What is it with German Tailights in the US

I'm sure that they (rear fogs) *do* slightly slow recognition of brake lamps. That's why they should only be used in conditions where visibility is severely limited, i.e. the benefits of their use outweigh the drawbacks. Unfortunately a good number of people driving vehicles equipped with rear fogs are too dim (heh) to understand this.

nate

I still fail to see what they do which ordinary rear RUNNING lamps do not, and the running lamps do it without confusion factor and without being so bright as to annoy following traffic.

Making a light source brighter doesn't necessarily make it visible at substantially greater distance through a scattering medium such as fog. For example, it doesn't take much fog to render the sun invisible. Sure, there's light scattering everywhere, but you can't tell where the sun IS in the sky. A brake lamp compared to a tail lamp is tantamount to no difference at all.

Nope, Canadian drivers are better.

Wow, Daniel J. Stern != "Dan J.S." ?

You both sign off as DS...

it's appx. 4x as powerful, so the difference is substantial.

nate

But how much added range does that buy through fog? Probably not a lot, although it did occur to me that in real world scenarios, its not just seeing the light through the fog, its also standing out from the following car's headlamp glare.

But there's gotta be a better way than a RED light on the rear of the car.

Nope, not the same.

Yeah, we both have the same initials, as it seems.

Those are the ones they choose to sell outside Germany.

Those are the ones they choose to sell outside Japan.

Those are the ones they choose to sell elsewhere. (Most of what the US car makers sell elsewhere, they build elsewhere and don't sell in the USA. (sadly))

Those are the ones they can still sell outside of France!

That seems more like you than Daniel.

US automakers have a tendency to ruin any car their divisions overseas designed and built if they bring it to the USA. In the case of the focus, much of the problems I believe came from the assembly plant in Mexico. I remember (but may be wrong) the ones assembled in the USA had fewer difficulties.

Canadian drivers US drivers. I've driven in most provinces and about 1/2 of the states, and can offer these observations:

North Dakota and Manitoba and Saskatchewan drivers are the slowest and have the worst lane discipline. Rednecks (Alberta and any southeastern state) are the fastest. (and IMHO probably the safest, duallys notwithstanding.) Quebecers are just insane.

Overall, I'd rather drive in the states than Canada. Partly because the roads are better, but overall the drivers are better. (And I'm a Canuck.)

Ray

Which is of course unlawful if it impedes the flow of traffic. IIRC, they are limited to a maximum of 80 km/h anyway.

Germany has the "problem" of not prohibiting drivers who obtained their licences in other countries from driving. Standards are uniformly variable. :-)

Ther is, btw: nothing inappropriate about towing a boat with a

4-cylinder car. If the boat-trailer is light enough or the 4-cylinder powerful enough, it creates no problems.

Perhaps you are Canadian, but neither of your other two assertions is correct -- as measured by data, not by your anecdotal observations.

I can think of a couple exceptions, there were a couple vehicles that came over here relatively unpolluted like the Merkur XR4Ti and the Contour/Mystique. Or course, they were completely unpromoted and left for dead before they were even introduced... and, of course, were significantly better than their domestic equivalents (Taurus anyone?)

nate

That's the other way they ruin them. The marketeers let them die and go 'look these cars just don't sell here'. I remember looking around for a

5spd contour and never finding one to test drive.

stock numbers, for me.

Sylvania has one of the worst (least accurate) parts catalogs of any line I deal with.

Volvos still are listed with US type bulb numbers as proper replacement, even though the warning light on the dash will glow when you use them (unless you use them in pairs)

Bernard

Their cataloguing has never been very good. The quality of their line is degrading to match.

And sometimes even then. What's even better is what happens if you use American-type bulbs in an older Mercedes (W123, W126): The brake lamps work, but the cruise control doesn't.

So what are the consequences of using the "wrong" bulbs? I have to admit, I've been tempted to put 1156LLs in the Porsche rather than the stock P21Ws just so I don't have to worry about replacing bulbs for a good long time. The "european" bulbs do seem to have a shorter life than the krypton-filled ones. Don't the 1156LL/KR generally have a nickel plate base anyway? And what is the issue, galvanic corrosion? Of course I replaced all the bulbs on the outside of the car when I got it (because half of them were burned out and all the parking/marker lights were different part numbers with different wattages) except for the driver's side front sidemarker, because the front sidemarkers are a PITA to replace, guess what the only bulb I've had to replace since then is?

Since we're off topic already, what do you prefer for grease inside the light sockets? Lubri-plate or Syl-glide? My '55 Stude requires grease in the light sockets as the lights always seem to get some moisture inside them even with new seals.

nate

Traditionally the rear fog is one lamp mounted on the driver's side of the car. Not sure what the reasoning is behind providing two, unless it's the "more is better" theory at work again.

nate

Poor contact with the base lugs (which are smaller and round on the American-type bulbs, larger and crescent-shaped on the European-type bulbs) and galvanic corrosion. Also, P21W and P21/5W have faster rise times than 1156/1157.

1) P21W-LL 2) P3497 (contacts are round but correct height, so no contact problem. 40% brighter and VERY long life)

Syl-Glide, definitely.