New GS300h owner - couple more questions

[diarmaid]

Was driving in the dark a tonight. Had the headlights on with Adaptive High-beam System. Several cars flashed me. I thought this system was meant to ensure that other drivers were not blinded. Am I doing something wrong?

The ambient lighting under the door trim strips is almost invisible - is there a way to turn it up? I have the dash lighting at max.

Thank you!

[rayaans]

33 minutes ago, diarmaid said:

Was driving in the dark a tonight. Had the headlights on with Adaptive High-beam System. Several cars flashed me. I thought this system was meant to ensure that other drivers were not blinded. Am I doing something wrong?

The ambient lighting under the door trim strips is almost invisible - is there a way to turn it up? I have the dash lighting at max.

Thank you!

The ahs should be shuttering parts of the light. If you can visibly see it happening then it's working fine. 

I wouldn't worry about other drivers.  I get flashed all the time in my RX with dipped beam LED lights 

It's worse in lower cars as the light is at eye level

There's no setting to make the strips brighter.  I think they dim when driving to avoid distracting you or causing glare

[diarmaid]

Cheers. I think the system is working but I don't like to think I'm causing a nuisance on the road!

[diarmaid]

Also the heated seats aren't that hot are they? The cabin heater isn't too hot either.

[NemesisUK]

What do you like about the car?

[Zotto]

I own a 2014 GS 300h so it's possible that something is different, but to properly activate Adaptive H Beam you need to switch ON High beam and AFTER set ON the AHB switch. On my GS works well  but only above about 30 mph and in dark streets, if there are many lights around it swiches off high beam too much.

About heated (and ventilated) seats, on my GS are automatic, if you need more heating you can set them in manual mode.

Another difference about AC  system is if you use it in ECO mode or not, in ECO the heating is done only toward occupied seats to spare energy, more efficient but less comfortable got the whole interiors.

[rayaans]

1 hour ago, diarmaid said:

Also the heated seats aren't that hot are they? The cabin heater isn't too hot either.

Have you got the car in eco mode? it turns down AC. also make sure fan is set to atleast medium because soft has an issue. I get really warm at 21 degrees in both RX and IS so if you stick it on high it'd probably get unbearable

Seat heaters are programmed to turn down by 1 every few minutes to prevent burns. you have to get the dealer to stop it doing that but they should get pretty toasty.

[diarmaid]

1 hour ago, NemesisUK said:

What do you like about the car?

The exterior, paint finish, 19'' rims, interior with the dark rose leather, the driver's seat is ultra comfy, the stereo is excellent, the adaptive cruise.

[Ten Ninety]

I doubt you're doing anything wrong with the auto high-beam. It's fundamentally flawed technology, answering a question nobody was really asking and managing to get the wrong answer anyway. A human driver sees the 'glow' of approaching lights and dips their beams before the car comes into view, to avoid dazzle. The computer has to wait until its camera 'sees' the actual oncoming lights, by which time you've already subjected the other driver to your own high beam. Before I'd got the GS, I'd noticed an annoying trend for oncoming vehicles being 'slow' to dip their lights or not dipping at all. I'd put that down to an increase in general inconsiderate behaviour, but I now suspect it might be more to do with this useless 'feature' being fitted to more cars. 

In my experience, the system in the GS doesn't even manage to work as 'well' as that flawed theory. It actually fails to dip at all in about 10% of cases, yet also has a wonderful habit of dipping unexpectedly for no apparent reason whatsoever which can be entertaining on an unlit, unfamiliar corner. In that respect, it's not unlike the equally hopeless auto wipers which routinely fail to come on until the windscreen is completely obscured by rain yet also regularly manage to turn themselves on randomly to squeak across a bone-dry expanse of glass.

The GS is in many respects a magnificent car and one which I enjoy owning immensely. However, one suspects that all the technology R&D went into the hybrid drivetrain and not into the driver aids, sat-nav or connectivity! 

[Verbout]

21 minutes ago, Ten Ninety said:

I doubt you're doing anything wrong with the auto high-beam. It's fundamentally flawed technology, answering a question nobody was really asking and managing to get the wrong answer anyway. A human driver sees the 'glow' of approaching lights and dips their beams before the car comes into view, to avoid dazzle. The computer has to wait until its camera 'sees' the actual oncoming lights, by which time you've already subjected the other driver to your own high beam. Before I'd got the GS, I'd noticed an annoying trend for oncoming vehicles being 'slow' to dip their lights or not dipping at all. I'd put that down to an increase in general inconsiderate behaviour, but I now suspect it might be more to do with this useless 'feature' being fitted to more cars. 

