Driving Abroad

[bob126]

Silly question time. I've just picked up an IS250c with HID headlights. When I enquired about driving abroad the salesman said I didn't have to put anything on the headlights. All I have to do is turn off the AFS mode. Is this correct?

[SiWhite]

I can't say I've ever heard that before.

I take mine abroad quite a lot but haven't yet used beam deflectors on it. I'm conscious of the problem of dazzling on-coming drivers but, to date, haven't been flashed by anybody (not that that really means anything I guess).

How do you turn off AFS (what is AFS?) anyway?

[Parthiban]

How do you turn off AFS (what is AFS?) anyway?

It's the adaptive lighting - beam turns with the steering wheel.

Surely you'll have to do something as our lights point left (unless that's changed recently) - I think BMWs have a switch to knock the beam straight but not sure if Lexus has something similar.

[ahmed24]

How do you turn off AFS (what is AFS?) anyway?

AFS is turned on and off in the menu where you set the rev tac etc..

[SiWhite]

How do you turn off AFS (what is AFS?) anyway?

It's the adaptive lighting - beam turns with the steering wheel.

Surely you'll have to do something as our lights point left (unless that's changed recently) - I think BMWs have a switch to knock the beam straight but not sure if Lexus has something similar.

Ahh the adaptive lighting - thought that was what was meant - hadn't seen the acronym before though (not that I remember anyway) let alone a way of switching it off!

The thing with the Xenon beams is that they're really quite flat (horizontally) and don't appear to be as directional as standard headlights (certainly those with lenses). I suppose there is a bias to the left but it doesn't seem that obvious to me.

[SiWhite]

How do you turn off AFS (what is AFS?) anyway?

AFS is turned on and off in the menu where you set the rev tac etc..

Learn something every day :)

[ahmed24]

How do you turn off AFS (what is AFS?) anyway?

AFS is turned on and off in the menu where you set the rev tac etc..

Learn something every day :)

once AFS is turned off, a light on the dash will stay on indicating that AFS is off

[TestPilot]

Was wondering about this as I'm planning to take a trip down to Le Mans again this year. Les Gendarmes take a particular interest in UK petrolheads motorists that weekend.

There's an entertaining little tutorial on headlamp conversion for the continent here, which I used successfully on my Volvo's non-HID lamps - a couple of inches of electrical tape each side did the job very nicely nicely.

There's a note about HIDs at the bottom, but I don't think it applies to ISes. The IS dipped beams have a very flat, sharp cut-off compared to filament bulbs, so there's no light to the top left that needs masking off - and I haven't found any likely knobs or adjusters. But I'll remember the tip about turning off the AFS.

[DR Kildare]

Silly question time. I've just picked up an IS250c with HID headlights. When I enquired about driving abroad the salesman said I didn't have to put anything on the headlights. All I have to do is turn off the AFS mode. Is this correct?

I believe a saleman is correct for once! When I imported my car into Norway the headlights were judged to be flat beamed by the tester ie. they don't have the traditional kickup to the right, so didn't require any modification. As for the adaptive lights, he never turned the steering wheel so it wasn't a problem:-)