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Canadian owners - please read

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Audio and Electronics' started by SparkyJ, Apr 2, 2006.

  1. SparkyJ

    SparkyJ New Member

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    Hello, fellow Prius owners!

    Will you help me figure out the mystery of a possible "Canada only" option?

    According to page 108 of the '06 Owners Manual, some Priuses come with an "Auto" setting on their headlights stick which activates a sensor that turns your headlights on and off depending on the darkness of your surroundings. I can't find any US owner that has this function on their 2006 Prius, even the package 8 owners (that's the highest level package available in the US). Someone posted that the "auto" feature is only available for Canada. Soooo... I'm asking... do any of you have this? If so, can you tell me if it's daytime running lights, or something more sophisticated?

    Thanks very much!
     
    #1 SparkyJ, Apr 2, 2006
  2. Frank Hudon

    Frank Hudon Senior Member

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    Have it and DRL's and what it does is it sets the dash lights to a lower setting brightness wise when it's on Auto. Just leave your switch in Auto and the lights are on and the dash is bright in the day time and at night the dash dims to what ever your dimmer setting is at. That's about all I can see that it does.
     
    #2 Frank Hudon, Apr 2, 2006
  3. Presto

    Presto Has his homepage set to PC

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    If we didn't have the DRL module, it would automatically turn on the lights when the car is on and it's dark enough.

    I'm not a fan of DRLs. One of the future modifications I'd like to do is to have a momentary button to turn off the lights while the car is moving.
     
    #3 Presto, Apr 2, 2006
  4. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Yep. It has nothing to do with DRLs. DRLs just mean that our headlights are on at reduced intensity when driving.

    Auto headlights just mean that the headlights and tailights will come on whenever it's dark enough determined by the sensor (it can be adjusted at the dealer). When it's dark enough, the lights will come on and the dash will automatically dim. When it's bright, it'll turn off and the dash will light up to daytime intensity.
     
    #4 Tideland Prius, Apr 2, 2006
  5. aaf709

    aaf709 Ravenpaw of ThunderClan

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    It's not available in the 2005 either, although the spot for the sensor is there (at least it is on mine). It's in the left corner of the dash next to the windshield.
     
    #5 aaf709, Apr 2, 2006
  6. DaveG

    DaveG Member

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    I believe it's not on the US models because of the HID headlight option (which isn't available in Canada). Since HIDs cost more to replace, and since DRLs aren't required in the US (yet), it wasn't included for the US market.

    I kind of wish they'd offer HIDs in Canada on the next major redesign - maybe have a seperate halogen bulb for DRLs, and HIDs for regular night driving.

    That said, the Canadian version of the Prius has some of the best halogen lights I've used.

    Dave
     
    #6 DaveG, Apr 3, 2006
  7. SparkyJ

    SparkyJ New Member

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    OK, Tideland, just to confirm - the sensor IS turning your headlights on & off when it gets dark or light out. Correct?

    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ Apr 2 2006, 06:59 PM) [snapback]233964[/snapback]</div>
     
    #7 SparkyJ, Apr 4, 2006
  8. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Yeah. It's exactly as the name implies. Automatic. If I go through a section of road that has dense overhead tree canopy, then it'll turn on (it's more sensitive than the Camry's and it's actually dark in that section of road). It'll turn on when I enter underground/multi-storey parking complexes etc etc. The nice thing is that the MFD also dims automatically.

    Another thing that's different is that if I were to manually turn on the headlights, it won't dim the MFD/speedo like it does on US cars. If I have the headlights on during the day, it'll only dim the dash if I enter some place dark as described above. Hence the "DAY MODE" is useless to us.
     
    #8 Tideland Prius, Apr 4, 2006
  9. SparkyJ

    SparkyJ New Member

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    Just wanted to let everyone know, I dropped a line to Edward at Sigma Automotive asking if he could come up with a mod to give the US version of the 2006 Prius the auto-on sensors like the Canadians have. He checked it out and here's his answer:

     
    #9 SparkyJ, Apr 11, 2006
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