D lighted L drivers

[securespark]

Was waiting for that, so how much does it cost to have your lights on?
Also are bulbs more prone to wear out or blow through being switched on?
Come on who is really bored

Not bored. I used to think nothing of this until I got the Czech Chariot. In the handbook, it mentions this, that using headlights or rear window heater will increase consumption.

 

[Thermo]

Isn't it illegal to use sidelights anytime apart from daylight

if you are driving at night in an urban lite area then you are permitted to only have your sidelights on

 

[johnny_t]

using ........ rear window heater will increase consumption.

But its worth it just to keep your hands nice and warm whilst pushing it

 

[Steve]

Not sure, but:
when you come from the bright out-side into a tunnel, your eyes need time to adjust. Switching on your lights helps with this.

They just built a tunnel (shopping centre over the road) in doncaster town centre and it has a high-tech lighting system that adjusts the number of lights on in the tunnel according to how bright it is outside. On both sides of both tunnels, there are flourescent lights and sodium lamps, a mixture is on all the time, supposedly to simulate natural daylight, but it always looks orange (sodium) to me. Dont need headlights anyway, since it is very bright during the day. On a bright sunny day it is sometimes brighter in the tunnel than outside!

I set off at 4:30 today and had my headlights on as it was raining and quite dull.

 

[masona]

Not sure, but:
when you come from the bright out-side into a tunnel, your eyes need time to adjust. Switching on your lights helps with this.

Plus, it is a notorious fact that when driving in a (long) tunnel you automigical drop your speed the longer you're in the tunnel. The long Gothhard tunnel is famous for it, I heard (or read), but not sure if this is relevant for the answer.

Well the reason I've been told regarding using headlights inside tunnel is because if there was a power cut failure, you'll be driving in a pitch black dark and most likely be accident or pile up with drivers jamming their brake on in a panic.

 

[confidentincompetent]

Isn't it illegal to use sidelights anytime apart from daylight

if you are driving at night in an urban lite area then you are permitted to only have your sidelights on

I always tht sidelights were for parking at night.

securespark wrote:
using ........ rear window heater will increase consumption.


But its worth it just to keep your hands nice and warm whilst pushing it

Does the battery good to work it a bit though so paddy hopkirk told me once.


Seems we're just as confused as driving instructors whom I would have thought would be up to speed on this subject. I mean they were national driving schools all sign written up and approoved I was'nt alone with me lights on, plenty of others were displaying common sense, (just like meeee )
Myself, I light up on rainy and gloomy days. I tend to do so when I notice dark cars blend into the background specially down tree lined roads. They reckon more smashes occur during gloomy & twilight times I reckon its more dangerous to drive without lights than speeding at 35 in 30mph. Reckon if cameras were to record lighting they would triple their dosh. But dont tell anyone ffs.

 

[WoodYouLike]

They just built a tunnel (shopping centre over the road) in doncaster town centre.

Was that the collapsable one?

 

[Steve]

They just built a tunnel (shopping centre over the road) in doncaster town centre.

Was that the collapsable one?

yes but they got it fixed pretty quick and now both tunnels are open. Might have to watch how much weight they put in the shops above though

 

[Richardp]

Not sure if this is true or urban myth but when I was in Australia I almost always kept my aircon on but you often see folk driving around with their arms out the window crabbing air instead so as to save money, anyway I was told that it uses more fuel than the aircon because of the drag factor ???

 

[AdamW]

I would say it depends how fast you are going. When stationary, engine off with window open uses less fuel than aircon with engine idling. Last Sunday as I waited to get out of the Brands Hatch car park, I reckon 50% of people had their windows shut and engine on instead of just opening a window and letting the engine rest a bit.

If you are at a slow speed, then drag is not such a problem. However, driving at 100mph with the windows open is definitely going to cause significant drag. IIRC the manual for my car reckons 10% increase in fuel consumption at 75mph. As aircon only uses 1-2bhp (again, IIRC) then at motorway speeds aircon will use less fuel than open windows.

