waveydavey

I think the arguement over what is a drl and what is a fog light will just come down to what the manufacturer says it is.

As drl are becoming law, and to keep costs down, i think alot of manufacturers will simply reduce the watage in fog lights and wire them perminant ignition live as in the picture of the skoda above and call them drl.

If the owners manual says they are drl then thats what they are. I bet not one single copper will take it to court to prove other wise. The Skoda above, does it have front fog lights?? i wonder because what ever it is thats turned on now sure looks like a fog light to me.

Yes the car comes with front foglights and they are the one's lit in the picture and used as DRL's. They are SMD/LED (4 units per light) and from the two i've seen personally on the roads are the normal foglight brightness unlike the Ford S-Max for example that has the halogen foglights lit but at around 20-30% brightness. That's the reason for the thread i mentioned above in the Skoda forum as it's the first VAG car to use this method for it's LED DRL's.

Sorry for my geekyness on this subject but as i mentioned in the DRL thread on here i've come from 8 years of VAG ownership, (In fact our other car still is), where the DRL's have been commonplace for longer than other marques. :)

Cheers

Dave.

No i pretty sure technically any light under the mid height of the bumper is classed as a fog light. What shape or how bright the bulb is doesnt matter. Although there is always and exception to every rule. To me what you have done is change the bulb in your fog light there still fog lights. They dont appear to be to bright so like sprinter says most people wont mind, think you might have a problem with the police though Just like me i would still see them as fog lights

I was under the impression that DRL's were the strip of LED's that i'm seeing more and more on newer cars, and front fogs are the 2 lights low down on the bumpers of cars (albeit not all cars)

a simple statement above, yes, but whats with new cars having steering lights (i don't know the official name)?? but i've seen cars now that when they turn the wheel, the corresponding fog light on the bumper comes on, seems to be anythin German, now I think these only come on if the side/headlights are on, but since its still a fog light, will the regulations change? or are these bulbs dual filament so its not actually the foglight that is on in the lens when the vehicle is turning?

Just for reference regarding Foglights and DRL's being seperate things..... Attached below is the current Fabia vRS.... 4xSMD/LED's per foglight/DRL. :winky:

I'm a member on the Skoda owners site Briskoda and there's already a thread asking if owners of the new vRS have been stopped by the coppers for having what looks like their front fogs on all the time.

Also with regard the DRL's being the strips of LED's.... Not necessarily the case as per THIS POST of mine in a thread on here about DRL's. :winky:

Cheers

Dave.

Before i start my rant in reply i dont use my front fog lights at all never have done. drive to road conditions,including vision and you dont need them.

I assume you've never driven at night in dense fog then.... By dense fog i mean visibility of around 5-10 yards or so and not the kind of stuff we've had this last week.

Anyway i have done and have actually had to use them as designed... sidelights and foglights only... and wasn't the only person on those occasions to be doing so either. Mind you we were all doing about 30mph max on the M18 at around midnight so that probably tells you how foggy it was. :winky:

Still doing 30 mph in the fog !! doesnt seem that foggy to me if you can do 30 mph. A road i am sure you know The snake pass?. i have been over the snake pass when its been so foggy i could see one cats eye infront of me and that was it. In the odd place were the cats eye was missing, it was guess work which way to go. I was driving about 10 mph So yes i have driven in the fog. That was about 3 years ago. I have only owned my Lexus 18 months or so. Before that i had an old c class merc the fog lights were in the head lights and were useless in that fog. I litrally had my head lights on and followed the cats eyes i could see through the fog and i drove down the middle of the road as i didnt fancy going over the edge when the odd cats eye was missing .

Cheers

Dave.

As my post stated it was 30mph tops on the M18 motorway in fact an approx 5 mile long dead straight section, nothing to do with the Snake or Woodhead for that matter. :winky:

The light from the xenons i had on that car was being reflected back reducing the already 10 yards max visibility down to nearer 5 yards as soon as i went to sidelights and fogs visibilty was back up to around 10 yards.

Cheers

Dave.

Before i start my rant in reply i dont use my front fog lights at all never have done. drive to road conditions,including vision and you dont need them.

I assume you've never driven at night in dense fog then.... By dense fog i mean visibility of around 5-10 yards or so and not the kind of stuff we've had this last week.

Anyway i have done and have actually had to use them as designed... sidelights and foglights only... and wasn't the only person on those occasions to be doing so either. Mind you we were all doing about 30mph max on the M18 at around midnight so that probably tells you how foggy it was. :winky:

Cheers

Dave.

I wont cut the lights to mine as my car already exists and so wont be a new car.

However theres a difference between Daytime Running Lights (clues in the name) and Headlights.

The point however is that you will look like a ***** driving round with your foglights on when its not foggy and there not needed.

Not if you own a Volvo V70 without xenons there isn't.

