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Very Adaptive - 2014 Kia Cadenza Limited Long-Term Road Test
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Very Adaptive - 2014 Kia Cadenza Limited Long-Term Road Test
Our long-term 2014 Kia Cadenza has both adaptive headlights and adaptive cruise control. I love one, can live without the other.
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I own this car with this option. Simply put the lights when driving at night to the On position and Not the auto on position. The lights do not adapt with the steering input in the On postilion. Only in the auto position do they do that.
Also I don't know if you noticed but the lights Do not turn on for 10 seconds when left in the auto setting when driving into a dark tunnel or anything that would require the lights to immediately turn on. They do the same thing when driving out. I called KIA corporate and asked why is the sensor is set to a 10 second delay? and they said it was designed that way and is non adjustable. I completely do not underrated why would engineers decide to have AUTO Headlights be on a non adjustable 10 second delay. I find that very annoying.
that's a weird behavior... 10 sec? hope they update it soon.
I've always heard that HIDs are harmed by repeatedly being quickly turned on and off. I'd imagine that's why the car is designed for at least 10 seconds of continuous darkness before they come on, to make sure you're not just driving through a short tunnel or under a bridge or some trees, where the lights aren't really needed for road illumination. I do wish that the delay to turn them off could be adjusted to longer than 15 seconds after the driver's door is closed.
I thought the K900 had LED headlights? I know that HID lights do not like being cycled so frequently, but what about LEDs?
A lot of cars (including mine) have a delay for the auto headlights for the reason described by dg0472: when driving under short overpasses, it's annoying to have the headlights cycling on & off constantly. They should only turn on when they're really needed. (If it is a long tunnel, then my car's DRLs provide some illumination for those first few seconds before the full headlights click on.)
I do agree with alot of the comments, however we should have the option to set the lights to our own driving preferences. For one the kia cadenza does not have DRLS so you go completely into the dark. For me that isnt convinient
The K900 does have LEDs, but this is a Cadenza post. LEDs don't seem to be hurt by cycling that I can find, but they don't like heat, so they need cooling. They also like the cold a little too much and may get too bright in the cold. So neither type seems to be the perfect solution at this time. And I don't think anything automatic is going to be the perfect solution all the time. The rain sensing wipers are great, but don't always sweep when I need them or stop when I don't.
I wish the Cadenza had DRLs too. Are there any Canadians on here that know what the DRLs are up there? The turn signals? The low beams? Or is the LEDs under the headlights? If it's the latter, guess adding them to a US model would be out of the question, cost-wise.
As some have stated, excess on/off cycling will reduce lifespan in both Halogen and HID bulbs. The HIDs take a little longer to reach full operating temperature, and lifespan will suffer further if you make a habit of switching them off before the reach that temperature. The NA market actually has very little tolerance for short lifespan from headlight bulbs, even at the expense of performance, so that's probably why this car will wait so long before turning them on.
LEDs don't really suffer from this. Pulse Width Modification, for example, works very well with them.
The DRLs in Canadian specification vehicles are a little LED strip under the low beam projector. I don't think that you can get them in the U.S. specification Cadenza. If you're willing to pay the premium, order a set of headlights from a Canadian dealer on Ebay or something along the lines of that, and then have a local dealer install them. It really is a bummer that the U.S. Cadenza doesn't have them...