2009 Nissan GT-R: No Automatic headlights?

It's a nice touch, but not that useful of a feature. I never forget to turn my headlights on and off. It's one of those features that if the car has 'em, great. If not, that's OK too - I'm not going to hold it against the car.

"Is there a point to auto headlights? Like auto windshield wipers I can't figure out why they exist."

Ditto. I hate auto headlights and wipers, they are useless. They always comes on when I don't want them to, and don't come on when I want them to.

It is good that the GTR don't have them.

Seriously? How many electronic nannies do you need? You don't exactly need a doctorate or law degree in order to determine when safety/visibility requires you to turn on your headlights.

How about an automatic horn too... or maybe auto flip-down sun visors?

I leave mine on all the time. I guess that means I don't even need a switch.

"How about an automatic horn too... or maybe auto flip-down sun visors?"

hahahaha........I want automatic EVERYTHING, as long as the computer is smart enough that can read my mind. If not, it can get annoying.

w00t to another former T-Bird SC owner! I really miss that car.

You forgot to mention auto-dimming rear view mirror.

With HID's, I leave the auto-on feature off. I would drive into my garage and the lights would come on for 10 seconds before I turned off my car. Short on-off intervals like that are bad for HID's, which are hundreds of dollars to replace.

"I hate auto headlights and wipers, they are useless."

Perhaps you're not so lazy after all.

Auto lights, auto wipers and auto-dimming mirrors are things I have just gotten used to. I have the auto lights and wipers in my car, and I actually like the auto wipers. The auto lights are just there... if I deem it dark enough to turn on the lights and the auto setting has not, then I do.

"With HID's, I leave the auto-on feature off. I would drive into my garage and the lights would come on for 10 seconds before I turned off my car. Short on-off intervals like that are bad for HID's, which are hundreds of dollars to replace."

That is the biggest reason I hate auto lights, just didn't want to type all that.

With auto on, the HIDs flicker on and off.......on and off, driving into garages, under tunnels/bridges.....it turns on for 10 secs and turn back off.......killing the bulbs.

I hate auto climate control too, it is always either too hot or too cold, never exactly what I want.

"Perhaps you're not so lazy after all."

hahaha......well since the computer is not smart enough yet, I have to do it myself, plus it is very little effort.

I have to, I have to......I don't do anything that I don't have to. I guess I am lazy that way.

Motorcycles and frequently drivers of small cars keep headlights on during the day to increase visibility. I'd imagine it's nice to have a switch to do the same in a car that is capable of triple digits by the end of the on ramp.

"I hate auto headlights and wipers, they are useless"

Then you are crazy. What you people don't realize (what a surprise) is that other drivers don't remember to turn on their headlights when they are supposed. Ever been highway driving during a heavy downpour when people behind you forget or don't care to turn on their lights? Well this just happened to me Saturday when some guy in a Tundra sped past me when I was attempting a lane change. I didn't even know he was there until he honked his horn while flipping me the bird. It was during the day but the rain was so heavy people had to use their hazard lights just to see the cars in front of them. Even during regular driving conditions I have to flash my high beams from time to time to alert inconsiderate drivers that they need to switch on their lights.

I have never touched my headlight switch in the 14 months I've had my current car. So I'd say the feature is USEFUL. I also love my rainsensing wipers. Why keep adjusting the intermittent speed if you don't have to?

m_thrizzle and lazyhater - That was exactly what I was going to say. I see all HID-equipped cars entering our parking garage in the middle of the day (above ground, plenty of light) and the lights pop on. I just think how many on-off cycles they have left. I even see some cars do it under highway underpasses (BMWs usually for some reason).

"I even see some cars do it under highway underpasses (BMWs usually for some reason)."

yup, I see that everyday.....BMWs and Infinitis the most.

Other people got money to blow, I don't, I want my HIDs bulbs to last. 5.5 years on my STi now, the bulbs are still good.

chavis10, it never rain here in So Cal, that doesn't apply to us. On top of that, most of us got day time running lights now, the lights are ALWAYS on.

