By Paul-Henri Matha, DVN COO and Lighting General Editor
Wolfgang Huhn and I were invited to see and try out the new Grandland by Opel’s Global Complex Lighting Lead Philipp Röckl and his team in Russelsheim: Technical Lead Engineers Carsten Neitzke, Thomas Feid, and Dominic Weil.
Opel have always put great importance on lighting performance, as described on their official media site.
Previous Grandlands were already equipped with a performant 84-pixel ADB system: low beam width ±38°; total high beam flux 3,350 lumens, high beam peak intensity 85,625 cd per headlamp, and ADB width ±20°. That system’s take rate was around 50 per cent, demonstrating that Opel customers want and get ADB.
This new Grandland has a new HD module from Marelli, equipped with a 25.6-kilopixel microLED light source from Osram with 1 × 4 field of view lens system covering 6°V × 24°H (the first HD module development done by Marelli for the VW Tiguan and Touareg was a 1 × 3 FoV system). Modules are equipped symmetrically for the left and right headlamp with a HD field of ±12°, and the HD module is supported by a bi-matrix module (Marelli’s e-light 9).
Compared to the previous Grandland’s system, the new system’s performance has been improved. Low beam width is now ±42° degrees, and high beam overall output is now 3,400 lumens. The most impressive improvement is for ADB width (±35°, including HD + elight module), resolution (1-2° before; now 0.1°) and Imax (now 95,625 cd); this great intensity gives a 1-lux seeing range of 430 metres.
The driving experience is very smooth thanks to the HD resolution. Rather than trying to explain with words, I prefer to show you this video:
Better performance isn’t the end of the story; this car showcases the new Opel lighting design with lit grille and illuminated front and rear logos. They’re allowed in Europe as of January 2023, if the logo’s lit area is not more than 100 cm2 (which is the case on the Grandland). These are impressively homogeneous, with a really nice 3D effect created by the blade design.
And the UX designers have defined an attractive, pleasant welcome/goodbye sequence with HD modules.
The new Grandland will be showcased during the SIA VISION event in Paris next month; you surely won’t want to miss it!
