Quick Trigger on Automatic Light Sensor

[billygator]

Took my first long road trip today - Charlotte to Myrtle Beach. Really enjoyed the ride but discovered a minor annoyance. For the last 90 minutes before dusk, the lights went on and off 7-8 times - also dimming the dash and nav. I was driving through some rural areas where trees cast shadows across the road, but it was clear and very light out in general. Gosh knows I put plenty of miles on in my other cars with auto headlights driving at the same time of day, but have not experienced this.

Has anyone else noticed this over-sensitivity?

P.S. on the 250 mile drive that was 80% interstate, 10% two lane rural and 10% city, I got a wonderful 29.5 MPG. Very happy with that.

 

[enjoyingsilence]

the sensor is quite sennnnn-si-tiiiive... If you get my drift.

Makes me wonder why there aren't 1) DRLs in the car. 2) and if it's purposely sensitive out of Hyundai's safety stigma.

You could probably mod the sensor on the dashboard in some way if you figured out how to disassemble the ellipsoidal casing around it...

 

[blasterguam]

I'd keep an eye on this one if I were you. It's possible you have a bad photocell in the sensor unit. If this problem persists I would make the dealer aware of it.

 

[ShoNuff]

Odd - my Gen seems to be really reluctant to cut the lights on in auto mode. Going into a garage, it doesn't turn on the lights until about 10 seconds have passed. I wonder if each car has a hidden setting for sensitivity somewhere in the software?

 

[blasterguam]

Like most cars with auto headlights, this too probably has a delay sensor so that every time you drive under a bridge or freeway overpass the lights don't come on. (Now THAT would be annoying!)

 

[Sonata2009]

I had an XG350 that would trigger on overpasses routinely, but the sunset never confused it that much.

 

[DanTheMan]

Took my first long road trip today - Charlotte to Myrtle Beach. Really enjoyed the ride but discovered a minor annoyance. For the last 90 minutes before dusk, the lights went on and off 7-8 times - also dimming the dash and nav. I was driving through some rural areas where trees cast shadows across the road, but it was clear and very light out in general. Gosh knows I put plenty of miles on in my other cars with auto headlights driving at the same time of day, but have not experienced this.

Has anyone else noticed this over-sensitivity?

P.S. on the 250 mile drive that was 80% interstate, 10% two lane rural and 10% city, I got a wonderful 29.5 MPG. Very happy with that.

I drive to work in the mornings in what appears to be roughly the same amount of daylight--just enough to to not have the lights on, even though many cars on the road do. Interestingly, the sensor doesn't engage the lights even if I think they should be on (due to the amount of light, fog, rain, etc.). I have been under a bridge and the lights engage (daytime) on many occasions. If I think this is a problem on any given day, I switch to manual control on the lights--solves the problem instantly!

Dan

 

[ShoNuff]

I drive to work in the mornings in what appears to be roughly the same amount of daylight--just enough to to not have the lights on, even though many cars on the road do. Interestingly, the sensor doesn't engage the lights even if I think they should be on (due to the amount of light, fog, rain, etc.). I have been under a bridge and the lights engage (daytime) on many occasions. If I think this is a problem on any given day, I switch to manual control on the lights--solves the problem instantly!

Dan

Yup, I've noticed the exact same thing - all the drivers around me have their lights on but the auto setting is ignoring the gathering darkness... I switch to manual mode too, but it's kind of annoying that the auto mode is basically worthless to me.

 

[Stormy]

I noticed this too, driving home from work in dusk around 5:30 pm. What's interesting is that the nav screen has a separate sensor than the lights, because I've seen the nav screen go to dark mode when the headlights still aren't on.

I'm hoping a firmware update could fix this, but at least it's not as bad as some BMW 5-series I've seen. I regularly see 5-series BMWs going the opposite direction in traffic kick on their xenons going under the slightest overpass.

 

[jonah]

I quit using auto mode entirely because of this. In the first week I had my car home I noticed that every time I pulled into the garage the lights would come on.

I heard somewhere that turning HID lights on and off quickly can shorten their life, but I'm skeptical. Can anyone comment on this?

I was also surprised that the vehicle doesn't have DRLs that default to ON. What is does have is tiny incandescent bulbs inside the high-beam reflectors that come on with the parking lights. I use them as DRLs in medium-light conditions and they look very nice.

I like controlling them manually and don't miss auto except for one thing. On this car the lights don't stay on after you turn the car off. That is, you can't have the HIDs on with the engine off, too much current draw I guess. Which is fine except I always forget to turn them off manually so, sure enough, they come on the next time I start up, even when i don't want them (sigh).

Not too big a deal...

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