Daytime running lights - super bright LEDS

[91mx5]

Don't know if any one is interested, but in Queensland it is now illegal to drive with fog lights on during the day. As I like to have lights on, but not have headlights popped up on my NA, I have replaced my fog lights with super bright LED daytime running lights. Jaycar electronics sell them for $149 a pair including brackets and wiring harness. They are a slim unit with 5 x leds each with a silver relector. They have the same sort of brightness as Audi / BMW intergrated units, which must be legal as they are on whenever the ignition is turned on and able to be registered. I fitted mine in the air intake beside the front number plate and they look pretty good and I'm happy to be more visible, especially on country roads.

Allan

[Regie]

pics?

[91mx5]

I haven't taken any photos of the car with them on yet, but you can see them on Jaycar's web site at http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.as ... rm=KEYWORD
Picture on the web page not real flash, but you can see they are very slim and don't look tacky when fitted. They are very bright when turned on.

[Quicksilver]

There has been a lot of chat here about DRLs but AFAIK you are the first to actually fit them so kudos goes to you Allan. Day and night pix would be great if you can manage it.

Did you wire them direct in to the ignition so they are constantly on or are they wired as aux lights through a switch? if direct wired, is there a fuse or relay in the system? If switched seperately is there a warning you have left them on when you switch off the engine?

[Mr Morlock]

yes we filled pages about this subject. For the most part these are pose factors- I reckon Audi and HSV are trying to outdo each other on advertising their brand. DRL's are not and never will be mandatory in Au- in case no one noticed our level of sunlight is for most of the year blinding. Are Jaycars lights legal- ie are they approved to ADR's? Hella and Narva make / market drls for those that really thing they are useful.

DRL's are there to be seen only- not supposed to be any dazzle and certainly emit no light pattern for forward visibility. DRLs in incandescent are low wattage.

I am reminded by an approaching Audi that the circus is in town but I guess function takes a back seat today in favour of being in everyones face. Incidentally fog lamps are perfectly legal in foggy conditions in Vic at least- has QLD rewritten the book on automotive lighting?

[91mx5]

Yes, Queensland being the backward state has rewritten the rules. You can only turn fog lights on during the day or night if it is actually foggy, about 1/2 a day a year in the tropics. You cop a $40 fine and 1 x demerit point. These lights are bright but not focused into a beam like driving lights etc. I'm sure some would put them on their car for show, but after owning an almost invisible black car for a while which no one could seem to see (going by the number of people who pulled out in front of me), I always run with headlights on... until the MX5 with pop up barn doors which obscure vison badly. I see these as a safety addition. I have them wired on an auxillary switch so they can be turned on and off independently, and also thru a relay so that they switch off when low beam is turned on.

[RobH]

I thought fog lights were a low wattage light with a yellow lens that was designed to penetrate the fog and not reflect back into the drivers eyes. The lights on the front of my NB are not what I would classify as fog lights. They are also not bright enough to be be drivers lights, they don't light up the road any further than the standard headlights on low beam.

These laws against having these types of lights on are just a croc!

[RawSouth]

Do you have any pics of them on?

Im very interested to see

[bruce]

In Qld, driving with foglights on when not foggy has been illegal for a long time, it has just never been enforced (or people were just unaware).
Problem is, the deadshi!ts up here confuse darkness with fog and use their foglights whenever they feel like it. The foglights are always not focussed and blinding to oncoming traffic.

[jules]

I am reminded by an approaching Audi that the circus is in town

[GP]

Why would anyone want their lights on during the day? It's certainly no safer, The 4wd's are the worst as the lights in the bumper are almost at eye level in the 5. Wankers

[RobH]

I drive an X5 every day and take offence to being called a wanker.

What is the point of manufacturers installing these lights if you can't even use them at night?

[bruce]

They are foglights, designed to be used in foggy conditions. By using them any other time you are liable for a fine.
I agree with the comment about 4wds. The lights are at eye level and blind everybody.

[RobH]

I have yet to be blinded by another cars lights (even 4 wheel drives) when driving my MX5 and that includes night country driving where you would expect to have problems. The only lights that seem to be a little annoying are the bright white / blue lights on high end euro cars and wanna be ricer cars with dodgy light installs.

I still don't agree that they are fog lights designed to be used in foggy conditions. Can anyone confirm what they are referred to as in the manual?

[Old Dude]

At times I do a bit of early morning, late night country work and I love my fog lights then, In Fog. Around Lismore at 2.00am there is always fog around in Winter and they are brilliant for that purpose.
They are a pain in the A#@E when every Tom ,Dick and Tosser wants to drive around with them on in the night for the sake of having them on . I think driving on country roads with headlights on in the day, improves visibility especially if you are in a dark coloured car, you actually see the lights before you see the car in a lot of cases.

Having a dark car the DRL's would definately make it more noticeable, and if they don't annoy fellow road users why not.

Cheers
Dale