I always laugh when I see a bunch of high end cars (either luxury brands or top-of-the-line models of standard brands) driving around at night with no headlights on when my $16,000 Cobalt came with them. Necessary? Not hardly, but apparently they are so cheap even GM can afford to put them on their compact cars. Sure it isn't hard for me to remember to turn my headlights on, but seeing all those other drivers going around with no lights makes me think this might be a useful safety feature for not much cash.

Oh and also, the auto-headlights on my Cobalt have a delay built in, so it has to be dark enough for headlights for a few seconds before they go on. There are a few tunnels in my area that are just long enough to trigger the headlights on right before I reach the end, but the problem is pretty rare.

so any feature not found on the GTR is useless? got it.

In a world when we have electric windows, remote start, keyless entry, heated seats, memory, nav systems, bluetooth, etc. the experts here say auto headlights are simply overkill and should be deleted from most cars. Makes no sense. Do you people want them to do away with keyless entry and keyless go as well? I mean the old way was so much less lazy.

Wow, your '95 Thunderbird probably also came with automatic seatbelts. How come you're not griping about not having those too?

"Wow, your '95 Thunderbird probably also came with automatic seatbelts. How come you're not griping about not having those too?"

My DSMs did and they were awful. Automatic headlights are great. Once you get used to them, like velcro shoes, you never want to go back to the old ways.
-mike

...yes, I am wearing Velcro shoes. Vans.

Well, I like auto headlights and wipers. Not a must have, but it's one less thing to do when you're using both hands to drive a manual transmission.

"so any feature not found on the GTR is useless? got it.

In a world when we have electric windows, remote start, keyless entry, heated seats, memory, nav systems, bluetooth, etc. the experts here say auto headlights are simply overkill and should be deleted from most cars. Makes no sense. Do you people want them to do away with keyless entry and keyless go as well? I mean the old way was so much less lazy."

Useless is not the same as overkill.

1000+ hp on the Veyron is overkill, but definitely not useless at all.

i also miss auto-headlights. the only time they would come on when i didn't want them to was in the car wash.

and they weren't HID, so that was not an issue.

i don't have a problem with auto-anything as long as i can turn the said auto-function off.

How about an auto blow up feature for people who turn on their high beams in bad weather to "see better".

Benson, I'd provide funding for that invention.

I wish people would stop calling their HID lamps "bulbs". Although they have a convex outer surface that resembles a typical bulb, HIDs have no filament. Instead they are filled with xenon gas, a small electric charge stimulates the gas to jump up an energy level and then fall back down, thus producing light. The cycles (of rising and falling) occur so rapidly the human eye is incapable of detecting that the lights are actually flashing on/off. It is the same as for flourescent lights in your house. As such, they have a far longer life than old filament bulbs, use less energy, and are hardly affected by the short 10-second on/off periods of driving under tunnels, etc.

I personally love having auto on/off headlights simply for the convenience.

woah woah, HOLD ON.

Automatic seat belts. AMAZING.

Please, no bashing the seat belt.

mercedesfan,

"bulbs" is easily understood by everyone.

What is the correct term for HID "bulbs"?

People still call the 09' Nissan GTR a "Skyline", because it is what people understand.

Auto headlights make sense when a car's gauges light up even during the day (as most of the 2007+ cars I've been in do). When a car's gauges light up like this people often think that they're lights are on, even when they aren't.

Several people have mentioned the fact that there are people who drive around at dusk or early morning with no lights on. Most vehicles that have Auto headlights can also be placed in the off position preventing the sensor from turning them on. This is another reason people drive with no lights on; they forget they are not in the Auto mode and don't realize they are not on. To solve this problem GM had a great idea. When the sensor determines it is dark enough to require headlights but can't turn them on because the switch is in the off position a message appears in the information center that says "Headlamps Suggested".

I have auto-headlights in my new car, and I think they are a pain, and here's why. During the day, when the sensor deems it necessary to turn the headlights on, my dashboard goes dark. Why? because it's illumination is set for driving at night. During the day, with polarized sunglasses on, everything goes dark. The dial to adjust the brightness is below my left knee. Having to adjust this twice a day is a pain. Therefore, I leave the auto-lights off.

