"Intelligent" AFS headlights

The bi-xenon headlights in the SEAT Leon range now incorporate an exciting new development in the form of the Advanced Front Lighting System (AFS). This system blends the superior luminous power and quality that bi-xenon headlights are renowned for with all of the benefits of AFS intelligent control.

The AFS system uses the information gleaned from various rotational and speed sensors in the vehicle to adjust the direction of the beam of light emitted by the headlights, resulting in optimum illumination in all situations. What's more, these headlights also automatically adjust the height of the beam as the vehicle load changes, doing away with the need for fiddly and less accurate manual adjustment.

These headlights are also made special by the fact that they are able to turn asymmetrically. In a right-hand bend, for instance, the headlight on the right will turn more sharply than its counterpart on the left (15 and eight degrees respectively); allowing drivers to see the inside of the bend or the side road far more clearly while the left-hand headlight maintains optimum illumination of the area to the front of the vehicle.

The result: maximum illumination, thus unprecedented levels of visibility and, consequently, safety. The intelligent bi-xenon headlights with AFS enlarge the area that is effectively illuminated when cornering by up to 30 per cent and increase the distance at which objects ahead or vehicles in bends can be detected by as much as 68 per cent which, at a speed of 70 km/h, gives drivers an extra 1.8 seconds to react.



Connectivity galore!

One of the objectives pursued by SEAT is to make cars that are an extension of our personal lifestyle. One way in which this can be achieved is to facilitate connectivity between it and external devices, in much the same manner as the advent of Bluetooth technology did for mobile phones.

Now it's the turn of personal audio players. A connection which allows an iPod to be integrated into the vehicle can be ordered as an option, as can a special connection for all remaining USB memory sticks or MP3 players with a USB connection.

These connections, which are situated where the CD changer would normally be found (under the front passengers in the case of the Leon), enable a far greater number of tracks to be listened to via the vehicle's audio system with greater flexibility of use than is possible with conventional systems. Added to this is the fact that the volume and mute controls as well as the functions for skipping tracks and folders (up to a maximum of 5) can all be operated by means of the controls on the steering wheel for extra convenience and safety. Plus, the current track number and the total number of playable files appear in the radio unit's display.

Integrating the audio player in this way presents obvious advantages. On the one hand, it allows customers to link up audio devices that they already own and, on the other, it avoids customers having to make duplicate purchases of in-car devices that cannot be removed from the vehicle (such as a hard disc integrated into the audio unit or a CD changer).

Thanks to the new facilities for linking up MP3 players, it's simply a question of connecting them up to the vehicle, operating them with the vehicle's own controls and relaxing to the vast wealth of tracks that these devices can store.

In addition to this, the Leon range, along with the Altea and Toledo ranges, includes an Aux-in audio connection as standard on all models specified with the radio / CD system with MP3. This connection in the centre console allows external audio sources to be plugged into the standard headphone socket and the sound played through the vehicle's speakers.

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