Dithane I don't disagree with you at all really, I never drive in darkness with sidelights on, but I sometimes park up with the car at idle on sidelights especially in the winter months. I just think the logic behind Skoda's thinking on the cluster lighting is questionable. Makes no sense to me to backlight the cluster when it's daylight & easy to see without the backlight on, but not in poor light. Even the Skoda tech admitted it seems ar$e backwards.

 

Contradicts what is in the manual too, which is why I took the car in to be checked.

 

Skoda Fabia III handbook says.

 

■ The instruments are also illuminated when the parking light, low or high
beam light is switched on. The brightness of the instrument illumination is set
automatically depending on the ambient lighting throughout. The complete
brightness of the instrument lighting can be set in the Infotainment » Operating
instructions Infotainment, chapter CAR - Vehicle settings.

Edited 22 September, 201510 yr by pauldazzle

On the subject of "which lights when", I was driving back home at 19:30 last night - so basically in darkness hours, first vehicle I met on a hedged/wooded country road was a dark coloured small van with no lights on, I gave him a short "flash" in my mine to wake him up, my reward was that he seemed to hold onto the flash function then back to no lights after passing me! Next vehicle was a Range Rover, again no light on, I flashed again - this time the vehicle's lights were switched on. Further along, following car looked like (and was) a BMW 5 series, only halo sidelights on, then someone flashed them and they switched on something, it turned out to be dipped beam N/S and what equated to full beam O/S - that was annoying enough for me to pull over when possible and let someone else suffer these lights.  So there are lots of drivers out there that don't know/care what their lights are currently "doing".

There is an Issue with Skoda, VW, Seat & Audi Owners Manuals and it is they are written in a language that is not English and uses Terms & Phrases that are not in English, then they are Translated.

 

Hence there is often much 'lost in translation'  not only in words but in figures and measurements.

the UK not being fully into Decimalisation since we still drive Miles and talk Gallons and yet fill up in Litres.

 

Sidelights are not Parking Lights as an example.

There is a Parking Light function though.

My instruments panel lights as soon as I turn my side lights on and stays on with dipped headlights/ full beam 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

<-- my car 

My instruments panel lights as soon as I turn my side lights on and stays on with dipped headlights/ full beam 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

<-- my car 

In darkness too?

Car was in with Skoda today, & they're saying the instrument panel should only illuminate with the headlights on, which I found hard to believe. They even brought out a mechanic who reckoned all VAG cars have been like this since 2008!!!!

******. Ive got a 2013 fabia which cluster lights up with the sidelights, and so does the 2015 yeti my parents have.

In darkness too?

Yes when its dark too

It'd be helpful if a few more 2015 Fabia mkIII owners could post up whether their clusters light up or not with sidelights on in darkness.

I've got the automatic lights and this is what mine does:

Auto - Cluster always on, even in the day

Sidelights - Cluster off (I think the needles were lit up though)

Dipped beam - Clusters on

I have just had my 2015 fabia back from the dealership today after bringing up the same issue. After changing my light cluster- which didn't change things- they confirmed that this is they way that the new fabias are and that the cluster is not meant to light up when the side lights are on. They agreed that it seemed a bit of a strange decision on skodas behalf but it was reassuring to know that the car was not faulty. Hope that is some help to you!

Pretty sure this is a coding thing as I had a 15 reg Fabia III courtesy car last week while ours was in for the Kenwood sat nav, & guess what the instrument cluster lit up in postition 1 in daylight & darkness!! Dealer mentioned that they've had several Fabia owners complaining about the cluster issue. I currently have Skoda CS investigating, & will keep you all posted.

Edited 24 November, 201510 yr by pauldazzle

If it so dark that you cannot see the instrument cluster, then you need proper lights and not sidelights. Simple logic, and an efficient reminder to turn on the headlights!!

I really can't believe that this is rattling on as an issue -- it's something that I certainly feel very strongly about ( as posted here previously ! ) .. but I am in full agreement with the_raz (quoted below) that if you cannot see the instruments, then it's time for headlights.

 

I see wayyyy too many cars on sidelights in twilight.  Some of them just cannot be seen.

(apart from the numpties who don't bother with any lighting up duties !)

 

Sidelights are for when the car is stopped - i.e. Parking Lights.

 

Safety, really, should be the paramount issue here.

