FORUMula1.com

[acosmichippo]

I hate driving by people with halogens.

[What's Burning?]

I hate driving by people with halogens.

Just about every car's headlight is a halogen bulb. There are some obnoxiously bright bulbs sold for off road use but the high intensity lights you see on the upscale cars are xenon gas bulbs.

[acosmichippo]

ah, well i hate those then.

[bud]

Yeah thats the ones, Xenon. They are very bright, though they do look nicer with their blue hue.

[Fred_C_Dobbs]

DRLs originated in Scandinavia, where they sometimes have twilight for days on end. There they make sense. There is no scientific evidence they elsewhere improve safety. In fact, there was one study in the USA concerning always-on motorbike headlamps that showed running headlamps during daylight tends to cause an observer to underestimate the speed of the approaching vehicle.

They're like the French and their silly yellow headlamps. Someone not French looked at them and said, "That looks cool, I'll put them on my car." Next you know, it was a fashion trend.

Xenon headlamps have a higher lumen output than other types of the same wattage but their color temperature is not so well suited to human eyesight. Our eye evolved to the color temperature of the sun (duh!), which the incandescent bulb mimics perfectly. So xenons might appear brighter but they don't necessarily provide better visibility. Also, many drivers, especially older drivers and those who have had eye surgery, find the level of glare from xenons distracting and even painful.

[What's Burning?]

DRLs originated in Scandinavia, where they sometimes have twilight for days on end. There they make sense. There is no scientific evidence they elsewhere improve safety.

dawn and twilight don't make up for it a little bit?

They're like the French and their silly yellow headlamps. Someone not French looked at them and said, "That looks cool, I'll put them on my car." Next you know, it was a fashion trend.

Xenon headlamps have a higher lumen output than other types of the same wattage but their color temperature is not so well suited to human eyesight. Our eye evolved to the color temperature of the sun (duh!), which the incandescent bulb mimics perfectly.

I think you just solved it... what we need is yellow xenon headlights!

[Fred_C_Dobbs]

DRLs originated in Scandinavia, where they sometimes have twilight for days on end. There they make sense. There is no scientific evidence they elsewhere improve safety.

dawn and twilight don't make up for it a little bit?...

Might as well wire the windscreen wipers into the ignition switch for the benefit of drivers who are too stupid to turn those on when needed, too.

[What's Burning?]

DRLs originated in Scandinavia, where they sometimes have twilight for days on end. There they make sense. There is no scientific evidence they elsewhere improve safety.

dawn and twilight don't make up for it a little bit?...

Might as well wire the windscreen wipers into the ignition switch for the benefit of drivers who are too stupid to turn those on when needed, too.

Mercedes have rain sensors built into the hood so the wipers do turn on automatically. You're like the Nostradamus of automobilia today!

Although wiring it to the ignition key... that's a bit much, as someone that inept would only be able to get a license in NY, California and Florida.

[darwin dali]

DRLs originated in Scandinavia, where they sometimes have twilight for days on end. There they make sense. There is no scientific evidence they elsewhere improve safety.

dawn and twilight don't make up for it a little bit?...

Might as well wire the windscreen wipers into the ignition switch for the benefit of drivers who are too stupid to turn those on when needed, too.

Mercedes have rain sensors built into the hood so the wipers do turn on automatically. You're like the Nostradamus of automobilia today!

Although wiring it to the ignition key... that's a bit much, as someone that inept would only be able to get a license in NY, California and Florida.

Not NY, but NJ!

[myownalias]

Although wiring it to the ignition key... that's a bit much, as someone that inept would only be able to get a license in NY, California and Florida.

And KS... trust me I have experience of how inept KS drivers are; you just have to look at the driving test to realise that!

[Selcouth_Feline]

Mercedes have rain sensors built into the hood so the wipers do turn on automatically. You're like the Nostradamus of automobilia today!

Volvo too

And Ford now have cars which parallel park themselves. Makes me wonder though - if you press the button to get the car to park itself and it malfunctions and hits something accidentally, who's responsible? Do you have to payout on your insurance or would you have a case with Ford?

I think my father's car also has some weird monitoring system where is works out how tired he is and alerts him if it things he should take a break.

Personally I'm not a huge fan of all these 'assistance' options.

[stonemonkey]

DRLs originated in Scandinavia, where they sometimes have twilight for days on end. There they make sense. There is no scientific evidence they elsewhere improve safety.

dawn and twilight don't make up for it a little bit?...

Might as well wire the windscreen wipers into the ignition switch for the benefit of drivers who are too stupid to turn those on when needed, too.

LOL, that would be me. If it was raining on my lessons the wipers were already on when I got in the car so the first time I drove in the rain after I passed I couldn't see a thing, my passenger wondered what the f*** I was doing.

[What's Burning?]

Mercedes have rain sensors built into the hood so the wipers do turn on automatically. You're like the Nostradamus of automobilia today!

Volvo too

Personally I'm not a huge fan of all these 'assistance' options.

Volvo gods bless them, they've had some very innovative ideas over the years, I mean they put the first 3 point seat belt in a passenger car! But some of their innovations were laughably pathetic... I mean there's safety and then there's paranoia!

One of the stranger auto accessories, Volvo's intruder (heartbeat) detection system, is about to join hideaway headlights, CB radios and automatic seat belts on the list of auto industry's bad ideas.

The system, part of a $550 option package, allows drivers to use their key fob to remotely check for anyone lurking in the rear seat. The intruder in hiding is detected by their heartbeat.

The option will disappear for the 2011 model year, said Volvo Cars North America spokesman Dan Johnston. "Almost no one was using the intruder query function," he explained.

The detector's demise shows how the auto industry, in the race for the latest and most exclusive technology, can misjudge what buyers actually want. Lately, the tech wars have intensified as makers try to cram GPS, iPod and smartphone connectivity and other gadgets into cars. All hope for a breakthrough gimmick that catches buyers' attention and sets their vehicles apart.

The intruder detector was aimed to burnish the Swedish automaker's reputation as a safety leader and to buttress appeal with female buyers. It first appeared on the 2007 S80, Volvo's flagship sedan, and has been offered since on all models except S40, V50 and C30. At the time Ford Motor owned Volvo, which it is selling this year to China's Geely.

Reviewers scoffed about the likelihood of ax murderers hanging out in unsuspecting motorists' back seats from the start. "Has someone at Volvo been renting slasher thrillers from Netflix?" Motor Trend asked in July 2006. Reviewer Mark Phelan, writing in the Detroit Free Press, called the feature "spooky" and suggested Volvo should have called it the "Urban Myth Detector."

[Jabberwocky]

I think the best safety device that could be implemented would be a large spike sticking out from the center of the steering wheel and the rather sharp point will be about an inch from the drivers face. that way no one will speed and would watch out for dangers that would make them brake too much.

[stonemonkey]

Wouldn't a decent alarm stop an axe murderer from getting into your backseat un-noticed anyway?