. Much brighter and white dissipate there name.... Now I always leave them on, when you drive though roads with tress and darkness from bright sun it's so much safer as you have to remember at this time of year a lot of people have sun glasses on. Just wishes there was a why I could leave them on without having to keep switching the swatch via VAGCOM/Dealer etc like Scandinavian mode.

James.

I see where you're coming from afcb ian. But in my example of driving in bright sunshine into and out of shadow the cars without lights were hardly visible, but the cars with their lights on were clearly seen.

I use my lights all the time for the same reason as you. Here in Powys, there are many roads with dark shadows from rows of trees on bright sunny days and it can be looking into a dark tunnel as you can see nothing except for cars with their lights on! I think they are needed more on bright days than on dull days when there is not much difference in light intensity.

afcb ian wrote - Just bear in mind that the fact Volvo use daylight running lights is because the sun doesn't come up over parts of their country for most of the winter :eek:

But don't forget that at this time of year, the sun is up nearly all day over there! And it's not just northern countries where lights have to be used in the daytime. I was recently in Croatia and Italy and they had to be used all the time in both countries (though in Italy it is only outside towns, but most have them on all the time). They are used in the Czech Republic too and that's further south than us.

Hi All,

Bellow from AA about UK law on lights for people coming over and guess us all natives - nice and easy....:

Lights: Motorists must use sidelights between sunset and sunrise and headlights at night

(between half an hour after sunset and half an hour before sunrise) on all roads without

street lighting and on roads where the street lights are more than 185m apart or are not lit.

Motorists must use headlights or front and rear fog lights when visibility is seriously

reduced, generally to less than 100m use dipped headlights at night in built-up areas

unless the road is well lit use headlights at night on lit motorways and roads with a speed

limit in excess of 30 mph.

James

Have a look at the VAGCOM directory on the forum, and find someone local. It's a 2 minute job to switch Scandanavian mode on (side, tail and dipped headlights)

Did mine just after I got my Octy, and never once regretted it.

Mike

Hi,

But am I right on thinking Scandanavian mode puts all (inside, side, tail and dipped headlights) lights on? Really I all what and need is the side and tail on all the time. As with the Philips Blue Vision 5w sidelights they are more than bright enough to be seen and don't use too much power.

Or can you put the dipped headlights on at 20% of there power? Nearly most of the euro made 09 plate cars I see going around now have some kind of front lights on which like a lot of you have pointed out is safer and looks good.

And before any one says fit LED no thank-you! not the chav look. If the Skoda OEM from 09 model with DLR lights in the fog lamps could be fitted I would think about this, guess the guys with VRS would have no problem fitting the Skoda LED VRS 09 strips but for the rest of us with slow Skoda's this is not going to look right .

James.

You could always use the North American setting on VAG-COM, where only the headlights come on once the handbrake is released, which is similar to daytime running lights on new cars in circulation at the moment.

I'm guessing James is thinking about making the bulbs last longer. But generally Halogens hate being on low power (when rated higher), and this lessens there life more than constant use.

It's why halogen bulbs for the home say not to fit to a dimmer

A lot of ex Volvo users with Skoda's...! Yes ever dam few months it seemed like changing the bulbs and then the lights got yellow (or so seemed) with age after all that use.

Moving forward by 15 years:

Driving around now a lot of Euro 09 cars have a nice non-volvo not quite full lights but easy to be seen effect now, Golf MK6 etc, Audi's etc, Fiat 500, BMW ring style etc, even seen a Renault today with seen but not on full power lights. All for the EU law change for DLR next year I guess.

So what I am after is really like the Golf MK6 is now on my 08 Skoda - tasteful! And i was thinking my Philips Blue Vision sidelights on all the time but I do take the point in sun light they are not really enough but lights on full dipped is really too much going back to my old Vovlo days:(.

So as fitting the DLR from 09 Octavia is not going to work in a 08 model Scandinavian or US mode set to 50% going to work? Or any one else have more thoughts?

James.

A lot of ex Volvo users with Skoda's...! Yes ever dam few months it seemed like changing the bulbs and then the lights got yellow (or so seemed) with age after all that use.

Moving forward by 15 years:

Driving around now a lot of Euro 09 cars have a nice non-volvo not quite full lights but easy to be seen effect now, Golf MK6 etc, Audi's etc, Fiat 500, BMW ring style etc, even seen a Renault today with seen but not on full power lights. All for the EU law change for DLR next year I guess.

So what I am after is really like the Golf MK6 is now on my 08 Skoda - tasteful! And i was thinking my Philips Blue Vision sidelights on all the time but I do take the point in sun light they are not really enough but lights on full dipped is really too much going back to my old Vovlo days:(.

So as fitting the DLR from 09 Octavia is not going to work in a 08 model Scandinavian or US mode set to 50% going to work? Or any one else have more thoughts?

James.

is it me ?? or did none of that make sense

Are you mistaking that for low energy/fluorescent lights? They can't be used on a dimmer. Our dining room has a halogen light fitting & a dimmer on the wall. My parents have a fairly new halogen table lamp with an in-line dimmer slider switch on it & we replaced a couple of low energy up lighter bulbs with halogens specifically so that we could use them with a r/c dimmer plugin jobbie?! :eek: :confused:

...not that this has anything to do with cars, headlights or DLRs of course!

When I bought some GU10's from OBI in Germany whilst working over there, the english bit said not to run on dimmers as it shortens their life and had a little table showing expected life @ % of max voltage.

That's where I got the info from.