what IS it about auxiliary lighting on late model vehicles.
it used to be that only people who NEEDED auxiliary lighting for high speed night driving went out and bought them, and installed them on their cars.
now, thanks to trendy designerly types, EVERY moron behind the wheel has them, uses them ALL OF THE TIME.
There oughta be a freakin’ law about driving with the damned things on… …
or a law about designers smearing them on everything that rolls.
I know I read this from the MGF designer once, but lights are the “eyes” of a cars face. That is why, despite the cost of developing lights for the MGF alone, they did allow the designer to create specific lights for that car. Think of a human face, eyes play a large part in whether someone is beautiful or not. It’s just as important on a car.
So, why four rather than two? Part certainly has to do with the influence of race car design on T.C. Mits. Another is that they add character to the face. I drive a 1995 Honda del Sol, with four lights on the front. The '96 has only two. In my opinion, the '96 looks vanilla generic, whereas my '95 looks more alive and individual.
Look at the Subaru Impreza and WRX. Which looks better?
I am dying to see some kind of fog light on the Scion tc’s bumper. It just looks too thick and heavy now.
I am more concerned about 2 kinds of lights.
First being those white lights that kids like to install. They are annoying, and distracts the driver infront of them. Also I heard, white lights don’t work well in the rain or fog. You need warm light in those real hazardous conditions.
Secondly, those truck or suv lights. They shine like high beams to me, and they like to tailgate my car’s sexy butt. Sometimes I wish I have an outdoor halogen light at my rear to shine it in their face.
Has anyone tried Lexus’s articulating lights? They are not the first to do it but I am just curious how well they perform.
Or the Japanese Integra VS US Integra
Or the regular Celica VS the GT4
They speak a totally different mood and emotion. I notice that headlights are getting bigger and bigger proportionally, especially with Japanese cars like the Camary and others like Toyota Wish.
I saw a black Infiniti G coupe the other day with yellow running lights that looked pretty bad-ass.
They seemed to fit the character so well that I wondered if they were factory standard.
…Maybe it has something to do with the “Study In Black” promotion? The website says it’s not official until April (but then again, I happen to work pretty close to Nissan Design.)
Regardless, it was pretty bad-ass.
" … yellow running lights that looked pretty bad-ass … They speak a totally different mood and emotion … Which looks better? … Think of a human face, eyes play a large part in whether someone is beautiful or not. It’s just as important on a car. … … . .
C’mmon guys!!! listen to what you’re saying
These aux lights have add nothing to the PERFORMANCE of driving!!! THEY’RE COSMETIC!!!
Watch world rally racing… if you want to see REAL aux lighting.
“Sometimes I wish I have an outdoor halogen light at my rear to shine it in their face.” Yeah, no shit.
Maybe a special “aux-lighting endorsement” is needed. You know, you have to pass the when-do-I-need-to-use-driving-lights test at DMV when you take your driver’s license test.
there’re ways to design a car’s light or other race typr features so that it’s discreet/detachable and at the same time usable when needed. but hype has taken its toll on design.
it used to be wings in the 50’s and 60’s, fat tires and buldging hoods in 70’s, wedgie sport look in 80’s, utility in 90’s,…
…and now this is the batman meets the after market mechanic junkie on speed millenium!!
Speaking of, what’s up with the new Corvette headlamps? I read their ad about the performance boost, and laughed out loud–who needs extra speed when visibility is bad enough to warrent the use of lights?
They should just admit that they did it because they were missing out on the great projector-beam headlamp design craze of the moment.
Its cool? I think more cars should come equipped with offroad lights.
I think more cars should come equipped with a few hundred ultra-high-intensity LEDs instead. They’d be perfect on the Smartcars or small hybrids - things designed mostly as daytime urban commuter vehicles.
If I have one more redneck in flash his…offroad lights in my back window, because Im not speeding on an icyroad…
Well, seriously it is a market driven by ignorance. People this that mor elights ont he front of their car implies or suggests something.
and so is a majority of features on a car. example: spoilers, hood cowls, huge chrome grilles, front brush guards, Fog lights, those bone line zepplin creases on a 5 series BMWetc etc
it enhances its deireablility, gives the salesman and marketer their “value added pricing”–You haven’ t WORKED as an ID’er if a marketeer hasn’t used that word combo in a presenation and gives them an excuse for jacking up the margin a few points…
its a detail that people are into, enjoy, and get this: REQUEST. Much like weird logo placements, Blue tinted windows, 12 million cupholders and that button placed “just so.” Its a little detail that people (customers and user) realy get and enjoy having. plus it breaks up a space and just looks good sometimes.
sorry if you have something personal against them–FWIW I have em an used them exactly once in the fog
and wait a minute, you’re a designer on a Design site and asking this question?! aren’t we all supposed to be about the “details” no matter how extravagant?
Don’t like em? buy an '84 Camry,…
i have them on my miata. ('92) i run them during the day for two reasons:
stupid suvs don’t look for a car the size of a miata. i compare driving the miata on the highway like riding a motorcycle…you have to think people you are overtaking (or trying to) don’t see you. i have had cars come over on my lane more times than i can remember. annoyingly bright driving lights give me better visibility to these morons.
the other reason is for forward visibility. the pop-up headlights on the miata are extremely reliable, but they can hinder the forward view a bit. running the driving lights until dusk give me a better view of what’s ahead.
I have them on my IS300 the yellow ones, and they are connected to daytime running lights… Personally I like the look the of the factory ones, if they are well intergrated… But the some of the cheap aftermarket ones ones can look so bad if installed wrong… But too many does look cheap, like some 16 year old old is going to rally suburbia…