DRL / Daytime Running Lights / Driving Lights

[Corey_R]

I have noticed for the most part that if i drive with my lights on during the day(most of the time) that those nasty outside lane hoggers see me faster and get out of my way more often than if i have them off.

Yep. I've always used my headlights during the day when freeway/motorway/highway driving for that very reason.
Though these days I always drive with my headlights on even though my little Polo GTI don't have DRL. It's just habbit for me to turn on the lights when I turn on the car.

[STV4SYT]

Yep. I've always used my headlights during the day when freeway/motorway/highway driving for that very reason.
Though these days I always drive with my headlights on even though my little Polo GTI don't have DRL. It's just habbit for me to turn on the lights when I turn on the car.

I found that on the golf if i just leave the headlights in the ON position they turn on and off with the ignition.

[Mk6 GTI]

I think they DRL look great

[mfl]

I used to call them 'wanker lights' (along with idiots that turn their fog lights on during the day) till I got my 09 118TSI. Now I cant find a way to turn them off
Have read the manual backwards and checked all the menus on the MFD but alas - no answer. Anyone have any clues on how to turn these off?
Brian

My initial reaction as well,(how do I turn them off) when I discovered the car had drl, but at least they are dedicated lights and not the foglights that the wankers use.

Although I believe commonwealth government cars have drl fitted. - didn't want to look like I was driving a government car. !

After a trip down the south coast in overcast weather and the generally grey days around Sydney, I now think they are a plus in terms of other road users actually seeing me. That said when I used to ride a motorcycle a few decades ago, I always had my headlight on during the day to improve my visibility to others on the road.


as an aside, on Saturday afternoon I drove from Nowra to Sydney in torrential rain and could not believe the number of cars without any lights turned on in atrocious driving conditions.

cheers

[Lima]

as an aside, on Saturday afternoon I drove from Nowra to Sydney in torrential rain and could not believe the number of cars without any lights turned on in atrocious driving conditions.

cheers

This is why it wouldn't be a bad idea to make DRLs mandatory. Or getting a licence in this country could be aligned with the responsibility of driving on the road rather than giving them out with Cornflake packets.

Of course it will be easier and more electorate friendly to introduce DRLs, haha.

The amount of ignoramuses driving at dusk, during fog and other inclement weather without using lights is astounding really. If such people cannot make a simple judgement call at these times then one can only wonder at what other poor habits they have.

[Riker]

I must get my eyes checked if what I just read is for real. Someone want's to turn 'OFF' a safety feature because they believe it doesn't look any good.......... Absolutely

[Brian]

This is why it wouldn't be a bad idea to make DRLs mandatory. Or getting a licence in this country could be aligned with the responsibility of driving on the road rather than giving them out with Cornflake packets.

Of course it will be easier and more electorate friendly to introduce DRLs, haha.

The amount of ignoramuses driving at dusk, during fog and other inclement weather without using lights is astounding really. If such people cannot make a simple judgement call at these times then one can only wonder at what other poor habits they have.

Well, I think you have me convinced that I should leave them on, just to remind other morons that they should have lights on also. I still believe that I can make a decision on whether or not to turn my lights on if road conditions should dictate that, and I'll always be first to do so. I'm just anti dictatorship with how I should drive my car, whether it be lights, wipers or whatever. Soon the world government will tell me that I have to drive in economy mode all the time and you wont be able to change it on your car, just like DDL. Beware, the climate change protagonists will rule your life.
Brian

[Lima]

Haha, good on you Brian.

Good to see you have a white car too, which helps!

We usually leave the lights in Auto on our cars, which means LED DRLs for the S3 and just lights on when need be in the GTI. Although, in overcast conditions we'll usually err on the side of having the lights on too early.

I became much more aware of such issues when we had our Mk4 GTI which was black. Generally speaking I ran the low beams all the time as I noticed that other dark cars could be difficult to see during the day when driving through tree lined streets etc.

I also used to drive quite a lot of highway kms not long after I started driving and quickly saw the benefits of having lights on during the day.

[cme2c]

The rest of the world is catching up with 1980's Volvos.

[kimiraikkonen1a]

Firstly, are DRL's standard on the 118tsi?? Because it would appear that mine doesnt have them and based on what ppl have said in this thread, i get the impression that they are....

DRLs are designed for safety, you can turn them off if you wish. For the TSI.

From memory: turn the light to the OFF position, pull back flasher + LEFT indicator at the same time + start engine, Turn off engine.

To turn back on DRL same as above but RIGHT indicator instead of LEFT.

Seeing as mine aren't on (if i even have them), i tried your method a few times to turn them on but it didn't work.

[maca]

Firstly, are DRL's standard on the 118tsi?? Because it would appear that mine doesnt have them and based on what ppl have said in this thread, i get the impression that they are....



Seeing as mine aren't on (if i even have them), i tried your method a few times to turn them on but it didn't work.

DRL's are standard on all Mk6 Golfs.

I've noticed that on some of the loan cars I get however, they don't have them on. I think it's got something to do with the comfort settings?

[Lima]

The rest of the world is catching up with 1980's Volvos.

Except new/current Volvos don't have DRLs any more. Which I always found odd given you rightly point out they are well known for them.

[kimiraikkonen1a]

DRL's are standard on all Mk6 Golfs.

I've noticed that on some of the loan cars I get however, they don't have them on. I think it's got something to do with the comfort settings?

So what you're saying is that I should have them and that i should call up my VW dealer and demand they activate them?

Are they a separate bulb to the park lights? because i had a look at the all the bulbs and I can only see the high beams and the parkers in that refletor fixture.

[maca]

So what you're saying is that I should have them and that i should call up my VW dealer and demand they activate them?

Are they a separate bulb to the park lights? because i had a look at the all the bulbs and I can only see the high beams and the parkers in that refletor fixture.

Demanding them to activate your DRL's will get sugar in your fuel tank next time you take your car in for a service. I'm guessing you've gone through and read the instruction book yeah? I've played with a few Mk6's before and I've found that if you reset the comfort settings (I think it was these), they come on.

The DRL's use the same bulb as the high beam, similar to how some cars use the same bulb for main/high beam. The reflectors are set up so that it won't dazzle oncoming traffic.

[Idle]

My TDI had the DRL's on as delivered — since it's a white car it stands out well enough and I see where I'm going perfectly well in daylight, I turned them off. The somewhat arcane procedure is in the manual, as is how to re-enable them.

Since it runs headlamp bulbs, which are tedious things to replace in the Mk 6 and it must shorten their useful life, I'll leave mine off unless/until I'm forced to turn them on again.

In over 65 years of driving many different varieties of transport I've never needed many of the so-called essentials of today (although I have to admit I'm impressed with electronic stability control — if I'd had that in some of the devices I used to race...)