Can somebody confirm that it is possible to change the coming home lights etc to light up the fog lights instead of the headlights so to save damaging / reducing the life of the Zenon / HID / Gas discharge lights on a Superb 2012 Elegence

My car is going on for service shortly & it would be nice for this to be done at the same time

Many thanks

If you can't I am sure that you can deactivate the "coming home" via the maxi dot. Mine has been going ok for 20 months now. 

I don't think you can have the fogs on instead (my old A4 did that). However, if you turn the light selector knob away from "auto" to off or dipped beam the coming home light will not come on.

My car is 3 years old now and there are no problems. I don't think there is an issue effecting bulb life as you'd more than likely be driving of with the lights on in any case, if they are in the auto mode in the first instance.

You can set the CH/LH using Foglights instead of xenons. Saves the xenons some load.

 

Has to be done using VCDS, dealer job or if you happen to know someone who has a cable and lives nearby ;-)

 

Byte 17 - 3 

 

I stand corrected...

:-)

Many thanks everyone for the responses , I did not want to loose the coming home fuction by changing the light setting to off or de activating it through maxi-dot  , all I wanted to do was stop the headlights switching on & off before I started the car & drove off ( with the lights on )

Many thanks Too Tall for the information ( I was sure it was possible but wanted clarification ) , I will speak to the dealer when it goes in for service

Again many thanks  everyone for the response , this forum / members are a great help , much more helpful that dealers in most cases

Thanks

I wouldn't go to the dealer with this, they might charge you a few pennies to do the work (1 hour of work =/= 5 minute Vagcom job)

 

No indy near you, or a member with a Vagcom cable? You might wanna check out if there are other mods you wish to do. Plenty of choice;

 

http://www.stemei.de/pages/coding/skoda-superb-3t.php

On that note however, I'd point out that I had a MY07 VW Jetta (now almost 7 years old) still with the original HID lamps and ballasts that has had coming home/leaving home activated just about twice a day, at least 5 days per week for it's entire lifetime.  The ballasts do a tremendous job of managing the lamp start up in a way that will maintain lifetime and brightness.

 

I admit that it's a sample size of 1, but with my current Superb I'm happy to leave the CH/LH via HIDs.

We had an 07 Octavia with. Coming home and leaving home set, and didn't have any issues with the xenons.

I would agree with wokwon we also have an 06 A3 with Xenons which we have had from new and have pretty much used this feature without any real issues.

Many thanks for all the responses , maybe I am worrying over nothing , but I am sure I have heard that these headlights do not like being switched on & off & on & off etc

Just trying to increase the life of the bulbs etc

Again many thanks for the responses

You are right xenon bulbs don't like to be turned on and off too frequently, however the bulbs will still last a very long time, even if used for the coming/leaving home function.

And what will happen to those in city driving with stop start? :think:

1. Every lightbulb has a lifespan. 

2. Every lightbulb takes a massive hit when you cycle it on and off. Not to mention the power draw on the battery (another thing to wear down the battery in these cold days)

3. Xenon bulbs are known to take a while to get up to temperature. This is why highbeam xenons are not used, since a highbeam is supposed to deliver the maximum lightoutput the very instant it's switched on. Just look at the bi-xenon headlights, these use a mirror to deflect the dipped xenon beam. Same bulb, doesn't cycle on and off, the projected light just gets diverted.

4. If you use CH/LH on the xenons, they have to suffer a (unneccessairy in my opinion) cycle that can just as well be taken by the DRL/Fog lights.

 

Replacement OEM fog light? +/- 5€?

Replacement OEM xenon bulb? +/- 50€?

 

That is if you only change one bulb, and with xenons you risk having a noticable colour difference, so better to change both bulbs at once...and they do break...because they have a certain lifespan, like all bulbs, and this lifespan only supports X amount of cycles.

And what will happen to those in city driving with stop start? :think:

The lights dont turn off with stop start, only the engine

The lights dont turn off with stop start, only the engine

 

Ah but my stop start does turn the lights off to DRL's at traffic lights and other such waiting places/times.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Though it is when I push the stop button on the steering column.  

That'll kill your bulbs quickly

The car has now been into my local Skoda dealer & unfortunatly they said they could not change the setting from the headlights to the fog lights without potentially causing other issues

Maybe the information kindly supplied by too tall was for an older spec of Superb ?

1 thing the dealer did advise me was that if the bulbs blow ( fail ) they will be repalced under warranty , which seemed strange to me as bulbs are normally classed as wear & tear items & not covered under warranty !

Well it looks like the setting stays as it is

Again many thanks for the responses

Why don;t you do what most people do and get someone with VCDS to do it?

 

Unfortunately far too many main dealers are too clueless when it comes to changing adaptations. 

Unfortunately far too many main dealers are too clueless when it comes to changing adaptations. 

 

Hi!

 

Yes, you´re right, the dealers often have no clue at all and their staff is nowhere as interested in our Skoda's as we are.

 

My Superb lights up its fog lights instead of the xenons without any other issue so far, works great! See if you can find someone to help you set it up using VCDS, it takes longer to boot the laptop than it does changing from head to fog lights ...

 

Merry Christmas!