 

Being seen, is what I see (!) as being the important point here.

 

It's like with many cyclists over here - they don't bother with lights - because THEY can see. 

They don't consider that they might not be seen.

 

** If you have a no light, or a dim light, and the car behind, or beside, has headlights on -

which one will you be more likely to see first? **

 

I go for the safety option every time.

 

Indeed - I think manufacturers should make the "position 1" into a position 4 (or even 5 !) - for parking up, only!

 

 

If it so dark that you cannot see the instrument cluster, then you need proper lights and not sidelights. Simple logic, and an efficient reminder to turn on the headlights!!

 

I'm with you, totally, on this one, the_raz !! :-)

Edited 27 November, 201510 yr by Dithane

My instrument cluster light varies a little with ambient light and it normally lights bright when the leds are on and the sky is clear and sunny. But the crazy thing is that when it is "half dark" outside the instrument light disappers completly ( only the pointers and the centerpart of the instrument lights bright) and it will come back first when the automatic turns on the headlight. The dealer cant find the fault!!!!!

My instrument cluster light varies a little with ambient light and it normally lights bright when the leds are on and the sky is clear and sunny. But the crazy thing is that when it is "half dark" outside the instrument light disappers completly ( only the pointers and the centerpart of the instrument lights bright) and it will come back first when the automatic turns on the headlight. The dealer cant find the fault!!!!!

It's not a fault, the instrument cluster is dimming to make sure you turn the lights on as the ambient sensor detects that the light is low therefore prompting you to turn the full lights on.

It is still stupid. Why do I have to turn on the headlight manually when the light switch is set on automatic? The automatic should take care of that and switch on the headlight without dimming the clusterlight first,  otherwise it is a stupid design. One could think that the system do not have enough current for the relay or the transistor to turn on the headlight so it needs all it can get from the clusterlight.

It's not a fault, the instrument cluster is dimming to make sure you turn the lights on as the ambient sensor detects that the light is low therefore prompting you to turn the full lights on.

 

I think this is done so that the cluster light should not be too bright when there is less ambient light. If you feel that the full lights turn on too late, you can change this is the car settings in the radio. I have not had to touch the light switch at all, I am perfectly happy with the way the car handles the lights. With auto setting you can get the high beams and fog lights on as well.

Thanks for your answer. I have set the cluster light for full strengh.  When it is sunny or  dark outside the cluster light is bright but when it is foggy or not so bright outside the cluster light is totally dark.

This photos show the difference in cluster light

Sidelights are an odd one on Modern Cars, like why do the still have them,

and why do cars have sidelights that are on with headlights but not able to be seen because they are in beside the Dipped / Full Beam?

http://gov.uk/general-rules-all-drivers-riders-103-to-158/lighting-requirements-113-to-116

I would argue that sidelights are still useful; in the Mersey Tunnel it always used to be recommended that you use sidelights rather than headlights, as the tunnels are lit. DRLs through the tunnel are a complete nightmare.

In addition, if you're parked at the side of the road dropping somebody off, sidelights are useful as you don't dazzle other drivers.

By the same token I would argue that dials should always be lit. They are in the DS3 we have, but I don't confuse them with the headlights being on, because I actually look at the road in front of me, unlike some people that we see driving around in the dark with their DRLs on [emoji23]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Edited 31 December, 201510 yr by Octy09

IMG_0472.JPGIMG_0471.JPG

My lights are the same it seems to be all about the external ambient light suddenly in normal daylight you go through a shaded area the display disappears and only the pointers and centres are lit but you are in a situation where you would not normally put the lights on. I personally think the display should be lit all the time and you should use your own common sense as to when you need your lights on and not totally rely on the cars automated features. Joe

When dropping someone off or stopped at the wrong side of the road and you are facing the traffic with your dipped beam facing right at vehicles coming towards you it is certainly a good thing to have sidelights available, it is amazing how many have not a clue what their dipped beam are doing.

 

Sidelights / Position Lights do still have a purpose without a doubt, but how they are now designed and positioned on vehicles is so very hit or miss.

I agree that the display should be lit all the time not only the pointers and the center part. Hope some technical people from the Skoda factory read this and make a change in the future.

It's a bl**dy stupid feature.

I'm guessing it's a CCM coding thing, & could be recoded with VCDS?