IQ headlights

[M6TT F]

Slightly confused as to how they’re supposed to work. Do they dip the main beam automatically once it’s been switched on by the driver, or do you still have to do it? Secondly, my MK 7 had the optional cornering light which was great when turning into side roads, but the IQ lights don’t appear to do this?

[fredgroves]

It doesn't dip, it tracks things that don't want to be zapped by high beam and masks them out by changing which leds are lit.

When you see something coming towards you you'll see the masking around it.

And yes you have to activate it each time you start the car by hand. Am guessing it's like the old hba on the mk7, a long press on high beam stalk and it activates and you get a headlight with an A icon appear on the dash.

Fairly sure it does have cornering lights too and like the mk7.5 it uses some of the led in the lamp to do it, not a separate bulb like the mk7 xenons used.

[mistac]

Dynamic Light Assist can automatically put the main beam on and uses cameras to mask it at the appropriate time to prevent blinding oncoming traffic.

https://www.volkswagen-newsroom.com/en/dynamic-light-assist-3671

IQ Lights are multiple individually controlled LED's.

https://www.volkswagen-newsroom.com/en/iqlight-led-matrix-headlights-3938

[fredgroves]

I can answer this one for sure...

Activate ninja high beam mode just by pushing the left stalk like you would to put it on main beam.

After that, it does its thing - masking oncoming traffic, lighting the rest of the world up to the horizon virtually.

When you enter a built up area you see the little high beam blue symbol go white, because it won't attempt to use high beam in lit areas.

Very clever.

You have to enable it every time you start the car, its not on by default btw.

It also definitely does have corner light function, although its all part of the main LED headlight cluster, no separate bulbs.

[Dave1rs]

It lights are awesome,I drive along expecting to be flashed but never am.

It’s very clever seeing the light pattern constantly changing.

[dubber36]

Just digging this one up as I was out in the Tig with IQ lights last night.

They are brilliant, however one thing I did notice on the motorway was where there was a solid central reservation, the camera wasn't picking up oncoming headlights. This was fine with opposing cars as they were shielded from my lights by the barrier, but truck cabs were being lit up. Mindful of this, I used dipped beam manually, but I doubt many people would realise.

[JoeGTI]

Yeah they're a brilliant system, one of the best things about the car, but like any tech, they aren't foolproof. Oncoming traffic on motorways is one issue (especially oncoming HGV's) and I also notice they aren't too forgiving to pedestrians / cyclists... if you meet someone walking / cycling, I don't think the lights mask out the high beam for them.

[Carlosfandango]

Yeah they're a brilliant system, one of the best things about the car, but like any tech, they aren't foolproof. Oncoming traffic on motorways is one issue (especially oncoming HGV's) and I also notice they aren't too forgiving to pedestrians / cyclists... if you meet someone walking / cycling, I don't think the lights mask out the high beam for them.

They fail to dip when you are approaching a car that is pulling out from a side road too, presumably as the camera is unaware of it as it cannot see their headlights.

[JoeGTI]

Yeah they're a brilliant system, one of the best things about the car, but like any tech, they aren't foolproof. Oncoming traffic on motorways is one issue (especially oncoming HGV's) and I also notice they aren't too forgiving to pedestrians / cyclists... if you meet someone walking / cycling, I don't think the lights mask out the high beam for them.

They fail to dip when you are approaching a car that is pulling out from a side road too, presumably as the camera is unaware of it as it cannot see their headlights.

Yes, I've noticed that one too! So you do need to be alert to the fact they aren't 100% and you'll need to manually dip now and again. I have been flashed a couple of times by oncoming cars a couple of times too where for some reason they failed to work when they should have.

[Exonian]

Yeah, I’ve had a few angry flashes from blinded artic drivers myself when on dark stretches of motorway. Trouble is I find that sometimes it can be hit and miss when trying to switch off the intelligent high beam function in a hurry. It’s a lottery as to whether I get a clunk as the stalk returns to dipped beam position or merely does a headlight flash before retuning to the pushed forward main beam position.
90% of my driving is on dark rural roads between September/October and April so I’m a huge fan of the IQ lights.