Vcds Help For Sidelight To Be On With Main Light

J88arv

Senior Member
T6 Guru
as above all

I’m based in Notts and looking for somebody with a vcds to allow my sidelights to come on with my main as they are h4 and shocking
 
Side lights? Side lights stay on anyway.

One option often overlooked is to re-wire fog lights to come on with high beam. They will fill the hole that is left when dipped beam is turned off. The downside is that you loose the fog light function, but that's no hardship. You just need a simple relayed loom that takes a trigger from high beam to power them. Oh, and the fog light function coding out to avoid a bulb out warning light.

Before anyone jumps on and says it's illegal to use fog lights when it's not foggy, with high beam, they will turn off with dipped beam, so it would be just like having a pair of spot lights.
 
That sound a plan, I’m just after side lights and main beam to work together at the moment as they are crap lol
 
Sorry, I forgot the question mark.

What are you referring to as "side lights"?
 
Sorry, I forgot the question mark.

What are you referring to as "side lights"?

That sound a plan, I’m just after side lights and main beam to work together at the moment as they are crap lol

I think the OP wants his dipped beam to stay on with his main beam.
If that’s the case @J88arv then you risk burning the unit out, which is why they haven’t been set up that way.
 
Before anyone jumps on and says it's illegal to use fog lights when it's not foggy, with high beam, they will turn off with dipped beam, so it would be just like having a pair of spot lights.


It would still be illegal though!
 
It would still be illegal though!

How so? How is it any different to say the 205GTI?

You can fit auxiliary driving lights pretty much anywhere, providing they extinguish when high/main beam is turned off. How many lorries to you see with 6 spot lights on the roof? They get tested every 6 weeks. The fact that they have a 'fog' beam pattern instead of a spot/driving one makes no odds.
 
How so? How is it any different to say the 205GTI?

You can fit auxiliary driving lights pretty much anywhere, providing they extinguish when high/main beam is turned off. How many lorries to you see with 6 spot lights on the roof? They get tested every 6 weeks. The fact that they have a 'fog' beam pattern instead of a spot/driving one makes no odds.

Yes it does. Fog lights are located in strict positions and have a different beam pattern as you say. Spot lights and driving lights are different. From the RAC: The Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989 prohibits the use of front and rear fog lights to dazzle other drivers when visibility is not reduced (ie less than 100m) or when the vehicle is parked.
 
Illegal or not,I find it best to run with fog lights on to supplement the H4 candles, whenever out of street-lit areas. They are low-set and don't seem to cause any annoyance to oncoming traffic (judging by the lack of response from oncoming traffic), and (most importantly), show the side of the road, even if you're blinded by LED headlights coming towards you!

In my opinion, it's the H4's which are dangerous, and should be illegal. I can't believe they comply with the regulations - or aren't there any for minimum performance?

Another beef for me is why drl's are only on the front of vehicles, and not at the back too. Totally ridiculous, particularly as so many cars are Tarmac Grey in colour. I believe some of the latest Peugeot models have them front and rear - hope all manufacturers eventually follow suit. It seems rear lights can't be retro-tweaked to come on with the ignition, as it upsets the canbus.
 
But they won't dazzle anyone if they are only illuminated with high beam.
 
DRLs are at the front to show that a vehicle is coming towards you. If the conditions dictate that rear lights need to be on too, then surely that's up to the driver (or the auto light sensor) to put the headlights on fully?
 
But they won't dazzle anyone if they are only illuminated with high beam.
That's in your opinion. Unfortunately that doesn't determine the law.
From Police website:
You must not use front or rear fog lights unless visibility is seriously reduced (see Rule 226 of the Highway Code) as they dazzle other road users and can obscure your brake lights. You MUST switch them off when visibility improves.

You must use headlights when visibility is seriously reduced, generally when you cannot see for more than 100 metres (328 feet). You may also use front or rear fog lights but you MUST switch them off when visibility improves.
 
. It seems rear lights can't be retro-tweaked to come on with the ignition, as it upsets the canbus.
I'm sure I remember seeing a setting in VCDS to allow that.
Not much point in having the fogs on though, even if they were legal, they only illuminate a tiny bit of the kerb just as your passing it. I tried mine on and off while on an empty country road and yo were hard pressed to tell the fogs were even on.
 
That's in your opinion. Unfortunately that doesn't determine the law.
From Police website:
You must not use front or rear fog lights unless visibility is seriously reduced (see Rule 226 of the Highway Code) as they dazzle other road users and can obscure your brake lights. You MUST switch them off when visibility improves.

You must use headlights when visibility is seriously reduced, generally when you cannot see for more than 100 metres (328 feet). You may also use front or rear fog lights but you MUST switch them off when visibility improves.
Wish they could get that message through to the gonks on the motorway who switch their front and rear fog lights on when it starts to rain, usually without their headlights :rolleyes:
 
Wish they could get that message through to the gonks on the motorway who switch their front and rear fog lights on when it starts to rain, usually without their headlights :rolleyes:
I agree. it actually states they should not be used in the rain.
Also the gonks who drive around with them all the time because they think they look "cool" and sporty.
 
@Skyliner33 Let me put it this way.

1 - You have a 205GTI with driving lights fitted in the lower part of the front bumper. They illuminate with main beam. Is anyone dazzled by those lights when the headlights are dipped?

2 - How do fog lights and driving lights differ when they are not illuminated when anyone else can see them i.e. with dipped headlights.
 
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