Have you set the beam adjuster? Might be set to fully-laden and so angled down to avoid dazzling oncoming cars.

 

Think I'd be right in saying but probably not, that the top of the dipped beam main spot should be 1"-6.5" lower at 20'

Believe it's around 0.5% to 2.75% slope

 

Is there a set distance of throw of main beam,

There is no set 'throw' The beam should be set up to an angle with the in car beam height adjuster set top its highest position. Garages will normally use specialist beam setting equipment; DIY you would need to use a flat wall and a ruler to set it up. I would take it back to the garage that fitted the new lamps and ask them to check and adjust the beam alignment.

I would also take the Yaris and have it checked - if you are getting oncoming drivers flashing their lights it would suggest that the beam is pointing too high and blinding them.

 

The only correct way to do it is on the beam setter, there is no set meters how far a dipped beam should reach.
It depends very much on the design of headlight.
It also depends if there is a "kick-up" in the pattern, or the newer European flat design without the kick-up.
The correct way to set the beam is to take it empty to a garage or MOT centre and set your height adjuster in the car on "0", set the light up correctly, and use the height adjuster in the car to drop them down when loaded.

The new tangled lights with small units and lenses in to create a patters, (like on the Auris) give a lot less light than the old type big reflectors.

On your Yaris, is seems that the setting is incorrect, so take it for a check, it would fail on MOT if set incorrectly or hinder other drivers.

 

Thanks,

The Yaris passes MOT every time - I'm amazed but is down, we set the adjuster midway for normal use which is logical and on par with other cars. The light throw and quality is amazingly great for such a small car.

The Auris, I'm aware lots of threads of how bad the light is, it comparable with the insignia and it uses a silly single bulb for both dipped and main, the headlight were swapped out as the beam pattern was non existnance on the near side.

I'm defintaley not doing an DIY, think I'll take it back for a check, as it seems to be "ok" if you accelerate hard the angle then seems be be ok.

 

In your handbook it will state what settings to use for two up no luggage driving

 

Yep, trust me it's way way too short.... Compared to anything else I have driven, just wanted to go in armed with info e.g. Light throw is x meters it should b y etc. Answers show there is now set height vs common sense.

 

The only way to correctly set up your headlamps is on a beam setter. A bit of chalk and a wall is never good enough.
The factory setting will be 1.3% lower than headlamp centre height for a vehicle with the headlamp beam adjuster inside the vehicle set to 0.
This should give the best balance of light throw and never dazzling oncoming vehicles.
This allows some flexibility for loads to be placed in the rear of the vehicle without requiring any adjustment. If however you carry larger loads, in the boot, then you may need to lower the headlamp aim by turning the adjuster to position the headlamps to maintain that 1.3%.
At MOT test, you test the vehicle as presented. It may have been specifically adjusted to suit a particular load. If however it fails you then set the adjuster to 0 and check again. If the aim is now high, above 0.5% lower than centre it will fail.
So it makes sense to have the headlamps set correctly 1.3% at the 0 setting on the adjuster to avoid the light ever displaying high patterns.
There are other settings for vehicle with headlamps that have the headlamp centre height above 850mm and these adhere to different settings, 2% lower than centre, to avoid dazzle.
As a road user probably the most annoying thing for me is poor headlamp alignment and being dazzled by some **** who finds it acceptable to blind me and is too stupid to get it fixed.
As an mot tester I am keen on correct alignment, It makes such a difference and has a direct effect on other road users but there are so many vehicles with incorrectly adjusted lights driving around it makes me wonder if a lot of testers actually have no idea how to correctly set up and use use their beam testing equipment.

 

My wife has a Yaris and her dipped beam on "high" adjustment is very high and will always get friendly flashes from motorists if passing,

I don't think it's a 'friendly' flash at all. :lol:

 

I know, it's set midway and that's fine, no friendly flashes..

Went into main dealer today who swapped the front headlights over, after a slight pause and then check followed by "oh sorry.. we set them up quite low"

Back with lights yah !