I had not had much chance to drive my 2121 F Type after dark until this recent change from Daylight Savings Time. Where I live is fairly rural and there is no lighting along the State highway nor no streetlights at all in the residential sections. When there is no moonlight it is DARK around here. And I mean can't see your hand in front of your face dark.

The first thing I discovered was that my headlights were pitiful, probably pointing no more than 20 yards ahead of the car and I could outdrive the beams at about 25 MPH. A dangerous situation. As many of you gave posted they can come from the factory not properly calibrated. I used a 6mm Allen wrench and cranked up each headlight one full turn counter-clockwise using my garage wall as a reference. That made a world of difference.

Next was the AHBA (Auto High Beam Assist) feature. I had it set to ON and the darn thing was flashing high and back to low beams almost constantly as I drove along the highway. It switched back to low when I was approaching another car from the rear as it should, but with oncoming vehicles it didn't switch back to low until we were just a few car lengths away from each other. In other words it sucked big time. So I switched off the Auto High Beams Assist feature. This is another reason that I dislike auto headlights, auto high beams, auto HVAC and auto windshield wipers. They never seem to do what I can do better manually and according to my own judgement. Artificial intelligence phooey !

Finally the dashboard lighting. The little rheostat dial on the lower left panel works, but anything lower than full on is too dim. Did you know that after you set it, you can push the button in to keep your settings from being accidentally moved ? Not in the owners manual. As I mentioned previously, it is very dark around here so I adjusted the infotainment screen so that it is not so bright which helps with my night vision. But here is the really dumb thing: If you shut off the screen, the gauge illumination dims all the way to the lowest setting of the rheostat regardless of where you had it set. Not bright enough for me. I have no idea who at Jaguar configured the dash lighting, but they need to be reassigned to floor sweeping duty.

People used to joke about Lucas electrics on British vehicles and motorcycles being quirky, or worse. I think the spirit of Lucas is haunting Castle Bromwich.

Sorry for the rant, but I wanted to get my thoughts down while still fresh in my mind. At least they are "First World" problems that I have dealt with easily and don't require a trip to the dealer.

 

The auto high beam assist on my 16R and 18R, as well as our former LR4 worked well and did not exhibit the poor switching you describe. Maybe just the newer models have the issue?

 

I too have a 2021. My headlights are fine but my auto high beams also suck. My RAM Limited has way more features actually and they all work great including the auto high beams. I havent noticed the dimming of the gauges when the screen is off.

Personally i think the excuses we all make (its British, first world problems, etc.) are just excuses. It really is annoying to spend over six figures on a premium brand sports car and it lacks some basic features that my pick up truck has. And the features it does have dont work right. I paid for the optional rear cross traffic and blind spot monitoring (should be standard like every other basic car these days) and it never worked. I'm waiting on a backordered replacement sensor module.

My truck has HUD, corner bending LED beams, 360 camera with configurable views, air suspension with adjustable ride height, etc. Its a $75k truck but still... my wifes little Rav4 has great headlights with auto high beams and they work great too.

Ok, done ranting. when I start it and hear that engine, I dont care too much about the issues. Lol

 

I hear you Cgo. My other vehicle is a 2019 Mazda CX 5 SUV. It has an excellent HUD system and came standard with dual zone climate control, heated and cooled seats, a heated steering wheel, all leather interior, a Homelink system, blind spot monitoring, rear cross traffic alert and adaptive headlights that swivel and follow the road when you turn. All on a $37,000 car. Jaguar charged extra for those options. I'll bet the options are where JLR makes a considerable amount of profit per vehicle.

But I bought the F Type really just for fun and as a reward to myself for a lifetime of hard work and financial responsibility. The complaints I have are really minor compared to the fun of driving it. It's crazy though that the Japanese car makers (at least some of them) are still ahead of their competition in so many areas after all these years.

