[V8] Makes me cranky....

[too many quattros]

regardless of the reason, my biggest rant are those idiots who A) put in
those horrid "plasma white" blue bulbs and B) idiots who refuse to aim their
headlights.  The scatter glow those lights put off is horrible even when
aimed properly.  frankly, i wish they would outlaw them.


Shayne

PARTING:  1972 Mercedes Benz 280 SE 4.5
PARTING:  1986 Audi 4000 CS quattro


> 
> Reason 4 possibly...
> 
> A lot of the newer Daytime Running Lights are being put in the high beam pot
> these days instead of the low beam one.  I find this to be a hazard because
> even though the bulb output is lower, it is projected such that it is
> offensive to oncoming traffic.
> 
> Just another knee-jerk reaction to a symptom in lieu of a realistic solution
> for the actual problem.
> 

>> 
>> I think there are two reasons why so many cars have fog
>> lights and the drivers leave them on all the time...well,
>> maybe THREE reasons.
>> 
>> Reason one:  The "cool" factor.  The cars look "cool" that way.
>> 
>> Reason Two:  Low beam headlights are so terrible both from a
>> lumen output and from a beam focus standpoint that in order
>> to see much of anything, fog lights are needed all the time.
>> 
>> Reason three:  the driver doesn't even know that they are on,
>> forgot that he/she turned them on, and has forgotten or
>> doesn't know what that little light on the dashboard is
>> supposed to mean.  Pretty hard to remember all that stuff
>> while also trying to remember what all the little buttons on
>> the cell phone are supposed to do.
>> 
>> Subarus are the worst.  Their great big fog lights are just
>> great big orbs that are pretty bright.  I imagine that they
>> are useless in real fog.
>> 
>> A very long time ago, when I has aspirations toward being a
>> world class rally driver, I did a lot of research into fog
>> and driving lights.  I got to know a guy from Sheboygan
>> Wisconsin by the name of Eugene Shermeister.  He had a
>> business called "Apogee Enterprises", and was a member of the
>> Society of Automotive Engineers, among other credentials.
>> Anyway, he imported ALL the major brands of driving and fog
>> lights from just about everywhere.  Even some Japense brands
>> and that was a time when Toyota was just starting to import cars.
>> 
>> I actually became a sub-distributor for him and sold and did
>> a some installation of driving and fog light systems in the
>> southern New England area...even some in southern Maine for
>> people who belonged to the Cumberland Motor Club.  Anyway,
>> learned a lot about lighting from Shermeister, including
>> which fog and driving lights were the best (Cibie); which
>> types were the best (GREAT BIG ONES), and even experimented
>> with light aircraft landing lights (don't even think about it!).
>> 
>> My Volvo station wagon had 8 inch driving lights and Marchal
>> 850 fog lights (I think they were 850's).  Stock SAE 7"
>> headlamps since I was in Massachusetts and didn't fancy
>> changing the headlights every spring for annual inspection.
>> 
>> All the lights were wired separately, as I seldom used them
>> except for night rallys when there would be very little
>> oncoming traffic.  One night I was driving down a dirt road
>> between Osterville and Centerville (Yep!  In those days there
>> were a LOT of dirt roads on Cape Cod!) and I met some jerk in
>> some sort of vehicle with very bright headlights.  I had
>> three customers in the car and was trying to show them the
>> magic of great big, round driving lights.  Anyway, the other
>> guy just wouldn't dim for me, and since the road was narrow,
>> windy and dirt, I just had to....well...
>> 
>> I hit the master switch and lit em all up.
>> 
>> When I carefully drove past him, he was sitting by the side
>> of the road with his head resting on the steering wheel....
>> 
>> Then there was that other time when some guy in an oncoming
>> car wouldn't dim...he was turning left into a driveway, and
>> out of patience, I gave him the full treatment.  You'd be
>> surprised how bright the emblem of the Massachusetts State
>> Police glowed when the side door was lit up by 300,000 candlepower....
>> 
>> Roger