Bad Design !

[ACTIVE8]

And who thought it would be better to have front fog lights on before rears??? I still can't think of a legitimate reason for that.
Although maybe it's so people don't use their headlights incase the bulbs blow...

Some muppets think they look cool driving around with just the front fogs on.

I personally think they should be beaten severely about the head with a wheel brace...

These muppets are even possible to spot from the rear, as the spray of light from the fog lamps, can be seen from the rear.

Also the other signs I have spotted at the same time are drivers seats that are so far reclined that their angle is nothing like the passengers one, and has been set at such angle that it might as well be a deck chair.
They also appear to not be able to see over the steering wheel in this position.

The driver is also normally inclined to the left, obvious by the fact that the head is so far away from their head rest that it looks like they are about to fall into the passenger seat.

This pratt like driving position allows easy access to the "phat tunes in it"
and makes "der yoooof look so cooool." NOT

Well no it does not, and along with the fog lights these muppets should be educated as to why most people don't do it, because they wont work it out on their own.

So with the seat so reclined how can they see the front end of the car?

Tilted to the left how can they see the corners of the car, or their mirrors correctly?

Music LOL set so loud, how can they hear what's going on around them?

Not happy with making it more difficult to drive with the above, they then choose to blind other by "posing" with the fog lamps.

So, if the bulb blows, and they can't fix it then, because they don't know how to do it, then oddly Renault would have, to turn this "bulb access" thing on it head, have done us all a favour, because their would be one less kn*b driving around without fog lights on.

I like the wheelbrace idea looks like a way to sort out their nut(s)!!

[ACTIVE8]

These lamps are so blinding that they make it difficult to see when someone has a car with them, as they are very intense.

Recently I had to stop at a certain point in traffic, and as stated above these poxy lights are too intense. What made this situation in the traffic worse was the other car was fitted with Xenon lights, parked on the opposite side of the road facing me, and on the kerb with the lights still on, while the driver was oblivious to what they were doing to the traffic on the other side of the road.

So the "blinding intense power" of these lights was made worse by the alevated position on the kerb.

These lamps do not help road safety, they make it worse for others.

It's a bit like the 4 X 4 thing, "I'm all right jack, as I am up higher, and in a heavier vehicle than you attitude."

How bright are these "arc lights" on main beam then, as they are certainly too bright even on dip beam?

Get your welding goggles ready.

[Toby_HDi]

Xenons are fine....but ONLY if there are aimed properly.

I've had Xenons before and they are much better, and mine were aimed properly (I made sure of that) and I even had friends drive up the road in the opposite direction many times and not once did they blind them. Never had anyone flash me either.

As I say though, they must be aimed properly and that is where the problem lies, many are not. It is these that cause the problems, and I agree they are VERY dazzling if not aimed properly.

As for main beam, the main beam bulb is just a standard halogen bulb. This is because the Xenons require a second to 'arc up' therefore they're not feasible in main beam when the majority of the time they only get used for flashing.

[Xaccers]

Talking of beam alignment.
I took my time last year and adjusted Cassy's and now dipped beam is fantastic yet still doesn't dazzle oncoming traffic.
Makes me wonder if the standard setting is too low for practical use, hence the bemoaning of the Mk1 headlights.

[ACTIVE8]

Point taken about the "flashing" ability relating to Xenons.

So, as the adjustment is in the most current model vehicles is provided inside, then that's what causes more problems, by giving those that do not know what they are doing, more knobs to play with.

As sods law dictates that having been played with it, it gets left on the highest setting through ignorance, and then the boot gets a lot put in it.

Several people jump in, and Roberts your mothers brother you get "blinded by the light."

Too many people do not read the handbook, and make themselves a hazzard on the road.

Well seing as quite a lot do not read the Highway Code, and show signs of not having done so, they are also not likely to read the handbook for the car !

[myglaren]

I reckon that there are lots of folks driving around with foglights on that are completely clueless to the fact - either someone else has turned them on and the driver doesn't know what the indicator on the dash means, or they have inadvertantly turned them on themselves and still don't know what it is all about.

I know one guy that drove around for two years with his rear fogs on and had not the slightest notion of it until told.

[reblack68]

I thought xenons had to be self-levelling and be fitted with washers?

