dogshyne

correct. my 2014 c4s does not seem to work in the way listed above.

clembo

They cannot be turned off. I wish they could.

MKW

why?

with today's ever more distracted drivers messing with their NAV , blue toothed phone calls or texting etc and the fact that many sports car drivers seek out twisty two lanes or dark forested roadways ......just sayin'

clembo

I would like them off because the car already attracts enough attention when it is being driven. I would rather not have the lights on, they are bright and very obvious.

The fact that some people break laws while driving (texting), or some are distracted (careless), shouldn't mean that I have to do extra to help them. We don't buy Porsches because they are the safest cars (buy a Volvo), we buy them to enjoy the driving and ownership experience. I would enjoy it more if I had the option to turn them on or off.

maxpowers

That's wrong. The US doesn't mandate daytime running lights. My dealer was able to turn them off before I accepted delivery on my 991

SDaddy

Great to know!

woodranch

maxpowers that is great news! Can you let us know how he did that? Would be thankful!

1analguy

Ah...no.

www.lightsout.org/

www.dadrl.org.uk/

www.motorists.org/drl/

IIRC, it was either Saab or Volvo that started the DRL debacle way back when, but it really took off when GM latched on to it as a cheap way to pimp their cars as "safer", without actually building safer cars. Their cars are fine now, with or without DRLs, but back then, they needed all the sales help they could get.

As shown in the very first link above, the reason the U.S. doesn't mandate DRLs is that the NHTSA couldn't find any benefit to them. The NHTSA has always been in favor of absolutely anything that even remotely smacks of safety (anyone remember the national 55mph speed limit? It lasted as long as it did because of the NHTSA's backing), and the fact that even they can't/won't get behind DRLs should tell us all just how useful they really are. If you dig into the research, you'll find out how human eyesight, cognition, and psychology all conspire to render DRLs pretty much useless as safety devices.

mtbscott

Not that I'm doubting you....but you are absolutely the first person on the Rennlist 991 forum since the cars came in in 2012 to say that the dealer turned off DRL's in the US.
The subject has come up a dozen times or more and fairly reliable sources have said it's not on the PIWIS menu in the US. Please share your dealer's name so folks so inclined can follow up to have this done on their cars if they want. (I am not bothered in the least by them myself)

wanderfalke

DP

GSIRM3

I haven't tried this, but on page 142 of my PCM manual, it gives instructions on how to turn on and off the daytime running lights. It does state that this function is only available in countries that do not require daytime running lights. The US does not require them, I believe.

1. Press the CAR button
2. Press the Option button, or touch the OPTION tab in the header on screen
3. Select SET CAR
> Vehicle functions
> Light & Visibility
> Exterior Lights
4. Select checkbox to either turn them on or off

jets

I don't agree with most of what you are saying. Look at those websites - they look like a web 1.0 classic design. That should tell you something about the support system for a cause like this. Hey on that note did you also know that sugar doesn't contribute to diabetes or obesity??? Check out www.sugar.org for some real eye openers

Besides that, DRL's work more effectively as a safety feature when ALL VEHICLES ON THE ROAD use them THE SAME WAY. The reason they are ineffective in the US is because there is inconsistency and that is what causes the confusion and subsequent ineffectiveness. Some cars have them and others don't. I personally hated them when it came into law in Canada and I have learned to appreciate them.

In my opinion the most effective DRL systems use two LED modules at the front of the car when it's in DRIVE. When vehicle is in park it should be off. This is the way my MY14 Ram functions. I don't think dimmed high beam type DRL's are as good though. Some of the reasons DRL work:

-Instantly determine if an oncoming vehicle is in motion/being driven. When I drive to the states it's weird and hard to quickly know who's parked and who's moving from a distance. I've found it helpful when I am waiting for a gap to accelerate and join traffic making a left or right. Sometimes in the states I really have to stop and watch the car and note whether its in motion or not. It's nice to glance and instantly know what is moving and what is not.

-Sometimes cars go out of control. If a vehicle is on an intersecting path with your vehicle there will be more of a chance you'll notice it coming at you if some lights are making it easy for you to notice it.

-Many people are morons and drive without turning on their headlight system at night; I don't understand how this happens everyday in 2015 but it does. I can see them coming at me whether they remembered to switch their headlights on or not when they left the pub.

Nothing is black or white and I'm sure there's great reasons to not use DRL. Like "we're burning too many bulbs and filling our landfills prematurely" or "dim lights are too distracting on bright days" you get the point. I will say full all lights on DRL systems aren't very good.

Now my C4S was a US car so the dealer activated DRL and it meant ALL the lights were on all the time the car was running and that pissed me off. If the tail lights are on in daylight and I slam the brakes then the following car is looking at lights that change from dim to bright (instead of off to bright) and not as effective visually. Combine this with bright sun and it gets worse. Also, if I want to sit in my car at night I don't need to announce I'm sitting there. Finally, if ALL lights are on after starting the car no matter what than why the hell is there even a light switch to begin with? It did nothing. I had the dealer disable the DRL system on my car, went out to buy a 50 cent diode and now whenever my switch in on HOME my fog lights turn on and function as DRL. If I leave the switch in the "." position all lights are off.

Look I don't care about the pissing contest because this is the internet and no one is ever wrong so lets agree that not everyone agrees. It's just my opinion.

Bishop200

I live in an area which at certain times of the year, it rains a lot. The problem with DRLs is that the bulk of cars running them do not turn on the rear running lights. This means that you get foggy, rainy conditions with a lot of spray coming from the cars in front of you and you can barely see them because they do not have running lights on at the rear of their car. I feel that this is very dangerous. Frankly, I also think that people get very lazy about turning on their headlights when they should be. All-in-all, originally not a bad idea, but very poorly implementated, legislation-wise.

MarcusG

Perhaps it's a PCM version or maybe Bose/Burmy difference?

I have a 14, So. California car. Base stereo.

Heads up or PCM, there is no way possible to tun off the daytime running lights.

If you walk through GSIRM3's instructions on the PCM in my car when you get to the last step "exterior lighting" you can only adjust the fade out time of the DRL's. No option to turn them off.

It is what it is.

1analguy

This is the exact opposite of reality. Instead of critiquing the cosmetic quality of the web sites, you should have read the NHTSA's research on the subject. I'll condense it for you: Because of the way humans perceive visual input, DRLs work best when only one car is using them. Human visual cognition works best when something stands out against the background...but, when nearly every car has DRLs, the best way to stand out against the resulting sea of glare is to not use them. I'm not making this stuff up, it's from the much-bemoaned "nanny state's" own safety research. Of course, you're free to believe anything you like...