7.5 LED headlights - how good are they?

[Mark V GTD]

Presume there are a few facelift models owned by members here now - so how do the new LED lights shape up compared to the old xenons?

[Hertsman]

Remember the dark old days of my Audi A3 with standard lights, they truly were like candles the amount of light they gave, so the xenon upgrades were greatly received.

However do think they could be better still on standard beam so be interested to see how much the LED lights are perceived to add?

[JoeGTI]

No direct experience but I've heard that the LED's fitted to Seat Leon's is no better than xenons, or at least no real perceptible difference. One disadvantage of LED's I've heard many report is that they don't produce any heat. So in winter when yours lamps are covered in frost, there's no heat in the lamp to melt it off.

I think anyone who spec's dynamic light assist though will see a great difference. With that option, you can drive with high beam on always. The car cuts off the portion of the light that would blind incoming traffic when necessary.

[I wanted a GTi]

No direct experience but I've heard that the LED's fitted to Seat Leon's is no better than xenons, or at least no real perceptible difference. One disadvantage of LED's I've heard many report is that they don't produce any heat. So in winter when yours lamps are covered in frost, there's no heat in the lamp to melt it off.

I think anyone who spec's dynamic light assist though will see a great difference. With that option, you can drive with high beam on always. The car cuts off the portion of the light that would blind incoming traffic when necessary.

I had dynamic light assist on my CC to say I notice a difference is an understatement.

[hog_hedge]

I think they are fantastic but I have come from a Corsa with halogen headlights and have never owned a car with xenons.

That's probably not much use to you though.

[eatontrifles]

I'll be able to compare a 7.5 with Dynamic Light Assist to a BMW 3 series with Adaptive Xenons just as soon as I get a chance to drive in the dark.

[Mark V GTD]

Thanks chaps - hopefully will get some more responses to compare to the xenons on the earlier models.....

[Arnold_Lane]

A couple of years ago I test drove a new Leon FR in the dark and had driven over to the dealership in out Audi A6 with xenons. On returning in the Audi, my impression was that the only difference was the colour of the light - the LED's being whiter, but the xenons were just as good in terms of spread & distance.

I'm looking forward to getting my new Golf with LED's but doubt that night time visibility will be overly enhanced.
It's a bit like where the councils have switched to LED streetlamps, the eerie white light is different without actually making the the road particularly better lit.

[I wanted a GTi]

Not all led lights are equal just like not all xenon lights are the same. Take the VW CC facelift, the xenon lights were better on the car without the bending lights compared to the ones that had them. They had different reflectors and cut off blades. The difference was quite staggering, especially the light spread.

Where led lights come good is when you have the like of matrix lights where they can change the light pattern depending on road and conditions.

[eatontrifles]

Just been out for my first drive in the dark, and did a quick (15 minute ) video with my dashcam on some dark, twisty, narrow and bumpy roads - a good test I think!
https://youtu.be/ACIPrOs9KFw

I'm comparing to my previous car - a 2010 BMW 3 series which had Adaptive (cornering) Xenons and auto high beam the lights are very good. Obviously the DLA system is going to be different to just adaptive cornering and turning the high beam on/off automatically but comparing the spread of the beams, colour and range they are excellent. The standard cornering feature is slightly different to the BMW and seems a bit slower to react to steering input, but that could just be me getting used to a different system.

Anyway, take a look at the video - unless you're really into this kind of thing it's probably very dull...
I only turned DLA on after two minutes as I thought it would automatically activate but you have to put the main beam on auto for it to work.
I showed the startup procedure when I turned the ignition on as well which may or may not be required technically but looks very cool. I met a few cars coming the other way, and came up behind a couple of cars so you can see the splitting of the beam quite nicely, as well as the cornering and beam spread when I drop into a 30mph zone.

For reference, after I'd turned the main beam on I didn't do anything else to the lights.