I have to say,

Some of you are trying to be helpful while others need some manners or a spanking.

I think you know who you are.

Claude H.

 

Personally, I don't have a problem turning on my headlights everytime I get in the car. I did it with my MX-6 for 10 years. However, (I'm not sure if this has been mentioned) when you turn the lights on in the RX-8, the insturment cluster becomes next to invisible during the day.
If anyone does find out about a DRL module, please post the info.

 

Gordon,
I wholeheartedly agree with you. Yes, you read that right, I agree. The fact is that driving conditions in Canada and Scandinavian countries (i.e. Volvo's home) differ greatly from driving conditions in the US. Not only are our roads different in geometric design and landscape, but importantly, we are closer to the equator and have vastly different ambient lighting conditions. Obviously, we share a border with Canada so one mile north or south of the border isn't going to make much difference. But on average, we are different. I agree that in many cases in many countries, DRL make driving more safe. However, I disagree that we need them in the US. It is insulting to me that US auto makers believe shining a dimmed light through a high beam reflector directly into my eyes and my rear view mirrors actually makes driving conditions safer for me.

I agree that in some driving conditions, even in the US, DRL would be a safety feature. So give us a way to turn them on. Then again, this is called low beam headlights. We as drivers should be smart enough to recognize these situations and use our lights accordingly.

One point: You state that I know so little about this subject. I must disagree with you here.

Even some heads within the automotive industry have been reluctant to embrace DRLs. "It's not that we are against them, but we haven't seen any real evidence of the safety benefits," said Chrysler spokesman Jason Vines. (Automotive News, 1999.) "We are not convinced yet that they're going to be beneficial," said Ford's manager of advance safety, Sherman Henson. And even GM's executives have their doubts: "The research on whether or not daytime running lights are effective is mixed," said the company's director of legal and safety issues.

 

Rotate the dashlight dimmer switch all the way up until it clicks. Presto! Daytime gauge illumination with the headlights on.

 

As I have said in other threads, "can't we all just get along". DRL a matter of opinion.

 

Good job bingo.

Well done!

 

I just took delivery of my 8 before T'giving. I have rewired my fog lights so that I am able to turn them on without the low-beams on (which renders them useless as fogs). I can also use them as DRL's, but they are mounted rather low for that purpose. I am wondering about the small lamps toward the center of the front (nearest the Mazda logo) - What are those for? What are they called? Why are they there? Could these be rewired to come on with the ignition? I don't know what wire or relay they might run off of - does anyone have any thoughts on these little units as full-time DRL's? Or know what they are for or are called?

 

Those are the parking lights. They come on when any of the lights are on.

The only problem is that they are only 5 Watts so they don't show up very well for any situation.

I want to replace them with a 5 Watt or higher LCD cluster and use those lights as my DRL's.

-Mr. Wigggles

 

Wiggles: That sounds good - have you located a brighter replacement and do you have a plan for wiring them to come on at all times? I is my understanding that studies (10 years or so ago) determined that while it is beneficial to have front DRL's on in the daytime, it is less safe to have your tail lamps lit in daytime because it reduces the effective difference between them and the brake lights. You want as much eye-catching effect for the brake lights as possible. If you increase your front visibility and reduce your rear braking visibility, you have not really made any overall progress. I don't have any stats to cite, but it seems to make sense to me. I will look under my hood for a label on "parking lights" in the fuse/relay box. Thanks for your reply.

 

I bought a little gizmo (at K-mart, I think) that wires into the fuse box and buzzes if you turn off the ignition without turning off the lights. "Lite-Minder", or something like that. It was just a couple of bucks. This was about 12 years ago so don't know if they still make them, but probably something out there simple like that.

Aside from the other issues, DRLs have caused us to lose the time-honored custom of putting on one's lights to warn about patrol cars parked ahead.

 

Do this mod and you can have "daytime-like", well not exactly, but it's better than nothing if you really want lights that you will not have to worry about turning on or off.

https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...5&pagenumber=1

 

I took another look at the fuse box and noticed that there is an empty socket which is labeled on the underside of the cover as "DRL". Is the fuse box something from the parts bin that is used on different models? Are there RX-8's shipped to some countries that do have DRL's? If so, which light to they use: high-beam on low power? Parking lights with brighter bulb? Maybe it is for use on future models?

