hello there
i bought the car with these fitted,PIAA Fog lights with the piaa switch inside the car,the car needs to be on full beam before the piaa spotlights can be used,can i ask why these systems are used and why not just use the normal fog light button in car,whats the difference to normal and piaa fog lights and buttons.cheers

 

The piaa's will be driving lights, not fog lights. Your question should be - "why are my piaa's wired into their own switch when they should be wired to come on with the main beam?"

 

they have a piaa switch in car what lets you switch the piaa lights on or off when the main beam is on,i would of rather had them on seperate so i could switch the spot light on without the main beam being on

 

Probably quite a simple thing to do if you're any good at playing with wires but i can't understand why you'd want them on minus the main beam?

 

As mentioned above, they are driving lights rather than fog lights

If they were fitted by a Subaru dealer they should be linked to the main beam headlight switch so that they will only work in tandam with full main beam headlights to provide maximum road illumination. Mine were wired into the original front fog light switch so that they could be switched off if they weren't needed with full main beam.

If wired correctly you shouldn't be able to use the PIAA lights on their own.

If you try to use them as fog lights (in fog) all you will see is a very bright white wall of fog infront of you - if you use them as fog lights for general night time driving (chav style ) ..... you'll blind every oncoming driver for 1/2 mile

Gareth

 

hello
i like to use them without main beam being on so i could use the spotlights most of the time when driving around in the dark,if you usually have spotlights switched on in normal conditions you can get in trouble with police,but if they are like driving lights you could use them normally without the mainbeam being on also it looks good when there on

 

errrrrrrr, no, it doesn't!

And, why do you want to use them on their own? They are DRIVING lights, used to compliment main beam.

 

well i disagree i do think it looks good when spots are on,when would you use your main beam and spotlights,maybe on a country road if there are no cars around,maybe on a motorway if there are no cars around or in bad weather conditions when there maybe cars around,but you dont want to blind the other drivers with ur mainbeam

 

I always found that the PIAAs only highlighted how sh1te the normal lights are when you come off main beam.......

Ended flogging mine and just getting uprated bulbs all round. A lower amount of overall light, but at least it was uniform (IMHO)

dan

 

If there's no one around, then there's no one to see how good they look

Anyway opinions are like ar*eholes, everyones got one

............. back to beer in preperation for Rugby. Chin chin.

 

all the cars i have ever owned never had spots on and this does would like to use the without being bothered by the law,or would they still bother me

 

n
i did not but i do now,catch you later rugby time soon

 

I don't think it's legal to have them so they can be switched on without the full beam also being on, lets just suppose you're driving around one of these country lanes, with your 'cool looking' spotlights on, and suddenly someone comes the other way..... would you really be able to get to the switch fast enough for them not to be blinded......

I very much doubt it, think about it, would you want to see some pr1ck coming the other way with his spotlights on, unable to turn them off ..........

 

?????????????
Just checked out this guys "view my scooby"
I rest my case

 

thats fair enougth but i am not a pr1ck

 

not you again dr no scooby, nothing wrong with my car,cant all afford time capsuales like you

 

Well i'm afraid thats what i would call you if i was in the car coming the other way...... among other things anyway.....

 

do you know people come on getting advice,and end up getting abuse everytime,i definatly would not blind anybody on purpose.

 

If they are anything like the PIAA's I had on the front of my wagon they'll be 120 or 130W bulbs in them... you DO NOT want them coming on with dipped beam 'cos if you forget you WILL blind the **** out of someone coming the other way.

As for running with foglights on on dipped beam, personally I don't think it looks "cool"... especially "not cool" when only one of the bulbs work (which is what most of them look like when I spot them ). I've also found that in most cases front fog lights are a total waste of time (including in fog), I'd ratehr prefer a set of driving lights.

Agree with the poster who said that the OE lights are sh*te on some of the classics, I found that by swapping the OE lights for Morettes with uprated bulbs and the PIAA's for full beam I had the best setup, the HID's on the new cars are pretty good though (finally... Subaru took their time though).

 

well dont drive much in the dark anyway will just leave it the way it is.

 

Nearly upto STI spec?
Think you've a fair way to go yet! (why not just buy an STI in the first place?)

 

hi philr i like your mota! just brought somw p1 rima for mine today so they look kind of similar
cheers!

 

how do you know what i have had done to my car,you dont,i can tell you though,raced a few scoobys and mines come out the best.can you even drive dr who you are probably a kid growing hair down there,up yours.

 

dont understand what you said mate

 

Ruddy mis-typed as the 'a' key is next to the 's' key, so what he said was that he has bought some P1 rims that look a bit like yours and he likes your car.

Ref your driving lights: the Construction & Use Regulations are very wordy and complex, but put simply . . .

You may have a matched pair of lights below a height of 1200mm with their own on/off switch on the dashboard providing the spread of light from those auxiliary lights does not exceed the range of your correctly set dipped headlights, in other words, the auxiliary lights are effectively dipped.

These lights should only be used in falling snow or foggy conditions. No other weather conditions apply and certainly not rain as so many people seem to think, including those who use their rear FOG light in the rain. [light reflections are bad enough without an extra 25 watts blazing away in rain!]

The auxiliary lights themselves have to be in line vertically with the headlights above. For example, you cannot have a pair of lights mounted immediately next to each other on the centre line of your car.

Most lights mounted below the bumper as standard equipment are therefore fog lights, NOT driving lights, as they have their own on/off switch, can be operated independently of dipped beam and their range does not exceed that of the dipped headlights. Indeed, many such lights "fill" or illuminate the road behind the normal dipped headlights.

Any lights whose range exceeds that of the dipped headlights are deemed to be driving lights or spot lights, such as the PIAAs.

These must be wired into, and be controlled by, the main beam circuit so they extinguish when dipped beam is selected.

You can have a switch so they do not operate at all, but when that switch is on, it is the main/dipped beam switch that must control them so they go out when dipped is selected.

Please also note the following from PIAA themselves:

NOTICE FROM PIAA
Notice to Customers
PIAA lamps are intended for use solely as auxiliary lighting.
PIAA lamps are not intended to be used for headlight purposes, nor are they certified for headlight usage.
PIAA lamps are designed to improve visibility during night time motoring and inclement weather conditions.
However, irresponsible use of any auxiliary light can be dangerous and illegal.

I hope this helps as it sounds to me as though your PIAAs are correctly wired [they only come on with main beam] and, in any case, you have already decided to leave them as they are.

 

thanks mate,just got a little confused,i dont know why they did not just wire them up to the normal front fog switch but never mind,thought it was illegal to use in normal conditions but some of the other answers had me a little confused,anyway cheers for clearing this up for me,there are some right ones on here who always take the p1ss and just try annoying people.thanks phil

 

You only need to blind a copper and that will be a fine if he can see enough to turn round and catch you.

Using fogs when it isn't foggy isn't cool, it's illegal.
I used to do it 'cos MK II Golf fogs are really good....

Dunx

P.S. my PIAA's used headlight bulbs to "do" main & dip beam, still not legal if it isn't foggy tho'...

 

Me a kid? I was owning Legacy RS's and Impreza's while you were probably still in nappy's, when it was "cool" to own a Subaru
So you've raced other cars and yours came out "best" well thats reassuring!

 

point being
you just like to hassle people,i am 32 and have racing blood in me,come on you must watch dr who,how sad are you especially if your older than me,its not just about the car its the way you drive it aswel.
why interfear with people when you have no point,you have done this before leave my threads alone, or i will report you for harrassing me,i dont harrass you on your threads.