Headlights - Driving in Europe

[Dan85]

Hi All,

First I should introduce myself, I am new here but have been using this invaluable resource for a while to 1 help me decide to buy the outlander and 2 get the most from it.

I took delivery of a frost white Gx4H in january and have not been disappointed. The car is primarily for my commute to work which is 40 miles, mixture of motorway and a roads. I am a self confessed petrol head but must admit the new element of eeking out as much as possible from the EV is great fun.

I am driving to Europe over the weekend and i wondered if there is a function to switch the headlights to left hand drive mode as i had a previous car which could do this?

Sorry if this is a repeated question but i have used the search function and checked the manual but cant find anything.

Thanks

Dan

 

[maby]

I can't see anything on the subject in the manual. I seem to recall someone here saying that it was not necessary, or possible, to convert the beam if you have the HID lights installed - they don't dip to either side, just down with a sharp transition line.

 

[jaapv]

According to the manual not needed nor recommended with HID lights.

 

[Dan85]

Thanks for that, i couldnt find that in my manual, just read the whole headlight section.

 

[rkde]

All my other cars with HID lights all have a switch in the headlight to switch to the other side. Don't know about the outlander but I would find it odd that it does not have this feature

 

[Hypermiler]

Hi there.
It was me that originally asked this as we took the car to Germany after having it a couple of weeks. The manual said that there was no need to adjust the beams if you had a certain type of headlight (which we do, forget what it called it). I found it very odd as you can see the beams are UK-adjusted - in summer with two small children we didn't do any night time driving so was no problem - a bit different if going abroad at this time of year though!
Satnav works well on the continent by the way. Don't forget to check the setting to switch off the alarm tilt sensor for the ferry - some jiggery poker with the wiper arm.
Have a good trip!
H

 

[jaapv]

Hi there.
It was me that originally asked this as we took the car to Germany after having it a couple of weeks. The manual said that there was no need to adjust the beams if you had a certain type of headlight (which we do, forget what it called it). I found it very odd as you can see the beams are UK-adjusted - in summer with two small children we didn't do any night time driving so was no problem - a bit different if going abroad at this time of year though!
Satnav works well on the continent by the way. Don't forget to check the setting to switch off the alarm tilt sensor for the ferry - some jiggery poker with the wiper arm.
Have a good trip!
H

Don't forget to reserve your free chargepoint on the ferry!

 

[Hypermiler]

jaap - do they have them on the Hull - Rotterdam route do you know?
Cheers
H

 

[Dan85]

Thanks for the tips, unfortunately Dover-Dunkirk dont offer charging but luckily the familly run hotel we are going to have kindly said that we can charge there. I was very surprised to see that there are any charges around Dover, so I am going to rapid charge on the M20 on the way down.

 

[jaapv]

I only know about the Hook-Harwich ferry. I.e. Stena Brittanica and Stena Hollandia. The times I used it I drove up early and inquired.

 

[maby]

All my other cars with HID lights all have a switch in the headlight to switch to the other side. Don't know about the outlander but I would find it odd that it does not have this feature

The Outlander HID dipped beam seems to be completely symmetrical across the front of the car, so there is no scope to switch - it annoys everyone uniformly irrespective of what side of the road you are driving. It's the first car I've had with HID lights, so I have nothing to compare with. I have to say that, while it is great for the driver, it can get embarrassing sometimes with the number of oncoming vehicles that flash me.

 

[Titan]

I was looking at the beam spread while driving last night and agree that the lateral spread iappears symmetrical. Also thought that the upper cutoff was quite high and ideally would have liked to be able to drop it a little (but obviously can't). Thankfully not been flashed by anyone yet but am acutely aware of how high the spread goes.

 

[maby]

I was looking at the beam spread while driving last night and agree that the lateral spread iappears symmetrical. Also thought that the upper cutoff was quite high and ideally would have liked to be able to drop it a little (but obviously can't). Thankfully not been flashed by anyone yet but am acutely aware of how high the spread goes.

Gwatpe tells us that it is quite easy to lower the beam with an allen key of the correct size.

 

[Titan]

I was looking at the beam spread while driving last night and agree that the lateral spread iappears symmetrical. Also thought that the upper cutoff was quite high and ideally would have liked to be able to drop it a little (but obviously can't). Thankfully not been flashed by anyone yet but am acutely aware of how high the spread goes.

Gwatpe tells us that it is quite easy to lower the beam with an allen key of the correct size.

Ah, I'll check that out, thanks

 

[aitchjaybee]

i get flashed a fair bit, just thought a lot of people recognised me. Come to think of it, how did they see my face at night? :lol: Joking aside, most flashes are on uphill sections when the dazzle is even worse on the mitsu.
My VW passat bi-xenons beat the mitsu HIDs hands down (also motorised, they adapted to point in direction of bends, awesome on country roads at night) but the dipped HIDs are pretty good and a fraction of the price

 

[maby]

The trouble with the Outlander HIDs is that, because the beam is symmetrical, they really do impact oncoming vehicles when an irregularity in the road (including the brow of a hill) lifts the beam.

 

[gwatpe]

You will need an 8mm socket to adjust the beam. I made a mark on a wall and adjusted the beam down about an inch. Quite easy to see as the cutoff is very sharp. Once you have a reference you can adjust up or down until it is right.