MorganMay

My laser light test has been postponed but I will try again tonight........after reading the owner's manual where I learned that the headlights need to be operating in the auto dimming mode and the car needs to be travelling above about 44 mph. Of course there is a unique intrument panel symbol that displays when they are operating. The symbol has a headlight symbol with "auto" below and a narrow little line emanating from the headlight and ending in an asterisk of sorts. In the meantime, here is a link to TXRoar's assessment of the laser light: https://www.audiworld.com/forums/a8-.../#post25408479

MorganMay

I made repeated tests last night on both snow covered and bare asphalt two lane roads surrounded by snow covered countryside and no traffic either way. There was some moonlight. My observations:

1. The LED headlight high beams really throw the light although they did seem to be lighting up a lot of tree tops as well as the roadway. It was possible to see some light reflected from highway signage 0.8 - 0.9 miles down the road. (0.8 and 0.9 miles were the two longest straight stretches for my evaluation. The limit could certainly be somewhat longer.)
2. The laser light going from on to off and vice versa appeared to be, as TXRoar noted, a very narrow beam of additional light. In a way, it seemed to complement the areas of LED illumination. Surprisingly, the most noticable additional brightness from the laser light appeared at roughly an estimated 200 out to 300 feet in front of the car where it was seemingly illuminating about the width of the two lane roadway. But it was also possible to see the laser light adding to the LED light being reflected from highway signs at the 0.8 - 0.9 mile distance.

At this point I would have to say that the LED headlights do an excellent job of lighting the way compared to any other car I can remember driving. The laser light adds somewhat to overall lighting performance but I'm not sure it is a cost effective addition to the car's overall highway lighting performance. The blue colored addition to the headlight modules is a nice touch though. It would be interesting to see only the laser light illumination without the LEDs. Has anyone seen numbers for the light output from LEDs and laser?

TXRoar

I forgot I had taken a small video of the laser lights. You can see right at the beginning where it’s normal high beams and then the laser comes on, pointing at the trees. And then later they come on again from low beams to high with laser immediately.

TXRoar

Doesn’t seem to want to let me attach a video. I’ll try a link.
Laser light video

derfA8L

Thanks for the reviews and the video. It appears that the laser hi-beams throwing out an additional 200 to 300 foot narrowly focused light would be a real added benefit on straight-a-ways and mountain roadways. Can't really decide if they would be all that helpful for the mostly rural back roads that make up the bulk of my night time driving--slower/moderate speeds on curvy roads. But the blue accent light addition to the headlamps does look kinda cool, and besides, any additional lighting is always helpful. Thanks for the feedback guys...And enjoy your new rides!

angrypengu

Video of the year. Seriously, I have been wondering how this whole laser light works on the D5 (e.g. light emitted by pissing off phosphorous (it's how laser light works)) looks like in real life and I must say, it looks wonderful! Works much much better than on my R8.

Thank you for sharing! By the way, excellent choice in music!

TXRoar

Thanks! As a pianist, I love listening to piano music. I’ve been checking out all the internet radio stations. Also, I need something to try to calm me when I drive so I don’t get speeding tickets. I got one last weekend when I hit 1,000 miles (and completed my break in period). He only got me going 82mph, but you don’t feel those 460hp at all. It’s so much faster than my old 4.2L D4, which I always thought had plenty of power.

TXRoar

One of my friends, who isn’t much of a car guy, was studying up on my car after riding in it and realizing it’s my true love lol. We were looking at YouTube videos on the car, and every one I showed him from my favorites in YouTube was about the headlights, oled’s, or matrix led’s. And he said “so you bought the car for the lights?” I had to think for a minute.... yes, that was a big reason. If only they’d de-neuter the matrix led’s in North America.

This is one of my favorite lighting videos:

goodoldsequoia

TXRoar,
count me in as another light for car guy. I'm deciding between TFSI 60 and 60e, originally locked on hybrid version. Now I'm seriously considering V8 version because of Matrix headlight. Tell me I'm not making a mistake!!