What's Wrong With This Picture: One Thing LEDs To Another Edition

Edward Niedermeyer
by Edward Niedermeyer
what s wrong with this picture one thing leds to another edition

Ask the average motorist what they think of when they think of Audi, the word “headlights” will come up mighty quickly. And not coincidentally either: Volkswagen’s premium brand even spearheaded last year’s holiday marketing campaign by inviting consumers to “ have the best lights in your neighborhood.” But one of the biggest challenges of the multiple-brand strategy is the constant pressure to take whatever works for one brand and apply it to the others, which is apparently just what Volkswagen has done.

Audi-style LED lights are now available as a €1,310 option in the German market, and we’d be shocked if they don’t arrive stateside in the near future. The upmarket look might well help VW snag some belt-tightening Audi intenders, but it will also help erode the unique benefits Audi has earned by pioneering LED headlights. Progress is a double edged sword…

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  • Disaster Disaster on Nov 29, 2010

    Isn't the article talking about an ACTUAL LED headlight...not just the LED DRL's also in the same housing? The A8 and R8 are some of the few cars...or maybe only cars, in the world to use LED's for the actual light. This VW appears to have a projector lens on one side and an LED headlight on the other. This would be very unique in this price segment.

    • Hans007 Hans007 on Nov 30, 2010

      i think you can get the prius with full led headlights but its an expensive option. also as a 2010 a4 owner, with the led package i love it. the cars without it just look cheap (well all the cars that don't have it also are missing a lot of other things)

  • Lokki Lokki on Nov 30, 2010

    As long as we're raining on parades, anyone care to attempt to calculate the fuel savings from using LED DLR's compared to 'old fashioned' DLR's? Hint: Get a calculator with at least 10 digits and be prepared to look far to your right beyond all those zeros.

  • Inside Looking Out The next 4Runner will be BEV.
  • The Oracle This is a proper Italian red sauce turd.
  • Carson D This isn't a notice of a wait time for 4Runner fans. This is a deadline for the opportunity to buy one new before they're gone. Whatever comes next, there is no possible way that it will be as good at doing 4Runner things as what is available today.
  • Bkojote There's a lot "just right" with the current 4Runner, and having spent time in more contemporary equivalents for road trips, I completely understand why they sell a ton of these.Here's some topics that aren't super common among 4runner owners - excessive carbon buildup in the engine after 40,000 miles (Audi/VW), bent valves (Bronco) , failed oil coolers (Jeep), cracked engine blocks (Jeep), dead vehicles from OTA updates (Chevy Colorado), being stranded due to opening the door too many times (Defender), malfunctioning engine sensors (Defender, VW), dead batteries due to electrical system malfunctions (Jeep), unusable defoggers (Jeep), waiting for seat heaters to boot up (Subaru), randomly catching fire (Kia/Hyundai), crappy build quality (Ford, Tesla).The interior feels solid and rattle free, and everything feels substantial in the way a Jeep Grand Cherokee or Kia Telluride does not. 14 year run means accessories are plentiful and well sorted. The control inputs from the radio to heated seats to climate control work better than 99% of the cars you can buy new at this point and are dead simple and ergonomically satisfying. Even dynamically (I drove a model with the KDSS system to be fair) it is a surprisingly composed vehicle on mountain roads- it's far more civilized than a Bronco or Wrangler, and hell, it was far more pleasant than the past two peastant-grade Benz crapmobiles I've been in.So I get it- car journalist rags whine about how overly complicated and tech-heavy modern vehicles are while their substance is cost cut, but here's the literal definition of 'don't fix it if it aint broken.' . It's a trusty Ford Econoline in a world of craptastic Ram ProMasters.
  • Frank Sounds like they dont want to debut it at the same time as the new Land Cruiser, which is probably smart. The new 'runner is ready to go I am told, so there's a reason for this delay.
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