Looking at Mk3 Octavias some have xenon lights and some have LED. Currently i drive a MK3 Leon with LED lights and i think they are amazing. I have never driven a car with xenon so i need advice which cars to aim for.

 

 

Thanks in advance

The some FL Octavia have LED dependant on spec. All pre FL models have either halogen or xenon. 

I opted for the pre FL version as I do not like the headlight arrangement on the FL. I prefer the look of the single lense pre FL.

As regards lighting performance Xenon and led are both good,in fact xenon seem to perform better on certain cars.

I believe the reason led have superseded xenon is because of their low energy use.

I've had 6 different cars with xenon headlights. These LEDs on my facelift, in my opinion, perform better than the xenon lights. 

 

Safety wise, you wouldn't have thought the industry would be allowed to take a step backwards using the LED technology!

I had an Oct 2 with Xenons and they were awesome as the lenses turned when cornering - I really miss that nowadays.  I do find that as a driver, on coming cars with LED lights can sometime be literally blinding .. some worse than others.

 

The other thing is I notice that LED lights loose output quicker when dirty compared to Xenon.  Headlight wash on Xenons is an EU requirement (except on a very few cars where light output is below a certain level), but Washers on LED isn't a requirement as far as i'm aware ......

 

Example being both our cars have LED headlights, the wifes Cooper S doesn't have h\wash, but my A6 allroad does.

Do any of the LED options have cornering availability? 

 

I drive a mk 3 (non FL) vRS with Xenon and like the cornering ability of them. I also drive a standard FL Octavia for work with LED headlamps and whilst the brightness is good (not really better than xenon though) I do miss that little extra feature.

Hi,

 

I have the Superb with LED and it does have the cornering function however I think i is done differently than HID, I do not think they move left and right  but by switching in extra LEDs and also the fog lights.

 

John

Xenon was a decent spread of light and quite a lot of it; between Xenon and LED on low beam there's not much difference. LED high beam is nicer pattern and more light than the Xenons, ref 20 vs 17.5. I used to drive a 2016, now have a 2019. The difference is appreciable and the LEDs really do put out a little more light. Yes, we get serious darkness up here and yes, I don't think either is really enough.

The cornering lights etc are a little nicer with LED - they're higher and so they reach a little better, but the movement is something I haven't really had a chance to test and can't say I've seen it even when trying. The old Xenon had that down better.

 

 - Bret

The "corning" of LED's isn't required as the spread of light is far superior to Xenon's.

You're very much getting a placebo effect - you think that by the lights not moving left to right you're not getting so much light in front of you - it's simply that the LED lights light-up everything that the Xenon needs to throw by moving left and right.

As mentioned, as you corner an additional lights kicks in, no movement of lights required.

I don't see the light spread to be very different ... I've already done my fair share of night trips back up the (unlit) motorway from the office and airport and I'm happy that it's virtually identical. Slightly colder temperature, decent spread across both lanes, but without the obvious kick on the central reservation that higher speed brought on the 2016.

 

The only real difference I see is the obvious blob of light when low-speed turning and the better throw, with a less-defined hotspot in the far distance on high. There are also apparently additional LEDs on high vs dipped, it's not just a mirror / shutter as it was with the Xenon. 

 

 - Bret

22 hours ago, Stoofa said:

The "corning" of LED's isn't required as the spread of light is far superior to Xenon's.

You're very much getting a placebo effect - you think that by the lights not moving left to right you're not getting so much light in front of you - it's simply that the LED lights light-up everything that the Xenon needs to throw by moving left and right.

As mentioned, as you corner an additional lights kicks in, no movement of lights required.

 

I ve got cornering on my A6 but reckon the actual beam movement spread better lights on cornering in my 2010 Oct with Xenon