S Driving Night

[UKBoB]

I dont enjoy it, especially when out of town on strange roads. Cant see much of anything even with the new 100 watt xenon bulbs - I'd recommend the proper light conversion mod with rewiring etc, the brighter bulbs dont make much difference on their own.

Visibility is made worse when being talegated for going slowly (sorry, just not comfortable doing 60 with lights that couldnt dazzle a wide eyed rodent) brights glaring from behind, oncoming doing the same from up ahead. When taking the car to Austec the other night, there were many instances where visibility was virtually zero for a few seconds at a time, very unnerving.

What of the mirrors with night-adjust, is it worth installing one of those?

[Hoover33]

I have used mine at night once.......

It now gets tucked up in bed like a little baby at dusk

[spivvy]

drove up the M6 at night once never never again

[sotonS2]

I find the biggest problem are 4x4s coming the other way whose lights are so high they completely blind you. That's just down to the ar5e on the ground seating position of the S though.

Its a leap of faith to keep ploughing on, especially when there's a numpty up close behind.

I don't think brighter lights would help much in these instances - sunglasses might .

[tvrgit]

I quite like driving mine at night - you just can't go quite as fast sometimes, but it's still enjoyable!

[shnozz]

Odd, Claires with 100W bulbs is superb - 100% improvement and as good as a "normal" car. Far better than the lights from the Chimaera now. Prior to that, we would be going for a hoon at night and Claire would apologise for leaving full beam on when behind me, only for me to say that I didnt actually notice...

could be worse, my choc block connector under the dash burnt out on a country road in my S at about 70 mph leaving me with no light at all...

[page3]

I find with the roof off visibility improves loads and I get far less dazzled.

[WildfireS3]

Hoover33 said:

I have used mine at night once....... It now gets tucked up in bed like a little baby at dusk

I drive in all conditions. Best night drive I ever had was on the A66 to Keswick a few months ago. Quite a straight road with a few kinks and corners. Totally clear, all 4 lights on, 80mph

[bridgdav]

WildfireS3 said:

Totally clear, all 4 lights on, 80mph

Get your car down to Austec quick....

[UKBoB]

I feel better after posting I though my new-to-driving inexperience was half the reason I wasn't relaxed behind the wheel, but the S lights really do suck. Motorways are scary, only being able to see 10 metres ahead on stretches without street lighting (if following another car and unable to use brights) and the 0-5% visibility on occasions when a line of 5 cars close together all whizz past in the other direction as you are taking a gentle curve hoping you are still in your own lane... that is really something awful!

[WildfireS3]

bridgdav said:

WildfireS3 said: Totally clear, all 4 lights on, 80mph Get your car down to Austec quick....

Well there was no streeghtlights, I didn't know the roads and there were big dips that cuould have grounded me. 80mph was a pretty safe speed.

Austec... hmmmm.. maybe, I'm thinking more along the lines of V8.

[Shmern]

It depends on where/when your driving, I drove the V8s from Southhampton to Stranraer recently (When i bought it!) and by the time I reached Scotland it was dark. But I still enjoyed it, probably cos it was my first drive in a v8s.

But the best drive at night I had was with my S2, I drove 20miles from a friends house to mine at about 1:30am on B roads with the roof off. These are roads I know fairly well so the pace was brisk, and it was a total rush!!, ESPECIALLY with the roof off.

If you haven't driven your S at night with the roof off then try it !!!!.

Shmern

[tvrgit]

I don't think I have ever driven the S at night with the roof ON!

[RichardR]

UKBoB said:

I dont enjoy it, especially when out of town on strange roads. Cant see much of anything even with the new 100 watt xenon bulbs - I'd recommend the proper light conversion mod with rewiring etc, the brighter bulbs dont make much difference on their own.

The standard S lights are pretty dire, but after fititng the Philips Vision Plus bulbs, I found that the output was perfectly adequate on dipped beam, and pretty good on full beam.

Using the S everyday, I did a lot of night driving, both on motorways and back roads, and never had any problems once the new bulbs were in.

If your lights are as bad as they sound, maybe the new bulbs aren't all they claim to be, or the reflectors are a bit tired.

You've probably taken this into account already, but it's also worth bearing in mind that you can lose up to 40% of light output through dirty lenses.

UKBoB said:

What of the mirrors with night-adjust, is it worth installing one of those?

Are you talking about a rear view mirror with a little tab that you can use to dip it in order to avoid dazzle from following cars? I thought those were a standard fit?

[UKBoB]

Im sure I dont have night adjust, will check when I get my car back. Austec suggested new lenses, but on a budget I decided just to go for uprated bulbs. Im not 100% that the lights are aligned correctly, and dont doubt that the lenses are probably in need of cleaning.

[z_chromozone]

The lights on my S are actually better than the lights on my MK2 Golf Some better bulbs may be in order though.

Z

[bil]

I quite like driving at night especially if a can avoid other numptys, so regularly use back roads havent felt the lighting was particularlly poor but then dont know what lamps are in for comparison....starting to wonder why i posted as i'm not being very helpfull

[bil]

oh yes that was the reason, i dont have an adjustable rear view mirror in the S3 stuck with the fixed version and 4x4 squint when chased by a school run trolley.

[RichardR]

bil said:

i dont have an adjustable rear view mirror in the S3 stuck with the fixed version

I definitely had a dipping mirror in mine, as I clearly remember having to use it one time after being blinded by the full beam of some tw@t in a Clio 172 who tried to accelerate as I overtook him, and then expressed his automotive impotence by trying to blind me!

Maybe it was an optional extra, although I think I'd probably class it as an essential!

[Podie]

I went for the crystal halogen lamps, with Philips bulbs... fantastic improvement worth the money.