Quote:
Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce
The DRL circuit uses an electric eye to know when it's dark enough to go to full headlight power.
|
Which is the way it was done even in the 1960s. However that changed when marketing got its teeth into it.
Essential to human safety is headlight on at least an hour before sundown and for an hour after dawn. Headlights primary purpose: so that others can see you.
In WWII, to get onto submarines before they could dive, allied airplances put headlights across the wings. Those headlights in the daytime made it harder for submarines to see the airplane. Same applies to cars. Headlights during the day do not make you easier to see.
But if your car had the 'new' DRLs, then Mr Jones would know Mr Smith had a new car; then need same. DRLs that are always on were a sales gimmick. So the photocell was eliminated.
Why the fancy electronics? Reducing voltage to the makes bulbs dimmer exponentially increases life expectancy. Far more intelligent is it restore that photocell so that lights need not be on during bright midday.