 

Me too, exactly. This is the most expensive toy car I've ever had and I was hoping for a bit better dealer experience and reliability (I know, I know). I only drive the Jag for fun on nice, sunny days. Most of the time I have the infotainment turned off so I can listen to the exhaust ;-). My car has most of the options, but if I were to do it again, I wouldnt bother since many of the options are useless or dont work. Lol

Not only the Japanese, the Koreans and even domestics. Again, my RAM Limited is the most luxurious vehicle I've ever owned (I've had Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Infiniti, etc.) and the interior is one of the nicest, highest quality interiors I've ever seen literally. The leather is thick like a fine Italian sofa. It just happens to be a pick up truck! Lol Heck, my 2018 Camaro SS 1LE cost me $42k out the door and it was nearly on par with the F Type R. Came standard with Alcantara and leather interior with Recaro seats, adjustable suspension, 360 camera, track video recording with performance overlay, HUD, multiple driving modes, configurable modes including exhaust, suspension, throttle, Brembo brakes, etc.it was a beast. Zero to 60 in 4.1. Six speed manual with auto throttle blip, and power shifting (no clutch needed when wide open). Just felt like I needed a mullet. Wanted a bit more class.

However, the F type is cool though because, well, Jaaaaaag! Hahaha

 

One additional comment about the AHBA (Auto High Beam Assist) feature that I forgot to mention. There is a sensitivity adjustment for it in the settings. It was set to Normal. I did not try changing it and going for another drive and seeing if it worked more like I think it should. I may take a drive this weekend and try the other settings and will report back if there is any improvement.

But I still get a feeling that I will leave it off, it will be hard to break 50+ years of driving experience and muscle memory for pushing the turn signal stalk forward when I see the need for high beams and pulling it back when I need to return to low beams. Heck, my first car had the button on the floorboard that controlled the high beams and it took a couple of months to get used to the first car that I owned with the beam control on the stalk as is common today.

 

I swapped my 2014 XJR headlights to the LED factory versions and felt like you do. But I finally set the car up and adjusted the headlights and they were way low. I know because I could drive on brights and never get flashed. I think I could bring them up a little more too but what an improvement that made!

I find the auto high beams rarely switch to high beams and even reflections from street signs turn the high beams off. I don't think the XJ has any adjustment for this but will look. On my old Ford SHO there was a sensitivity adjustment for the auto on headlights. But that was just adjusted how dark it was when the automatic headlights came on.
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OK... You guys are seriously making me rethink taking my '22 and going back to Porsche. Lol!

 

You'd swap beauty for a jelly mould?

 

I really liked my jelly mould ☹️

 

I have a 2020 RAM pickup and agree. Almost two much electronic gadgetry. believe the single best thing about the F type is the shape and relatively small production numbers. I think JLR spent all the money on the monocoque aluminum body and they don't produce that many.

 

I feel the same way about these being First World Problems.

Our other sports car has MANUAL STEERING (no assist except, you know, MUSCLES). The 'feel' is better, but even in the F, you learn how fast you are cornering by other senses.

I too, have High Beam Muscle Memory. I like to re-apply high beams when the oncoming car is barely next to us. And I often keep the highs on when going slow, looking for street signs etc. (Auto high beams don't work at less than certain speeds)

Don't get me started about the automatic wipers...I HATE when they work on almost-dry glass. (Yes, I have the sensing set to minimum)

++++++++++++

NONE of these petty criticisms would make me want to sell the F!!!!!

 

gorgeous! I'm not attached to any particular brand. That is a nice 911!

 

Thank you! I'm not attached to any specific brand either... I guess I should say I "wasn't" until I had my 911. I love to try new things and never wanted to buy the same car twice. I am a total Pcar fan now. It was THE best car I've ever had. If prices would come back to earth, my current debacle would be so much easier. I'd buy another in a heartbeat.

 

Dwight:

2 things that you may or may not already know:

1. there is a setting for the dashboard/screen display lighting (settings/general) -- light/dark/auto
I keep mine on dark. You might prefer light. Both can be adjusted using the rheostat. "Auto" seems to overiide the rheostat control .

2. there is also an adjustment (settings/??) to adjust "sensitivity" for the auto lights

 

Thanks CJSJAG. I changed the infotainment screen from Auto to Dark yesterday and set the brightness to one graduation past the center. I wish I had tried that sooner. Not only does it seem less fatiguing on the eyes and my night vision by not having that illumination in my face at night while driving in areas with no street lighting, but I think the dark gray screen looks better with the black dashboard and trim too.
The Auto setting reminded me of the old B&W TV set we had when I was a kid in comparison.

I need to try the different sensitivity settings for the AHBA too. The factory default is Normal and it must have changed from low beams to high and back again a couple dozen times on a 3 mile drive down the highway. It was so frantic that I switched off the feature as soon as I got to town and parked.