DRL: How does everyone like them?

[nismo]

I was just wondering. Who here likes their DRL (day time running lights)?

[Jahntassa]

I like the idea, for visibilty reasons. Since I have the silverstars though, I disabled them to prolong bulb life. I'll probably keep them off, or put them on a switch in the future, as there are times when i'm driving that I don't want the headlights on.. Such as driving up the driveway at 3am. (Don't wanna wake everyone up!)

[pmh013]

I think that a car shouldn't be allowed on the road without DRL's at least. More than once having headlights has saved a collision.Plus, there's the morons who wait until it's pitch black to turn on their headlights, and you can at least see them coming.The only thing I don't like is that too many people assume that because they have DRL, they don't ever need to turn on their headlights. Duh, we can't see you from behind!!

[ragingfish]

Quote, originally posted by pmh013 »I think that a car shouldn't be allowed on the road without DRL's at least. More than once having headlights has saved a collision.Doesn't canadian law mandate every car have them?I agree with both aforementioned opinions -- since I started driving back in 98, I've always had some sort of lights on when driving. In my first two cars, my 89 Bonneville and my 92 Grand Am, I would drive with my headlights on, day or night, light or dark. Didn't matter. Then my latter two, the 02 Sunfire and the Vibe both have them, but I still often find myself manually turning on my lights even in the daytime.

[ColonelPanic]

Quote, originally posted by pmh013 »Plus, there's the morons who wait until it's pitch black to turn on their headlights, and you can at least see them coming.Oh yeah! Those are probably the same people who don't turn on their lights in the morning as well. I drive to work shortly before sunrise, and I see people every day with no lights. C'mon people, the sun isn't even up yet!

[Sputnik]

Quote, originally posted by ragingfish »Doesn't canadian law mandate every car have them?Yes.

[ZubenElGenubi]

I like DRL's for daytime, but don't like that I can't turn off the headlights at night (like Jahntassa). I'm an amateur astronomer/astrophotographer and it's a standard courtesy not to use your car's headlights at star parties and such....ruins your night vision. Seems silly, in fact, to have a light switch with parking lights and headlights when they will both come on at night regardless.Which is why I'm disabling the DRLs this weekend...gotta get ready for next new moon!

[redlava]

I like the DRL feature for the safety, but they should be incorporated into the Twilight sentenel some how. They should not be on when you want to leave your car running when you are parked at night or whatever. The only way to turn them off is to shut your car off put the E brake on then start your car again. But then those darn auto headlights come on still. And also it would have been nice if they would have had a seperate light for the DRL's so my 40 dollar silverstars won't burn out after a year.Do you hear me Pontiac! Have your engineers use the products they design for once, and these little annoyances won't pop up in our cars like this.

[Jahntassa]

They should do what's on most cars nowadays with Auto headlights. If it's on the blinker stalk, they should have OffAutoParkingHeadlightsOr at least a way to swtich the "auto" feature on and off. Most other cars with the night feature (minus some Grand Ams as far as I know) have that..And it'd be nice to have the DRLs shut off and turn on with the e-brake as long as the car is running.

[ColonelPanic]

Quote, originally posted by Jahntassa »They should do what's on most cars nowadays with Auto headlights. If it's on the blinker stalk, they should have OffAutoParkingHeadlightsOr at least a way to swtich the "auto" feature on and off. Most other cars with the night feature (minus some Grand Ams as far as I know) have that..Yeah, enough people have complained I guess, that GM has added that to some of their vehicles. Depends on what you get. I do believe the Toyota Camry and such has the option of turning off DRL's, not sure if that kills the automagic light control as well, probably does.For those who like to disable DRL's and the automatic headlights, I think we've got it very easy with the Vibe. Had it been a native GM design, we wouldn't be so lucky. With most GM stuff, it is not as simple as snipping wires, unplugging things or whatnot - the cars are too smart for that. You'll end up with some sort of message or indicator light complaining all the time, or breaking something else in the process since that's all controlled by the BCM.Thank you, Toyota! I'm liking my automatic headlight control disable switch.

