Night Driving Experience in the Macan

[RunningOnSolar]

Went out on a night drive in the Macan to evaluate the LED Matrix headlights and cabin illumination from the interior lighting and displays.

I am used to the steerable headlights on my Subaru. I really appreciated these when handling curves and turning at intersections. The Macan takes an entirely different approach by providing a wider field of illumination. With the wider illumination, cornering is still just as effective as the steerable headlights and possibly more so because you don’t have to wait for the area you are steering into to be illuminated. The auto switch to low bean headlights is OK, but I’m really looking forward to when the adaptive headlight software change is made for US drivers. This will provide a much more uniform lighting experience with no need to flip between low and high beams.

There was quite a lot of discussion about how effective the more Taycan like black background was than the tinted dashboard instrument dials. So much so, that I picked the dark theme and haven’t regretted it, especially at night.

The ambient lighting is mostly in indicating drive mode changes and any driver warnings, day or night. This feature is kind of subliminal in a good way.

An extended night drive was a great confidence builder for the efficacy of lighting and driver assistance features at night. Maybe someday, the night vision capabilities of the Taycan that warn of people and animals outside of headlight range will be made available on the Macan. Until then, Macan drivers can enjoy the enhanced night driving experience that we have now and will soon have with adaptive headlights.

 

[Salmonfisher]

Being in UK with a Polestar with adaptive headlights I can tell you they are a total game changer and I couldn’t do without them now. They were the first option on my list but I doubt I would have bothered with LED matrix lights without them being adaptive. Just wait until you get the update you will be blown away

 

[Diego]

Same experience here (but with adaptive lights). The only thing I changed is the interior lighting system level from Medium to Low and when I'm on dark mountain road I tried to turn off the center display and use the minimal main cockpit view and it's amazing for eye fatique.