Acura tsx and drl

General Discussion
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1

I’m still researching cars to replace my 1997 Volvo 850 - love to research, hate to make decisions !

Well today took a test ride in a 2008 Acura TSX - handled nicely - but found out it has no DRL (2009 model does). DRL was standard with my 97 Volvo.

Question: If I turn on the headlights in the 2008 TSX and never manually turn them off, will this work the same as the DRL on my old Volvo ? I know the 2009 TSX has smaller lights for DRL but my 850 just used low beams.



Thank you,

Patty Brown

2

I am surprised a 2008 would not have DLRs. (I am assuming you have a US model.) I think I would want to check to see if the 2008 Canadian model had them, I suspect they did, and what part or parts are different. I would hope it would be a fairly easy and not too expensive project to properly retrofit them. You might even be able to use 2009 US parts.

Just leaving them on all the time will likely reduce lamp life.  The DRLs usually operate at lower power than the head lamps and that ~80% vs 100% power increases lamp life while still providing plenty of light for DLR use.
3

Wait, so do the headlights go out when you turn the ignition off? If so, you can leave the lights in the “on” position and carry on as if you have DRL’s for as long as you like. The only difference is that with your old DRLs, the tail lights only came on either when you turned the lights on manually or when the car sensed it was dark out. With the TSX, the tail lights will probably be on too, but that’s not a big deal.