Posts tagged as:

adaptive forward lighting

Vauxhall Insignia and AFL

by admin on November 27, 2009

It’s getting harder to get up for work in the morning. With November drawing to an end and the shortest day of the year creeping up faster than expected, owners of the Vauxhall Insignia will find themselves in a safe and more comfortable commute this winter season.

Vauxhall’s gadgety headlights are one of the manufacturer’s biggest advantages over their competitors. In 2003, they were the first to offer Adaptive Forward Lighting (AFL). The technology allows for the lights’ beam to move with the car as it bends and also shifts upwards to increase drivers’ visibility on both urban roads and motorways.

Vauxhall Insignia

The new generation of headlights, however, are capable of more. The previous version of AFL was dependent on the driver’s input, whereas now they link to satellite navigation systems to predict the road conditions and therefore adjust automatically. For instance, bright, forward-focus lights are essential on motorways, but a broad spectrum is needed in urban settings where risk is more likely to either side of the vehicle. The lights also adjust to suit weather conditions and terrains, for example decreasing brightness over a hill so as not to startle other drivers.

Alongside their AFL technology, the Insignia holds improved handling, generously spaced interiors, a choice of 7 different engines and a sharper design, the Vauxhall Insignia has been welcomed by car owners as a worthy replacement of the Vauxhall Vectra. And there’s no better way to find your own than with Caffyns. Our Vauxhall dealers give you guaranteed scrappage deals, saving you upto £6,470, as well as 0% finance across all Vauxhall models.

Share/Save/Bookmark

{ 0 comments }

Adaptive Forward Lighting | Product Review

by admin on April 29, 2009

In 2008, Vauxhall and its Euro sister Opel introduced a pioneering headlight technology called Adaptive Forward Lighting (AFL), which provides a clear advantage in terms of active safety and comfort.

afl-main3 Adaptive Forward Lighting | Product Review

AFL, which combines swiveling Bi-Xenon headlights with a light that turns at a 90 degree angle for intersections and narrow corners, is being offered on the 2009 Car of the Year Vauxhall Insignia. Vauxhall and Opel are the first car manufacturers to make this new lighting technology available for a wide spectrum of customers by offering it in midsize cars.

The idea is to make driving in the dark and in bad weather conditions easier and above all safer. According to the latest figures from Germany’s Federal Statistics Bureau, more than 40 percent of all automobile accidents resulting in death occur at night, despite the fact that there is up to 80 percent less traffic on the road than during the day. This comes as no surprise. Scientific studies have shown that visual perception, with which we absorb 90 percent of all traffic relevant information, is reduced to as little as four percent when visibility is poor at night. The Adaptive Forward Lighting System provides an added measure of safety in autumn and winter especially, when fewer daylight hours, late sunrise, early dusk and frequent rain and fog, create poor visibility.

afl1-tile1 Adaptive Forward Lighting | Product Review

Compared to standard headlights, the new Adaptive Forward Lighting system offers the following additional functions:

Curve-light: The swiveling front headlights shine at an angle of up to +/- 15 degrees, depending on the steering angle and car speed. Curves are better illuminated by up to 90 percent. This not only contributes to increased safety and car control, but also enhances the dynamic driving characteristics of the car and ensures additional safety and comfort.

afl-main21-300x203 Adaptive Forward Lighting | Product Review

Turning-light: Junctions and narrow bends receive additional wide-angle lighting. The illumination is nearly 90 degrees to the direction of travel over a distance of approximately 30 meters from the car. The turning-light is designed to function only at speeds up to 50 km/h, so that it does not activate in situations like lane changes on the motorway.

Main-beam headlight: Bi-Xeon lights provide extremely powerful lighting on main-beam. With Vauxhall’s sophisticated Bi-Xenon system, dipped-headlights and main-beam can be projected on the road through one single Xenon bulb per headlight. A movable aperture in the beam path allows the switching of dipped-headlights to main-beam. The advantages are an especially intensive and bright beam of light, which has the same color as dipped-headlights.

Source: Opel | carmagazine.co.uk | Vauxhall.co.uk

Share/Save/Bookmark