[ACTIVE8]

Mercedes have for years used a main light switch on their cars previously, which turns the fogs front and rear when pulled out, one notch front fogs, second notch rear fogs.

When the lights are turned off, which you are reminded to do by the lights on buzzer it turns them all off which means they can't be left on !

[ACTIVE8]

I reckon that there are lots of folks driving around with foglights on that are completely clueless to the fact - either someone else has turned them on and the driver doesn't know what the indicator on the dash means, or they have inadvertantly turned them on themselves and still don't know what it is all about.

I know one guy that drove around for two years with his rear fogs on and had not the slightest notion of it until told.

Did he not get flashed, or receive hand signals not listed in the Highway Code ?

[myglaren]

I reckon that there are lots of folks driving around with foglights on that are completely clueless to the fact - either someone else has turned them on and the driver doesn't know what the indicator on the dash means, or they have inadvertantly turned them on themselves and still don't know what it is all about.

I know one guy that drove around for two years with his rear fogs on and had not the slightest notion of it until told.

Did he not get flashed, or receive hand signals not listed in the Highway Code ?

He is equally oblivious to such information systems.
He's the kind of guy who knows he is in the parking slot when the fence falls over.

[reblack68]

The C5's front fogs are on a double filament bulb with the main beam, although I think the upmarket models have the more usual under bumper style. Either way they are automatically switched off when you switch the lights off.

I was forever going around with the rear fogs on in my Escort. The switch was ideally positioned to catch your knee as you got in and the warning light was tiny and hidden behind the steering wheel.

[myglaren]

The C5's front fogs are on a double filament bulb with the main beam, although I think the upmarket models have the more usual under bumper style. Either way they are automatically switched off when you switch the lights off.

I was forever going around with the rear fogs on in my Escort. The switch was ideally positioned to catch your knee as you got in and the warning light was tiny and hidden behind the steering wheel.

Nice to know, I hadn't thought about that as I have only used them on a couple of occasions ans switch them off as soon as the fog clears, but it makes sense as the wipers are all shut off when the ignition is turned off.

[Toby_HDi]

Xenons must have self levelling and washers if they are factory fitted. Retrofits do not need to by law though I believe they should as that would solve a lot of the problems

This means no dial inside to adjust them. I believe most cars these days it has to be adjusted via a diagnostic tool. There lies another problem, if it's out of alignment, who is going to pay whatever it costs these days to hook it up to the machine and have it done?

The washers are needed because the brighter light means scatter is much more of a problem.

Another problem lies in the fact that some drivers (usually boy racers but not always ) fit High Intensity Discharge kits to their cars. These are Xenon bulbs. The problem is that they are usually fitted into lenses that are not designed for Xenons (this is illegal by the way). Xenons need to be used with projector lenses.

I totally agree that they can be extremely blinding, though I do believe when properly aligned they are beneficial. I think there needs to be a system in place to absolutely ensure they are aimed properly and that they are being used within the law (ie not retrofitted into lenses not designed for them). It could possibly be added onto the MOT.

Who knows?

[Kowalski]

Xenons are fine....but ONLY if there are aimed properly.

... and don't flash at you as the car they're fitted to goes over minute bumps

... and the flashes aren't orange or blue (i.e. colours used for indicators and emergency vehicles lights).

HID produces more light and is about 3 times the efficiency of a incandescent buld but has two big drawbacks, one being the chromatic aberation (orange and blue flashes) the other being the lower CRI (colour rendering index), which means that although they produce more light the light they produce does not enable us to see as well as the equivilient amount of light from a tungsten filament lamp would.

At some point in the not so distant future there are going to be all manner of old cars with HID headlights either badly adjusted or with malfunctioning self levelling systems. I'm not looking forwards to that.

[reblack68]

... and the flashes aren't orange or blue (i.e. colours used for indicators and emergency vehicles lights).

I observed exactly that about half an hour ago. A car was approaching me and I kept seeing an orange flash in his right hand headlight. With the stupid indicators-inside-headlights idea a hint of orange is all you can see of indicators anyway so I really wasn't sure if this car was signalling or not. It was only when I saw the roof sign that I knew he wouldn't have been signalling.