Our 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX STI has fairly effective xenon HID (high intensity discharge) headlights. Just about every high-end car with such lights have auto-levelling systems to re-aim the headlights slightly so oncoming drivers won't be blinded when the rear seats or trunk are loaded-down. The STI has a manual headlight adjustment wheel for this purpose, with six positions if you count zero (and you should.)
The zero setting is the highest one, and is the normal setting for everyday use. When you load up the back, you can crank the lights down to avoid blinding others. But the available range of adjustment is significantly greater than the body angle could ever change with load. You probably won't need anything more than position 1 for your most-laden condition, so there has to be at least one other use for this feature...
We all want tons of light whenever we're driving quickly on any sort of challenging road. On especially tight and twisting roads, like the sinuous low-speed dirt roads I found myself on, it's best to have more of it up close because the driver can't see 300 yards ahead, anyway. With the Subie's manual adjustment set-up, I simply switch-on the high beams, then crank the aim down to position 4 or 5 to pull the lights closer-in to better-illuminate the space between me and the next corner. Brightness and coverage are so much better than with low beams and driving lights. Sweet.
Dan Edmunds, DIrector of Vehicle Testing @ 2,978 miles
chavis10 says:
11:25 AM, 05/12/08
Dan, are you saying the manual adjustment affects the aim of the high beam halogen lamps? This is odd because in most applications of this solution, the manual adjustment only alters the low beam HID units. At one time, the law was that any car with HID headlamps had to either have some type of aim adjustment or automatic load leveling rear suspension so that the intense light wouldn't impact oncoming traffic. Though, I am not sure of what regulations are currently in place for HID lights.
06scooby says:
12:00 PM, 05/12/08
I think it's just the low beam. When I test drove an STi a few weeks ago I was playing with that but I wasn't quite sure of it's purpose!
opfreak says:
12:22 PM, 05/12/08
ha a 40k has the same cheap system as a mazdaspeed3.
a sure sign of the subbie cost cutting. great car, with a wrong price tag.
stovt001 says:
01:32 PM, 05/12/08
How many people do you think are actually considerate enough to even think about adjusting their headlight angle for the rest of us? I'd say maybe 1%. I'd wager just as many people if not more would intentionally readjust their headlights to blind other people if they could.
frazier500 says:
03:10 PM, 05/12/08
I have a 2004 BMW 330i and my auto-leveling system controls both my flash-to-pass halogen high beam and my bixenon beam. I know this because when I had my halogen DRLs activated I would see them auto-level at startup without my xenons on.
So I could easily see the Subie having both beams controlled by the leveling feature.
actualsize says:
05:53 PM, 05/12/08
Like any other car, high beams give you the most light. In the STI the high and low beams stay on together, with the high beams aimed way down the road and the low beams illuminating the middle distance--again, not unusual.
When I lower the lights with the wheel shown above, the aim of the high and low beams are adjusted down together. I just re-confirmed it against my garage door. They move in lock-step.
I see this as an advantage, not a cost-cutting measure. The ability to bring more of that light in close when tackling a tight road (akin to a rally stage) is quite a nice arrow in one's quiver.
desmolicious says:
05:54 PM, 05/12/08
Ok, now with 3k miles on it so you've got a good feel for it, does this car feel like it's worth $40K?
I can't get over how it just screams $25K to me...
firstwagon says:
07:51 PM, 05/12/08
That's because you can get it for $25K. You just have to give up some of the killer hardware.
jq_s6 says:
11:01 PM, 05/12/08
Thats a nice touch, from what i remember from a year spent in france this is required on cars in europe. Although i doubt people here would honestly care about avoiding blinding other motorists.
felonious says:
08:11 AM, 05/13/08
I never noticed that about my 04 STi. I wonder if it changed, or I just never tried it? That would have been useful!
Something else that's nice about the Subie is that the low beams stay on when the high beams are on. I'm not sure how common that is in modern cars (probably extremely common), but that often wasn't the case in older cars I've owned. So even if the highs didn't angle along with the lows, you could still bring the lows in closer while the highs were on.
rsholland says:
08:36 AM, 05/13/08
That's because you can get it for $25K. You just have to give up some of the killer hardware.
Yep. "Killer hardware" is always very expensive—regardless of what car it's on.
desmolicious says:
05:07 PM, 05/13/08
W/o the killer hardware it's worth about $18K...
rsholland says:
09:04 AM, 05/14/08
W/o the killer hardware it's worth about $18K...
Which is about what a base Impreza goes for. So, yeah, the killer hardware (and the must-have factor) is indeed very expensive.
Must be working as the STI is very much in demand.
actualsize says:
01:47 PM, 05/15/08
Update: I loaded the rear of the STI with a bunch of stuff, including a heavy floor jack and some loaded suitcases, and drove it on a very dark winding road at night. (see 5/15 STI post)
Position zero was fine for oncoming cars, as the body angle wasn't appreciably changed by the load and no one brighted me. All of the available adjustment seems available for pulling-in the lights for better close-in illumination on tight and twisty roads where distance vision isn't needed.