Adaptive Lights (AFL) question?

[FloatingBrick]

My car has the Xenon AFL lights, which I'm lead to believe means 'Adaptive Forward Lighting'? I'm aware that the headlamps turn with the steering input (I have to confess that I like that feature), and the fog lights illuminate when turning at low speeds, but does AFL also mean that the light pattern changes depending on the road type or driving style (ie, projector style on motorways, and wide spread in towns etc)? I've not noticed any difference, but maybe that's because the nights are getting lighter. 

[Finchbee]

Hi

 

you probably want to read this thread, I had the same question

 

I also discovered that the steering input following is dependent on the drive mode (most effective in Sport, less dramatic in Normal and fixed in Eco)

[FloatingBrick]

Thanks Finchbee, it appears that AFS adjusts the Xenon light beam pattern depending on the steering angle and vehicle speed. I'm just not noticing any significant changes on mine, but maybe I'm expecting too much? 

[Sagalout]

Yes it does/should adjust light patterns etc but note especially the last section about when using economy mode on the drive select programme. Quite a few of us got caught out by that at first .

If you also have 'light assist' then this will automatically switch between high and low beam once yo have set it.

If you have 'dynamic light assist' this keeps the lights on full beam and simply shades the area where you might otherwise dazzle oncoming or leading vehicles. 

 

From the owners manual for AFL.

The system works as long as the light switch is in position AUTO. The system operates automatically in the following modes.
Out of town mode
The cone of light in front of the vehicle is similar to the low beam.
City mode
The light cone in front of the vehicle is adjusted so that this can also illuminate
the adjacent pavements, intersections, pedestrian crossings, etc. The mode is
active at speeds of 15 - 50 km / h.
Motorway mode
The cone of light in front of the vehicle is adjusted so that the driver can respond in time to an obstruction or other hazard in time. The mode is active at
speeds above 110 km/h.
Rain mode
The cone of light in front of the vehicle is adjusted so that the driver can reduce the glare from oncoming vehicles in rain. The mode is active at speeds of 50 – 90 km/h and if the windscreen wipers continuously operate for a period of time longer than about 2 minutes. The deactivation of the mode is carried out a few minutes after switching off the wiper.
Fog mode
The cone of light in front of the vehicle is adjusted so that the driver is not dazzled by the reflection of the cone of light by fog in front of the vehicle. The mode is active at speeds of 15 – 70 km/h and if the rear fog light is switched on for a period of time longer than about 10 seconds. The deactivation of the mode is carried out a few minutes after switching off the rear fog lights.
Dynamic cornering lights
The cone of light in front of the vehicle is adjusted to the steering angle so that the road in the curve is illuminated. This function is active at speeds greater than 10 km.h and in all System modes.
travel mode ( driving on the continent)
If the travel mode is activated, there is no automatic cone of light adaptation in front of the vehicle. The travel mode can be activated/deactivated in the 
Economy mode
When the Eco driving mode » page 172 is activated the system is in Economy mode and there is no direction dependent light cone adaptation in front of the vehicle.

Edited 13 April, 2017 by Sagalout

[FloatingBrick]

16 minutes ago, Sagalout said:

Yes it does/should adjust light patterns etc but note especially the last section about when using economy mode on the drive select programme. Quite a few of us got caught out by that at first .

If you also have 'light assist' then this will automatically switch between high and low beam once yo have set it.

If you have 'dynamic light assist' this keeps the lights on full beam and simply shades the area where you might otherwise dazzle oncoming or leading vehicles. 

 

From the owners manual for AFL.

The system works as long as the light switch is in position AUTO. The system operates automatically in the following modes.
Out of town mode
The cone of light in front of the vehicle is similar to the low beam.
City mode
The light cone in front of the vehicle is adjusted so that this can also illuminate
the adjacent pavements, intersections, pedestrian crossings, etc. The mode is
active at speeds of 15 - 50 km / h.
Motorway mode
The cone of light in front of the vehicle is adjusted so that the driver can respond in time to an obstruction or other hazard in time. The mode is active at
speeds above 110 km/h.
Rain mode
The cone of light in front of the vehicle is adjusted so that the driver can reduce the glare from oncoming vehicles in rain. The mode is active at speeds of 50 – 90 km/h and if the windscreen wipers continuously operate for a period of time longer than about 2 minutes. The deactivation of the mode is carried out a few minutes after switching off the wiper.
Fog mode
The cone of light in front of the vehicle is adjusted so that the driver is not dazzled by the reflection of the cone of light by fog in front of the vehicle. The mode is active at speeds of 15 – 70 km/h and if the rear fog light is switched on for a period of time longer than about 10 seconds. The deactivation of the mode is carried out a few minutes after switching off the rear fog lights.
Dynamic cornering lights
The cone of light in front of the vehicle is adjusted to the steering angle so that the road in the curve is illuminated. This function is active at speeds greater than 10 km.h and in all System modes.
travel mode ( driving on the continent)
If the travel mode is activated, there is no automatic cone of light adaptation in front of the vehicle. The travel mode can be activated/deactivated in the 
Economy mode
When the Eco driving mode » page 172 is activated the system is in Economy mode and there is no direction dependent light cone adaptation in front of the vehicle.