I've never had auto-headlights, so I can't comment on their usefulness. I can, however, comment on regular headlights. I don't find it a hassle to turn a switch and turn my headlights on. It takes a second, and doesn't affect my day.

I agree there are times when I wish others around me had their lights on.

altima:

try driving different brands of car with auto headlights. I've found on GM models that the lights come on when they should and in most GM models I've experienced you can read the radio display and other displays with sunglasses on. I have NEVER found my lights not to come on at the appropriate time in the evening. There are times when they don't even come on while under short tunnels or underpasses during the daytime which is pretty impressive.

The orginal point of this post was that an $80k car should have this feature and its a valid point. All the excuse making is unecessary. As someone else mentioned, on many cars the feature is defeatable if you happen to think you are too smart to use auto headlights.

1487 -- Both my new car ('05 Altima) and my father's car ('02 Deville) have illuminated displays for both day and night reading. The Cadillac gives the driver a light to say headlights are on, because the brightness of the display doesn't change whether the lights are on or not. The Nissan does not have a light to tell me that the car has switched on the headlights and because I've switched the display to full brightness all the time, I can't tell when the car has turned them on. The only way for me to tell is to adjust the brightness down so when the lights come on, the display dims.

Unfortunately, the car likes to turn on the headlights when going under an overpass or inside a parking garage. It is very unnerving for me to go from a bright outside wearing my sun glasses to going into a shady place, and then have all my instrumentation go dark.

Granted, you don't necessarily need your instrumentation in those situations, it still is briefly alarming.

Oh, and this sort of thing, varying lighting conditions, doesn't usually come up in most test drives, and people don't think of it. It only comes up once you owned and lived with the car for a while.

I wish every car had auto headlights... not because I am lazy or that I don't want to flip a switch - it's just that I see a lot of cars on the road right at dusk when it is dark enough that you should be using your lights, but not dark enough that they actually improve your visibility that do not turn on their lights. Or even when it is dark enough and since newer cars often have electronic displays or constantly lit gauges, people will often fail to turn on their lights. This occurs on lighted streets usually but I have run into a few dunkheads in darker stretches without their lights on.

Every vehicle I own has auto headlights and I haven't had to touch the switch. The timing is pretty good for my two trucks (it takes several seconds for the lights to come on) They don't come on at every shadow of the sun. My car however is more liberal with the lights. But still I have never had a problem.

However, I do wish my car offered me some control over the lights. I can always turn the lights on manually, but once they come on automatically, I don't have a choice. They are on. If I pull up to someones house, a parking lot or somewhere where I want to just stay parked with the car running, I have no practical way of turning them off. I have to set the parking brake, turn the car off and then restart the car. Once I do that, then I may not release the brake otherwise the lights will come on. My trucks offer me a way to manually override the system and then I can control the lights.

In the past most GM cars didnt have an override for auto lights. Perhaps Cadillacs did but the lower branded cars did not. The Aura has an override and I assume the same is true for most current GM cars except the compacts.

Yep. Our 1997 Malibu didn't have an override method, but every GM vehicle I've been in since then has- 2003 Trailblazer, 2004 Malibu, 2004 Silverado, 2005 Terraza, 2007 Avalanche, 2007 Trailblazer, and 2008 Malibu.

I personally like the auto features, including the wipers. Our Malibu has speed sensitive wipers, but I still find myself adjusting the delay fairly frequently as I drive. The Avalanche w/Rainsense automatic wipers took care of all that, only rarely requiring me to override it. And for the record, we all seem to love power windows, but I bet I could manually roll the windows up faster than most power windows operate. Does that mean I dislike power windows? (hopefully nobody needs the answer)

Automation is fine, so long as it's well thought out. Nondefeatable features can be a PITA, but otherwise useful. For an expensive bugger like this, with (supposedly) all the gewgaws, this seems like a major oversite. On the other hand, maybe the potential buyers won't operate the car at night anyway.

Awesome! Nissan must have listened to my incessant rants on here!

If you are driving at night and aren't sure if your headlights are on, you:
A) need to change your bulbs
B) need to wear the glasses prescribed to you
C) shouldn't be driving anyway

not having auto headlights is not exactly a dealbreaker. this is a supercar, not a 4 door luxury sedan! get over it.