Seeing around corners: adaptive front lighting system for new Mondeo

Ford has incorporated an adaptive front lighting system (AFS) which beams light around corners into its new Modeo model.

The AFS system improves visibility when negotiating tight bends by incorporating halogen lamps linked to sensors which detect steering input and can swivel up to 15 degrees. The system is particularly useful on roads where the only light source is the car's headlamps and povides an obvious safety advantage by illuminating more of the road and making it easier to see pedestrians, animals or other objects when entering a bend, as well as reducing glare for oncoming drivers.

In comparative tests between conventional halogen reflector lamps and AFS, the AFS lamps cast light an additional 10 metres into the bend. Allied to static corner lighting, AFS greatly improves visibility.

Additionally, AFS includes static, low level cornering lights athat are automatically turned on when the car is travelling below 37mph, and the steering wheel turns at an angle of at least 30 degrees. This helps to avoid accidents in reduced visibility and is particularly useful during tight manoeuvres such as turning into driveways.

The new Mondeo can also be specified with Bi-Xenon lamps which include static cornering lights, plus automatic headlamp leveling and washer jets. Bi-Xenons offer twice the light density on the road at one-third of the energy input of conventional lights.

Test show that while AFS headlamps have a range of 155m, Bi-Xenons illuminate up to 245m of the road ahead.

The AFS is standard on Titanium X models and optional on Zetec, Ghia and Titanium.

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