And you are less likely to blow your rear windscreen out (apparently this happens on a particular model of TVR)

 

[Moz]

AdamW
TVR ..lol.. bristol ave ..
you dont work there do you ?
as in my younger days .. we testdrived 46 of them ...we had been on a lumie trip too the lights our coach had stopped on Bisphum rd ,
23 13 yo from our boys club , we saw the sign .. TVR ..

an all those BOSS Cars ..

well we were over/under the wire fence an looking over the cars til some one Yealled they left the keys in the exhaust pipes .. ..
well ...they were battered raced TVRs all around Bisphum ..lol

anyway if your major gripe is a side light . I would ask
"ARE YOU NOT CLOSE TO THE EDGE ???"
if so see your GP ...
Do you wish an even try to crash other drivers on the road ?
if so see you GP ..
do you hate that" bad "Dribver all day an get very upset an talk about it all day ??
if so see your GP ..
//////////////////////////////////
if once you have needed to see a GP ... you need a Reality check ,

Bad drivers are everywhere , he /she is a bad driver you may be saying now... on the flipside she /he is on a site saying how your driving was agressive an nasty ,you say he/she was too slow ...

step back an Drive I did it 10 yrs ago , it was my sis who was a passenger in my car at the time who was SO UPSET AT MY RANTS
I was an aggressive /rage /complainer ..
it was every one elses fault an my bumper /bumper NASTY driving had nothing to do with it ,
Anyone in Manc knows Motorway driving is a must ..about 11yrs I was in a smash on the motorway near us ..an it was my fault ..5 cars were involved I sped across the carriage in a transit to make the turnoff ,an the slow lane car clipped me ,
luckerliy in them days they knew now better an compo was nothing !!!!THANK F***

we all shouted at each other til PC Dibble came , he asssessed (sp)it was my late turn , as I had hurt my knee , I was ferry away an heard nothing else ...

 

[Richardp]

Well just did a google and found this

Ok here's the result, interesting and somewhat conflicting.

The test was done on an oval track. The SUV had a computer connected by Ford engineers to the airflow sensor to measure fuel consumption.

Cruising at aprox 90kph AC on windows up they got 11.8 mpg
Cruising again at 90kph AC off windows down they got 11.3 mpg

However, they decided to do another test (what they called 'the average Joe' driving test) where they took 2 identical SUVs, loaded identically and filled with 5 gals of fuel each. They drove round the track together, again one with AC on windows up & the other AC off windows down until they ran out of fuel. However, due to a fear of a tyre blow out, they decided this time to drive only at 70kph.

Strangely given the fuel consumptions figures above, the car with the AC off windows down managed to outlast the other by about 30kms.

nice to know that there are other sad gits like me out there.

 

[AdamW]

Moz, I'm afraid I don't work for TVR. However I have been coveting their cars ever since the Cerbera came out when I was 13 or 14. I would buy one, except for a website I read where someone had documented a year's costs for his TVR.

A mate had a Griffith (5l Rover V8), that was pretty reliable and not super-expensive to run. But he had to trade it in now he has a baby.

Not sure why bad driving winds people up (including myself)... I have heard it is because you set out expecting everyone to be perfect drivers, and when they disappoint you it upsets you. I have found though, that whilst I growl and mutter, I'm not really that upset about it.

What really gets me is if someone in my car has a go at me. I think it is because the person in the car is a friend or family member, and they are stuck there with me. If someone cuts you up on the motorway, you can just let them get further ahead, or they might turn off at a different junction. And, frankly, you don't care if you ever see them again. But friends and family are stuck there, nagging you for the rest of the journey.

It's the nagging that gets me. I'm behind the wheel, I just want to pay attention to the road and get where I am going. But they want to natter on about some new socks they saw, change the CD, point out stuff along the road ("Ooooh, that never used to be a Tesco, did it?"). So they are happy to dish out distractions, but if they should feel you left your braking a touch late or some similar thing, they'll nag your ears off.