Octavia Headlights

[gregozedobe]

Has anyone else got the factory Xenon (HID) headlights and find them adjusted too high on low beam ?

I've taken my Octy back to the dealer but they refused to set them lower, just put them on their test machine and said they were set correctly.

On anything except a perfectly flat straight road they seem to be frequently shining too high, often dazzling other drivers (many of them flash me to complain and I don't blame them). I think I'll have to investigate what manual adjustments are possible. The self-levelling setup seems to be functioning as it is supposed to, the problem is the base-line setting is simply too high.

They are a good light, plenty of illumination and great throw off to the left. Tend to make the halogen high beam seem a bit ordinary though (I'm looking at some better H1 globes to help with that).

[ScienceVR6]

alot of xenon cars seem to be set up like that. Its very strange, considering when i did a xeon conversion to a GT-R skyline, they wher pointed heavily at the ground compaired to the halogen's.

[space-godzilla]

This may sound like a dumb question but how can you tell if your Octavia has xenon headlights? I just bought a 2008 RS demo and was trying to figure out if it has the xenon headlights. I haven't really driven it at night yet but I opened the bonnet this morning and there are quite large white plastic boxes behind the headlamp assemblies. That is, no apparent place to house a halogen bulb.

[K1W1]

This may sound like a dumb question but how can you tell if your Octavia has xenon headlights?

Xenon bulbs look more like projectors than standard halogen bulbs.

[gregozedobe]

This may sound like a dumb question but how can you tell if your Octavia has xenon headlights?

In Australia the easiest way to tell from the outside is if the car has headlight washers in the front bumper - the trapezoid (lozenge) shaped shield just below the headlights (in other countries you could option headlight washers on halogen headlights, but in Oz only the Xenon equipped cars get them).

From the inside of the car if there is a headlight level adjusting switch (part of the dash brightness switch) then the car has halogen headlights, if it doesn't have this switch it has Xenons (they are self levelling, so no switch).

Both Halogen and Xenon (or more accurately HID or gas discharge) Octy headlights appear to have the same exterior lenses and headlight housings, so just looking at the outside of the headlight doesn't tell you which is which. If you look inside the semi-clear plastic cover on the back you will see a lot more electronics (eg ballast) on Xenon headlights.

Xenon headlights do a "down and up" dance about 2 seconds after the engine is started (the self levelling stuff calibrating), halogens only move up and down when you operate the manual levelling switch I mentioned above.

Xenon headlights are on low beam only on Octy IIs, and have a much broader spread and a very white, even beam pattern.

All clear now ?

[ope126]

I love the "Up, Down, Side to Side" Dance they do!!!

[Jake02]

Xenon bulbs look more like projectors than standard halogen bulbs.

Sorry, but Aus-spec cars get Projectors as standard (and they are fantastic too). And yep, here the only main difference is the little square at the bottom of the headlights (the washers) and quite obviously, the fantastic blue colour (Y)