Use less power - use less fuel
Now that vehicle computers can spot a bulb failure and warn you, should cars etc. be rigged such that when the headlights are on the font side lights aka parking lights go off?
The computer could put the relevant side light back on if a headlight bulb failed
Situation will presumably change once new cars have to have daytime lights on them
But a chance to save fuel has been / is being missed?
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no doubt it could be done but its yet another piece of unwanted technogadgetry that can go wrong.
Besides, would it really save that much fuel by not running a couple of low wattage side lights?
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Agreed gadgetry is a worry, a cost, and can be a nuisance
But we're stuck with it
Also agreed it wouldn't save a lot - but
1. Savings are getting harder to find
2. Think of all those roads full of lights every night all over the world
3. Back to individual vehicles - electric vehicles need savings desperately, it seems to me
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>>yet another piece of unwanted technogadgetry that can go wrong.
Not really. What is being discussed would amount to a small amount of software coding, there would be no physical changes required to the vehicle at all.
This type of logic is already implemented on many cars with a BUS system - if a lamp fails, even shorts out, tather than blowing the fuse and knocking all of that lamp / side out, the controller simply switches in a suitable alternative bulb. So, say an indicator bulb fails, the fog lamp on that side could be made to flash instead, with a warning lamp telling the driver of the bulb failure.
There's nothing new here for the site's Luddites to worry about.
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You'd need an awful lot of sidelights switching off to balance those that fit higher power headlamp bulbs.
How many here have done that?
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And don't HID lights use less power than halogen for the same (or better) brightness. Therefore we might see more cars with HID as standard.
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oh dear, i can see where this is going....so if I fit aftermarket Xenon's or stipulate them on a new car.....i'm going to have graffiti all over the car or a demonstration outside my house and be made to feel like a pariah, because i'm using up that little bit extra energy?
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I'm sure that saving 10W when the engine produces 50-150kW will make no meaningful difference
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HIDs ("Xenons") use less power than normal bulbs - you'll be feted as a national hero WP ;-)
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Side lights can be seen from the side as well and are usually positioned to the outside edge of the car. No so headlights.
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Side lights can be seen from the side as well and are usually positioned to the outside edge of the car.
The sidelights on my Vectra-C are right next to the high beam bulbs, which are situated between the dipped beam and radiator grille.
Still, at least my front indicators are where I expect them to be, on the outer edge of the headlight assembly, unlike the VW Golf where they're by the radiator grille.
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 28/09/2009 at 19:04
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There is nothing new about this. My 1963 GMC pick-up is wired (bog standard from factory) so that the front *parking lights*, which is the correct term for side-lights, go out when the headlamps are switched on. Said lights double as front indicator lamps (using stop/tail type bulb) which was legal up to that year.
What I really would like to see is a device which prohibits cars from going over 40 mph with either sidelights only or when the rear fogs are switched on.
Why? Because if you're driving at over 40 mph with either of those two lights on, you're going too fast, assuming it's dark or foggy.
Edited by Harleyman on 28/09/2009 at 19:07
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Would second that idea- but can we add a large blunt device to what the driver over the head with loud audio message saying "it's not foggy you moron".
And if cars can detect blown bulbs, can the ignition be hard wired so car can only be started driven 3 times or so until the bulb is replaced.
Came very close to hitting a car with o/s bulbs gone last night. Very narrow lane, and due to only one side of the car being lit I (and MiL) both thought was a moped that was as far left as possible (dark blue car- complete darkness on narrow country lane with high hedges both sides). Was about 10 metres away when I realised it was a car- as view had been obstructed by the vehicle in front of it, and was going slowly enough that wasn't a change of underwear moment.
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PW, I think we have a few things in common! You've just covered two of my pet hates. ;-)
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It strikes me that a much simpler solution to all of this is simply to fit TWO sidelights per side, instead of one. Now that LED lights, which last longer and use a fraction of the power, are becoming commonplace, surely it is not beyond the wit of car designers to put two where one can go... (If car designers can so expertly fit bulb mountings out of reach, surely doubling up of tail and sidelight bulbs would be an easier task??)
Failure to spot that two LED units had failed, to quote Lady Bracknell, would then look like carelessness and probably make for an easily-enforceable fixed penalty.
In fact, practically all car lights except maybe the headlights could be doubled up this way - or am I missing something? The Daewoo Espero is the only car I can think of which boasted twin rear indicators, but twin tail lights are relatively common.
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For sheer lighting decadence, there was a fashion in the US in the late sixties for certain big cars to have three or four rear indicator bulbs on each side, which went off in slow rippling sequence pointing in arch, lordly fashion in the direction the behemoth was about to turn in.
I love those. They're so wasteful, over the top and sort of childishly enthusiastic. And all okayed by wicked overpaid capitalists in suits in an office in Detroit! Without a single thought for the future of mankind!
They knew the punters would love it, and they did. So do I in a way. I wonder if some sort of low-consumption everlasting bulb can now be obtained to keep them going?
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In fact practically all car lights except maybe the headlights could be doubled up this way - or am I missing something?
When the canbus network on my Vectra-C detects a blown sidelight bulb, it puts the indicator bulb on dimly instead.
Similarly, if a brake light fails, then the lower of the two tail lights takes over the role of tail/brake light.
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 29/09/2009 at 01:59
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The First series of Volvo S40 had double tail lights - i.e. two bulbs each side - and a warning system that flashed up a warning to tell you about a bulb failure. Didn't stop me seeing several S40s with duff tail lights.
My S40 used to go through a couple of tail lights a month, and a headlamp bulb every few weeks. Volvo checked the electrics - no fault found - but because they supplied the bulbs, then had to honour warranty. Ended up they just gave me a box of tail light bulbs, half a dozen headlampo bulbs, and a few others just to keep me going between services! (Mind you, they also used to supply me with 5 litre cans of oil to use as top-up, as I only got 400 miles to a litre!)
But getting back to the subject - why do so many cars no longer have headlamps and sidelights on at the same time? At least when headlamp blows, you can still see both sides of the vehicle. Most cars now resemble a motorbike and are infintely more dangerous - especially on non-dual carriageways.
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