I'm just full of questions today!

As I've had some time in the car and after I recently read through the owners manual I came up with a few questions. The most recent question is the presence of a rear foglight. I find it kind of unusual that chrysler allowed the crossfire to come to the US with city lights, but at the same time, it's pretty cool. However, I noticed on the light switch, when you pull it out to activate the fog lights, there is a second "stop". Does this second stop do anything? There was nothing in the book and I didn't notice a change in the rear lighting when I moved to the second stop.

If there is no rear fog, can one be wired up fairly easily? Is the wiring there, but just the wrong bulb? Or do you need a completely new set of euro-spec taillights?

While on the topic of euro parts, is there anything on the euro-spec crossfires that would be cool to put on the US-spec cars? Or are cars from both countries pretty much identical?

 

The easy, but for what it is, not cheap, thing is clear front/side marker lenses.

The tough one is swapping to right-hand drive and gaining a British or Australian accent.

 

well you are right with the second click on the light switch. it is for the rear fog lights. i do not believe the wiring is there for it and you are also right in assuming you have to get a euro spec taillight. if you look on the euro spec cars the lights are not identical and its because in the place of one of the reverse lights is the rear fog light. and the only other cool IMO part for the euro cars is that there is a light grey center console instead of the silver.

 

Hmmm, I see your point. Though I've been working on the accent. I think I've come up with a combination of british/irish and generic mainland european. It's quite quite amazing!

Right hand drive...I think that would definitely give me some problems!

It's good to hear that there isn't much to import from european versions of the car--the Euro and every other european currency would make buying that stuff quite pricey when taking the conversion rates into consideration!

Maybe I'll just focus on the rear foglight?

 

you can sometimes find the rear taillights on ebay. they are on there quite often. id give that a shot

 

So you do actually need an entire tail light assembly to make the rear fogs work? Is the wiring already in place or would I need to run that as well?

 

yes you need the entire taillight assembly because in the place of the clear light for the reverse light the plastic is red. and i dont think the wiring is in place. you might be able to split that wire running to that reverse light to the switch that might work

 

There's a thread on here somewhere with pictures of both rear lights - one is for countries that drive on the right and one for countries that drive on the left. The wiring is not there but probably not that hard to run.

If it was symmetrical and at the same time reverse lighting was not lost, I'd do it, but unfortunately the fog light takes the place of the reverse light on one side, and backing up in the dark is already hard enough. Perhaps the fog light helps with backing up.

As a side comment, there are cars in US that have the fog lights for the back. What drives me nuts is people who leave them on even when there's no fog - they're really bright and quite uncomfortable to have in front of you. Check the Range Rovers out - they're in the bumper below the other lights. Like beacons when they're on...

If people here used them for what they're made for, it would be great. But how often do you see people coming at you with their fogs on in perfectly clear weather?

 

Maybe I was asleep that day in driver's training, but what the heck would you want a rear fog light for? Planning on driving real fast in reverse in the fog? I'm stumped.

 

That's an interesting idea! In reallity though, the light switch has a position for a rear fog light, just like it has city lights (though these are active in the US). It's my understanding that in a number of european countries rear foglights are a requirement. It seems like our cars might be easily converted to this since the switch seems to indicate such ability. Lots of european cars have this in the US--audi and jaguar have these, for instance.

Though it seems like such a mod will be more complicated than I originally thought!

 

C'mon Tom it's obvious.
So you can see whats behind you in the fog lol

 

yes my jaguar has them and so does my SLK32 AMG but the crossfire does not. and yes i totally agree with PPRO that reversing is hard enough in these cars i want as much reverse light as i can get.

 

More common in Europe, rear fogs are red (bright red) so drivers behind you in a fog (of any kind) can see you sooner than with plain old red tail lights. They're not for you - they're for the people catching up to you. And I guess you benefit if they see you sooner and manage not to hit you.

 

Ahhh! Now it makes sense!

