Hi all
With it being a bit foggy when going to and from work both early morning and late night, I've had my front fogs on to help light up the roadsides a bit better.
What I was surprised to find out was the fogs stay on if you use high beam, all the other cars I've had the fogs went off when high beam was activated.
Is this normal operation for every 500 fitted with front fog lights ????
Now I'm not complaining as its absolutely brilliant for driving along the unlit twisty country roads around where I live, giving an unbroken band of light from the front of the car all the way to the farthest point of high beam.
I'm just curious to know if all 500's with factory fogs do the same ?

Front foglights stay on on our Clio too, just like our 500TA.
As far as I'm concerned, this is normal!

Mick.

The previous cars I've had the front fogs went off when main beam was switched on, that's what surprised me. Although the only car that I know for certain had factory fit front fogs was the Jaguar X Type ( I received the factory build spec via email from Jaguar), and I know for certain the fog wiring was original.
The other cars were Jeep Cherokee ( N reg), Daewoo Matiz ( X reg) and Volvo 850 ( N reg) but I couldn't say for certain if the fogs were factory or aftermarket, but they all went off with high beam.
Like I said though its fantastic having all 6 lights fully lit up on the 500 for the dark twisty roads round me.

johnxtype said:

The previous cars I've had the front fogs went off when main beam was switched on, that's what surprised me. Although the only car that I know for certain had factory fit front fogs was the Jaguar X Type ( I received the factory build spec via email from Jaguar), and I know for certain the fog wiring was original.
The other cars were Jeep Cherokee ( N reg), Daewoo Matiz ( X reg) and Volvo 850 ( N reg) but I couldn't say for certain if the fogs were factory or aftermarket, but they all went off with high beam.
Like I said though its fantastic having all 6 lights fully lit up on the 500 for the dark twisty roads round me.

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Mine's the same and to be honest, not having had factory fogs before, I just accepted it as normal. Fog is really a non-issue here so I regard the 'foglights' as auxiliary driving lamps, giving a wider spread low and close to the vehicle.

Don't forget, that in UK at least, that it's illegal to use fog lights (front or rear) when it's not foggy. You are only legally allowed when the viz is less than 100mtrs.

A friend of mine was pulled over by the police some years ago for having his front fogs on when the viz was clear. He was fined £60 and received three points on his licence.

Rule 236
You MUST NOT use front or rear fog lights unless visibility is seriously reduced (see Rule 226) as they dazzle other road users and can obscure your brake lights. You MUST switch them off when visibility improves.

Law RVLR regs 25 & 27

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Rule 226
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 (see Rule 236).

Law RVLR regs 25 & 27

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Regards,
Mick.

Mick F said:

Don't forget, that in UK at least, that it's illegal to use fog lights (front or rear) when it's not foggy. You are only legally allowed when the viz is less than 100mtrs.

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:yeahthat:

Using main beams in heavy fog doesn't work.

In fog sufficiently dense to legally allow the use of fog lights in the UK, use of main beam would be inappropriate, as the fog scatters the light and makes it harder to see.

That's likely why some cars quite sensibly drop down to dipped headlights automatically when the fogs are switched on.

Piccolo Nero e Bella said:

Mine's the same and to be honest, not having had factory fogs before, I just accepted it as normal. Fog is really a non-issue here so I regard the 'foglights' as auxiliary driving lamps, giving a wider spread low and close to the vehicle.

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No, it's also illegal to use foglights when it's not foggy in Australia. Just because you regard them as auxiliary driving lights does not make them so.

Well I'll be damned - never thought of that...

Piccolo Nero e Bella said:

Well I'll be damned - never thought of that...

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Neither did my mate when the coppers pulled him in!

Our Clio has a design problem regarding front fog lights. Actually, the switches.
The lights are controlled by the LH stalk and the outer knob is a three position switch:
Off
Side Lights
Head Lights

You pull the stalk towards you to toggle between Full Beam and Dipped Beam.
When you turn the stalk to Off, it automatically resets to Dipped Beam for the next time.
All the above is a Good Thing.

However, and here's the "fault":
The second ring in on the stalk is also a three position switch:
Fog Lights Off
Front Fog Lights On
Front and Rear Fog Lights On

When you turn the lights off using the first ring, it drags the fog light ring with it, but only the Front and Rear Fog Lights position, leaving the Front Fog Lights left on, so when you put your lights back on, the Front Fog Lights are also on because it didn't automatically switch them off!

Now, of course there's a warning light on the dash, but it's possible you won't see it and therefore it's possible you could be breaking the law not knowing your front fogs are on because you didn't actually switch them on deliberately!
Daft IMHO and also a Bad Thing.

Happily, the Fiat500 turns the fogs off when you turn the lights off, so when you turn your lights back on, both your front and rear fogs are off by default.
This is a Good Thing.

Regards,
Mick.

The only Fiats that turn front fogs off with main beam seem to be those with the front fogs incorporated within the main headlight unit, like the Stilo etc.

TBH though they're a waste of time imo for the amount of use they get, and are incorrectly used 99.9% of the time.

Mick F said:

Don't forget, that in UK at least, that it's illegal to use fog lights (front or rear) when it's not foggy. You are only legally allowed when the viz is less than 100mtrs.

A friend of mine was pulled over by the police some years ago for having his front fogs on when the viz was clear. He was fined £60 and received three points on his licence.

Regards,
Mick.

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Recent Skoda models (and several other VAG models) have the DRLs in the front foglight position, which is a stupid idea IMO. I'm not a fan of the DRL in the fog position - firstly, some people will think you are one of those stupid chavs that think it looks cool to drive round with front foglights on in perfect visibility, and secondly you run the risk that an ignorant traffic cop will pull you over under the mistaken belief that you're breaking the law.

People think you have your foglights on if you have the DRL's on in your 500.

Do they?
Who are these people?

Even before we bought a 500, I never thought that the DLR lights were fog lights. They don't even look or even shine like a fog light. They are a completely different thing entirely.

Regards,
Mick.

Well there's Fred with a bad knee, Bruce who doesn't have a job and has a K reg Calibra and then there's Bob who has a Honda Civic....

The 500's DRLs are quite low set, for sure. Mine has a pair of dinky foglights below the DRLs though, so, in daylight at least, most people don't assume I have my front fogs on. The DRLs should turn off automatically when the headlights are switched on but don't - poor design.

The DRL's do switch off when you have your headlights on, they turn into sidelights/parking lights

Aha! Should have worked that one out really...

306maxi said:

The DRL's do switch off when you have your headlights on, they turn into sidelights/parking lights

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:yeahthat:

They legally have to

MarginWalker said:

The 500's DRLs are quite low set, for sure.

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I don't think so. They are higher off the ground than some car's headlights.

They only look low because the headlights are high. The front of a 500 is quite high and blunt-nosed.

Mick.

Mick F said:

I don't think so. They are higher off the ground than some car's headlights.

They only look low because the headlights are high. The front of a 500 is quite high and blunt-nosed.

Mick.

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I think it's their positioning below the headlights that gives the impression of high-set foglights (to me, anyway).