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Re: Headlights too bright

Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2018 11:02 am
by GTR1400MAN
TheInsanity1234 wrote:With the DSG boxes, if you put the handbrake on while in D, the gearbox doesn't recognise the handbrake is applied and starts engaging the clutches so you end up holding the car against a rather forcefully engaging clutch.

Yes, I drive my dual clutch like a manual. Any significant stop I apply the handbrake and select neutral. The car's manual does not explain how/when the hand brake should be used and there is no warning of damaging the first gear clutch by sitting with the handbrake on. When I've enquired of Renault the only info I got back was that the clutch will remove drive if it gets too hot while stationary! Applying the foot brake removes drive/creep.

Throw in the awful stop/start tech and the manufacturers are encouraging people to sit with their foot on the brake. :(

Re: Headlights too bright

Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2018 11:45 am
by Gareth
Strangely Brown wrote:EU lighting regulations

http://www.unece.org/mission.html

Re: Headlights too bright

Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2018 12:34 pm
by Horse
Add into the mix lighs that have the blue 'fringe' and, worse, orange/brown - as the car hits bumps that can appear like indicators flashing.

Re: Headlights too bright

Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2018 1:57 pm
by fungus
I'm old enough to remember when indicators were seperate from head lights. It was so much easier to see an indicator, unlike modern cars. And yes I am colour blind which doesn't help. But like so many things, low profile wide tyres it's fashion, and what the manufacturers tell the customer they need.

Nigel.

Re: Headlights too bright

Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2018 2:13 pm
by Strangely Brown
Gareth wrote:
Strangely Brown wrote:EU lighting regulations

http://www.unece.org/mission.html


It doesn't really matter which organisation now dictates the lighting regs. It is suffice to say that RVLR (Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations) which specified, remarkably well, the clear and distinct lighting that we used to have is now overridden. Progress? I think not.

Re: Headlights too bright

Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2018 5:04 pm
by Mr Cholmondeley-Warner
jont- wrote:the new scrolling indicators that seem to have started with Audi


One example of "new" scrolling indicators - there were others (Chevy Bel-Air or similar, but can't remember now)


Re: Headlights too bright

Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2018 6:17 pm
by TheInsanity1234
GTR1400MAN wrote:Another gripe with modern lighting are 'cornering lights'. They are even appearing on motorcycles now :(

Watch some cars come round a RAB and it's like a disco. First the left 'fog' light goes on, then goes off. Then the right one comes on. The goes off. Then the left one comes on and then goes off. Then in parallel, IF they are indicating, the DRL goes go off/on so you can see the indicator.

For someone like me who is colour blind, as is a large percentage of the male population, I go by the position of a light a lot of the time. In that momentary glance at the RAB all these lights going off and on can give the impression of the wrong signal. Just as well I enter based on the trajectory of a vehicle and won't go because a light, of some sort, has momentarily come on.

I don't like the VAG solution of using fog lights as some sort of 'cornering light'. They're useful for navigating around very dark and awkward bends where the dipped beam light doesn't really cover the inside of the bend. Not sure who pioneered the concept, but I've seen cars where they have cornering lights integrated into the headlight unit, so like there's a separate bulb within the headlight unit, angled outwards, meaning when you turn the wheel it seems like the dipped beam spread is being 'extended' out into the corner. For instance, the Renault Clio of the 2006/2007 era, with the Xenon headlights and cornering lights. They're geniunely rather useful for lighting up the inside of dark corners etc.

Think Skoda during the 2011/2012 model years had Xenon lights which could actually turn with the angle of steering, meaning as you turn the wheel the headlight beam bends towards the inside of the bend, so that you're lighting up a bit more of the bend rather than uselessly lighting up the outside and nowhere else.

EDIT: Regarding positioning, I find the 2012 era Vauxhall Astras and the Ford Kuga from '13/'14 are the best, because they put the indicators down next to where the foglights are, so they are well separated from the headlights meaning they are very clear. I've noticed some newer Peugots seem to do the same but unsure of models.

Re: Headlights too bright

Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2018 8:03 pm
by Jonquirk
Does anyone remember the Citroen DS with its steerable main beams? IIRC the left hand lamp swung to the same angle as the right wheel and vice versa which made them look a bit odd if parked with the front wheels turned away from the straight ahead.

Re: Headlights too bright

Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2018 8:15 pm
by TheInsanity1234
Jonquirk wrote:Does anyone remember the Citroen DS with its steerable main beams? IIRC the left hand lamp swung to the same angle as the right wheel and vice versa which made them look a bit odd if parked with the front wheels turned away from the straight ahead.

This, you mean? Quite a nifty idea if I'm honest!

Re: Headlights too bright

Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2018 8:19 pm
by fungus
Yes, I remember the DS. Rather ahead of it's time for the mid 1950s. Didn't it have hydropneumatic self- levelling suspension ?

Nigel.