In my experience, the system in the GS doesn't even manage to work as 'well' as that flawed theory. It actually fails to dip at all in about 10% of cases, yet also has a wonderful habit of dipping unexpectedly for no apparent reason whatsoever which can be entertaining on an unlit, unfamiliar corner. In that respect, it's not unlike the equally hopeless auto wipers which routinely fail to come on until the windscreen is completely obscured by rain yet also regularly manage to turn themselves on randomly to squeak across a bone-dry expanse of glass.

The GS is in many respects a magnificent car and one which I enjoy owning immensely. However, one suspects that all the technology R&D went into the hybrid drivetrain and not into the driver aids, sat-nav or connectivity! 

Good observations and write up.  :thumbup:

[ISJason]

I have to say that in my RX 400 hybrid that the auto wipers are actually very good and usually come on exactly when I need them to 99% of the time and I assume that you know that you can adjust the sensitivity and although I haven't got a 450, perhaps you can adjust the sensitivity of the high beam as well? Maybe it's worth a look in the manual, I'm not sure.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[diarmaid]

15 hours ago, Ten Ninety said:

I doubt you're doing anything wrong with the auto high-beam. It's fundamentally flawed technology, answering a question nobody was really asking and managing to get the wrong answer anyway. A human driver sees the 'glow' of approaching lights and dips their beams before the car comes into view, to avoid dazzle. The computer has to wait until its camera 'sees' the actual oncoming lights, by which time you've already subjected the other driver to your own high beam. Before I'd got the GS, I'd noticed an annoying trend for oncoming vehicles being 'slow' to dip their lights or not dipping at all. I'd put that down to an increase in general inconsiderate behaviour, but I now suspect it might be more to do with this useless 'feature' being fitted to more cars. 

In my experience, the system in the GS doesn't even manage to work as 'well' as that flawed theory. It actually fails to dip at all in about 10% of cases, yet also has a wonderful habit of dipping unexpectedly for no apparent reason whatsoever which can be entertaining on an unlit, unfamiliar corner. In that respect, it's not unlike the equally hopeless auto wipers which routinely fail to come on until the windscreen is completely obscured by rain yet also regularly manage to turn themselves on randomly to squeak across a bone-dry expanse of glass.

The GS is in many respects a magnificent car and one which I enjoy owning immensely. However, one suspects that all the technology R&D went into the hybrid drivetrain and not into the driver aids, sat-nav or connectivity! 

I agree!

[keiron99]

On 19/11/2016 at 7:58 PM, diarmaid said:

 

The ambient lighting under the door trim strips is almost invisible - is there a way to turn it up? I have the dash lighting at max.

 

 

I didn't even realise there was a "door trim light" until after I'd had the car a couple of weeks! As has been pointed out, it works in tandem with the dash display brightness.

But if I have the brightness such that I can actually see the door trim lights (which are a lovely, stylish feature), then the speedo burns my retinas!

A shame you can't operate them independently.

[rayaans]

On 20/11/2016 at 7:41 PM, Ten Ninety said:

I doubt you're doing anything wrong with the auto high-beam. It's fundamentally flawed technology, answering a question nobody was really asking and managing to get the wrong answer anyway. A human driver sees the 'glow' of approaching lights and dips their beams before the car comes into view, to avoid dazzle. The computer has to wait until its camera 'sees' the actual oncoming lights, by which time you've already subjected the other driver to your own high beam. Before I'd got the GS, I'd noticed an annoying trend for oncoming vehicles being 'slow' to dip their lights or not dipping at all. I'd put that down to an increase in general inconsiderate behaviour, but I now suspect it might be more to do with this useless 'feature' being fitted to more cars. 

In my experience, the system in the GS doesn't even manage to work as 'well' as that flawed theory. It actually fails to dip at all in about 10% of cases, yet also has a wonderful habit of dipping unexpectedly for no apparent reason whatsoever which can be entertaining on an unlit, unfamiliar corner. In that respect, it's not unlike the equally hopeless auto wipers which routinely fail to come on until the windscreen is completely obscured by rain yet also regularly manage to turn themselves on randomly to squeak across a bone-dry expanse of glass.

