No daytime flash-to-pass feature for HID-equipped '08 CTS

[RAB]

Just stumbled upon an article released today at cars.maxblog.eu which criticizes the new CTS for lacking a daytime flash-to-pass feature on vehicles equipped with the optional HID headlamps. Here's the link to the report: http://cars.maxblog.eu/?p=3945

After reading the article I thought to myself.. "Can this be right??... surely that's not the case on my CTS4!". Well, unfortunately it is.
A quick check of the Owners Manual (page 3-9) confirmed the article's claim. Pasted-in below is the pertinent section from the manual:

Flash-to-Pass
This feature allows you to use the high-beam headlamps
to signal the driver in front of you that you want to pass.
Pull and hold the turn signal/multifunction lever toward
you to use this feature. When this is done the following
will occur:
• If the headlamps are off, in low-beam or in Daytime
Running Lamps (DRL) mode, the high-beam
headlamps will turn on. They will stay on as long as
the lever is held there. Release the lever to turn
them off.
• For vehicles with High Intensity Discharge (HID)
headlamps, the low-beam headlamps must be
on to activate the high-beam headlamps. See High
Intensity Discharge (HID) Lighting on page 5-55.
• If the headlamps are already in high-beam mode,
they will remain on high-beam.

Some of the more interesting comments in the blog article include:

• "The new CTS's optional HID headlights use bi-xenon bulbs for low and high beams. Apparently, GM was concerned about bulb longevity, or wanted to save money by omitting a dedicted lamp solely used for flashing".

• "It is particularly odd that the CTS lacks this feature. After all, the car is intended to be sold in Europe - and in particular Germany - where stalk flashing on the autobahn is the second most used feature after the gas pedal".

• "We've just heard that GM is working on fitting flash-to-pass for their HID-equipped vehicles, but the fix isn't slated to arrive until around 2010".

Having spent a lot of time in Europe I use flash-to-pass quite regularly when on the highway.. and occasionally in town to signal the driver of a waiting oncoming car that I'm giving him/her the go-ahead to make their turn in front of me. I'll have to re-think this one now when driving my CTS during daylight hours with the headlamps off.

Comments? Is this a big deal to some, or largely irrelevant?

RAB.

[dkozloski]

Only weird people "flash" strangers.

[RAB]

Originally Posted by dkozloski

Only weird people "flash" strangers.

... says the thread-killing master of the one-liners.

[smokiejoe]

While test driving a 2008 SRX, I specifically checked for this feature because the vehicle had HID's.
The "flash" feature did work, but what happened was the Xenon's did not go on, but another bulb in the light assembly went on - basically what RAB said.
Not sure why they wouldn't put that on the CTS also.

[howsteele]

In So Cal if you flash your lights to pass somebody they just might shoot you.

[dkozloski]

Originally Posted by howsteele

In So Cal if you flash your lights to pass somebody they just might shoot you.

On the other hand, in So Cal, "flashing" is perfectly permissable.

[gm_eng]

I tried mine last week on a trip to South Carolina. They worked for me. A truck pulling a trailer pulled over to let a car enter the freeway. After we were clear, he stayed in the fast lane. I flashed him and he moved right over.

[RAB]

Originally Posted by gm_eng

I tried mine last week on a trip to South Carolina. They worked for me. A truck pulling a trailer pulled over to let a car enter the freeway. After we were clear, he stayed in the fast lane. I flashed him and he moved right over.

gm_eng, did that occur during 'daylight' hours (with your DRL's 'ON' and your HID's 'OFF') ? .. or was it dark enough outside for your HID's to have been 'ON'?
I think the essential issue is that HID's, by design, are not meant to be very briefly flashed 'ON', as what occurs when a flash-to-pass action is initiated by the driver. The projector type "dual-beam" (low beam / high beam) HID's on the CTS appear to utilize an internal alignment/aperture mechanism to alter the vertical placement and focal intensity of the beam, depending on whether low beam or high beam is being requested. The apparent prerequisite for Flash-To-Pass to actually function on CTS's equipped with HID's is that the HID's are switched 'ON' to begin with.

[Cadillac Tony]

All the new Cadillacs with Bi-Xenon HIDs lack flash to pass when the low beams are off (Escalade, DTS, XLR and CTS). The issue is definitely bulb longevity.

I advise people to either tap their hazard light flasher, or press down slightly on the turn signal stalk to trigger a rapid "3 blink" flash from the turn signal if needed.

[Cadillacboy]

I think it's a neat feature .I see no point of not having such a feature considerin' cheap cars eqipped with that

[Loveldos]

This is disappointing news! My '08 CTS4 (DI FE2) was ordered 10-20-07, and I am still waiting for it--but I have liked this feature since the mid-80's when my cars were first equipped with it! Cadillac needs to insert a bulb just for this feature, or trigger it to blink the DRL's when the low beam HID's are not on. Mostly, I use the feature to signal another driver to "go ahead," to pull out of a driveway in front of me, etc. What do the others, such as BMW, M-B and Lexus do with respect to this feature and their HID-equipped cars? . . . Very disappointing!

[Bathel]

Originally Posted by RAB

Just stumbled upon an article released today at cars.maxblog.eu which criticizes the new CTS for lacking a daytime flash-to-pass feature on vehicles equipped with the optional HID headlamps. Comments? Is this a big deal to some, or largely irrelevant?

RAB.

When was the last time you were flashed and thougnht ...Oh I should move over? No one pays any attention to anyone flashing their lights. No one really cares. I haven't needed to flash my lights in over 8 years...

[Southern]

I use them.
The Nissan Murano has HIDs and they have flash to pass.
I have probably used them close to 100 times since I have had the car.
When you are talking about lights that are designed to operate over many thousands of cycles, 100 times is insignificant
to the reliability of the design.
My car is 4+ years old now, and have had no problem with the HIDs.

Hopefully the service manual will show the way to possibly modding the car so that the parking lights, or the fog lights, can be flashed.....for those that want them. It is not necessary to make the HIDs flashable IMO.

[RAB]

Originally Posted by Bathel

When was the last time you were flashed and thougnht ...Oh I should move over? No one pays any attention to anyone flashing their lights. No one really cares. I haven't needed to flash my lights in over 8 years...

Bathel, when was the last time I moved over when someone flashed their lights? It was the very last time I was on the highway here in Canada. If I inadvertently linger in the passing lane for a while, and someone comes up on me quickly and flashes a 'heads-up' to let me know they're coming and would like to get by, I have no problem at all moving over - if I'm able to move over at that moment. Why should anyone have a problem with that? (you know, moving over when flashed). It's an extremely common way of doing things in Western Europe and the UK -- a very much accepted and practised highway courtesy & safety mind-set thing -- and is adopted by at least a certain percentage of drivers in Canada. Still lots of left-lane bandits out there though, who ignorantly remain in the passing lane for miles and miles, while angry drivers have to navigate their way around them, often dangerously. To be honest I've seen a lot of this sort of thing while driving in several states in the US. I don't get it.
Who knows.. maybe flash-to-pass isn't a workable idea for many parts of North America.
It's unfortunate that in the area in which you live no one really cares. It is difficult, if not impossible, to educate / re-educate large numbers of folk who, for whatever reason, refuse to practice proper road etiqette.

[dkozloski]

If they won't get over, do like they do in NASCAR and give'm the chrome horn.