Thanks Sagalout for the detailed explanation and clarity, I think you've answered my question and it all makes more sense now. I've also found the following brief description on the Skoda website, which ties in with what you said...

 

"ŠKODA Superb Bi-Xenon Headlamps with AFS (Adaptive Frontlight System) represents top technology, which based on the current driving conditions and the speed of the car enables automatic headlights adjustment. The front lights also include the rain function, which you will welcome during low visibility operations and even during a snowstorm. The AFS also includes rotation of the headlamps when driving through a curve plus fog headlamps with Corner function. The AFS system is capable of working in different regimes:
   - Extra-urban - regime similar to a standard dimmed lights.
   - Urban - wider and shorter spread of the light.
   - Motorway -  long light persistence.
 

[Sagalout]

Glad to help. These modern cars require a degree in owner manual interpretation; hundreds of pages to trawl through. Who do they think actually reads it all the way through  

I  

[Coops]

Personally speaking, I think the AFL system is rubbish.

 

I don't notice any change in the beam pattern at all and the beam spread is worse than my Superb Mk II which had halogens. Yes the Xenon lights are brighter but they only light up about 20 metres in front of my car. At night, at speed, that isn't enough.

 

 

[Sagalout]

Coops. My AFL system is the best I have had. Lights up the road like a stage and high beam can, I swear, see almost all the way to the moon 

 

Are you sure yours is set correctly? If you say yes then I would get it checked out, something is not right.

[Coops]

2 minutes ago, Sagalout said:

Coops. My AFL system is the best I have had. Lights up the road like a stage and high beam can, I swear, see almost all the way to the moon 

 

Are you sure yours is set correctly? If you say yes then I would get it checked out, something is not right.

 

Don't get me wrong Sagalout, the lights are good but IMO the beam spread just isn't very good. I do about 35k miles a year and can honestly say that I'm nervous when driving at night, at speed, without main beam on. The lights just don't see far enough down the road to enable any progress to be made, and we're only talking 60 mph here. Main beam is great I agree, but I can't drive round on main beam all the time at night!

 

The lights bend/turn at low speed but that's all they do.

 

 

It's been back to the lovely Skoda dealer network only to be told "it's working correctly"! 

 

Luckily, someone has driven into the front of me in a car park resulting in some damage and whilst driving at night I've noticed the alignment is even worse BUT at least this means that it will need to be looked at properly once the repairs are done.

 

 

[Sagalout]

Crikey, you are not having the best of luck with this one are you? Hope you get it sorted and the lights are better when you get it back.

I had a Merc before this Skoda and my wife drives a Volvo with full LED lights but I still prefer the Skoda. The Volvo LED is good for edgewise illumination but otherwise the Skoda beats it hands down.

[Coops]

7 minutes ago, Sagalout said:

Crikey, you are not having the best of luck with this one are you? Hope you get it sorted and the lights are better when you get it back.

I had a Merc before this Skoda and my wife drives a Volvo with full LED lights but I still prefer the Skoda. The Volvo LED is good for edgewise illumination but otherwise the Skoda beats it hands down.

 

You're not wrong there! Some things I'm really impressed with on the S3, others I'm not. 

[MattChr]

On 4/21/2017 at 14:53, Coops said:

 

Don't get me wrong Sagalout, the lights are good but IMO the beam spread just isn't very good. I do about 35k miles a year and can honestly say that I'm nervous when driving at night, at speed, without main beam on. The lights just don't see far enough down the road to enable any progress to be made, and we're only talking 60 mph here. Main beam is great I agree, but I can't drive round on main beam all the time at night!

 

The lights bend/turn at low speed but that's all they do.

 

 

It's been back to the lovely Skoda dealer network only to be told "it's working correctly"! 

 

Luckily, someone has driven into the front of me in a car park resulting in some damage and whilst driving at night I've noticed the alignment is even worse BUT at least this means that it will need to be looked at properly once the repairs are done.

 

 

@Coops I'm having similar issues with my Octy 3 FL, which comes with LED lights. Dealer said it's meant to adjust according to driving conditions, but I find they're far too low to make progress on unlit loads.

Did you have any success after your car was repaired?

[Juicee]

Coops, i had the same problem with lights set too low. Far too low, i was affraid driving  at night, especially on highways!

