Xantia foglight

James.UK · Post by **James.UK** » 28 Jun 2004, 22:39

Good fog lights work by shining along the road surface from a low angle so that the the driver is looking through the fog at the illuminated bit of road, headlights just reflect back off millions of tiny water droplets and form a wall that blocks the view ahead.
i.e. you can see a cars tail lights from a long way off because they allow you to see through the fog, but turn your headlights on and they vanish.. [:0] [V]
In practicle terms, the bigger the distance between the drivers eye level and his foglights centre-line, measured horizontaly, the better they work.. [:)]
Visability dictates safe road speed.. If you drive so fast that you cant stop in time when your lights pick out something ahead, then you wont live very long..

np · Post by np » 29 Jun 2004, 00:39

They also light up the kerbs on both sides,hence when its foggy,your driving slow anyway,you can see the side of the road better.

DoubleChevron · Post by **DoubleChevron** » 29 Jun 2004, 09:58

Hang on,
what your trying to say is poeple use foglights when it's foggy over there !!!!
I've never seen a set switched on in foggy conditions, however I seem them every single time I drive a car, doens't matter if it's midnight, midday, 40degrees+, or 5degrees and pouring rain. Infact you would swear the useless bloody things were wired into the ignition circuit. ie: the w@nkers drive with them on 24hours a day.
If they were only used when it's foggy they would be a fantastic aid, however this I've never seen. The foglights out here would be HOPELESS in fog. Anything that is so intensly bright and glarey to oncoming motorists is most certainly going to reflect straight back into the drivers eyes if they are ever stupid enough to attempt to use them in fog.
seeya,
Shane L.

Homer · Post by **Homer** » 29 Jun 2004, 12:59

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by wotsupnow

so why is it the law that you can only use fog lights WITH dipped beam ! <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
It isn't.
You must have sidelights on but do not have to have dipped beam if you have fogs swithched on.
As for being blineded by foglamps, a correctly aligned foglamp will not blind you (on a flat road) unless you are less than two feet tall.
I do use mine on occasion to supplement my Xantia main/dipped beam. On unlit country roads they do a good job of picking out the verge and filling the area close to the car which main beam completely misses. If there's much traffic around I do switch them off.
I'm not sure if the alignment is checked in the MOT, I know they weren't during my last two MOTs because I sat in the car flicking the switches for the tester.
I don't have a problem with front fogs. I do think rear ones should no longer be fitted though. In the UK we have about one day every few years where they are needed and it takes six months for people to turn them off again. These are a real danger as they are the same colour and intensity as brake lights.

Kowalski · Post by **Kowalski** » 29 Jun 2004, 14:43

On the early Xantias you could leave your front and rear foglights on without realising it (if you didn't notice the lights on the switches). On the later ones, you can only leave the front ones on, since when you turn off your dipped headlights, the switch has a cam in it that turns off the rear fogs. There is also a light on the dash for the front fogs, which the earlier Xantias didn't have.
I don't know when this change was made exactly, but it was somewhere between '95 and '97 pre-facelift.

wotsupnow · Post by **wotsupnow** » 29 Jun 2004, 15:03

Homer, it is !, here is excerpt from highway code (UK).
You MUST use headlights when visibility is seriously reduced, generally when you cannot see for more than 100 metres (328 feet). You may also use front or rear fog lights but you MUST switch them off when visibility improves (see Rule 211).
Law RVLR regs 25 & 27
Referance: http://www.highwaycode.gov.uk/21.shtml

Pete

mark_sp · Post by **mark_sp** » 29 Jun 2004, 21:14

Misuse of foglamps drives me crazy.
If I had my way they would not be fitted in the first place. I can not remeber ever and I mean ever in my 30 Yrs of motoring that fog lamps were of any benefit and yes I have driven in some very bad weather conditions.
Even in dense fog/heavy rain normal headlights are sufficient.
If road conditions really are such that you cannot see 20 yards then dont drive.
Contentiously yours
Mark

Kowalski · Post by **Kowalski** » 29 Jun 2004, 22:19

You can't ban everybody from having foglights because some people misuse them, that would be punishing the majority for the crimes of the minority.
You don't always have the choice of whether or not you drive, if for example you are driving and it becomes foggy, stopping to wait for the fog to clear is not always a practical proposition.
I have used fog lights in fog, where dipped beams produced glare, and foglights allowed me to continue albeit slowly, such conditions do occur.

Homer · Post by **Homer** » 29 Jun 2004, 23:04

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by wotsupnow

Homer, it is !, here is excerpt from highway code (UK).
You MUST use headlights when visibility is seriously reduced, generally when you cannot see for more than 100 metres (328 feet). You may also use front or rear fog lights but you MUST switch them off when visibility improves (see Rule 211).
Law RVLR regs 25 & 27
Referance: http://www.highwaycode.gov.uk/21.shtml

Pete
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
The highway code has it wrong (again)
<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Requirements about the use of headlamps and front fog lamps
25.—(1) Save as provided in paragraph (2), no person shall use, or cause or permit to be used, on a road a vehicle which is fitted with obligatory dipped-beam headlamps unless every such lamp is kept lit-
(a) during the hours of darkness, except on a road which is a restricted road for the purposes of section 81 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 by virtue of a system of street lighting when it is lit; and
(b) in seriously reduced visibility.
(2) The provisions of paragraph (1) do not apply-
.....
(b) in the case of a motor vehicle, other than a solo motor bicycle or motor bicycle combination, fitted with a pair of obligatory dipped-beam headlamps, if-
(i) a pair of main-beam headlamps is kept lit; or
(ii) in seriously reduced visibility, a pair of front fog lamps which is so fitted that the outermost part of the illuminated area of each lamp in the pair is not more than 400 mm from the outer edge of the vehicle is kept lit;
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
From RVLR reg 25.