DeerHunter

Now I'm confused. For reference, here's the CR article (although they don't show any pictures of give any distances).

Most reviews from owners say that LED headlights are all that and a bag of chips. Now empirical testing says they're inferior. Is the truth somewhere in-between? What say owners, most of whom probably had a car previously with adaptive bi-xenons?

snagitseven

I can only report that my A6 LED headlights are far superior to my 2009 B8 A4 HID Xenons. They are brighter and have a much farther and wider reach, especially on high beams. Only two examples with two different vehicles, but a marked improvement nevertheless.

hl229

Audi advertising touts the "whiteness" of the LEDs relative to HID, but notice they never say the nighttime visibility is better. They do in fact say that about the LED brake lights that light up more quickly (which sounds like BS, isn't it all the speed of light?). Point is, if visibility was better, they would market it that way. It's probably a push, and it comes down to aesthetics.

DeerHunter

Actually, LEDs do illuminate significantly more quickly than incandescent bulbs. Easy to see with cars that have normal tail-lights and LED Center High-Mounted brake lights. Nothing to do with the speed of light and everything to do with response time.

salvadorik

Most of the c7 owners here would agree with me that LED headlights provide with significantly brighter, wider and longer illumination compared to HID headlights. When driving on the twisty roads LEDs dont have to be rotated by following steering (as many of us know the concept of being adaptive), LEDs already positioned in different angles that illuminate wide area. I believe the argument that LED headlights are not adaptive is irrelevant. LED headlights is the best option in my opinion.

spoon2000

One of the best aspects of the C7 A6 LED lights is that each of the bulbs is aimed precisely at its own spot ahead of the car, so that the light is extremely even and well defined. Think of the big banks of lights in stadiums and how they're aimed so as to produce no bright or dark areas on the field, and that's the effect the Audi LEDs give. Apparently, it's simply impossible to produce a headlamp that uses a reflector (as bulb headlamps and HID xenon headlamps do) that distributes light so evenly.

Yes, xenon HIDs are better than standard bulbs, but they're not as good as the LEDs IMO. The other thing about the Audi LEDs is that the light is extremely white; lane stripes, the lane marker reflectors imbedded in the pavement, and road signs are extremely visible in any conditions. I say all of the above having switched from an older A6 with xenon headlamps to a 2012 A6 with LEDs. There's just no comparison.

I join others in saying the LEDs are a no-brainer to have for an extra $1400. It's simply the best return-on-investment option you can put on the car IMO; they're cheap for what you get and for how much you'll appreciate them from a practical, artistic, and/or snob-appeal standpoint. I'm also quite convinced at resale time that most potential buyers would look at a xenon-equipped C7 A6 and say, "Eww, you mean it doesn't have the LED headlights?" (especially, as someone else pointed out, after every Kia and Mitsubishi out there has LEDs).

To flog the point just a bit more, I've bought previous cars just as passenger-side airbags, ABS, electronic stability protection, and xenon headlights have been introduced, dropped the extra money needed to be on the cutting edge, and never regretted any of the decisions. It's one thing to spring for something that is a dubious advancement (e.g. surround-sound stereo, in-car LP record player, etc.) but not for something that is clearly "the way of the future" (as Howard Hughes said at the end of "The Aviator").

spoon2000

Response time as in, the time it takes a semiconductor to illuminate (LED) vs. the time it takes for a filament in a traditional bulb to heat up to the point of glowing.

DeerHunter

Yes, that's what I meant.

Thanks for the thoughtful reply r.e. the LED headlights. It's an advancement that makes intuitive sense, so it was disconcerting to see a negative review from CR. Perhaps they had the lights aimed too low, which would obviously affect range.

snagitseven

Consider the source. Their ratings and reviews are rarely spot on in my experience.

looking@audi

All very subjective.

GIven the choice, I would take a heated steering wheel over the LED headlights.