Fog lights ?

[Kermit]

Originally Posted by retiltxet

Well while the alternator is always spinning, the "load" on the alternator does not stay constant. Think of it as a magnetic brake except in reverse. It becomes "harder" to spin the alternator.

The people who want you to turn off your fog lights, are the same people who turn off their cars and coast to a stop...

Those fogs don't put that huge of a drain AND I'm the type of person who turns my car off at very long stoplights I'm familiar with. The reason I don't turn my fogs on isn't because of a "possible" mileage hit at all. LDGsmart said it perfect - I KNOW that other people that drive around with their "driving lights"/fog lights all the time make me almost as angry as the people flicking cigarette butts out the window. If it makes me mad someone else does it, why would I? I use them in fog OR daytime rain. Rain is just to make sure people see me. I have been using them a bit more in the mornings since I've had a few deer run out in front of me the last few days and it is all the more light coming off the front for me to be able to see them jetting out from the side while I'm doing my crazy fast 25-40mph down my road that no one else is on.

WoW , I just filled up with my fourth tank this morning and got 45.32 mpg. I should of gotten 48mpg without the foglights! Darn it - that would of been one of my best tanks on any of my cars!

[NCC1701]

What is it about people using their driving lights that angers you?

[Kermit]

Originally Posted by NCC1701

What is it about people using their driving lights that angers you?

I guess I should of worded that better. MOST people. Sorry about that.

I'm not sure if you've noticed but the ones that REALLY bother me are the fog/driving lights that pretty much equal aircraft landing lights and literally burn the paint off the front of my car while simultaneously searing into my retinas all while singeing the back of my brain too. Yes, I just had my eyes checked last week and my vision is better than perfect when corrected.

I know my lights are bright enough as they are (haven't adjusted them from factory settings yet) so I don't want to do that to others though the Smart fogs might not be as bright as I think. I suppose it equals to the motorcycle riders that think driving around with their brights on helps people see them better and not realizing they are actually blinding you so can not see them for the very same reason.

[NCC1701]

So, it isn't specifically the driving lights which bother you. Just unnecessarily bright lights ... like the headlights, even low beams, on nearly all pickup trucks when they're stopped behind you (or me) at a traffic light. The ones that force you to readjust your mirrors or lean to the right, to avoid their glare?

I don't think the stock driving lights on most vehicles fall into that category. Aftermarket lights might though. As I've said elsewhere, I use mine because I feel they make me more visible, and there's no doubt they do improve my view of the road at night. No way, no how, would I do that if I thought I might be blinding oncoming traffic.

[NCC1701]

How about those flat plate glass rear windows in some pickup trucks? They're brutal when sun reflects off of them into your eyes. Should be a law.

[Kermit]

Now you're making me think. I have noticed for factory lights the Ford products seem brighter though the GM are almost as equally annoying (blinding). That pretty much sums it up - the MORE I think, it is on the rural 2 lane highways. On a four-lane with a median it doesn't seem nearly as annoying (blinding).

[Kermit]

Originally Posted by NCC1701

How about those flat plate glass rear windows in some pickup trucks? They're brutal when sun reflects off of them into your eyes. Should be a law.

[jimvw57]

I have noticed the headlights on my Expedition seem extra bright and found that the lenses are covered with scratches almost like they are glazed. That makes for less light on the road but more light when you are driving towards them. I polished them with a headlight scratch remover and they are better, but not like new. The vehicles that make you angry may have the same issue and the driver is unaware of it.

[JPaul]

It makes as much sense to me to keep the fog lights on when the road conditions do not require them as it is to leave the lights* on in a room nobody's in: it doesn't help anyone, but shows the neighbours one can afford it.


* One exception: make believe that one's home.

[Evilution]

Originally Posted by smartHHO

Them Driving lights are not real FOG lights. Real ones have a yellow case. Those be Driving lights. And for the record, they lower your MPG by about 1 - 3 per gallon depending on the type of car. This is in part due to they put a nice drain on your battery which makes your alternator kick on and thus making your engine work harder.

You have displayed a lack of knowledge on so many levels there.
Just because the light isn't yellow, doesn't mean it's not a fog light.
The smart fog lights are the same ones used in many other expensive Mercs.
If it didn't give the correct fog light pattern, they could not call them fog lights, could not have a fog light logo on the switch and they wouldn't be road legal.

If it affected the MPG, it would be so small, it would be immeasurable.
If you were using your fog lights correctly you would only ever use them when the visibility was reduced to LESS than 100 meters. When it is foggy you should drive slower which will affect the MPG but the cold dense air will increase MPG. So many variables means you cannot attribute MPG loss to fog light usage alone.

As already stated, alternators are always outputting when rotating. The voltage in relation to rotation starts off steep but very quickly flattens out.
This means that even when the car is ticking over, it is still outputting 14.4(ish) volts, when the engine is doing 6000rpm, it is outputting the same.

It is only the initial power usage that causes a drop in power, this is because electricity isn't instant, it takes a a fraction of a second to feed new drains.
As the power dips the engine note changes and you may notice a quick dim of the lights but it soon redistributes the power to make up for it.

As the alternator spins faster it becomes harder to turn but it is a fraction of what the engine can achieve with its own torque.

Originally Posted by NCC1701

I use them quite a lot ... for improved vision and visibility.

Personally I never look at the road 3 feet in front of the car and the 4 feet either side. They are purely for illuminating the white lines and the curbs.