RE: Sucky-to-the-Max (tm) US Lights

[Tom Nas <tnas@euronet.nl>]

>I would argue a little. I use my projector beam fogs in good weather,
>because they give much improvement in visibility.

The roads _here_ are so crowded (and mostly well-lit), there's no need for
additional visibility. Just turn on your headlights when it gets dark...
when they're functioning, clean and properly aimed you can see all you
need, and everyone will see you.

 They also make great
>DRLs. No one has flashed his highs on me yet, except for one person who
>had one headlight bulb out and the other one seemed to be 30W or so.

Plenty of those around here, too. They don't have a clue why you're
flashing 'em. That's why I check all my lights every two-three days. Takes
just a minute in front of a window...

>Many people are driving here with their fogs on and I was never dazzled
>nor even felt uncomfortable as far as these are correctly aimed, good
>quality lights (especially projector beams or FFs) mounted where they
>belong, eg. under the bumper (and not _on_ it).

Hmmm... the aftermarket things here are out of adjustment _as a rule_, it
seems. The OE lights dazzle me frequently, and quite frankly, on busy roads
I don't see the point. All those jerks running around with their foglights
on here also have their headlights on, so what's the use?

 Of course, many people
>here buy $7 lights where lens and reflector design as well as built
>quality is a joke (what's worse, a very popular Polish car Polonez has
>them as a factory equipment - the quality of these fog lights reflect
>the quality of the whole car, I must admit :-( ).

Ah, the Polonez! Where the ashtray won't close when the heater's in the
centre position! (No, really. I've tried it myself at the Amsterdam
Motorshow, when it was called FSO Caro. I agree with the build quality
comments).

 I really don't intend
>to annoy people, but I think that increasing my night vision is a good
>thing if I don't dazzle others. I think that the new Xenon lights found
>on new E-class MBs and A8s, although legal, have higher "blind factor"
>than my fogs.

Some do, some don't. The technology's clearly improving, as the early
S-class cars had very irritating lights, while the new A6 has perfect
lights. I've translated some tech info about this system recently, and the
A6 has all kinds of sensors that adjust the headlights frequently depending
on load, speed etc. Vorsprung durch Technik!

 Of course, from the Police's point of view, it's like
>speed limits: no matter if you drive a crappy car with poor brakes, poor
>handling and poor tyres or if you drive an Audi ;-), the same speed
>limit applies and no matter if you have some cheap crappy lights or
>good, high quality correctly aimed ones, they're illegal. On the other
>hand, I haven't been pulled over yet :-)

Well, I've never driven in Poland, and my comments apply to A) Dutch roads
and B) Dutch drivers and cars, so I can't comment on your situation. I
myself however don't really like the people who drive around with their
fogs on all the time, as they're mostly of the 'get out of my way, I'm in a
hurry' kind. Most of the cars with their fog lights on are either
clapped-out old things with 'performance striping' and lots of extra lights
and spoilers, or sales reps who drive like brain-dead baboons anyway.

Tom

 _______________________________________________________________________
 Tom Nas                                          Zeist, The Netherlands
 tnas@euronet.nl
1988 Audi 80 1.8S, Tizianrot metallic, 213,000km

    Time is the best teacher.  Unfortunately, it kills all its pupils.
                                        -- Hector-Louis Berlioz