Just got a new TL!
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 149
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Just got a new TL!
New owner of an Anthracite/Quartz/no-Nav/Auto. Looks and drives great! A couple of quick questions:
a. the headlight pattern is asymmetric; the beam from the driver side is lower than the one from the passenger side light. I am not sure whether this is a designed-in feature in order to be more considerate to oncoming traffic or misalignment. Also, the headlight "reach" seems to be shorter than other cars I have driven. This may be due to the fact that they are HIDs, but the shorter reach coupled with a more abrupt transition from light to dark make it much harder to drive when there is no signifcant ambient light. Any suggestions on what could be the issue here?
b. the ride seems to be on the stiffer/harsher side compared to an essentially identical model we test drove a couple of weeks back. I will check the tire pressure to make sure that they are not overinflated, but I was wondering whether dealers typically under-inflate demo models? I do know that they come off the truck at ~40psi and the salesman told me that mine has been brought to the 32psi spec. before delivery...
Thanks in advance.
O.T.: this forum has been great in terms of getting new information about the car. There was almost nothing new the salesman could tell me when he did my "training session" upon delivery; in fact, I was able to let him know of a couple of tips/facts posted by users on this forum!
a. the headlight pattern is asymmetric; the beam from the driver side is lower than the one from the passenger side light. I am not sure whether this is a designed-in feature in order to be more considerate to oncoming traffic or misalignment. Also, the headlight "reach" seems to be shorter than other cars I have driven. This may be due to the fact that they are HIDs, but the shorter reach coupled with a more abrupt transition from light to dark make it much harder to drive when there is no signifcant ambient light. Any suggestions on what could be the issue here?
b. the ride seems to be on the stiffer/harsher side compared to an essentially identical model we test drove a couple of weeks back. I will check the tire pressure to make sure that they are not overinflated, but I was wondering whether dealers typically under-inflate demo models? I do know that they come off the truck at ~40psi and the salesman told me that mine has been brought to the 32psi spec. before delivery...
Thanks in advance.
O.T.: this forum has been great in terms of getting new information about the car. There was almost nothing new the salesman could tell me when he did my "training session" upon delivery; in fact, I was able to let him know of a couple of tips/facts posted by users on this forum!
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,081
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From: El Monte, CA
the headlights are aimed like that to prevent blinding drivers in front of you. they are also aimed like that cuz the headlights use projector lenses instead of reflectors like the last gen TL. projectors give you a concentrated beam of light.
Racer
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 481
Likes: 0
From: New Jersey
Turn your highs on when possible. The field of vision is incredible.
This is my first car with HID's and I'm still getting used to the slightly lower driver's side headlight- and the lower than regular headlights in general. I feel that because the HID's are so much brighter, the contrast to regular headlights makes them SEEM like they don't have as good of a reach.
This is my first car with HID's and I'm still getting used to the slightly lower driver's side headlight- and the lower than regular headlights in general. I feel that because the HID's are so much brighter, the contrast to regular headlights makes them SEEM like they don't have as good of a reach.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 149
Likes: 0
Thanks for the feedback. Re: 2: I checked the tire pressure and found that they were at around 36-37psi (cold) all around. The manual says 32psi on all for normal driving and 39(front)/35(rear) for speeds over 110mph. It looks like they may have been aiming for the latter. Anyway, after I reduced them all to 32psi, the ride seems to be better.
