KevinM

On Canadian A4s, it seems that there is no difference between the OFF position and the 1st position on the headlight control. With the engine on, fogs and sidelights are on as well as the interior dash lighting AND the green lights-on indicator in the instrument pod. This doesn't make sense to me. It would be better to have the lights-on indicator only come on when the headlights are switched on. It's too easy now to forget to switch them on especially with the dash lighting on all the time. Is this just my car (03) or are they all like this?

shadyraven

Thought the same thing myself. Not sure what the logic was.

ahekd

Its only because we have DRLs that whenever the marker lights are on, so are the DRLs.

But yes, I often forget to turn on the headlights too. I also wish the dash lights could be turned off...no point to have them on all the time. I suppose it is a VAG option though...

GünterT

the parking lights are on. Confusion arises when cars with DRLs activate the fog lights as well because these act as the DRLs. The green indicator is wired into the lighting circuit and not the headlight circuit.
The light switch in position 1 is inactive with the ignition on due to the way the system is programmed.

The setup is exactly the same in Scandinavian Audis where all countries have DRL laws. You would think with this size of worldwide customer base that Audi might think of a more elegant solution to the DRL requirement. There is serious discussion in Germany about making DRLs mandatory and if this happens you can bet that the lighting options on German cars will suddenly become more flexible to worldwide requirements.

cr8n

It bugged me from day one that the green headlight icon was on all the time. I have driven without headlights at night because of this.

vx211

It was not designed for DTRL's it works great if you dont have them, its not poor design

Hugh B

as GunterT says below, we'll see a difference if Germany goes to DRLs. Audi is famous for changing small things in production runs based on local standards or laws,to save a few $.
It would be nice if the lighting system in our Cdn. cars was taylored to our requirements.
It is not like Audi to have a redundant switch.So for our requirements it is poor system design.
Hugh

RoadRager

Not to mention the speedo markings between 70 & 100 are extremely confusing and no mph either.

Jet Jockey/A4 Pilot

Turn on your main head lights while driving at night. Those fog lights/DTRL are **** poor for lighting up the road. If you had Xenons you would never forget to turn them on.

Apollo1967

All tickets I get for not having my headlights on are going straight to Audi. I have a 2004 A4 Avant with 930km and instead of enjoying it I'm annoyed. The engine light being on since day 3 doesn't help. They have replaced just about every sensor now. I'm no genius but maybe it's a problem with the engine not the sensors. The Canadian design is horrible. I forget to turn on my headlights all the time. For gods sakes they should have at least made the DRL indicator go out when you turned on your head lights. At least then you would pay attention to that DRL indicator. Since it stays on all the time, you just get used to ignoring it. I absolutely hate the system. I think it is a huge safety infraction on Audi's part as every other car in the world lets you know that your headlights are not on. In the manual on page 72 it says that the instrument lights dim at night and eventually go out to indicate for you to turn on your headlights. My question to Audi is if it makes sense enough to put it in the manual why not put it in the car also.