automatice headlights

I just got back from California with my new salsa #9. I, too, had thought that the Prius came with DRL. I couldn't figure out how to get them to work, so I just turned on the headlights and left them on. They shut off when I opened the door. I originally thought the lights would automatically dim in the daylight. I even thought I saw them dim. Perhaps I just saw them auto-leveling? Now I don't know if i should leave them on or off. If they are a problem for other drivers (too bright, etc), i would leave them off.

 

I'm with the majority here -- drive with your headlights on, HID or not, and be more visible!

Let's just call it cheap insurance.

Price

 

At least I know I'm not crazy

I read in the manual that there was a 'auto' function on the lights but it didn't match what I saw in the car. Glad to know I'm not total dumb. I do like the running light feature on my 03' Prius only problem there, though is I got stopped by a cop one night because they were so bright I forgot to turn the 'full power lights and tail lamps' on.

Also I thought it was the law that the lights had to come on when you turned on your windshield wipers?

 

And those lights on during the day are from saving you from other people, not helping you save yourself...so it's not like you can simply replace the lights with better skills.

What is the cost of replacing the lights, by the way?

 

Prius' sold for use in the USA do not have Daytime Running Lights per se' (but Canada does, I think Europe as well). However, I have noted that when you power the Prius down, the headlights will turn off (if they were on) when you open the door. Therefore, I always leave my headlights with the switch in the 'on' position. So the effect is the same as DRL. I have always driven with my headlights on. Coming from the Southwest, you can see cars much farther away with the headlights on, so I always have mine on to make sure I am seen.

 

Actually, this isn't true at all. There are cars that have DRLs with HID lights. I think some of the Lexus models have them. I imagine it was left off the Prius as a bit of a cost saving measure.

 

I think in those instances, the Lexus is using lights other than the HIDs for DRLs as the HIDs can't be run at lower power as can halogens.

 

The US models do not have DRL's due to the option of the HID lamps. As already mentioned the cost to replace these bulbs is VERY high, and it is not necessarily a good idea to be using them as DRLs for this reason.

Canadian spec Prii, which must have the DRL's by law, cannot be ordered with HID headlights.

 

From what I've read, there's a resistor somewhere in the lights that allows them to run at reduced power so they can act as DRLs.

 

the Insurance Institute of North America did a study and found that the use of headlights reduced the rate of accidents per hundred thousand miles travelled by some thing like 7% so Transport Canada decided to mandate DRL's and that's why we have them. This happened in the late 70's and we've had them since. I just wish Toyota gave us the HID and used the fog's for DRL's I'd much prefer that to what we have, although I did put Sylvania Silver Stars in both cars, and they are significantly better than the standard halogens.

 

Has anyone checked to see if there is a DRL module available from Toyota that can be plugged into an existing cable harness socket? I assume that Toyota has only one electrical harness design for the Prius because of the expense to assemble and inventory separate harnesses for all the different markets.

I have a '95 Miata (until the Prius is delivered) that was built for the US market without DRL. I bought a DRL module by Mazda part number from the local dealer. It plugged into the existing harness socket, took about a minute, and has worked fine for the past 9 years.

Does anyone have access to the Prius Shop Manual, Electrical Manual, and/or Parts List? One of them might show a DRL module and give its part number.....?

 

There have been a number of related threads about DRLs...

http://www.priuschat.com/forums/viewtopic....3566&highlight=

 

i've been leaving my lights on most of the time... i agree that many studies have been done that have shown it greatly increases visibility. and since i'm now in a fairly small car, i want the hummers and excursions to see me.

 

Automatic headlights

Since the car was built for auto headlights, they are available in Canada, isn't the sensor and electronics available to be purchased and installed here?

 

Cost of lights

My brother is a Toyota Tech. He advised me that he had to replace a HID bulb.

Cost . . . . for one . . . around $200.00

 

Yeah, $200 isn't cheap, especially for a bulb. Funny, but when I first read that, I thought it wasn't that bad because my thought was simply in the frame of all car repairs and whatnot. But when you think of something as simple as a light...yeah, not cheap.

Of course, that still doesn't beat the cost of the most silly parts of a Volvo that can run like $700. :mrgreen:

 

Correction

Spoke with my brother, $260.00 from what he remembers for the bulb.

Maybe I should get into the bulb business!

 

PN HID bulb L/R 90981-20007 $314.83

 

amen, and i'm pretty close to leaving the headlights on, too!

just like "why should you turn your lights on immediately after the sun sets in the evening?", it's the visibility the headlights provide for OTHER drivers to see YOU.

and HIDs only draw 30 watts each, just over half of the typical 50W that halogens draw. 60/750 or 6/75, or 1/13 or so of a horsepower, roughly! that should not be noticeable draw from an engine putting out even 50hp to move the car down the highway!