DLR Daytime Running Lights

And I must agree with you (the SUV fit better with my Close Encounters analogy :). Maybe the auto manufacturers should work on another mechanism or swtich placement for activation of foglights. Somewhere closer to the headlight switch so that people don't forget that they're on/off.

Maybe. I guess it would bother some people. Frankly I could care less what other people think, it only proves something about them, not me.

The one thing I do miss is the ability to easily flash the lights off and on when driving at night to try and alert other drivers that they have not turned on their headlights.

Yea, and I want them too. That LCD may well be the other guy who might otherwise crash into me, or even if they miss me, I will end up paying higher insurance rates because of them.

Well, you can't make that a law *until* you mandate that bulbs be easily user servicable? How to define this?? Not sure, but I'm sure how not to define "user servicable"....and that would be the headlamp replacement in the New Beetle.

Frankly, I prefer being able to decide for myself when to turn on --or off- my lights. I paid attention in 1974 drivers ed: on from 1 hour before sunset until 1 after after sunrise...and when you operate your wipers.

I actually totaled my prize-winning 82 Rabbit convertible because a driver "didn't see me coming"... even though it was 4pm in the summer with the sun high. Ever since then, I turn on my lights EVERY time I start the car, no matter which car I'm in. What are my thoughts after all this? DRL's are stupid, simply because it's ignorant to make anything "automatic" and "optionless" that we should be doing ourselves (like turning on the lights, steering adjustments in cross-winds, modulating brakes, monitoring wheel slippage, etc etc etc.)

TOE

Well seeing things quickly is based on size, speed, and brightness.... Cars are big, so that is an advantage, and when they are coming towards you, they almost appear stationary left to right, so that is good. So why not improve the situation even more by adding a little brightness into the equation.

In Canada, where I live, it's nice having the DTRL's; we have long open stretches of road, with rolling hills... When I crest a hill I can catch glimpses of cars in the far distance if their headlights are on. I'm sure this has got to be a bonus to safety..... It's also a good thing for speeders, if you see headlights coming on those long flat sections, you can slow down to reasonable speeds... especially good if those headlamps are attached to a Crown Vic interceptor ;-).

Now if they would use headlamps that didn't cast insane amounts of glare, that would be great. I find european cars are the best for not as much glare... with the exception of those equiped with HID lights (BMW is the worst)... those should only be on during the night, with a lower wattage halogen bulb doing DTRL duty.

If you have DRL, what's the point of turning on the "full lights" in most metropolitan areas? There's plenty of light from the street lamps.

You mostly need to use the "parking lights" to activate the dash and tail lights. This is especially true when it's raining, and all turning on the "full" lights does is add glare for on-coming drivers.

In areas without street lights things are of course different.

Neither does my 2002 NB

No VW that I've ever seen with DRLs has a parking light setting. I'm not sure why because it's still valid to use parking lights and plugging in a Euroswitch seems to work fine (at least in my Eurovan it does.

Off = DRLs on (when ignition on and parking brake off) Parking = parking lamps and DRLs go off On = Normal headlamp setting

Why VW didn't give us those switches to begin with I don't know...they seem to play OK with the DRLs.

I will have to consider one of those. How does the fog light work in the Euro version switch?

And

- when the roads are dirty because of salt;

- when the sun is low enough to blind me through my mirrors so I can't see anything in them.

If 90% of the drivers would do this, DRL would not have been invented.

I also prefer to decide when to turn on my lights, I just know that a lot of drivers cannot be trusted with this choice.

I didn't know this! My in-laws like to wave goodbye as we pull out of their driveway and this would keep me from blinding them every time we leave their house. Although I like having DRLs, I really don't need them in the driveway.

Euro version switch?

On my Eurovan it was pull out tot he first stop and you get the front fogs and pull out to the second stop and you get the rear fog. The late Eurovan swtich is more or less identical to the A3 switch. I'd imagine the A4 switch behaves similarly. The switch harness was somewhat pre-wired too and the rear fog setting illuminated the rear fog icon in the cluster, which was a nice surprise to find that it worked.

Pull the selector out, one click for fogs, 2 clicks for rear fog.

The Euroswitch gives you the option of having:

1) Your lights off (DRL's on) 2) Parking lights (DRL's off) 3) All lights on

By doing the DRL disable you basically get the stand US headlights where:

1) Lights off 2) Parking Lights 3) All Lights

In possition #2 can the fog lamps be truned on? Not particually intersted in the rear fog lamp on this side of the pond.

I have no desire to defeat the DRLs.

Thanks

Yes, but...I'm not sure that the switch is the determining factor in how the fogs can be turned on.

My '91 GTI and my '00 Eurovan seems to have many of the same components/positions on the relay and fuse board and here's what I found.

My '91 GTI has a relay in there that is for the fogs. With this relay in place, the fogs only work when the low beams are on (won't work with high beams and won't work with parking lamps).

My Eurovan didn't even have fogs at all (I've since added them). In that same position on the relay board, instead of a relay there was a metal jumper there. If I leave that jumper there, the fogs work anytime the switch isn't off (so the fogs work with the parking lamps, lows, and highs). Just for fun I removed that jumper and stuck my GTI's relay in there and when I did that, the fogs behaved like on my GTI (only worked with the low beams).

In both cars if the relay or jumper is removed compeletely, the fogs don't work at all.

So it seems that what you have going on at the relay/jumper slot is what seems to determine how the fogs can be turned on and the headlamp switch I think probably has nothing to do with it.

Thanks for the detailed answer. You did a good job of explaining what I might face and what I will need to check on. I will have to take a look at my wiring diagram and see what my 2002 NB has. However maybe with a small adjustment I can get it to work the way I want with the Euro Switch. I may pick up one next time I am over there, or find one over here in the US.

I'd say there's a decent chance that it'll work in the same manner. I suspect that VW has been making relay and fuse panels the same way for years and there's a good chance that even though the switches change, the underlying wiring harness is probably nearly the same.

Euro switches should be reasonably available. Surf the usual aftermarket places (parts4vws.com, etc.). Shouldn't be too hard to find...even though they're Eurospec switches, a Euro switch is a common mod among us 'dubbers these days.