can a golf mk5 do this....

[phil miller]

at work today we had a new shape vauxhall in anyway i noticed that when the brake pedal was pushed hard the brake lights flash, is this something that can be programmed to happen on a mk5 golf? i think its a really good feature cos TBH you dont always have a clue how hard the car in front is braking

[zollaf]

http://www.motuk.co.uk/manual_130.htm

technically, according to this, if the brake pedal is pressed and the brake light emits anything other than a steady red light, it will fail.

[phil miller]

im sure that was updated earlier this year, the mk6 astra has the flashing b/lights and TBH i think its a good idea

[Eshrules]

I was travelling down the M60 the other day, just past the usual congestion after Denton when I noticed a Merc slamming on, his brake lights were doing the same.

I'd just presumed it was a manual pumping of the brakes, but perhaps it's a new thing being implemented?

[phil miller]

I was travelling down the M60 the other day, just past the usual congestion after Denton when I noticed a Merc slamming on, his brake lights were doing the same.

I'd just presumed it was a manual pumping of the brakes, but perhaps it's a new thing being implemented?

bear in mind a mk6 astra wont be due an mot for another 30ish months, i think the flashing is a great idea, im sure everyone has not noticed the bloke in front braking then had to brake really hard to advoid go up his ****, cos lets face it you can never be to sure how hard someone is braking cos the lights are the same from just resting your foot on them to full on standing on the pedal

[johnloaderuk]

Similar idea on the Golf mk6 (and other new VW's) http://www.volkswagen.co.uk/#/new/golf-vi/explore/experience/technology/automatic-warning-lights but with auto hazards when emergency braking.

[smithysmudger]

Similar idea on the Golf mk6 (and other new VW)

Enabled/disabled in 09 Cent Elect control module byte 16

http://i52.tinypic.com/1zyh6hk.jpg

[phil miller]

right so by the looks of it, it is poss on a mk6 but can a mk5 be pursueded to do this?

[turbine2]

Um, in fact the only lights that are allowed to flash by design on a car are the indicators. Everything else is, as you say, not legal (unless they have changed the law).

[zollaf]

i have seen this happening on a few cars on the tg test track.

[VAGMAN54]

if you activate the emergency blinkers when braking and you do a quick nose dive when approaching an unseen speed camera the indicators will come on and you have give the game away about your speed........advise.........dont do it

[Issac Hunt]

if you activate the emergency blinkers when braking and you do a quick nose dive when approaching an unseen speed camera the indicators will come on and you have give the game away about your speed........advise.........dont do it

Hardly the basis for a prosecution is it?! if your speeding then your speeding. If you slow down in time then all is well. no-one will get a ticket just for flashing their indicators/brakelights.

[NickPicks]

Whilst I think the flashing brake lights will show up better, unless everyone knows that this means you're braking really hard, the person behind might just think you're tapping your foot on and off the pedal and braking gently.

I've also seen this effect on Top Gear, but I assumed that it was because LED lights flicker, and the camera picture flickers, and the 2 flickers weren't sycronised, resulting in a flashing effect.

[SammoVWT]

Blinking brake lights freak me out, it looks like a tool who cant control his car properly so I stay well clear, perhaps thats the idea of it :o

[phil miller]

Whilst I think the flashing brake lights will show up better, unless everyone knows that this means you're braking really hard, the person behind might just think you're tapping your foot on and off the pedal and braking gently.

I've also seen this effect on Top Gear, but I assumed that it was because LED lights flicker, and the camera picture flickers, and the 2 flickers weren't sycronised, resulting in a flashing effect.

if i see a brake light flashing its more of a warning than just the brake lights on if you get my meaning

[fat controller]

I'm pretty sure that I read somewhere in the book of words for my B6 Passat that it will flash the warning lights when under emergency braking - I'll try and check tomorrow if I remember.

[phil miller]

I'm pretty sure that I read somewhere in the book of words for my B6 Passat that it will flash the warning lights when under emergency braking - I'll try and check tomorrow if I remember.

thats what i want, when braking very hard ie foot thro the floor on the brake (brown trousers time) the brake lights flash

[Guest 2]

Saw a new shape Megane do this recently. Oddly, only one side blinked and the other didnt. Maybe it was the dodgy French electrics rather than the emergency breaking!

[fat controller]

Well, I've just been and dug the book out of the car whilst it was in my mind, and I cannot find any reference to the flashing of lights - I would have sworn that I had read it somewhere though - maybe wishful thinking!

EDIT - I was close, its if the ABS is activated for more than 2 seconds, the hazards will flash. I knew I'd read it somewhere, and it just happened to be on onw of the most knowledgable VW Forums in the world - Here is the thread on that forum (http://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=66417) ;)

[elvismiggell]

Thought this was introduced on the current shape Corsa a couple of years back?

I'm sure I heard something about it a few years ago?

[phil miller]

Thought this was introduced on the current shape Corsa a couple of years back?