I didn't find a relay labelled "Parking", so for now I have my fogs branched off of the "ACC" relay and I keep the fog-switch in the "on" position, so they are always on when I am driving. Not ideal, but I think it is better than nothing. I would prefer to have something in the upper light-housing lit.

 

In your underhood fuse box there is an unused fuse marked DRL (15amp) in the second row from the left just up and to the right of the large relay marked TAIL.

I wonder if installing a fuse in this socket will enable the DRLs for those that wish to run them. Not that I will as I think they are or were a source of premature HID failures on VWs and Audis. alot of guys were disabling them in an effort to increase the longevity of their HID headlights.

 

Damn beaten to the post again! Ratzafratz!

 

'Fraid not. There is no wire connected to that socket. The bus is "hot" for that fuse socket, but there is nothing wired into it. I wonder if a schematic shows DRL's? If not for USA, for another market? It my understanding that most (if not all) factory DRL's bring the lamps on to only a fraction of full brightness (40% or 70%), and thus should not put much of a strain on them. If Mazda did design for DRL's, I wonder which bulbs are designed to come on when wired for DRL?

 

Word

 

The DRL control module is wired into the high beams.

 

Yes, Canada has had mandatory DRLs since 1990. RX-8 uses the reduced power high beam (IMHO, the worst of the three options to implement DRLs. I much prefer the brighter amber turn signal filament (a la 90-97 Miata), or the fog lights (a la Audi) ).

Regards,
Gordon

 

I don't know what VWs or Audis had HID failures from DRLs... my 2002 Audi with HIDs uses the fog lights for DRLs, as do all the other HID Audis I know of. The HID low beams aren't even powered up unless you turn on the regular headlights.

Regards,
Gordon

 

Boy, I had no idea there was so much disagreement over the value of DRL's. A Ford dealer told me almost ten years ago that Ford was going to incorporate DRL's (a la GM) soon, but it hasn't happened. Most major insurers give a substantial discount for them and we know that insurance co's don't give money away, so they must have pursuasive evidence that DRL's prevent accidents (and thus claims). Anyway, I am going to be satisfied with the mod to my fogs - I have them wired to the ACC relay so that they come on separately from the head & tail lights, and I leave the fog switch in the "on" position. I have advised my insurance co that I have DRL's by virtue of this mod and they have given me the 10% discount. Thanks for all the input.

 

My '02 Passat W8 had Bi-xenons and the DRL used the low beam HID at 70% power.

 

You can set up your RX8 to have daytime running lights (lights that are dimmer than the regular low beams (especially Xenon ones) which will automatically go out when you remove the key. All you have to do is look up the thread about rewiring fog lights so they are on the accessories feed, then turn the fog light switch on and leave it there.

 

When I purchased my black 98 Passat, it had DRLs. I soon joined a Passat forum. There were post in disabling DRL. I wanted to disable them ASAP becuase I did not want to stand out to police when speeding. However, after several months of procrastination, I never disabled them.
I began to feel comfortable with the DRL. I also never received a speeding ticket in that duration. I also felt secure (maybe in my head) with them, especialy when my wife and kids are in the car.
Two years ago, I installed aftermarket HIDs (98 Passat did not come with HIDs and the OE headlights were horrible). Installation required the removal of the DRLs. So needless to say they finally came off. Removed a relay behind the dash. Yes my headlights were brighter and clearer, but I felt less safe during the day.
BTW, the DRL on the Passat turned the high beams on at 1/3 the power (ie brightness). Never had oncomming traffic flash me thinking I had my high beams on (although I actually did). In addition, with the engine running, the DRL turned off when the hand brake was engaged.
As far as the 8 (silver). I will be looking into the foglight rewire mod soon.
Al

 

Mitch - That is exactly what I have done. It works fine, unless you are of the opinion that DRL's would be more effective at a higher level from the ground. I figure it is good enough.