My dad has a 59 plate one and the only difference between the normal all on volvo style lights and the DRL's on his car is that the tail lights don't light up when set as DRL's. The DRL's on the V70 are actually the normal dipbeam headlights. :winky:

Cheers

Dave.

i guess it depends what sort of foglights you have, the standard ones are quite bright. but i swapped mine to LED's to match my HIDs and while the light output from the LED foglights matches them perfectly, they produce absolutely no light on the road because they dont give the right light pattern for the type of reflector in the unit. so all they are good for is DRLs, but because of this same reason, id struggle to dazzle anyone unless they were to get on their hands and knees infront of the car. lol

so whats the biggest issue with foglights being on? is it that its hazardous to other drivers because of excessive light? or just because you think it looks naff?

Unfortunately converted foglights cannot qualify as DRLs because their height above the ground defines them as lights to only be used in conditions of reduced visibility due to fog. Running with either front or rear foglights in clear conditions is illegal - and worse than that lumps you in with those the police would love to persecute and other drivere recognise as nobs.

hmmmm Manufacturers use the foglight position as DRL's though..... Ford S-Max and New Skoda Fabia vRS come to mind.

Cheers

Dave.

What annoys me is when you see a car with the foglights on and it's a car that you know it's impossible to just switch your lights on and the fogs still be on from last time. For instance in the IS it is possible to leave your front fogs on from the last time you used the car so could possibly be a mistake etc.... But if you see a VAG car (VW, Audi, Seat & Skoda) with it's front or rear fogs on then it can't be a mistake as if you turn front OR rear fogs on in these cars they automatically turn off when you turn the lights off and you then have to turn them back on again when you turn the headlights back on again.

In instances like this as far as i'm concerned the police should be able to give an on-the-spot fine if it's a case that it can be proved the fogs have been turned on intentionally etc....

I think the LED argument is going to be outdated soon too seeing as LED headlights and foglights are now being adopted by manufacturers (Skoda with LED foglights and Toyota / Audi with LED headlights).

Cheers

Dave.

Lot of money and hassle for what is really just a sunglasses holder??? :lol:

And TomTom holder. :winky:

Cheers

Dave.

Thanks for feedback people, gonna go ask at lexus maybe after new yr, dont suppoose any have or know part number? dont matter if you dont i can still find out about it, jay russell i looked at the old gallery just came across it when i was looking through pics randomly hope it was ok to use them pics didnt know was yours otherwise i would of ask earlier !

Made up of 6 different parts plus 14 screws as it does not come in one piece :(

So you would be looking at about £235.00 in parts :o

Scrappy sounds good to me :winky:

Andy

£235 ?!?! WTF OMG!!!!! when i bought a front spoiler from lexus it only costed £140 all in and that dash tray!!! if a choice of either 1 only i choose from spoiler over that dash tray anyday!!! i would go scrappy peeps there isnt one near me not really worth while going x amount miles & spend x amount of time all for nothing unless i ring up of course i guess i do later, think for time being i go for jdm non smoker box !

There are quite a few online breakers sites these days where you put in what year and model of car you want bits from and they get the breakers around the country to contact you if they have that year/model of car so you can arrange for parts to be sent to you etc....

Cheers

Dave.

On another note I have been chasing up Lexus as advised above and am making progress seem like the car was last serviced by Lexus greenford in 2004, interesting, will follow the trail and let you know how I get on

Glad you're getting somewhere with it. They do seem very willing to try and help provide history on a car as much as possible so hopefully you'll be able to get a lot of the gaps filled in. :winky:

Cheers

Dave.

Voted for the LE grille but then i'm biased. :winky:

Have to say though i would still say the LE grille as it stands out as something different on your car with it not being an LE model. :)

Cheers

Dave.

37 and a proud IS300 LE owner. :winky:

Cheers

Dave.

Great looking example.... Looks a hell of a lot newer than 'W' reg. Keep looking after it. :winky:

Cheers

Dave.

Dear All,

First off I am new to the forum so please go easy, I brought my first Lexus 2 days ago, 2000 IS200, when I went to see the car the guy told me that the car has no service history, normally I wouldn’t buy a car without FSH but I saw it and fell in love so brought it anyway plus it was a bargain.

The car is fine but is driving a bit rough so I am making an assumption it needs a service, I called lexus and they said because of the mileage (64,000) it needs a top service which will cost me £600.

So here is what I need help with

1. Where/ how do I get a new service book?

2. Is it worth getting this £600 service or shall I take it to a normal garage to do the “full service” (Times are hard)

3. Final thing just on a random point I would like it to get a bit more speed out of it and have read a few posts about remapping, any tips or advice.

Thanks in advance

When i bought my IS300 a couple of months ago i called in at Lexus Sheffield and they printed off the entire service history / warranty work done on the car from new. It had never been to Lexus Sheffield but they share the same system as the Lexus Leicester dealership where my car had all of it's work done. Try your local dealership to see if they can shed any light on it's history failing that you can also contact Lexus UK and they can tell you which Lexus dealership originally sold the car so you should be able to then contact them and get at least it's first few years of service history etc....