 

yeah i was driving behind a volvo that put them on during a hard rain. the lights were so dim but the foglight was like spotlight facing right towards me it almost made me want to crash into the car just to turn it off

 

It's funny you mentioned this because I actually noticed the second click just today and planned to ask on here. When you prefer to "city lights," I assume you mean the lights that come on on the first notch to the right on the ****. What is the proper use for these lights? When are they neccessary?

 

They're described as parking lights in the owners manual, but since the car in US spec does not have "daytime running lights", people use them for that. Here's what the manual says - check your onboard storage for this valuable resource - a great read during fall break when you're not driving your car....


Chrysler Crossfire Owners Manual - Understanding The Features of Your Vehicle - Page 62, 63



(for the text search)

62 UNDERSTANDING THE FEATURES OF YOUR VEHICLE

EXTERIOR LIGHTS
Headlights and Parking Lights

When the headlight switch is turned clockwise from OFF
to the first position, the parking lights, taillights, side
marker lights, license plate lights and instrument panel
lights are all illuminated.
The headlights turn on when the switch is turned to the
second position.

Lights-On Reminder

If the headlights or parking lights are left on after the
ignition is turned off, a warning will sound if the driver’s
door is opened.

Daytime Running Lights (Where Applicable)

VEHICLES WITH AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION
The low beam headlights, parking lights, side marker
lights, taillights and license plate lights are automatically
switched on whenever the vehicle is started and the
transmission gear selector is in a driving position.
VEHICLES WITH MANUAL TRANSMISSION
The low beam headlights, parking lights, side marker
lights, taillights, and license plate lights are automatically
switched on whenever the vehicle is started and the
parking brake is released.
For nighttime driving, the exterior lights switch should
be in the low beam position to permit activation of the
high beam headlights.

Fog Lights

To operate the fog lights, pull the headlight
switch out one stop, with the parking lights
and/or low beam headlights on. A light to the
lower left of the headlight switch will illuminate
when the fog lights are on.
To turn off the fog lights, push the headlight switch in
fully. Selecting high beam headlights will also turn off the
fog lights.

Standing Lights

When the vehicle is parked on the street, the standing
lights (left or right side parking lights) can be turned on,
making your vehicle more visible to passing vehicles.
To operate the standing lights, turn the headlight switch
counterclockwise one stop (right lamps) or two stops (left
lamps) from the OFF position. To turn off the standing
lights, return the headlight switch to the OFF position.
The standing lights cannot be operated when the ignition
switch is in the ON/RUN position.

CAUTION!

Standing lamps are intended for short term use

when parking. If these lights are left on for a long
period of time, your car’s battery may drain, causing
a possible starting problem. Assure that the headlamp
switch is in the OFF position when leaving the
vehicle.

3

 

The "city lights" I was referring to were the "standing lights" referred to in the scanned owners manual pages. They are a very hot "modification" among some types in the VW world (never anything I really considered myself), which is where I first encountered the term. Lots of guys like to add a "euro switch" to their cars allowing them access to rear fogs and city lights. I thought it was cool that the XF has the city lights as std equipment.

 

Didnt want to revive an old thread but didn't think it was worth starting a new one , I just Googled and searched eBay can't find a euro tailight i really wanna see the difference between our models

Euro spec cars are always more fitted with options :/

 

My 2003 A6 2.7T MT6 has the rear foglights. The first detente on the switch turns on the front fogs and the second turns on the rears. This is a pair of red lights on each side of the license plate, not in the rear tail lights. And I use them in blizzard conditions and heavy rain only, so idiots in 4x4s don't run into me (they think 4wd = 4w stop). I also flash them when someone tailgates me so I don't have to brake, and they are bright enough to freak out and back off most tailgaters (other than the hard core jackasses and those that are busy texting or talking and not paying attention to the fact that they are 20' behind me at 75 mph). It's doubtful you can retrofit them to the XF for a reasonable price.