Whats the best colour for a 4X4?

Ditto, I also have a champagne light brown coloured Pathfinder and it hides dirt and scratches pretty well, which suits me fine cause I don't like washing it....

nullabour beige is a good seviceable colour for the bush

Silver is the new white, there are more silver cars on the road today than there are white.

Apparently.

Almost all dealer demo cars are silver now

I wouldn't have a silver/ grey/ steel grey coloured car as they blend in with the road on a cloudy day and are hard to see, nearly had a head on crash with one some years ago, the car was in a bit of a ditch as I was about to pass a semi, had a funny feeling things weren't right so hesitated and sure enough out of the ditch in front came a car, luckily because of my hesitation I was able to duck back in behind the truck, the driver of the car gave me a blast on his horn as he went past but little did he know I couldn't see him without his lights on or anything. Just my 2c worth.

Cheers

Deanna

I think like most things Doug , cars and their colour are often brought on
image rather than practicallity.

White is high (but not highest) on visibility (silver is worst), and its a plain paint that is easy to match and live with , even reflects heat well , but image seems to sell and the dealers know this, and in fact try to change colour over time
in order to upsell.

Doug,

I don't understand when the light gets low, why people don't put their headlights on.

It seems that because they can see others, they believe people coming the other way can see them. As you know looking into the sun is entirely different to having the sun behind you.

Then there are the ones who put their parkers on, surely looking at others with parkers on they realize those lights are next to useless.

Have a good one

I'd suggest: buy the colour you want/like and just switch the headlights on in low visibility conditions - a dark grey car with headlights on is more visible in poor conditions than a bright yellow car with no lights (and many people who buy yellow for safety mistakenly seem to think that's enough and therefore they don't need to put their headlights on in poor conditions).

Rock Ape, I think it's more a case of people think headlights are only for when they need to see where they are going. A lot of people obviously don't think about why parking lights might be so named or even look at other vehicles and think "that car is hardly visible with parking lights, that must mean I'm hardly visible with parking lights too!"

My Jackaroo is dark metallic grey (wouldn't have been my first choice but choices are limited when buying second-hand). Unless the sun is shining or if I'm on single carriageway highway (ie. speed limit >80km/h) I'll put the headlights on - turning a switch is an easy thing to do to make sure people can see you, and modern cars all have auto-off or reminder functions on the lights.

I initially thought that auto-headlights were a bit of a silly gimmick, now I sometimes wonder if they should be mandatory?! :)

My mechanic was complaining the other day about the new regulations in Qld which are to do with the use of fog lights. There is now a fine for using fog lights if there is no fog or inclement conditions.
His complaint was that he drives a steel blue sedan & uses fog lights in all conditions because he has been nearly cleaned up several times by other drivers thaty don't see him.
That steel blue colour will disapear in broad daylight. Anybody who thinks differantly is kidding themselves.
As far as park lights go. They are designed for & only of any use when you are parked.
Do your self a favour & get it painted white. Low maintainance, low cost & near the top on the visability scale.
Always remember, your loved ones are riding with you & if not, how will they get on without you.

So Fatso, what's wrong with using headlights on low beam?
There have been fines for inappropriate use of fog-lights for many years at least in ACT/NSW and I'd expect also in other states too. Head light low beams are shielded to prevent dazzling other drivers but fog lights almost invariably are not (Commodore ones seem to be the worst by far - they might as well just use spot/driving lights!)

Its funny situation Timbo , I don't see anything wrong , but nevertheless its illegal in Victoria unless in hazadous conditions.

Yet my trailbike has DRL's (daylight running lights) which of course are always on, but then I never understood the principles behind bureaucratic regulations.

Robin, as I understand, the difference is in the design of the lamp for different purposes - this relates to the shape of the reflector and the sheilding of the globe/bulb.

There are strict standards that headlights have to comply with so that the low beam won't shine into the eyes of other drivers - they should point downwards (you'll see a defined line above which they don't shine) and the light will 'kick-up' to the left (for RH drive vehicles, opposite side for LHD vehicles - this is to throw light onto the shoulder of the road to watch for wildlife, pedestrians etc.)

Unfortunately, the way a low beam lamp is focussed away from the eyes of other drivers obviously makes them less visible hence DRL's which are focussed straight ahead so as to be seen by other drivers but because of this, they are a lower wattage/power than standard headlights. (Having said that, I'd expect most motorbikes would just run the headlight whenever the engine is running - unless it's a european bike).

As far as I understand, there are no standards governing fog lights (hence the laws about when to/not to use them) - they just throw light ahead (like a high-beam or driving lamp) but are mounted low so as to penetrate beneath the fog. Additionally, fog lights are usually the same wattage as standard headlights, but due to the lack of focussing and sheilding of the light they often cause dazzling (or at least irritation!) to other drivers.

That's my understanding of the differences.

To continue the off topic slightly, we have a 380 sedan and the lights are never switched except by timer when we get out, straight back on when we restart, I am fitting a similar unit to the fourby. SWMBO is form the USA and in a lot of states it is law to have daytime running lights.

Everyone jumps up and down about Motor Bikes not using daytime lights when no matter what size or color all vehicles are easier to see when lights are on.

Like the thinking.
That way if you want to replace a panel, any one available from the wreckers would work.

Thank you travelling Pixie
That is my next colour job for sure.