The GS is in many respects a magnificent car and one which I enjoy owning immensely. However, one suspects that all the technology R&D went into the hybrid drivetrain and not into the driver aids, sat-nav or connectivity! 

The wipers have a sensitivity knob which can be turned.

Ive not had any issues with the wipers in my current RX and IS and any other Lexus vehicle Ive driven apart from my RX300 which was fine until the screen got a chip and was replaced. Then the auto wipers didnt work properly.

Its just a matter of figuring out which sensitivity is best for most conditions - for example my RX needs relatively high sensitivity in comparison to the IS which needs a lower sensitivity for the same job.

. The reason for it coming on on dry glass can be A - glass is filthy, B - dodgy sensor or C - lighting (it explains this in the manual btw)

[Ten Ninety]

On 11/25/2016 at 0:26 PM, rayaans said:

The wipers have a sensitivity knob which can be turned.

Ive not had any issues with the wipers in my current RX and IS and any other Lexus vehicle Ive driven apart from my RX300 which was fine until the screen got a chip and was replaced. Then the auto wipers didnt work properly.

Its just a matter of figuring out which sensitivity is best for most conditions - for example my RX needs relatively high sensitivity in comparison to the IS which needs a lower sensitivity for the same job.

. The reason for it coming on on dry glass can be A - glass is filthy, B - dodgy sensor or C - lighting (it explains this in the manual btw)

I am well aware of the sensitivity collar. In my car, it offers several different positions for 'off' until you get to max sensitivity, at which point the wipers may come on but often remain stuck in a 'too little, too late' pattern. On other occasions during an extended period of rain they do the opposite and gradually crank themselves up to max speed unnecessarily. And, as already mentioned, they have a habit of coming on when it's dry that cannot be attributed to a dirty screen or the lighting conditions outlined in the manual.

Auto wipers work fine in my wife's Auris, and they worked fine in my old Prius. I don't doubt they work well in your cars. They don't work well in my GS.

Now, that is quite possibly because my particular car has a sensor problem but that doesn't get away from the overall point which is that Lexus are much better at drivetrains than they are at in-car technology. There are just too many basic design decisions that are poorly conceived. To take just one of many examples - and sticking with the theme of wipers - there is a button which switches the auto function off, yet using that button does NOT then allow the 'manual' intermittent function to work unless a further operation has been performed involving holding buttons and watching flashing lights: an operation that can only be conducted when the car is not moving!

[ISJason]

I'm not sure what you are referring to sir, on mine you just move the stalk up to the next click and your back to manual wipe..if you click down its normal wipe speed, click down again and it's fast wipe.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[keiron99]

On 11/27/2016 at 11:37 AM, Ten Ninety said:

 

I am well aware of the sensitivity collar. In my car, it offers several different positions for 'off' until you get to max sensitivity, at which point the wipers may come on but often remain stuck in a 'too little, too late' pattern. On other occasions during an extended period of rain they do the opposite and gradually crank themselves up to max speed unnecessarily. And, as already mentioned, they have a habit of coming on when it's dry that cannot be attributed to a dirty screen or the lighting conditions outlined in the manual.

1

This is my experience exactly in my GS300h. I have now given up with the auto sensor and just set things manually, switching On and Off as required. Very frustrating - I can't remember the last time I owned a car where I didn't just leave the wipers in Auto.

[Eire Lexus]

If the windscreen has been replaced a new gel pad should have been fitted to the rain sensor. This could explain why the sensor isn't working correctly. If this is not the issue then go back to Lexus and get the sensor replaced under warranty.

[keiron99]

Where is the rain sensor positioned? 

 

[marrat]

Apologies for hijacking the thread with a question, but it didn't seem important enough to start a thread. I was wondering whether the GS300H and the GS450H are exactly the same at same spec, apart from more power and rear wheel steering on the 450H. Are these simply the same cars with different engines?

[Zotto]

Yes and no. Engines but also eCVT to let 450h run at high speed. You can hear the change at about 110 km/h in this video:

 

 

[Zotto]

Another difference I forgot is the variable ratio in steering switching from Normal to Sport mode in 450, while in 300h the ratio does not change (but for my tastes better so).