Daytime Running Lights? DAE?

Hey to each his own, just like some will say why the hell you would do the DDE's? There would be some argument to that, but if you come off saying you should do this and do that because of such reasoning thats all bogus sh*t. And so what if they are named fog lights? Since the name implies that you have to follow what the naming convention implies? And so what about those who install PIAA's intentionally for looks purposes just like your DDE's, so they care whether they are foglights or not? No.

Your reasoning is similar to those who hate on people with 18" and 19" wheels on cars just because they are performance freaks. My .02

I didn't have the dealer activate the daytime running lights for one fairly stupid reason: I don't like the way they look. The fact is that drl's should provide a safety advantage because they make the car more visible to other drivers. The advantage could be particularly pronounced in areas where glare is a problem, as the lights can make your car visible despite the glare.

As far as running foglights at night, there is no reason to do this besides looks. The downside is that they add to "light pollution" without providing a benefit. I worry that running the fogs without fog can even prove somewhat detrimimental, in that they focus light exactly where you don't want your eyes to be focussed: right in front of the car. I think this may prove distracting, and wonder if it even hinders the eye's ability to see into the distance at night.

I guess I'm somewhat hypocritical, in that I avoid DRL's because of looks but at the same time think it's a mistake to use fogs in the name of looks.

Originally posted by jk330i
Hey to each his own, just like some will say why the hell you would do the DDE's? There would be some argument to that, but if you come off saying you should do this and do that because of such reasoning thats all bogus sh*t. And so what if they are named fog lights? Since the name implies that you have to follow what the naming convention implies? And so what about those who install PIAA's intentionally for looks purposes just like your DDE's, so they care whether they are foglights or not? No.

Your reasoning is similar to those who hate on people with 18" and 19" wheels on cars just because they are performance freaks. My .02

18 and 19" wheels are not in the same category as driving at night with foglights on when there's no reason for it.

18 and 19" wheels, along with neon undercarriage lights, huge rear spoilers, and all of the other assorted 'bling' (whatever the hell that means) that people do to enhance the appearance of their cars is one thing. That comes close to being automotive 'art' of sorts. Although the effort is, to me, misdirected, it doesn't personally affect me in the way that driving with foglights on at night for no reason does. The previous poster's statement of it being 'light pollution' with no tangible benefit is quite accurate.

Driving with foglights on at night is an irritant just barely removed from driving with one's high-beams on all the time. In fact, it's actually worse because atleast there's a benefit to the driver of the car using his highbeams all the time.

Foglights-on 'all the time' indicates one (or both) of two things:

1. The owner/driver wants attention and is too stupid/lazy to make the effort or spend the money to make custom modifications, regardless of how lame those modifications might be. Turning foglights on takes no more effort than pressing a button on a dashboard.

2. The owner/driver is too stupid to understand the word 'fog'.

It should be noted that this phenomena did not really begin until 1982, when the Mustang GT and Z28 had foglights as standard equipment from the factory. From then on, drivers of those cars (and every mullethead and his brother in a foglight-equipped Pontiac) decided it'd be 'way cool' to drive around with their foglights on all the time.

The idea is that when foglight-equipped cars became available from the factory to lower, socio-economic groups with IQs at about the same level of a cantalope, foglights-on suddenly became 'de rigor'. Although it's not always the case, I'd like to think that people who can afford better, more expensive cars (like BMWs) have a higher intelligence quotient than that.

I have, in the past, personally attempted to drive around with my foglights on during a clear night. It didn't last long because it didn't really help visibility and I got tired of people flashing their brights at me.

What's really bothersome is when they're called 'driving' lights by the auto marketing types. This is a real problem because geniuses think that since they're 'driving' lights, they should be on whenever they're 'driving'.

As it is, I'll just use my foglights (or 'driving' lights) on a limited basis, i.e., during inclement ('foggy') weather and will simply resign myself to the opinion that those who just have to drive with their foglights on all the time are, well, dumbasses.

As far as I'm concerned, they might as well have a neon sign on their car that says, "Hey, get a load of the moron behind the wheel on this thing!"

Sure glad I'm not the moron for calling a bunch of folks out there dumbasses and for being very biased based on personal preference.

I don't know what the big deal is if some people want to drive with their fog lights on. It doesn't bother me in the least. The placement of the fogs clearly shows that they are not headlights or highbeams that are on and doens't bother my eyes anymore than headlights do. What DOES bother me is when people put those xenon look-alike bulbs in. THAT's distracting. They are total crap. I also find those stupid neon lights all over the car distracting as well. Not because of brightness, but because it's so out of place.

Originally posted by Bill 330i
I don't know what the big deal is if some people want to drive with their fog lights on. It doesn't bother me in the least. The placement of the fogs clearly shows that they are not headlights or highbeams that are on and doens't bother my eyes anymore than headlights do.

Thank you very much. My thoughts exactly, WTF does anyone care if that is peoples preference? The placement CLEARLY shows it is no where near the level of headlights nor high beams. I think only a moron driver would be distracted to say those foggies are blinding them to death.