No, I'm not talking about see-through swimwear, but rather the apparent invisibility of that big digital speedo when driving with headlights on during daylight hours.
Last week, six of us were driving six sport compact cars up to Monterey as part of a comparison test. It was a bright sunny day, and I was driving the Civic Si as we passed through one of California's "Daytime Headlight Use Required" sections. When I dutifully turned on the headlights, the speedo disappeared. Even after I stripped off my sunglasses, I couldn't make it out.
Since Daytime Headlight Use sections are located on historically dangerous roads, I figure the ability to see how fast I'm going would be a good thing. And since California now has a law on the books requiring headlights to be on whenever the windshield wipers are, the need for daytime headlight use increases.
As I shot these pictures, it was quite overcast -- as it might be on a drizzly day. The effect you see above is even worse in bright sun, as it was last week when the display totally vanished. But today, I found that Honda thought of this, and provided a way for drivers to deal with the situation.
A pair of buttons, labelled "+" and "-", reside to the left of the steering column. They control dash dimming. At first, the brightest setting isn't really bright enough for the Daytime Headlight situation. But what I missed the first time around was this trick: If you press and hold the "+" button for a second or three, you get a "beep" as the dash lamps leap to the full brightness mode with the headlights on.
I know what you are thinking: "But Dan, the Civic has Daytime Running Lights, also known as DRLs, so why does this matter?"
True. But after an e-mail to California's AAA auto club, ACSC (Automobile Club of Southern California), who have a legal eagle in Sacramento who translates Vehicle Code books into English, I learned that DRLs do not count as headlights for either the Daytime Headlight Use scenario or the Lights On with Wipers On situation. DRLs, which do not meet the federal definition of headlights, aren't very bright. And the side markers and taillights don't come on until the headlights are switched on -- the point at which our Civic's speedo seemingly took a leave of absence.
So while I thought I had found yet another reason why Honda's digital speedo was not for me, I instead discovered that the Civic's engineers have that base covered. If only I had read the fine manual sooner...
Dan Edmunds, Director of Vehicle Testing @ 15,662 miles
billt9 says:
04:56 PM, 09/22/06
I thought all cars did this. This is normal, and desired behavior.
The interior lights dim when the head lights are on. The reasoning is, at night, if the interior lights are burning bright, your eyes will get tired very quickly.
Like staring at a bright TV or computer monitor in the dark.
Obviously the Honda engineers' reasoning did not anticipate California's eccentric laws.
actualsize says:
05:07 PM, 09/22/06
They do and they should. But we're both right. Look again and see my edit. You were faster on the draw than I was. ;-)
thebigal says:
08:30 PM, 09/22/06
okay - that is dumb that DRL's do not count for Daytime Headlight Use. I mean isn't why they were even instituted in the first place?? Argg... glad I don't live in Cali. I hardly touch the light switch in my truck. It has DRL's and auto headlamps, so it is rare that I manually switch on the lights.
nick001 says:
12:39 PM, 09/24/06
I dont mean to sound like a jerk but all you have to do is reach to your left hand side and adjust the interior lights using the + and - signs. It evens saves your adjustments. For example, you can set the interior to be bright all the time or as dim as you need to be. I would thing Edmunds editor and drivers would figure something like that out.
eric_l says:
07:23 PM, 09/24/06
nick001 is right - all you have do is adjust the dimmer switch
rennf says:
10:02 PM, 09/24/06
> If you press and hold the "+" button for a second or
> three, you get a "beep" as the dash lamps leap to
> the full brightness mode with the headlights on.
Just curious, do you have to do this every time, or once you set it once, does the car default to full brightness anytime the headlights are turned on thereafter?
In my Acura I recall there's a similar setting - if you set it to "max" the interior gauges default to full brightness anytime the lights are on.
actualsize says:
10:14 AM, 09/25/06
The whole point of my post was that, at first glance, the Civic seems to follow convention and limit the maximum headlamp-on brightness to save your retinas at night, making the digital speedo hard to see in the daytime headlight on condition.
As a lifelong button tapper, not a continuous press-and-holder, what wasn't readily apparent was that the Honda, unlike most others, could be forced into daytime full-bright mode with the headlights on by holding the + button for a couple of seconds after brightness seemed to max out. Since most owners never crack open their manuals, I thought I would point it out.
helios1 says:
10:33 AM, 09/25/06
The digital speedo on my Honda S2000 did the same thing, and the "+" and "-" settings sound the same. I couldn't save the settings, and had to press the button every time I wanted to increase brightness.
dotsara says:
03:02 PM, 09/25/06
"Just curious, do you have to do this every time, or once you set it once, does the car default to full brightness anytime the headlights are turned on thereafter?"
I believe that it does -- I have mine set to full brightness and I've never seen it change w/ headlights on/off. I think. (:
tirthankar_b says:
11:37 AM, 09/29/06
Adjust the dimmer switch dumbo.