Technical Daylight Running Lights?

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Technical Daylight Running Lights?

brom

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According to my understanding (and it's only what I read on t'interweb - I haven't checked the actual regulation), all cars and light vans registered since 2011 have been required to have Daylight Running Lights, which operate when you switch on the ignition. Stupidly, in my opinion, these are only required at the front, so a tarmac-grey car on a dark morning can be invisible in front of you until its brake lights come on.

Our Qubo (2020 reg), is coloured black, and I was driving in convoy with it this morning, which was dull and misty. I was leading, and looked in my rear mirror, and was perplexed to see - no lights on the following Qubo!

We have since checked. It does have sidelights and headlights, and fog-lights, too. But no DRL's!

Moreover, the Fiorino Facelift handbook (2019 revision) (which took a devil of a long time and a great deal of effort to extract from the dealership), does not mention DRLs anywhere, so far as I can see.

It seems to me our Qubo is therefore illegal on British roads. Doesn't bother me over-much; it's just a quirk - but I am a little concerned about what will occur at first MOT, (just as the warranty expires...)

Or am I missing a hidden switch or feature - could someone with a facelift Qubo/Fiorino enlighten me?
 
I can't remember the dates, but the original legislation made fitment mandatory for all new designs after a set date. The Qubo must have been a design from before that.

Sometime later, all new cars had to have them, so I'm surprised that your 2020 one is missing them. Unless both bulbs have blown.

They will be 10w bulbs. Might be separate bulbs, or a dual filament one, with 10w for the DRL and 5w for the sidelamp. If your car was fitted with them, the handbook might not mention them as there is no choice.
You'll have to carefully look at the front lights, and ensure that you can illuminate every bulb somehow. Sometimes they reflect inside the lamp, and look as if there are more bulbs than reality.

Early adopting vehicles, like the 500, had an option to say YES/NO to DRLs, then close to the legislation change, that option disappeared.

When you are out and about, look for Qubos, and their Peugeot/Citroen brethren, to see if any have DRLs illuminated.
 
Thanks for those thoughts - especially on the wattage of DRLs. I have attached a copy of the page on lighting from the handbook, and can't see anything appropriate there - neither is anything obvious from inspection of the lights themselves.

I did wonder if there was a switch somewhere to disable the system - but, again, can't see anyhjting or any mention of it in the handbook. Or whether the electrical wiring fault we suffered had somehow, bizarrely, affected the DRL's too.

There are so few facelift (post '17) Qubos around to compare with, it's like 'The Car that Time Forgot'!
And, of course, there are no Bippers or Nemos of that vintage at all.
 

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If you search back 100 years I wrote about this very thing - my first Fiat was a 2012 Fiorino van (hence the name and avatar..) and I was surprised to see no factory-fitted DRLs either.

All the Qubos I've had since (5 or 6, lost count..:eek:) hasn't had them and I'm on the 2nd, 2nd facelift now (67 plate) so perhaps the legislation was ignored by Turkey or no-one bothered or it was considered a van-derived-car and that was excluded or summat.
Ever since the first Fiorino I just put the sidelights on (one click) and leave them on all the time - that way I have red rears visible too and if I had DRLs fitted as standard, I'd fit a pair of single red leds at the back in the cluster (check out all the lorry gear that Rubboliite produce to make sure you see trucks - as if they're not big enough to start with!) Clicky - though I couldn't find a Rubbolite website, there are a lot of truck suppliers who sell their gear.

The sidelights go off when you switch the car off and come on again at next start up. 5 watts at the front is worse than a candle but I do it for the rear end really.

(Deffo the 'car that Haynes forgot' as my request for a manual was met with 'there aren't enough to warrant one...' WHAT???? Nemo/Bipper/Fiorino/Qubo/Tepee...How many thousands are out there?? Good grief..:rolleyes:)


HTH

R-V-M


Thanks for those thoughts - especially on the wattage of DRLs. I have attached a copy of the page on lighting from the handbook, and can't see anything appropriate there - neither is anything obvious from inspection of the lights themselves.

I did wonder if there was a switch somewhere to disable the system - but, again, can't see anything or any mention of it in the handbook. Or whether the electrical wiring fault we suffered had somehow, bizarrely, affected the DRL's too.

There are so few facelift (post '17) Qubos around to compare with, it's like 'The Car that Time Forgot'!
And, of course, there are no Bippers or Nemos of that vintage at all.
 
Thanks RVM, for that confirmation. And, having seen an unlit Facelift (2017) Qubo on the road yesterday, it is clear that this, and the Fiorino van, are unique - the sole post-2011 vehicle on British (and probably European) roads without Daylight Running Lights! And no-one in authority has ever noticed!
One of the advantages of running a low-profile car...

Presumably neither you nor any other Qubo/Fiorino driver has ever been challenged under MOT rules?

I wonder if there are any other imported cars/vans which ignore legal requirements, and are imported and used without (say) DPFs or tyre-pressure monitoring kit?

On the practical side of things, I quite agree - the lack of DRLs matters not a jot, as one simply leaves the sidelights permanently switched on, and gains the benefit of tail lights as well. I understand that tail lights were omitted from the European DRL legislation because the legislators wished to save some electricity/emissions - totally mad!
 
There is no DRL in Fiorino/Qubo or Doblo. These vans fabricated in Turkey and this models biggest market in Turkey. But there is no any rules daytime light application in Turkey traffic. So, the TOFAS/Fiat does not put any DRL on these vans. I am searching custom DRL but no chance for artermarket light for this car.

I believe you have to lights on in daytime in Europe Roads. But you does non have to a DRL. You can just switch on low beam.

European DRL legislation saves some electricity/emissions. However you don't have to any DRL for traffic rules.

Big misses for fiat. I hate Fiat Engineers for missing something for save couple penny.
You may use fog lights modification for DRL. New Hyundai i20 uses fog light caps for DRL. If you select upper optional features which has fog light, DRL comes with standard light module. In many cars fog lights position are ensures DRL regulation.

Edit: No one cares emission in Turkey. There are many vehicles out there, which they have empty box for catalytic converter of DPF. TUV checks misses that. My last emission test is 0 for all revs. It is ridiculous...
 
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