How to improve astra j reverse lighting?

dalin80 said:
Most cars only have one reversing light (typically in the opposite spot of the one rear fog light) and they aren't really there to illuminate anything behind you but to warn others...
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They are there to both warn others and to illuminate things behind you.
 
Not sure if it's been mentioned, but do you have bulbs in both sides? In previous cars they've only had single fog and reverse lights, but the light unit on the other side generally has a wired lamp holder, so you can put another bulb in without issue and may help. I guess this is because LHD have the bulbs on the other side and cuts down on manufacturing costs or something.
 
I also have only one crappy light and a ridiculous tint which means you can't see out the rear window at all at night. Once a street light that was outside my parents was taken out for a couple of months and trying to parallel park in the dark was a bit of a challenge. Just had to reverse and hope. :p
 
I used to have an Astra J 5 door hatch for 3 years and never had any issue with visibility and reverse parking no matter how dark it was. The reverse light shines enough light to see if you're about to hit something. if you're that worried stick on the rear fog light too and that'll brighten up behind you a good bit.
 
My Saab Estate has dual reverse lights. Popped a LED bulb in both (Tgey were still good before) and they are fantastic for reversing. It is a very tight squeeze fitting two cars on our front drive without going on the front garden so it helps massively when reversing on.

Got to love the swedes they always think of things like this.
 
p1RATE said:
Tbf you must have pretty poor eye sight to not see something behind you illuminated by the standard red tail lights. You're only going to be moving a couple mph you don't need to see more than a meter or two
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I think we must be reversing in very different environments. Tail lights are normally something like 5-10 watts and very small. I can tell you now, if I throw the Manta in reverse I can see the square root of sod-all behind me. The 205 is not massively better and I've not tried the Skoda in properly dark conditions yet.
 
My Focus ST reversing lights seem to be pretty good..:)
(it does have 2 reversing lights as standard)

This is one the reasons why am really glad I didn't go for the blacked out rear windows..
 
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chaparral said:
My Focus ST reversing lights seem to be pretty good..:)
(it does have 2 reversing lights as standard)

This is one the reasons why am really glad I didn't go for the blacked out rear windows..
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see now if you have really dark tinted rear window for what ever reason, not being able too see very well would make sense, but if its not tinted then you need you eyes tested. As an example, are you saying that if you were placed in the middle of a field, on a dark cloudy night, you can not see anything? and you would have to wait until it started getting light before you could walk through the field?
 
Where I park at home it's absolutely pitch black at night - it's a little parking area behind our house, surrounded by other gardens. When I arrive home, I drive in, turn around, and reverse into my space. My reversing lights are thankfully pretty bright - enough to see proximity of the fences and such so it makes it easier to zip into my space and use the parking sensors to finish off. If they were dimmer then I'd definitely want to upgrade them.

It seems a bit silly to state that you don't need to see behind you when reversing. Maybe I should just eat more carrots.


Haze said:
see now if you have really dark tinted rear window for what ever reason, not being able too see very well would make sense, but if its not tinted then you need you eyes tested. As an example, are you saying that if you were placed in the middle of a field, on a dark cloudy night, you can not see anything? and you would have to wait until it started getting light before you could walk through the field?
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I really don't understand your argument. If there is no ambient light then how exactly are you supposed to see where you're going or what you're about to hit? My situation above perfectly highlights the need. You have headlights for going forwards, and for going backwards you have...
 
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Haze said:
As an example, are you saying that if you were placed in the middle of a field, on a dark cloudy night, you can not see anything? and you would have to wait until it started getting light before you could walk through the field?
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You are a human. You do not have a tapetum lucidum, so in complete darkness you basically cannot see. I'm not sure how you can argue otherwise to be honest.
 
When you are outside anywhere in this world, it will never be so dark, that you can not see around you.....

If you were in a room that was completely sealed of all light, then yeah, you would need a tapetum lucidum, or night vision goggles
 
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