Luckily mine came with it's service book and the only service not done by Lexus was this years 60k service which was done by Toyota Leicester so next best thing i suppose.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

Dave.

Another vote for the peanut butter here. Last car had black bump strips along the doors and the peanut butter would get rid of the white wax marks brilliantly. Used to apply it with an old soft toothbrush to work it in and then wipe over with a damp soapy cloth. :winky:

Cheers

Dave.

Yeah from what i've read on here it was introduced on the Limited Edition 200/300 then phased in to the sport etc... for the last year or so.

I've found it's just the right size to support my TomTom GO520 instead of sticking it to the windscreen. :winky:

Cheers

Dave.

wow how bright do you guys want it in there lol '

the standard is bright enough to be honest.

This is with both the dome (24LED panel) and map light (12LED panel) lit so brighter than when you unlock the car or open a door... And then the one below that is the boot with the 12LED panel in.

Cheers

Dave.

In the front light i went for the 12LED version of the one Tommy has linked to.... Then in the middle dome light i went for the 24LED version. I also put a 12LED version in the boot light.

Cheers

Dave.

I have a 2004 is200 le i got a touch up stick off the internet and it is a toyota 2 part set it is grey metalic and the color number is 1D2 as you said,part number PZ448-W1D20-09.hOPE THIS HELPS.

Can i ask where you got it from... Always handy to have one just in case.

Cheers

Dave.

My last car is on Streetview as the Google car came round us last year / early this year.

Must have been a weekday and when i was on nights as there aren't many cars on our road and the wife's car isn't there so she must have been at work. And as our bedroom curtains are drawn i must have been catching my zzzz's. Mine was the black Fabia vRS on the drive.

Also in the google earth/maps you can see me polishing & waxing my car on the drive with the blue blanket laid out on the floor next to the car... And the wife's car parked on the road outside the house.

Cheers

Dave.

Errrr...Are these LED strips and suchlike actually classed as DRL's which are the subject of the post? I thought DRL's were of a given specification,bright enough for day 'safety' use? Are those bright Audi LED strips DRL's then? Whats the difference between dippies and DRL's?

If the rear fogs can be converted to brake use, can the front fogs become DRL's or do they have to be a certain height etc, cos I know you technically can't use fogs when it's not foggy/falling snow.....

Bit ironic for an old #### like me as I had a volvo with DRL's years ago (it saved my life actually!)and everyone was soooooooo clever telling me I'd left my lights on, next year all new cars will have them !

The old style volvo 'on all the time' style lights weren't the same as current DRL's. My dad has a 59 plate V70 which has the old school style 'always on' lights and also a DRL option. If his Headlight switch is set to off his DRL's work. If you set the lights to 'on' the old style 'on all the time' dip beam and tail lights are lit. The difference is that with current DRL's there are no rear lights illuminated only the front DRL's.

Now the DRL's can take the shape of three main variants at the moment....

1. LED strips as seen on Xenon equipped Audi's, Skoda Octavia vRS's, Ford Focus & Mondeo's, Citroen DS3's, Hyundai ix35 etc....

2. Either main beam or dip beam lights lit at a low voltage so as not at normal brightness... basically brighter than sidelights but dimmer than main beam or dip beam as seen on non Xenon equiped Audi's, VW's, Skoda's etc....

3. Foglight DRL's can be either halogen bulbs at a lower voltage as per option 2 or newer cars have LED/SMD foglights and have these as their DRL's. Ford S-Max/Galaxy have halogen foglight position sidelights/DRL's and the new Skoda Fabia vRS has LED/SMD Foglights which double up as it's DRL's.

Depending on their position the DRL's will also autodim when indicating, (Watch an Audi A4 etc... when it's in the daytime and indicating you'll notice the DRL on that side goes dimmer till the indicator is switched off), And will also either autodim or turn off at night when the headlights are on. Obviously these are conditional on where the DRL's are located with regard the headlights, indicators etc....

Hope this helps explain..... And can you tell i've come from 7 years of VAG (VW Audi Group) ownership where the DRL discussion has been going on for years now compared to other marque forums. In fact a lot of the pre DRL' cars in the VAG marque can have the DRL's enabled by anyone with what's known as VAG-COM on their laptop. These are the option 2 method and the ECU lets you select the brightness of the DRL's in 10% increments from next to nothing through to normal brightness..... But i digress.....

Cheers

Dave.

Well i ordered the drivers mat the same day as Craig posted his comments above. I also went for the luxury mat and it arrived today. Fitted it in the car this evening and it is a very snug/perfect fit. It does indeed have a couple of holes for the two hooks attached to the floor to go through.

As Craig mentioned they aren't as plush as the Lexus one's but seem good quality non the less.

Cheers

Dave.

Thanks. :winky:

Cheers

Dave.

Bump!!!

Got the hacksaw out today and took 2 or 3mm off the end of the thread of my S2000/CTR aerial. Screwed it on and it now sits a lot flusher than it did. Here's a couple of pics of the aerial in place.

Cheers

Dave.