Thread: Osram DRL/Foglights - too bright

Originally Posted by irondoc

In fact, sometimes I think they are a tiny bit too bright for use during the day at full power...

Cheers
Lucas

I had this thought too, but my engineer said they are completely legal.
I have mine wired so they turn off when the headlights are on.

Originally Posted by BigJon

I had this thought too, but my engineer said they are completely legal.
I have mine wired so they turn off when the headlights are on.

I have been thinking about getting a set too but have wondered how the legalities work.

Given that you are only supposed to have fog lights turned on when there is fog, I wonder what defines a light as DRL instead of fog if it's in the location of the factory fog light.

Cheers,
Scott
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Originally Posted by LRD414

I have been thinking about getting a set too but have wondered how the legalities work.

Given that you are only supposed to have fog lights turned on when there is fog, I wonder what defines a light as DRL instead of fog if it's in the location of the factory fog light.

Cheers,
Scott
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I'd say if it's good enough for Volvo then it's ok. Beyond that it'd be to do with how and when they functioned (ie off or dim when headlights are on), the angle and if they were able to measure it, the actual brightness. Legality wise I think they're more concerned with DRLs being mounted too high and close together rather than low and wide...

The Osrams are definitely still pretty bright when 'dimmed', and I'm not sure if it also takes away from/interferes with the functionality of linking them to the cornering lights.

Originally Posted by LRD414

I have been thinking about getting a set too but have wondered how the legalities work.

Given that you are only supposed to have fog lights turned on when there is fog, I wonder what defines a light as DRL instead of fog if it's in the location of the factory fog light.

Cheers,
Scott
.

These lights have completely different light emitters depending on whether they are turned on as fog lights or DRLs.

Fog lights are fog lights, DRLs are DRLs. They are different lights and are covered by different rules.

I thought it was a legal requirement, that DRLs are meant to be off or dimmed (a lot!) when the headlights are turned on?

Originally Posted by LRD414

I wonder what defines a light as DRL instead of fog if it's in the location of the factory fog light

I've done some homework and found the following for DRLs.

Queensland Traffic Road Use Management - Vehicle Standards and Safety Regulation

A pair of daytime running lights may be fitted to a motor vehicle such that they are:
(a) at least 600mm from the centre of the other light
(b) not over 510mm from the nearer side of the vehicle

When on, a daytime running light must:
(a) show a white or yellow light visible from the front of the vehicle
(b) not use over 25W
(c) wired so they are off when a headlight is on

Fog lights are also defined in the QLD regulation.
My interpretation of differences between DRLs and front fogs are:
(i) fog has no limit on watts
(ii) fog can be on together with headlight but only in poor visibility conditions
(iii) fog must be independently switched of headlights

ADR 76/00 "Daytime Running Lamps"

"Daytime running lamp" means a lamp facing in a forward direction used to make the vehicle more easily visible when driving during daytime.
The intensity of the light emitted by each lamp shall be not less than 400 cd in the axis of reference and not be more than 800 cd in any direction.

I didn't know what a cd was so went to Wikipedia for this:
cd = candela, the unit of measure of luminous intensity.
A common candle emits light with a luminous intensity of roughly one candela.
As an example, a 25W compact fluorescent light bulb puts out around 1700 lumens.
If that light is radiated equally in all directions, it will have an intensity of around 135 cd.
Same light focused into a 20 degree beam will have an intensity of around 18,000 cd.

Cheers,
Scott
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Hi guys

The Osram DRLs are bright, but good for daytime use. My point was that if you use them, the brown wire should be earthed so they turn off at nighttime. If the brown wire is attached to the the positive terminal, they dim slightly when headlights are turned on, but they are way too bright to bee used at night.

They are awesome lights and completely legal and have separate fog and DRL components, so I can recommend them, but they are expensive.

cheers
Lucas