Cornering Foglights

[pete-p]

Apparently it's not that new a thing (Mercedes have done it for a while and some others) but I've only recently been noticing it and what it is... When turning or indicating the corresponding fog light comes on too.

Is it just me or does it look silly, like you've put your fog lights on but one doesn't work and that it it's not so easy to see their indicator when approaching? I've nothing against a proper cornering light, but using the fog light seems/looks a little cheap and a somewhat half hearted effort.

[Audidothat]

Funny you should mention Mercedes, I've noted a number of Mercs over the years with a single fog light on and just assumed it is poor build quality rather than intentional! It does look odd.

[1781cc]

There is an option in VCDS that allows you to do this on some audis as well, I know the mk2 TT and B8 A4 do, sure there is many others as well.

I suppose a lot of it depends on what your fog lights look like in the first place but I think it's a good idea

[pete-p]

I also remember seeing it on an old Top Gear episode where they drove people home from a night out (they had motorbikes that could fit in the boot of a car). James May was driving an A Class and always seemed to have only one fog light on!

[moltuae]

Haven't heard of cornering fog lights before.

I suppose if it helps to better illuminate the road you're turning on to it might have its benefits (though DS-esque turning headlights would be better). I have noticed a lot of newer vehicles now turn off the corresponding headlight though (presumably to make the indicator more noticeable), which seems completely counterproductive to lighting the way.

[tonupkid]

Just last week (driving the Touareg). Pulled away from kerb then waited for someone to cross. He came over to the drivers window and thoughtfully let me know that only one of the fog lights was working.
Using foglights. That's how you do cornering lights badly. They don't illuminate where you're about to turn into anywhere as well as the dedicated cornering lights on the 8.
They also use this cheapskate method on some Beemers

[HPsauce]

I'm glad to say that the turning headlights on my Volvo seem to do it "correctly". But I guess you would expect that.

[MikkiJayne]

A lot of French tat does this too, as well as some Skodas iirc. I think it looks dumb although having never driven anything with it I can't say whether it helps or not.

My Dad's C-class has funky headlight lenses which can change the beam pattern so that works more like the DS and points the beam in the direction you're turning

[roberto]

facelift D3's have cornering lights built in to the headlights as standard i believe.
cars with the fog lights doing the same job are as common as muck these days.

[Ameiseuk]

The Infiniti has proper DS-esque swivelling headlights, at first I thought it was a gimmick but on some of our local twisty roads it is a real help. Lights up the corner before you turn in and gives you a couple of seconds extra illumination.

Bosch and Hella used to sell spotlamps/foglamps with a 'cornering' function built in - used accelerometers and an extra bulb to bend the beam in to the corner you were turning in to. Very expensive from memory.

...Quote from Hella USA:

Combining a driving beam with a cornering beam, the DynaView cornering light from Hella might be just the ticket for night drivers. These beams automatically light up a corner as you turn into it, activated automatically using an electronic control unit called IntelliBeam, which measures, Hella tells us, the lateral acceleration of your vehicle. On straight road, the cornering light is automatically switched off. The DynaView is offered in 12- and 24-volt versions and is supplied with a custom wiring harness. Contact: Hella, Dept. FW, 201 Kelly Dr., Peachtree City, GA 30269, 770/631-7500, www.hellausa.com.