Does anybody know how Skoda auto headlights really work?

[K1W1]

This might be out of left field but could it be the refraction of the car's rear panel in front of you gives you the illusion that you have two rows of lights on, ie headlights and fogs, but in reality it's only a reflected double image of just headlights?

The first thing I thought of but no. It was the tailgate of a ute (my neighbour actually) and I could quite clearly see the whole of the front of my car with the headlights, LEDs and fogs. As I said in another post I have noticed the same thing a couple of other times as well. When I get home tonight I might try sitting the car in the shade with the engine (and auto lights) running and try various combinations of steering wheel movement and indicators to see if it is in any way associated with either of those. Could be a faulty sensor on the steering rack I guess or maybe some undocumented magic VW safety feature. I will also have a look through the user settings and see if there is anything there that might trigger this effect.

[Stan]

could always just turn the switch manually to what you want.....

[K1W1]

could always just turn the switch manually to what you want.....

If I'm going to pay money for a puppy I'm not going to start barking.

Sure I can turn the lights on and off just like the old days but times have changed after all this car even has a radio and windows that go up and down both of which were missing from the first car I owned.

[K1W1]

Did some tests just to confirm the obvious.
Headlights switched to auto and on, cornering lamps activated. Vehicle running but stationery.

Put the indicator on and the front fog lamp for the appropriate side lights up.
Turn the steering wheel and the front fog lamp for the appropriate side lights up. As far as the turning the wheel is concerned it's very sensitive you only have to move the steering wheel a couple of degrees and the fog lamp illuminates.

Same thing happens when the lights are manually switched on rather than in auto mode.

So strictly speaking it's probably illegal in Victoria because your fog light is on during periods when it's not required. I know it's only a technical issue and that nobody will ever get pinged for it but I guess its something to be aware of if you are sitting at a traffic light with a cop in a bad mood facing you.

I still haven't figured out how to get both fogs to light up and I have definitely seen that on a couple of occasions.

[zei20t]

reverse gear will make them both light up, assuming that function is turned on in VCDS

[K1W1]

I can't recall ever once sitting at traffic lights in reverse gear in nearly 40 years of driving.

[zei20t]

really? not even to scare your mate that hasnt realised the person reversing towards them is someone they know?

[Mysticality]

The automatic lighting system works on ambient light sensed by the rain sensor in the mounting foot of the rear view mirror.
Automatic headlights activate the Low Beam (Halogen or HID), dim the LED DRL/Parkers, activate the rear parkers and never operate the fog lights. (Unless cornering fog lights have been activated in VCDS, but I'll get to that)

When entering a tunnel, the ambient light sensor will detect low light and immediately turn the headlights on.
When exiting the tunnel the light sensor will detect the bright light of day, wait for approximately five seconds and then turn the lights off again - just in case you're between tunnels, or there's a street lamp it thinks is daylight, etc.

The automatic headlights are also triggered by the rain sensor. If it rains enough for your wipers to be relatively active (I'm unsure of the frequency required, but its around the Intermittant setting on cars before variable intermittant wipers) the low beam headlights will come on.

LED DRL's operate as normal, at all times.

If the ambient light sensor or the rain sensor has triggered the headlights to become active, the cornering fog lights will in turn also become active - even if its bright daylight and its raining a little.

Cornering fog lights are activated when the steering wheel is at a 90^ angle from its "home" (straight in front) position.
Cornering fog lights are also activated when the indicators have been selected on either side of the vehicle, when travelling at 40km/h or less.
If you have the indicators activated on the right hand side, but the steering wheel is pointing to the left at more than a 90^ angle, you will have both fog lights on.

I don't know about anyone else, but my automatic lighting system gets stuck ON sometimes.
Example - I reverse out of my garage (dark) and into the daylight (bright) and the lights stay on. They then stay on for a further 5-10km until I park the car, turn the engine off and then restart it. Probably a bug - only happens once in a blue moon.
It has NEVER been stuck OFF... Which is always a good thing.

[K1W1]

Cornering fog lights are activated when the steering wheel is at a 90^ angle from its "home" (straight in front) position.

The cornering light function activates at nearer 5 degrees off centre for the steering wheel. You only have to turn the wheel a small amount in either direction to get the cornering lights (fogs) to illuminate.

[Tigger]

Yes, my auto lights have been stuck on sometimes in both the Tiguan and the RS if I came out of a dark place first... they havent turned off again, and I see the reflection in the bumper of someone in front at the lights.

If I turn the switch on and off quickly manually, they then reset.