Volkswagen Golf GTE

Our VW’S trick headlamps are an antidote to longer nights

IMENTIONED THE GOLF’S CLEVER adaptive LED headlamps in a previous report, but it’s only now the winter nights are drawing in that the set-up’s brilliance has really started to hit home. There have been some outstanding safety advances over the past few decades (ABS, ESP, airbags – the list goes on), but I truly believe this type of matrix headlamp ranks with the very best.

It’s when they’re left to their own devices that they, and excuse the pun, really shine. Simply twist the rotary light controller to ‘auto’, flick the stalk for main beam and then let the sensors do the rest. Once activated thus, the system’s ability to effectively ‘mask off’ oncoming traffic or vehicles that you’re following, yet still fully illuminate the verges and empty stretches of tarmac ahead, is uncanny. These extra pools of light give you earlier warning of pedestrians, cyclists, animals or potholes that would otherwise be lurking in the gloom, so boost your confidence and leave you less tired after a long night-time stint behind the wheel.

Crucially, you can also drive more quickly and safely after dark, the lamps’ ability to light up more of the road leaving you less reliant on educated guesswork. And when there are no other cars about, the main beam is both incredibly bright and has an impressively long reach. I’m not going to make any fatuous comparisons to a lamppod equipped WRC car, but they leave most other production-car units in the shade.

Yet what’s really remarkable about these lights is how infallible they are – in thousands of night-time miles I’ve not once been angrily flashed by another motorist who’s been temporarily blinded by the VW’S beams. If you’re about to order a Golf, then I’d recommend the first option box you tick is for the £1285 Dynamic Light Assist (£310 if, like the GTE, LED lamps are standard). The set-up really is that good.