ADUK Archive

Hello there. I'm new.

I'm in the market for a motor and wondering if anyone had any recommendations for cars based on the criteria of highly visible signals.

These days indicators seems to be an after thought in car design; often so close to the headlights that seeing them in the dark from oncoming cars is very difficult.

My opinion is that front facing indicators should be physically relocated to be as far away from the headlights as practicable. Having them on the wing mirrors seems like a good idea.

Jasp wrote:My opinion is that front facing indicators should be physically relocated to be as far away from the headlights as practicable. Having them on the wing mirrors seems like a good idea.

Hi Jasp and welcome.

How about...

...look carefully and you'll see a Focus ST has indicator repeator in the wing mirrors.

Awesome car as well - but then I'm biased

martine wrote:Focus ST has indicator repeator in the wing mirrors

Nice. I think it has about 100 more horses than I can cope with though
It is also well beyond my budget of £4k. *crys*

martine wrote:

Jasp wrote:My opinion is that front facing indicators should be physically relocated to be as far away from the headlights as practicable. Having them on the wing mirrors seems like a good idea.

...look carefully and you'll see a Focus ST has indicator repeator in the wing mirrors.

Awesome car as well - but then I'm biased

On the mirrors seems like a good idea, but where do people look for them? By 'default' I'll be looking at the front quarter.

For 'being visible' I prefer the orange lenses, rather than orange bulb/clear cover combo most commen these days.

Rear indicators 'hidden' in the centre of the brake lights (VW?) are awkward to see, too IMHO.

But it's a good point, and not something many people would base car choice on.

Another criteria that many seem to forget about is the suitablity of the head restraints. At just over 6' tall I find that in many cars the restraint does not go to a high enough setting.

With regards to the lighting, BMWs, Mercs and Fords tend to have good light setups.

Hi everybody, I have only recnetly joined ADUK, and this is my first
reply.

I would agree with Horse that modern VWs have poor rear light clusters. My IBIZA sport has a good rear light cluster with indevidual lights being well spaced, as opposed to being tightly clustered like the VW.

As for front lights, research has shown that indecators that are positioned inside of the headlight unit are less visible than those outside.

Another consideration is the ease of changing the bulbs yourself. Some cars have to have bulbs changed by the dealer.

Nigel.

IAM car
ADI car

A fair few Honda's have indicators within the side mirrors.

Hi Nigel!

fungus wrote:I would agree with Horse that modern VWs have poor rear light clusters. My IBIZA sport has a good rear light cluster with indevidual lights being well spaced, as opposed to being tightly clustered like the VW

Aha! Fellow SEAT owner here . . . Ibiza, Leon, now Altea

The Altea is a lovely vehicle - but with some appalling 'safety' issues, such as the widest 'A' pillars in the World (although the wiper 'parking' does mean that in wet weather there's no unswept area).

An annoying LHD - RHD conversion matter is that the wipers swipe alternately - but should have had the order changed (ie right - left for LHD to right left for RHD).

Also, why only low-level reversing lights? It's not as good as the Leon's.

But given all those 'conspicuity' issues, they'll be fitting daytime lights soon . . .

Agree. VW lights are rubbish!

Skoda Octavia? (more bias ) You can get a nice 1.9TDi for the price you're looking at, or a 1.8T if you prefer petrol. Good rear light design, solidly built, huge boot etc. Fun and practical.

Reversing light on the IBIZA is not brilliant. Often have to touch the brakes to get extra light in poorly lit areas.

Nigel

I quite like the setup on my mondeo.

All pretty standard, good visible lights including hig lvel brake light.

Also has twin reversing lights.

You can pick a good St200 up for 2.5 - 3k

Jay

nuster100 wrote:You can pick a good St200 up for 2.5 - 3k

Jay

With a working engine?

Mines a st24, and its working. Well, its only smoking a bit now.

Jay

A budget of 4k you say? I quite like this car.....

link

Chris

As well as the design, the quality of the bulbs can make a significant difference to how visible they are - especially indicators. A set of Philips' silver-coated indicator bulbs are IMHO much better than standard, and much higher quality, so the finish won't degrade.
Also, on an older car, consider giving the lenses a good clean.

I know it doesn't make much difference, for example where the indicators are surrounded by the brake lights, but every little helps, dunnit?