[TEG]

WARNING: I DO NOT ENDORSE RUNNING YOUR CAR WITHOUT THE DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHTS. THEY ARE A "SAFETY ENHANCEMENT" FEATURE, AND AS SUCH YOU MAY PUT YOURSELF AT RISK BY TURNING THEM OFF. I TAKE ABSOLUTELY NO RESPONSIBILITY IF YOU DISABLE YOUR DRLS AND THEN GET INTO SOME TROUBLE.

Now that that is out of the way...

I was thinking "hmm, the daytime running lights are just the high beams running at half brightness". Since the "normal" mode for the full brightess highbeams is 12volts, they must be running them at partial voltage for DRL mode. "Hmm. Whats the easiest way to drop the voltage? How about a mongo, honking big resistor... Yeah... Hey whats that big thing in front of the battery that says something like 'warning do not touch : hot'... Could that be a resistor?..."
So I unplug it and voila - the DRLs are now disabled but the highbeams still work fine.

So for those of you who tried to find a DRL fuse, but realized that it is on the same circuit as the high beams: you can unplug the resistor pack to get the desired effect.

Personally I don't like the wasteful power things they did in this car:
Heated mirrors that stay on all the time regardless of outside temp (come on Toyota engineers, you have a temp sensor built into the climate control - make the heated mirrors only activate below say 40 degrees outside temp) AND now this - a little "engine compartment heater" (DRL resistor) just eating my electric juice anytime I start the car.

 

[Almost There]

TEG,

I don't think temp controlled heated mirrors is a good idea. I had a Cressida with mirror heaters here in mid/ southeast Florida (40 degrees??? What's that???

). At first I joked about such a "useless" feature. My next car was a turbo charged laser. No heated mirrors.

I quickly learned to miss them. They really did help on those humid mornings when there is dew all over the car (probably 364 days/year here). It'd literally clear the mirrors in seconds.

Now, as for having them on all the time (like the IS) I think that was dumb. A switch would've been easy and nice. Who knows what goes through they're minds. . . They couldn't have possibly save more than a dollar per car after you estimate the economy of scale for production.

PS. My Laser died when I broad-sided a Range Rover. He tried to make a U-turn in front of me while I was going 55 mph. It hurt. Bad. I had no time to turn, stop, swerve, etc. He was only 30' in front of my car when he decided to turn. He told the police that he never saw my car at all. Think twice about those DRL's. . . I used to think DRL's were a joke. . . Now I'd never own a car without them. . .

------------------
Perception IS Reality


[This message has been edited by Almost There (edited October 20, 2000).]

 

[TEG]

I guess I have never driven long enough outside of the SF bay area to know what conditions cause outside mirror fogging. Around here it almost never happens except in the very early morning in the dead of winter.

I guess they could have a "dew sensor" like they have in camcorders. (They shutdown if it gets too humid).

 

[Almost There]

Originally posted by TEG:
I guess they could have a "dew sensor" like they have in camcorders. (They shutdown if it gets too humid).

Now that would be VERY cool. Not to mention a feature like that has "Lexus" written all over it!!



------------------
Perception IS Reality

 

[smra]

Just Curious.
What is it about the DRL that some of you don't like??
Teg, you educated me tonight, I thought that
"Don't Touch Hot Thing" was the convertor for the Xenons.

Thanks for the Info.

Smra.

 

[msilverIS]

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! Just disabled mine. I just can't stand having them on and looking like a GM car.

 

[TEG]

I think some people like their DRLs off because it looks sort of dorky - like you forgot to turn off your headlights from last night.

I guess the first people to wear seatbelts looked pretty silly too, but they probably lived alot longer!

 

[chromaplast]

could somebody explain the use of DRL other than getting the insurance rates down?

 

[JW]

DRL are for visibility reasons, I think...visibility for others, not the driver. I don't know if you've noticed, but under less than ideal conditions (due to weather, environment, etc.), a car with DRL is easier to see than a car without (when viewing head-on, of course).

 

[HIBBoyScott]

Originally posted by chromaplast:
could somebody explain the use of DRL other than getting the insurance rates down?

When I took drivers ed the instructor told us that driving w/ your lights on or a car w/ DRL is more visible...even in the day in sunlight. The lights are visible from farther than the car itself. Probably true.

 

[smra]

I don't think people ever see my drls.

I drive with my xenons and fogs on 24/7.

------------------
Denise C.

 

[Russell]

Hey Teg, how did you do that heated mirror switch? I want to get mine off

------------------
Russell
2001 IS300 Graphite Grey Pearl

 

[TEG]

Check this topic:
http://www.is300.net/forum_new/Forum4/HTML/000256.html

 

[Lexisny]

this doesn't mess up the warrenty or anything does it. By the way just out of curiosity. Why and how do you know so much about this car???

 

[bigjoejack]

Smra, Why would you do that? What a waste