Sidelight Pattern

MikeT · Unread post by **MikeT** » 19 Sep 2007, 20:28

Has anyone else noticed how both sidelights produce one single, centred, perfect ring of light on a wall that reduces in size the closer you get to the wall? Or is it particular to just mine? I've never seen that before on any car I've owned and can't help wondering if it's intentional for a purpose.

AndersDK · Unread post by **AndersDK** » 20 Sep 2007, 22:49

Being a kid I remember the best toy I had was a battery torch ...

Clogzz · Unread post by **Clogzz** » 22 Sep 2007, 14:59

Same finding, and I use it to judge how close I am to the wall.
Don’t think it’s intentional; Citroën’s electrics aren’t very inspired.

I always drive with the sidelights on, because the car is dark red, and many people don’t see it.
There’s a very common red-green colour blindness that causes many people, especially men, not to see red in a green setting.
I’ve had a least two near misses because of that.

My favourite toy was also a torch light.
It was from my grandfather, and had a dark blue sliding screen to use during the war.

MikeT · Unread post by **MikeT** » 22 Sep 2007, 18:05

I was thinking it could be used to indicate proximity, just never seen such a clever effect from two lights - a bit like the dambusters

Yes, torches and toys, I have fond memories too - one was an old railway torch with clear, green and red filters.

ACTIVE8 · Unread post by **ACTIVE8** » 25 Sep 2007, 19:56

It's an interesting, unintentional & very useful parking aid, even more so for the new Xantia driver, trying to judge their new car as they bring it home, and try to park it in the dark.

O.K. so it works at night, but this sidelight effect works well.

It also looks better than a load of parking sensor circles all over both front and rear bumpers, as fitted to many cars in an obtrusive and not very appealing way.

ACTIVE8 · Unread post by **ACTIVE8** » 26 Sep 2007, 11:09

So is this specific to the Xantia only, or do other Citroens have this useful feature ?

Clogzz · Unread post by **Clogzz** » 26 Sep 2007, 15:15

Don’t know if it’s specific to the Xantia, but it’s due to the sidelight globe being inside the low beam mirror.
The circle is even visible by daylight, unless the sun shines onto the wall.
I drive with sidelights on by daylight, because many have trouble seeing me.
When the car was newish, it looked like the Volvo drivers always saw me, and had steam coming out of their ears.

Unread post by **CitroJim** » 26 Sep 2007, 18:01

ACTIVE8 wrote:So is this specific to the Xantia only, or do other Citroens have this useful feature ?

Specific to the MK 1 I think, I have seen it many times on my TD but never noticed it on my Facelift Activa.

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Sidelight Pattern

Sidelight Pattern

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