Ok this has probably been beaten to death at some point.. but i cannot seem to find a real answer anywhere... the two round fog or DRL or driving lights on the bumper of my 2009 997tt how in the hell do i get those on ? lol its an american car but i am in canada... the two small LED on the end of the LED signal bar are always on i assume as a DRL but how do i use the or turn on the two projectors on the bumper. my mechanic has tried everything with his super duper $$$$$ porsche programming gear etc.. and still no answer.
it seems porsche used them as a DRL on the 997.2 however they will not light up on mine under any circumstances.

any advice on this ?

Cheers
Clet

 

Turn the headlight on and pull the **** out for the fog light.

 

If you have a 997.1TT, I don't think you can turn on the fogs as DRL. If yours is a 997.2TT, you can turn them on/off as DRL via the MDI.

 

+1

These are fog lights, not DRLs.

On the 997.2 cars, these fog lights were replaced with LED DRLs. The headlights were also improved, so it was decided that fog lights were not necessary. Personally, I like having fog lights. I use them frequently in the mountains.

I have the option to activate DRLs in my PCM menus, but this activates the headlights as DRLs.

 

Did the 09 have the LED DRL since it didn't have the 7.2 tail lights?

 

09 are fog lights in the tt

 

Yes I understand that the 997.2 had led as drl in the grill where the signal LEDs are on the 997.1. But in the 997.2 you can select the two projectors on the bumper as DRLs as well but not on the 997.1. If I pull out on the 09' light switch (09' considered a 997.2 but technically not) only the tail light "fog" turns on like its meant to.
I am trying to figure out out to turn on the two projectors on my bumper on my 09'. The 997.2 you can select in the PCM but I don think the 09' has that option.
So does anyone else here have an 09' with the projectors that work ? And what is it that you do to turn them on ? They do not turn on.. So are they there for looks or what ? 07 and 08 were fogs/DRL programmable by Porsche.. The 997.2 was selectable in the PCM but the 09' is kind of a bastard and the light switch only turns on the tail fog and the Pcm does not have he option for turning the projectors as driving lights, fogs or DRL.. Does anyone have any really knowledge of this vs. what has been mentioned above.

 

The 2009 997 turbo is a 997.1, even though the normally aspirated cars made the switch in 2009.

The 997.2 does not have LED DRLs in the grill. It has the same LED turn signals as the 997.1, and they don't function as DRLs in either version of the 997 TT. Two separate, outboard lights are fog lights on the 997.1 TT and they are DRLs in the 997.2 TT.

To activate the fog lights on the 997.1 TT, you pull the headlight switch as you described. If yours isn't working, then you might have bad bulbs or a bad switch. To my knowledge, you cannot program the fog lights to act as DRLs on the 997.1 cars.

PCM only has the option to activate DRLs if you have the Sport Chrono option, and even then, it's the headlights that come on as DRLs.

There are "city lights" in the strip of LED turn signals. They only have one bulb on each side, and they are not LED. I don't think these can be used as DRLs either, and they wouldn't be bright enough if they could. The little lights on the front of the car in my avatar are the city lights.

 

I have an 09. When i pull the headlight switch out one notch the front fogs come on. It I pull it out further the rear "emergency" tail light bulb gets brighter.

 

Here's a shot of the DRLs on a 997.2 turbo

 

Dennis is correct. The city lights can not be used as DRLs. Have to go aftermarket to get that on a 09.

 

It's a rear fog light...only on the driver side.

 

The lights in the valance are activated by pulling out the headlight kn ob one click. (a second click out will activate the rear fog light).

However,.. fog lights hurt both your vision,.. and help blind oncoming traffic,.. and should almost never be used.

They are illegal to use in many cities,.. and are there to aid driving on slow, unfamiliar curvy roads in the country.

You can do a quick experiment and prove to yourself that they hurt your vision at night. Look far out in the distance and then turn them on. You'll see much less detail out at 100-150'.

Next,... hold you hand up like a shade,.. and block the lower half of your view,.. so that you can't see anything in the first 50'. You'll notice that you can see a lot MORE detail out at 100 - 150',.. (which is where you need to be looking if you're driving faster than 25 mph or so)

The reason for this is that your pupils dilate in low light, which increases the detail that you can see... but adding useless light in front (that only shines out 12' or so),.. causes there to be more TOTAL light,.. and so your pupils constrict. However,.. because there isn't more light out at 100' in front of your car,.. you actually see less detail out there. And that's where you need to be looking if your driving at any sort of speed.

They really should be outlawed. No one seems to get instruction on what the rare situations are where you should actually turn them on. I think most people that have them on just want to show off how their Grand Am is the special "GT" version with the fog lights.

 

I agree with you that fog lights frequently aren't used properly. They shouldn't be activated just because they look good. In legitimate foggy or extremely low visibility situations, they really help. Living in the mountains, I know this is true. I've been considering swapping out my bulbs for yellow bulbs, as they provide even better visibility.

When you can't even see the edge of the road or your lane, fog lights are nice!

 

True.

Do you know if these even ARE considered "fog" lights.

I was under the impression that actual fog lights have a narrower beam,.. project further,.. and are yellow.

And that these would be considered "driving lights",.. which are wide angle, white in color,.. and are meant for low-speed driving up a windy and unfamiliar road or driveway.

Both of my cars have them,.. and I've never had a use for them.