Automatic into neutral at lights?

[robinbanks]

As the "hill hold" function works on the hydraulics

Not certain that's universally true; for vehicles that re-use the electro-mechanical parking brake as a hill start assist brake there wouldn't be any hydraulic involvement in clamping the pads onto the disk

 

[EFLImpudence]

I think you'll find they're as bright as the regulations require...

Require or allow?

 

[norseman]

I think you'll find they're as bright as the regulations require...

Very probably, but regulations sometimes bear little relationship to real world circumstances. Today's 'regulation' headlights can cause discomfort to older drivers to the point of being hazardous, so how does that reflect (no pun intended) with road safety? It's all very well for younger drivers to spout 'then you shouldn't be driving mate' but the NHS appears to be constantly moving the goal-posts when it comes to referring people like myself for cataract surgery.

Despite this my eyesight (voluntarily tested every 12 months) still meets, or even exceeds, the DVLA regulations but the lights under discussion still cause me distraction. I cannot understand why they need to be so bright, it's not as if the owners are competing in a rally stage.

 

[Avocet]

Not certain that's universally true; for vehicles that re-use the electro-mechanical parking brake as a hill start assist brake there wouldn't be any hydraulic involvement in clamping the pads onto the disk

True, but are there any like that? I don't remember ever having come across one, because I wouldn't have thought the parking brake actuators could move that quickly? (And from the manufacturer's point of view, that would be a hell of a lot of wear and tear on the actuators, if you think of a queue of stop-start traffic crawling up a hill). I've had a few VAG cars in the past, where if you stop on hill hold for more than a set number of minutes, it applies the handbrake and then releases the hill hold, but I can't remember any of them only using the parking brake for hill hold.

 

[Avocet]

Require or allow?

Both. The regs will specify a maximum and minimum light output. Unless there's a manufacturer out there "doing a Volkswagen", I'd be willing to bet that pretty much all current cars would be between those two values?

 

[Brigadier]

Very probably, but regulations sometimes bear little relationship to real world circumstances. Today's 'regulation' headlights can cause discomfort to older drivers to the point of being hazardous, so how does that reflect (no pun intended) with road safety? It's all very well for younger drivers to spout 'then you shouldn't be driving mate' but the NHS appears to be constantly moving the goal-posts when it comes to referring people like myself for cataract surgery.

Despite this my eyesight (voluntarily tested every 12 months) still meets, or even exceeds, the DVLA regulations but the lights under discussion still cause me distraction. I cannot understand why they need to be so bright, it's not as if the owners are competing in a rally stage.

Apart from the searchlight headlights, it's that stupid LED striplight across the front of EV Mercs that just yanks my chain.

 

[Avocet]

Very probably, but regulations sometimes bear little relationship to real world circumstances. Today's 'regulation' headlights can cause discomfort to older drivers to the point of being hazardous, so how does that reflect (no pun intended) with road safety? It's all very well for younger drivers to spout 'then you shouldn't be driving mate' but the NHS appears to be constantly moving the goal-posts when it comes to referring people like myself for cataract surgery.

Despite this my eyesight (voluntarily tested every 12 months) still meets, or even exceeds, the DVLA regulations but the lights under discussion still cause me distraction. I cannot understand why they need to be so bright, it's not as if the owners are competing in a rally stage.

Headlights are a different situation. Behind the wheel, everybody likes "better" headlights. When it comes to facing oncoming traffic, some people are less keen. Ever since the days of acetylene lamps, drivers have wanted better headlights. I was talking about this to someone at SMMT, in fact, a few months ago, and they laughed. When I asked why, they said that when they were moving out of their offices in Forbes House, to their current place in great Peter Street, they found an old agenda from a lighting committee meeting. One of the agenda item was "headlamp glare". The date of the meeting was some time in 1928...!

I've seen this topic crop up on other fora, and a few people now, have said good things about those amber "sunglasses" that people sell for night driving. Maybe worth a try?

 

[EFLImpudence]

Both. The regs will specify a maximum and minimum light output. Unless there's a manufacturer out there "doing a Volkswagen", I'd be willing to bet that pretty much all current cars would be between those two values?

Ok.

Do you disagree that rear lights are a lot brighter than they used to be?

 

[Avocet]

Apart from the searchlight headlights, it's that stupid LED striplight across the front of EV Mercs that just yanks my chain.

I think they look a bit naff, but those daytime running lights don't cause me any real problem.

 

[Avocet]

Ok.

Do you disagree that rear lights are a lot brighter than they used to be?

No, not at all! My mate has a 1950 Riley and following him at night, you're practically in his boot before you see his tail lights!

 

[norseman]

I've seen this topic crop up on other fora, and a few people now, have said good things about those amber "sunglasses" that people sell for night driving. Maybe worth a try?

Tried those way back, they do reduce glare but also visibility .. a bit like sunglasses. I currently have prescription glasses that are coated for glare reduction & very effective, but I still cannot understand why such bright lights are needed for driving on the public highway at speeds appropriate to driving conditions.

 

[Avocet]

Tried those way back, they do reduce glare but also visibility .. a bit like sunglasses. I currently have prescription glasses that are coated for glare reduction & very effective, but I still cannot understand why such bright lights are needed for driving on the public highway at speeds appropriate to driving conditions.

Better lights change the driving conditions. Maybe it's because I live in a rural area, but seeing the deer in the road 200 yards away, is better than seeing it 150 yards away.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Personally I don't like to hold brake pads against discs heated by braking so I arrange things such that I can release the brake regardless of the kind of transmission

There is a theory, which suggests that holding the footbrake on after a stop, onto heated discs, can cause disc distortion. The distortion then results in judder, with subsequent use of the pedal.

 

[Avocet]

There is a theory, which suggests that holding the footbrake on after a stop, onto heated discs, can cause disc distortion. The distortion then results in judder, with subsequent use of the pedal.

Yes, I think that's "a thing". Not disc distortion, as such, but pad material deposition on to the disc. Come to a stop with hot discs and leave the pads clamped on to the disc and the metallic materials in the pads can sometimes "weld" themselves slightly to the disc. The weld is weak, and is broken as soon as you move off again, but thereafter, every time you brake, the patch of pad material on each side of the disc causes a slight "grab" as those patches pass under the pads, each time the wheel goes round, creating the feeling of a "warped" disc. Sometimes, if you brake hard from high speed to almost standstill a few times, you can get the discs hot enough to re-melt and "smear" the material evenly around the disc face, which gets rid of the "warped" sensation again, (as long as you carry on moving afterwards until the discs have cooled down again, of course)!

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Sometimes, if you brake hard from high speed to almost standstill a few times, you can get the discs hot enough to re-melt and "smear" the material evenly around the disc face, which gets rid of the "warped" sensation again, (as long as you carry on moving afterwards until the discs have cooled down again, of course)!

Yes, that has worked for me a few times, when some would be advising replacing the discs.