Team-BHP - The DRL Thread: Everything about daytime running lights

Quote:

Originally Posted by drive2eternity (Post 3905322)

Guys, need advice.
.

What is your sole requirement ?

Cosmetic or Functional (living in a place with low natural light, foggy conditions etc.).

If cosmetic, you can go for China models.

If functional, check Philips. Clip-ons available. Not heavy on pockets.

Quote:

Originally Posted by reignofchaos (Post 3895995)

This is what it is. I have OEM DRLs in my Volvo V40 and sometimes I feel its better if they weren't there. I'm not a fan of them and they serve absolutely no purpose in India. The sad part is I can't even turn them off - there is no control to do so lol:.

I prefer to have the lights on, when hitting the highway, anything to increase my visibility to people helps, so yes, I think DRL are good in my opinion.

My place gets heavy fog in winters so I had installed the COB LED light available on eBay. Later, one of the fog lamps got damaged so while looking for a replacement for fog lamps, I came across this fog lamp plus DRL LED setup for Wagon R. I ordered from Flipkart and got it installed at MASS. Its connected by a separate switch next to fog lamp switch. I use it only while on highways on regular use and occasionally inside city in fog. I never use these LEDs during night time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by drive2eternity (Post 3905434)

Totally Cosmetic. Chinese made seem to ideal for me but the concerns of Warranty haunt me.

Chinese and warranty don't go together. Product wise as well as car manufacturer wise. Better to go with clip-on type and with bare minimum wattage, else you will be stressing your cars circuits.

There was a clear warning given to a guy in MASS here, if he chooses to go for a DRL, then it has to be Maruti certified. If he even remotely thinks of getting it done by himself, entire warranty on the car stands void.

Check with Hyundai if they have any suggested brands. Go as per their advice. If you are planning to take little risk, then go with clip on. It will not be that hard to install and disassemble if anything arises.

A few years ago, DRLs were offered in premium segment cars. But now, they are slowly becoming standard accessory in even in top end models of mid-segment cars. While this is a welcome move, I have a concern regarding it. The brightness of the DRLs offered is different from car to car, even coming from the same manufacturer.

DRL was offered in i20 back in early 2013 (IIRC). It was super bright. The ones that come on the present i20 and Active are slightly dimmer but still serve the purpose. But the ones on the Creta (though the company doesn't claim them to be DRL) are a joke. Even the ones being offered on the pre-facelift fluidic Verna were barely visible.

When we look at Maruti, we see Baleno and Brezza. Last night, I drove the Baleno on an empty road for a km with just the DRLs on. I must say, I can easily manage to drive the car home if my headlamps fail some day. The DRLs are so bright, they are better than the stock fog lamps. Now if we look at the Brezza, those Bull Horn (seriously? or is it something else?) DRLs are barely visible even in the dark, leave alone daylight. Similar is the case of the signature lights being offered on the Ecosport.

Now my question is, why does the manufacturer offer such varying quality (or specifications/lumen) of features on its different products? Why the person, paying much more for his/her Verna, Creta, Brezza, Ecosport etc get an inferior DRL than the ones on the much cheaper Baleno, i20? Is it fair to ask this?

I Ordered these from aliexpress. They came with complete housing of the projector fog lamps and the CCFL DRLs. They were available in many colors, but i just went ahead with whites. The are really brilliant and look amazing. Plus the important fact is that they are just plug n' play. All the fitting was a DIY.

The DRL Thread: Everything about daytime running lights-img1.jpg

The DRL Thread: Everything about daytime running lights-imageuploadedbyteambhp1468470107.742318.jpg

2014 Fluidic Verna OEM projector headlights retrofitted. DRLs are wired up to the ignition itself (OEM is linked to parking lights). They are very bright at night. Unlike the OEM setup, these don't dim when the headlights turn on.

And they go give the car an upmarket look.

Sent from my iPhone 6 using Team-BHP

Quote:

Originally Posted by antardaksh (Post 4015160)

Could you please post price and product link.
Regards.

link for the product - http://www.aliexpress.com/item/DRL-C...5-fcbeb6a21f49

I ordered them from aliexpress mobile app, which gives even more discount. Pictures i will put later as i have not clicked any during the night time. But they are very effective than the OEM fog lights. Plus the same housing is compatible with the HID bulbs, if you want to switch from regular bulbs.

Day light running lamps were the first item in my bucked list when i brought my Duster. I have bought these from Aliexpress which consists of 6 LED DRL's along with the wiring harness and the controller.

Based on the suggestion of few friends and experts, I have directly connected the DRL controller to the battery, where the power supply is controlled by the 40A, 5pin relay which is triggered through the ACC power taken from the cigarette lighter source. This avoids using the existing car wiring and hence there is no load on it.

The LED's operate only when the engine is started and are ON for few seconds even after the car engine is switched off, thus giving me a follow me home effect.

The only thing i could not understand is how come the DRL's switch ON only when the engine is started, even though the power is routed when i throw the key into ACC position?

But alas like any cheap Chinese products, i am able to see that few led's have stopped glowing over a period of time ( around 1 year) .

The DRL Thread: Everything about daytime running lights-11a.jpg

Quote:

Originally Posted by iwanderer (Post 4156238)

The only thing i could not understand is how come the DRL's switch ON only when the engine is started, even though the power is routed when i throw the key into ACC position?

But alas like any cheap Chinese products, i am able to see that few led's have stopped glowing over a period of time ( around 1 year) .
Attachment 1614935

Stumbled across this thread just now when I was looking for a DRL setup for my own car!
The reason why the controller lights up the DRL only after engine starts is actually painfully simple. The battery voltage & current changes once the engine starts & alternator is working. That difference can be easily sensed by the controller to switch the relay :)

Did you do the DRL setup as a DIY? Or went to an accessory store / RASS for it?