[sylvainber]

I love the DRL's... i used to have to turn my headlights on manually on my old car. on the vibe they have worked flawlessly so far ('04 model).regarding the survey answer choices... the 'undeciced' choice is biased by the mention of bulb life expectancy. as research has demonstrated that using headlights in daytime reduces the risk of collision (especially frontal collision, the worst kind), i would rather replace bulbs more often and keep my life or my health i had a car accident last december (an old lady blew a red light). car safety has regained significance in my eyes...

[SWiRv]

I think DRL's in Canada have been around for about 10-12 years now, so we're pretty used to them. They do improve visibility especially if you are passing on the highways. My 92 Integra had DRL's that ran at 1/2 power then went to full brightness when the lights were manually turned on. I really don't care for the Twilight feature too much, but that's just my opinion.

[Mavrik]

Quote, originally posted by SWiRv »I think DRL's in Canada have been around for about 10-12 years now, so we're pretty used to them. They do improve visibility especially if you are passing on the highways. My 92 Integra had DRL's that ran at 1/2 power then went to full brightness when the lights were manually turned on. I really don't care for the Twilight feature too much, but that's just my opinion.You right about that, and I get pissed when I see someone not having their lights on... specially at twilight/foggy parts of a day.But as far as the Vibe's system being to sensitive... I haven't noticed.

[redlava]

I think the problem with the Twilight Setenel is in the 03's. I believe they redesigned the 04 sensor module so that it wasn't as sensitive. I tried to get the 04 sensor module put in my car, but no such luck. Boith dealerships that I went to said that if there wasn't a recall on it they couldn't replace it under warranty.

[ColonelPanic]

The luck I had trying to get mine fixed sounds about as good as yours, redlava. Tried a couple different dealers, they knew nothing of the problem, and since there hasn't been a TSB released regarding this, apparently in GM's eyes the problem does not exist.

[MJN2]

Love 'em. My last car didn't have them, and it bugged me until I spent $45 to get the DRL module for it.Can't imagine not having them now.

[Reynoma]

I like them. However, I now find that when I drive my wife's minivan (which does not have them), I forget to turn the lights on when it is raining/starting to get dark...I'm so used to the car doing it for me!

[ALi3N]

I cannot stand automatic DRL and the twilight sentinal in the Vibe/Matrix. I want our cars to be like some of the upper-level Toyota cars that have an on/off switch for the DRL. So much automation kinda irritates me especially since i don't need it or want it. I installed a kill switch for the DRL module in mine and it works great.

[pmh013]

Quote, originally posted by silverawd26 »Talks about how they reduce accidents and yes, they have been mandatory since like 1989 in Canada. But, you can drive a vehicle manufacturer prior to 1989, and not install DRL's. And it is not illegal to drive (during daylight hours) with no lights on.But like we've agreed, it is safer.The problem around here is inspections are never required. If you bought a car in 1972 in SK, and it's been sold to 15 different people since then, but never left the province (as its registered "home"), it could still be on the road today, and never passed a safety inspection. It could be blowing blue smoke and not even have lights that work, but if you can get it going, you can drive it anywhere you want (I only know of 1 person ever getting their car impounded because it was unsafe to drive).

[ychartra]

If you leave your car in park and apply the emergency brake. The DRL should not come on Check your owners manual. It's explained in detail.

[kep427]

I know the owner's manual says that; but the headlights still come on. I park on a hill (using the e-brake). My headlights come on as soon as I fire up the car (I leave home before sunrise).....

[esjones]

Quote, originally posted by kep427 »I know the owner's manual says that; but the headlights still come on. I park on a hill (using the e-brake). My headlights come on as soon as I fire up the car (I leave home before sunrise).....That's not the DRL.... that's the automatic headlights. They are separate systems, each with their own group of owners who hate 'em.