LOL…okay. “Randomly mashing buttons”…seriously? I already posted that I have taken the car on very dark unlit roads at night and used my superior laser-sharp vision to determine that I can, in fact, see a lot better (and more…and farther) with the two large fog light on rather than versus the headlights alone.
And yes, when there are no cars around on these very same roads, I initiate the high beams as I can see even FARTHER and BETTER with* those* on than I can with the headlights and fog lights on together as long as no cars are coming at me from the other direction or directly in front of me as I courteously don’t care to blind my fellow drivers, something I am NOT doing with the fog lights on in normal circumstances either. Oh, and the fog lights automatically turn off when the high beams are engaged.
hey, he’s right. If you need better vision, use the high beams. The Mustang (unlike a lot of cars) has proper fog lights with the correct beam pattern and aim. with fog lights you want the beam to be a wide bar of light aimed slightly towards the ground in front of the car so you might have a hope of seeing something in poor visibility conditions. This is what the beam of a Mustang fog light looks like (from my car):
The beam and aim of those lights does not “throw” much light down the road where you need it in clear but dark conditions. Your headlamps are supposed to do that job.
When I said I could see farther what I meant was that it is due to more overall light rather than the fog light beam projecting farther out. I believe the fog lamps are properly aimed…I have used them in fog as well earlier this year as I live near the Ohio River and once it starts to get cooler when Summer ends I get ridiculous fog around here for a while…and they work great for that as well.
There’s also a lot of deer (my neighborhood has its very own herd that’s “ours”) around here and I really need to be able to see them when they dart out from the woods to cross the road.
I don’t believe I am blinding other drivers…if I was, surely people would be flashing their high beams at me as a means of conveying their annoyance…hasn’t happened…
the point is that with their different beam pattern and aim point, they’re not really contributing more overall usable light. I wouldn’t worry about blinding anyone, though, they’re aimed too low. The only ones who really “blind” other drivers are those numbskulls who insist on putting HID capsules into their fog lights.
So I’m just getting a false impression by using them? I mean, I feel like I am a pretty sound-minded individual…I really can see better…at some point more light is more light and it just…illuminates more of what’s in front of me.
Nitpick
Almost all of the things made of aluminium are alloy, there are very few applications that require corrosion resistance/workability more than hardness and strength. Cylinder heads are not, I believe, among those applications. Nitpick over
A firefighter told me today that Pontiac Fieros were made with magnesium-based engine blocks/parts…is that true? If so…who thought that was a good idea?
“The Fiero: a fun mid-engine car unless it rains, then…BOOM!”
Not germane to the OP, but I used my fog lights always for about the first year I had the car new. After that, I just got sick of idiots flashing their brights at me because they thought 4 headlamps instead of 2 meant brights. For a while I flashed them back to show what brights really were, then I just stopped using the fog lamps because I figured sooner or later I’d get pulled over for flashing brights.
nope. at least not as far as engine blocks go. The Fiero had either the Pontiac 2.5 liter pushrod 4-cylinder (iron block and head) or the 2.8 liter 60° V6, also iron block and head.
what’ll really bake your noodle is that a lot of modern cars have magnesium castings; the radiator core support, steering wheel frame, and (on some cars) the dashboard frame are cast magnesium.
besides, it’s not like it’s really a danger. if your car catches fire, by the time the magnesium parts get hot enough to ignite, you’re already charcoal.
When GM first came out with “daytime running lamps” there was a concern that they would negatively affect CAFE, “Corporate Average Fuel Economy.” The amount to an individual driver was almost imperceptible but averaged in over the entire fleet it was a big deal.
Firefighters and the police are two of the most prolific spreaders of urban legends and “stuff they just made up” because people falsely view them as “authorities” on anything and everything.
Fieros had problems in a couple of years due to broken connecting rods leading to catastrophic failure, and thus a fire. IIRC one of the connecting rod problems was due to an incorrect torque limit setting on a tool in the “iron duke” engine shop. There were also wiring problems and overheating issues. Wikipedia claims it was largely engine oil level related.
I have a flashlight, and I’m using it to see what’s ahead of me. If I light a second flashlight and point at the ground immediately in front of me, there’s “more light” but it isn’t helping me see any better.
As has been said the block wasn’t Magnesium.
About your good idea till it rains comment, are you mixing the properties of Magnesium with those of Sodium or maybe Potassium?
Exactly. The fog lights are illuminating the road directly in front of you, not increasing the distance you can see. In fact, by adding more light into your field of view you might actually be decreasing your distance viewing as your pupils may contract somewhat. The psychological effect of the close scene being brighter may be confusing your brain into thinking that it’s seeing better, but if your fog lights are working correctly then they shouldn’t be helping your distance view at all.
What about the people that buy vehicles with HID lights that blind everyone without the use of fog lights? They don’t have a choice as to what lights to use.
Doesn’t magnesium react pretty violently with water? I’m pretty sure it does. Hence the comment although I didn’t really believe the firefighter about the Fiero engine block. Even GM wouldn’t be so lame as to use that metal to construct an engine block for mass production.
Maybe that’s it…but I think its more of a combination of the two separate sets of light working in concert…the fog lights in normal darkness give me extra light for what’s immediately in front of me, combined with the headlights on normal beam giving me distance view. In my mind one doesn’t interfere with the other…they work together.
I don’t think so, because I’ve had oncoming cars with the fog lamps on and it didn’t really bother me at all. I think the focal point of fog lamps is lower than standard headlights, so I don’t think this should bother drivers.
