Has any one removed the headlights on the new Octy Ambience Estate to switch over to continental driving. Is it much of a job to do the main dealers have quoted me

Not sure exactly what you need to do to the headlight to switch it over but it only takes a couple of minutes to remove them. The lock tab on the bottom of the headlight connector can be a bit tight though. Details on how to remove are in the user manual.

Has any one removed the headlights on the new Octy Ambience Estate to switch over to continental driving. Is it much of a job to do the main dealers have quoted me

Has any one removed the headlights on the new Octy Ambience Estate to switch over to continental driving. Is it much of a job to do the main dealers have quoted me

Talking of Bruges wev'e just come back from a P & O ferry trip there from Hull

I know it means missing out driving on the wrong side of the road but if you live int North like us its great value and it saves boring 250mile motorway drive to the Channel.

I had the same problem when I went over to Holland-the local dealer couldn't help with advise..so I emailed Skoda Uk.Had nice reply back with diagram of how to change headlamps over from RHD to LHD..(It's only a lever by the back of the headlamp)..Can't find it now-but email Skoda UK..& they will email instructions(& pics)back.

Ummm....why do you need to change headlamps from RHD to LHD when dricin' continental?

Ummm....why do you need to change headlamps from RHD to LHD when dricin' continental?

So that your lights don't shine into the faces of oncoming drivers and dazzle them.

It's a legal requirement that your headlights point the correct way

Ummm....why do you need to change headlamps from RHD to LHD when dricin' continental?

It is now a legal requirement now in France to drive on dipped headlights in daylight hours.

Talking of Bruges wev'e just come back from a P & O ferry trip there from Hull

I know it means missing out driving on the wrong side of the road but if you live int North like us its great value and it saves boring 250mile motorway drive to the Channel.

It is now a legal requirement now in France to drive on dipped headlights in daylight hours.

When did that come into force? Was certainly not the case last September.

Hmm - surprised about that I must say. It is recommended in most countries that you drive on dipped - I tend to do that anyway.

As for Xenons and switching to continental driving, just get the converters for the non-Xenon version from your dealer. They'll fit, they work, and they are MUCH easier in real life.

The problem I've got with the dealer-based way of doing things is that it is costing me money (always a bad thing IMHO :P ) and that I would have to change to having rubbish visibility whilst driving from my dealer to say Dover. Not my idea of fun.

Officially you're not supposed to use them on Xenons for whatever reason. My advise: just ignore that as it works fine, it does not blind people, and they're easily removed/put on, designed for the vehicle and are less fiddly then those stick-on things.

Havent got the Octavia but they do the continental converters for them and they'll be the same concept: like headlight protectors, with a black square to block out the bit that would blind people.

If you have a storage pouch or something they'll fit in there

WW VRS. The reason they're not to be used with Xenons is because Xenons have the floating bulb mechanism to keep them level. This means that in a braking situation the bulb will tilt up to light the road ahead and therfore shine in a different place relative to the lens cover. This means that a fixed beam blocker as you describe is inneffective and potentially will actually cause more problems as the lights may appear to 'flash' under hard braking or acceleration.

Springlea

Parking is in the P & O car park a few yards from the terminal.

Always a possiblilty of a problem but as its on the actual dock premises and through a security gate I guess its as safe as it gets.

Springlea

Forgot to say parking free

gamichea. In the July magzine of the camping & caravaning club It said that from the first Of October I would be a legal requirment to drive on dipped headlights in France. They also annuonced it on the Sea France Ferry.

gamichea. In the July magzine of the camping & caravaning club It said that from the first Of October I would be a legal requirment to drive on dipped headlights in France. They also annuonced it on the Sea France Ferry.

Thanks, springlea. Bit deflated by that, usually reckon to be well up to speed on such things .

So, I've got an Octy 1 and am looking to move to an Octy 2 this autumn. At present when we go on a shopping raid to France I install the Octy 1 headlight protectors with Skoda's very own beam-blockers (and that was a saga). Can I do the same with Octy 2?

And by the way, should I spend UKP 450 on xenon headlights or (as I suspect) the standard ones will do OK?

Thanks for any advice!

Yours, John

I went for the standard headlamps. No where near as good as xenons but they are still pretty good and if you want, £25 will get you a set of high performance bulbs to improve things further. I couldn't justify the extra £450 unless I was doing a lot of fast night time driving in the countryside or something although they do look the part.

You'll get arguments on here as to how they improve safety etc but TBH they often seem to be more of a styling thing. I don't really care about styling, just whats under the bonnet and on the dash.

I went for the standard headlamps. No where near as good as xenons but they are still pretty good and if you want,

Tell me about the

Uprated bulbs are definitely worth it - I've got Xenons and they are great as standard (when set up right, that is )

I can't remember which ones I went for in the end, think it was Osrams as well, I've had Philips' ones before and they're great too, just have different strengths I suppose.

Uprated bulbs are definitely worth it - I've got Xenons and they are great as standard (when set up right' date=' that is )

I can't remember which ones I went for in the end, think it was Osrams as well, I've had Philips' ones before and they're great too, just have different strengths I suppose.[/quote']

IIRC Auto Express did a test on uprated bulbs, and the Philips and Osram one's were pretty close. I believe for the +50% bulbs, the Osram got the Best Buy rating in the end because they put out more light in the 75 metre area.

Order them from http://www.powerbulbs.co.uk and they'll give you a free set of Philips Blue Vision sidelight bulbs.

Are the uprated bulbs fairly easy to fit? Also, the Powerbulb site does not list 2005 New Octavia - do you think they are the same as for 2004 Octavia?

On the Xenon-equipped Fabia I got the dealer to fit them, mainly as I couldnt be bothered myself (too tight and it was done when the 10k service was done).

I'm guessing here but you can probably do it yourself if you are not in a hurry, the main problem will be gaining access, the actual bulb change itself is easy.

Just don't touch the glass parts with your hands to avoid getting a hotspot, or if you do, clean it