Ok so last night, I crossed the 2000km threshold and was able to start using the many great features of my car. Things like cruise control, and more importantly the redline...

So I was out on the highway and decided it was time to see what the car could do. I pulled out at a roadside stop, shifted into manual mode, and put my foot to the floor. Fun car!!

I got to about 180km/h and decided it was time to chill, so I let off. It didn't seem like the car was weight shifted to the back, but when I let off and slowed down, the Xenon cutoff seemed to come closer to the car.

Do the headlights auto adjust for speed?

 

I don't think they are.
When I shift on the fly at night, I notice that there is a little lag in the beam adjustment. Not a lot, but enough to see how much nose lift going on during a shift.
Maybe you just spotted the difference on the oppisite end of the operation. Throttle down, nose up. Lifted throttle, dropped nose.

 

the cutoff doesn't come closer to the car but you are driving over your headlight. that is usually dangerous.

 

Crap, I've been driving over my headlights for years...

 

Sorry, I haven't heard this phrase before... does this mean you're going faster than your car's ability to light up the dangers far ahead?

 

I thought he was being a punk. I was just saying I've driven over the area that my headlight illuminates all the time.

Back to the original post, I just noticed a definite change in the cutoff line when I began to slow down. I didn't think that there was too much weight transfer when I began to slow down, so I assumed they re-aimed. Perhaps it was weight transfer.

I agree diving too fast in the dark makes it more dangerous since the light will only illuminate a portion of the road ahead of you. The faster you go the shorter the relative distance you can see.

 

"Driving over your lights" refers to an old safety adage about time and distance.
If you can see 100 feet, but it takes you 150 feet to stop....slow down.

 

they dont necessarily adjust to speed, they adjust to the angle of the car... typically under acceleration and braking the lights will move up and down to adjust for the tilt of the car in order to maintain the same level of light throw.

 

The MINIs with xenon headlights have an auto-leveling system. They constantly adjust for vehicle attitude under varying acceleration loads.

Under heavy acceleration the nose of the vehicle will rise and the headlights will automatically lower angle of the beams.

Once you take your foot off the accelerator the nose of the Mini will drop and the headlight beams will raise slightly.

You will also notice this as you travel over bumps under certain conditions.

 

Park your vehicle on an inclined driveway facing the garage door at night and watch them adjust as soon as you start your car back up! Auto adjust for attitude of veh.