Audi bringing adaptive matrix headlights to the US, is Porsche next?

[69Mach390]

https://www.motortrend.com/news/2027-audi-q9-matrix-led-headlights?utm_campaign=MOTORTREND-Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_source=SES&utm_type=organic&utm_content=20260521_MOTORTREND-Newsletter&utm_term=&email_subject=Street%20Truck%20Revival!%20Ram%20Rumble%20Bee%20Offers%20170%20MPH,%20Three%20V-8s,%20and%20Muscle-Car%20Proportions&email_list_name=motortrend&n_em=bWF0dF9tY3N3YWluQGhvdG1haWwuY29t&element_parent=Featured%20Stories&element_name=You%20Can%20Leave%20the%202027%20Audi%20Q9’s%20High%20Beams%20On%20and%20No%20One%20Will%20Flash%20You&email_personalized=false

2027 Audi Q9 has them enabled. The article makes it sound like we legally could have since 2022? I know some people have had them programmed but this is the first I’ve heard that it’s actually legal here now.

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[tbinmd]

I have them on my Rivian R1T. I had a 22 F150 that also had the matrix headlights after I updated the programming. The lights have been legal in Canada for years,

 

[d00d]

It's not that the manufacturers can just enable the EU matrix functionality in the US, there are other NHTSA lighting standards that must be met, so they would have to design separate headlights for each market.

 

[SergeyIndy]

It's not that the manufacturers can just enable the EU matrix functionality in the US, there are other NHTSA lighting standards that must be met, so they would have to design separate headlights for each market.

100% correct. NHTSA standards are different from EU standards, so if Porsche follows suit, this will not benefit existing owners as this is not simply a software enable but different hardware and all that together has to be certified for a specific model year. Therefore, if you want them in the US, this can only be done for a cost with me having it done on the J1.1 and very happy about it and I know of one J1.2 owner who enabled them by the same coder on the HD version of the headlights.

 

[TehPenguin]

Read the original presser, it makes it pretty clear that they developed new hardware for this.

https://media.audiusa.com/releases/679

> With the introduction of the all-new, full-size, 2027 Q9 family of flagship SUVs, Audi engineers have developed a system which meets the United States’ D.O.T. regulations for glare, while simultaneously delivering the high performance of the adaptive systems already widely used in Europe for more than a decade.

 

[69Mach390]

100% correct. NHTSA standards are different from EU standards, so if Porsche follows suit, this will not benefit existing owners as this is not simply a software enable but different hardware and all that together has to be certified for a specific model year. Therefore, if you want them in the US, this can only be done for a cost with me having it done on the J1.1 and very happy about it and I know of one J1.2 owner who enabled them by the same coder on the HD version of the headlights.

So lame. It has to be safer for everyone so not sure what the hang up is.

 

[Fun TC Driving]

Hopefully the 2027 Taycans and other Porsche’s will similarly be able to successfully and finally also make this conversion.

 

[SergeyIndy]

So lame. It has to be safer for everyone so not sure what the hang up is.

Fair question. This is clearly on the agency that has failed to make this happen due to usual well-known bureaucracy, but we are all getting blinded for years with very bright Xenon lights way back when and now LED headlights with most cars now tall SUVs and Trucks. The idea is that safety standard should evolve and roll out as advancements, in this case in headlights, pushed it to a different level. However, since it may have been legal since 2022, the standards are not very easy to meet by simply enabling Matrix function on the existing cars, so hopefully Porsche can match Rivian and Tesla to get the hardware and software to meet these standards by 2028, but it will not be cheap, so watch your Matrix lights sky rocket in price.

Same thing with daylight savings time elimination that does not seem to happen. However, they did eliminate the food pyramid where you are supposed to eat breakfast cereal at 50x the rate of other foods. This sure makes sense below to have 11 servings of bread.

This is like 1992: " The classic USDA Food Guide Pyramid, introduced in 1992, placed a massive emphasis on carbohydrates. It recommended that 6 to 11 daily servings of bread, cereal, rice, and pasta form the base of your diet. However, nutrition science has evolved, and official guidelines now emphasize balanced plates over heavy carbohydrate loads."

 

[trycan]

Bit of a stretch to get to the food pyramid on this thread, but I get your point about the bureaucracy taking forever and still not getting the best outcome.

I have my J1.2 coded for full active HD matrix and it's glorious. I was on a road trip last week and put the car into range mode. The passenger screen shuts down in range mode, and so does the "active" part of the matrix headlights, which I wasn't expecting. But I guess that added brightness does take extra power.

 

[minstril]

Bit of a stretch to get to the food pyramid on this thread, but I get your point about the bureaucracy taking forever and still not getting the best outcome.

I have my J1.2 coded for full active HD matrix and it's glorious. I was on a road trip last week and put the car into range mode. The passenger screen shuts down in range mode, and so does the "active" part of the matrix headlights, which I wasn't expecting. But I guess that added brightness does take extra power.

How does one do this? I have a j1.2 on order, might have to look into unlocking the fancy lights.

 

[trycan]

How does one do this? I have a j1.2 on order, might have to look into unlocking the fancy lights.

I had someone help me, but it basically requires a Porsche Virtual tester, and then you connect up a big power supply to the 12V and start the clock on the per hour PIWIS subscription.
I've heard the virtual tester takes a while to unlock modules, but it didn't seem that bad and I think the whole process was done in < 60min. I don't have the detailed notes on which exact configs to change though because I was just observing.

 

[Tooney]

Another article: These clever active beam headlights are finally coming to America

 

[Vercingetorix]

Willing to bet the USA version will be hobbled, and people will complain they aren’t as good as activating what we already have. Pretty sure brightness is reduced in the USA.

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