Auto Lights Setting

[Greenman]

......lights went on automatically while it was not dark enough in my opinion.

That is the key phrase!

My auto lights trigger when I drive through some shaded road, especially on a sunny day - clearly the system works to different parameters to the driver.

Unless Mazda has developed some AI which can read the drivers intentions...

[hsdejong]

My auto lights trigger when I drive through some shaded road, especially on a sunny day - clearly the system works to different parameters to the driver.

The light level at which the lights are switched on is adjustable.
Perhaps the auto light setting of your car is set more sensitive than mine.

But you could be right. So could I. It's hard to prove.
I see no reason why the American car version should be different from the European one in this regard.
But who knows? Car manufacturers move in mysterious ways

[Deleted User 1027]

So after many days of heavy rain not once did the lights come on in Auto settings when needed so i will stick with the method of putting them on manually.

However would changing these settings help and what do you have yours set at.

[hsdejong]

You wrote: "My auto lights trigger when I drive through some shaded road, especially on a sunny day"
My reply: "The light level at which the lights are switched on is adjustable. Perhaps the auto light setting of your car is set more sensitive than mine."
What I meant to say was that obviously your setting was more sensitive than that of my car, because my car does not switch the headlights on when I drive through shade at a sunny day.

"However would changing these settings help and what do you have yours set at."
The light level sensitivity was set at Medium Low.
It is possible that the car decides that it is too dark and switches the lights on before it senses severe weather conditions when set to a high sensitivity. According the manual which I was referring to, it only speaks of Auto and not of any light sensitivity level.

Only the moment that a lot of rain fell on my windscreen which made the wipers continuously wiping, the headlights were automatically turned on. A short time after the rain stopped the lights went out again.
I had the opinion (without proof) that the light intensity outside the car was not changed in the short moment of the downpour. Therefore I was surprised. Curious I searched the internet and found the manual with an explanation which supported my experience.

But maybe I am wrong. Who knows? I am not a specialist in Mazda CX-3 electronics and sensor design. I only mentioned the phrase in the manual and my own experience.

Remember that this forum is not only read in Great Britain, but also in the rest of the world and that Mazda cars in different countries have different properties.