I'm sure I heard something about it a few years ago?

it is ive just got in from watching the football and my mate has a 59 plate corsa VXR and his brake lights flash when the pedal is hard down, so my question is can i get my mk5 Golf to do it using say vag com?

[turbine2]

i have seen this happening on a few cars on the tg test track.

The thing with LED lights is that they actually flash very quickly when used. TV cameras work by taking one picture x times per second so what you end up with is the syncing between the camera and the flashing of the lights kicking in making it appear that they're blinking (you see the same effect with the normal driving lights as well as the brake lights).

[zollaf]

you learn something new every day. :D

[SammoVWT]

LED's dont flash normally, only when made to do so. Still a weird feature. LED's are generally DC, unless something dodgy is going on with the power they wont flash.

I can possibly see flashing if switch mode is being used to power it, but then it should have a smoothed output if it doesnt its a bad power supply design.

EDIT: The minor flashing you might receive will likely be the abs, but you will only pick that up on a fast motion capture camera. Thats because LED's have a faster response rate, which isnt easy to see with the naked eye.

[NickPicks]

LED's dont flash normally, only when made to do so. Still a weird feature. LED's are generally DC, unless something dodgy is going on with the power they wont flash.

I can possibly see flashing if switch mode is being used to power it, but then it should have a smoothed output if it doesnt its a bad power supply design.

EDIT: The minor flashing you might receive will likely be the abs, but you will only pick that up on a fast motion capture camera. Thats because LED's have a faster response rate, which isnt easy to see with the naked eye.

When I'm following a car with LED rear lights (BMW, new Passat), if I look quickly from left to right, I get a pattern of flashes accross my eyes, which I thought was because the lights are flashing very rapidly and as my eyes move across, they see it as several images, like someone dancing in a strobe light. That's why I assumed they flashed. I assumed it was probably due to the alternator pulsing, although I also notice this effect with the LED catseyes they have been trialling in places. Perhaps it's just my eyes.

[SammoVWT]

Could be the alternator, perfectly valid theory, but i cba to test it :D

But i dont know what kind of circuitry they are using in them, if they want to be energy efficient they would be using small switchmode circuits but its a lot of faff for a light.

[MalcQV]

When I'm following a car with LED rear lights (BMW, new Passat), if I look quickly from left to right, I get a pattern of flashes accross my eyes, which I thought was because the lights are flashing very rapidly and as my eyes move across, they see it as several images, like someone dancing in a strobe light. That's why I assumed they flashed. I assumed it was probably due to the alternator pulsing, although I also notice this effect with the LED catseyes they have been trialling in places. Perhaps it's just my eyes.Not just your eyes it will affect everyone. You will also notice new Pelican crossings the red/green man does the same.

They do flash at high frequency.
The company I work makes control chips for LED lights, but I know kall about'em

[turbine2]

LED's dont flash normally, only when made to do so. Still a weird feature. LED's are generally DC, unless something dodgy is going on with the power they wont flash.

DC on cars is generally fairly dodgy. What comes out of the alternator and goes through the voltage regulator is far from a smooth line, it's more of a bumpy one. We're not talking about a change in the voltage over the tens to hundreds of hertz here rather than the single to tens of hertz.

I know with the old LED calculators the segments of the LEDs flashed rapidly (in order to save battery life, care of our Sir Clive Sinclair), not sure if that's applicable to cars through (who generally have more output).

[SammoVWT]

DC on cars is generally fairly dodgy. What comes out of the alternator and goes through the voltage regulator is far from a smooth line, it's more of a bumpy one. We're not talking about a change in the voltage over the tens to hundreds of hertz here rather than the single to tens of hertz.

I know with the old LED calculators the segments of the LEDs flashed rapidly (in order to save battery life, care of our Sir Clive Sinclair), not sure if that's applicable to cars through (who generally have more output).

Pretty much spot on, apart from the regulator bit, that ensures a constant current on the circuit, but the capacitors should smooth it.

Ive built a few power supplies, you still get a voltage ripple with a regulator attached, its just less severe.

Switch mode power is where a dc voltage is cut with a really high frequency switch and then smoothed (E.g. 10V DC being switched off on on for 1s at a time would give an average of 5v) and can be used to control a voltage without wasting energy by having it rejected (wasted) by a potentiometer circuit.

But most likley the alternator with pulsed voltage increases as has been said.

We should open a physics thread, lol.

[MFGF]

it is ive just got in from watching the football and my mate has a 59 plate corsa VXR and his brake lights flash when the pedal is hard down, so my question is can i get my mk5 Golf to do it using say vag com?

You could try. No harm in having a look, as they say! :)

Connect up and take a look at module 09 (Cent Elect). If you have Long Coding Helper available, have a browse through the bytes to see if VCDS lists flashing lights as an option for setting/unsetting one of the bits. If you don't have Long Coding Helper, you may have a help popup appear (when you attach to the module) which lists the decimal values to add to the coding for various supported features - if so, have a quick look through to see if flashing brake lights is available.

Cheers!

MF.