 

After light beam alignment at dealer, roads are bright again!

[Nick_H]

Im with Coops on this.  My mk2 Octavia Xenons were amazing on dip. Facelift Scout not as good and now the Superb very poor on dip at night on nsl back roads.

 

Main beam is great.Dealer says they are set correctly.

[JR RS]

dealers r full of crap - sorry.  just because they point down doesn't mean they're aimed correctly.

i've driven (urban and high/motor way) plenty times at night, and the xenon lights illuminate the road nicely, and adequately with low beams.

if they're not - then have not been aimed/aligned correctly enough.

my mk2 octavia with low beam xenons were brilliant too.  on par with my mk3 superb.

 

with regards to AFS - apart from the swiveling, u can't notice it "alter" the beam pattern.  i have however noticed, in suburban driving, when i come to a stop behind a car at the lights, after a sec or two, the right beam re-adjusts (moves) a bit to the left/middle.  i haven't checked/noticed the left low beam yet.

[Coops]

20 hours ago, MattChr said:

@Coops I'm having similar issues with my Octy 3 FL, which comes with LED lights. Dealer said it's meant to adjust according to driving conditions, but I find they're far too low to make progress on unlit loads.

Did you have any success after your car was repaired?

 

to be perfectly honest, I've only driven at night once since the repair so can't really comment. It seemed slightly better but hard to tell.

[Legfitter]

Hi all. I had an issue with the Smart Light Assistant not working at all when driving out of my town into complete darkness. There's a pub about a mile down the road and I spent a while going backwards and forwards. I was also surprised at how poor the dipped lights were in general and eventually came to the conclusion that they were only aimed about 15 meters in front of the car. I stopped, switched the car off and then back on and after doing their dance the dipped beams were pointing out in front perfectly normally - and what a surprise, the SLA worked flawlessly on the next time leaving the street lights. Anyone got any ideas? I think the physical lights are probably OK as when it worked they were fine. I'm wondering if it's a sensor calibration issue?? 

[Sagalout]

This has been reported elsewhere on this forum recently.  Seems to be linked to cold weather more than anything else apparently. The system appears not to correctly set on initial start but with the archetypal switch it off switch it on again it self corrects. 

I have had this happen once in 9 months and that was recently when it was sub zero.

[JackySi]

I think these lights are the best I ever had. I do have to agree with others. I'm sure Coops that u have miss-aligned  lights because mine at 90km/h are almost as high beams on my mothers Octavia. With High beams I see lol, every where as far as my eyes can see. (on the road ofc)

[rtj70]

I did my first long journey with the smart light assist yesterday. But when it was on (motorways) it did not provide anymore light than the normal beam which was excellent. But then I did back to back testing in 2007 between my then car and the next car to see which was better (same route/roads without any lighting).... I went for Xenons back then. 

 

Did the same back to back testing 4 years later to decide if I still wanted the optional Xenons on a Passat CC. This time they were bi-xenon and the Mazda6 used halogen for full beam. What a difference bi-xenon made.

 

Never did the same test for the previous (A3) and this car... it was fair old drive to get to unlit A roads to really try lighting out.

[BAJM]

Having my lights fixed tomorrow at dealers as dip beam is set too low. Dealer advised me that Skoda are aware of this issue and have a fix in place that involves new parts. I will ask for more info when I am in the dealers . I have a 2017 SEL 1.4 TSI

[nicklouse]

I'm collecting mine next week (built start of the year) so would be interested to know when (if??) they have put any new parts into the production line! 

[BAJM]

Collected the car yesterday an lights are much improved, they  go through a alignment procedure when switched on and do a "wiggle" for a couple of seconds, didn't do this before,the movement of the lights when cornering is now very noticeable particularly in sports mode and lights up all the areas you are heading towards.The fix didn't involve spare parts as I was  initially told, it was a "software update as per technically enquiry" from the dealer to Skoda.

[rtj70]

Xenons always have to calibrate on a restart. On my old Mazda6 it just did up and down (no adaptive lighting). On the Passat CC, Audi A3 and now the Superb they do up/down and side to side. In the dark you can see them  working but it does it even if the lights are off.

 

Lights on my Superb touch wood or working fine and move left/right when turning the wheel. Cornering fog lights come on when angle of steering greater or you indicate say at a junction.

[BAJM]

Collected the car yesterday an lights are much improved, they  go through a alignment procedure when switched on and do a "wiggle" for a couple of seconds, didn't do this before,the movement of the lights when cornering is now very noticeable particularly in sports mode and lights up all the areas you are heading towards.The fix didn't involve spare parts as I was  initially told it was a "software update as per technically enquiry" from the dealer to Skoda. Incidentally there was a campaign mod carried out on the vehicle assist (SOS callout) function, campaign number is 91R2