I know it comes from an anime but since i want to as this in a racing point of vieuw to start up a good discussion.
Warning when watching the anime clip the music choses as BGM can be anoying....

The OMg pnzord headlight trink
I was just wondering how much skil would thi take on pitch black track.
Not to menchion the amoutnof guts needed.

why don't you try it?

just make sure to let us know which newspaper to read for your obituary.

It wouldn't take any skill at all.

A touch of madness would be more 'apropriate' perhaps?

Cant do it by yourself you need to steer using the lights of the car in front.

I used to do it on the back roads with my friends but have never tried racing under those conditions

Not skill. Luck.

Cartoon display of driving skill = epic fail.

Having been watching that anime lately because of bordom, I WOULD NOT REPEAT ANY OF THAT IN REAL LIFE.

Sure it looks cool in an anime, but do that in real life and you WILL DIE. Its not a case of if, its a case of when.

I actualy enjoy that anime because as much as it would be crazy to do any of that stuff, I haven't seen one bullshit move yet, its all been possible. I'm not that far in though.

On a side note, I have driven in the dark with no headlight, I was on my dual sport honda bike, and the headlight shorted out. I had to drive home by moonlight wherever it showed through the trees. I went very slowly.

I know its realy dangeous i think Initial d needs a DONt TRY THIS at Home message.

And i doubt it would be legal to try it at like say Le mans racing

You would be stupid to drive without lights on, i have done it before driving away from a girls house in the dead of night but as soon as i got away i turned them on, it can get quite hairy even fi you know the roads so in short. DONT DO IT!

if you watch the topgear 24hr race you will see them saying its very difficult to see anything even with the lights on..

so having the lights off, i doubt you would get round the first corner.

go try it on LFS, take a track you know well, close your eyes and i bet you end up crashed or in the gravel.

You can drive with the lights off - it's not usually 100% pitch black so you can still see a bit.



Of course the lights on the car in front help, too.

The cars rear lights would illuminate the car behind anyway.

What a stupid show...

You'll find it is possible in real life to drive on an unlit road with no headlights, iirc the army train you to do that.

Takes about 10-15 minutes for your eyes to adjust to the darkness (providing there's no light around) and you can drive in darkness.... its fun believe me

i think the topic should be "Just how stupid do you have to be to drive on unlit road with your headlights off?"

Actually you can drive with your lights off at low speed but if you ever drive a car on speed above 130km/h (I don't doubt you do)with long lights on, you will notice how fast things you saw at the end of the lights come to you. Now imagine you drive at this speed without lights.....
So avoiding biker at night with light off could be quite an experience for him and you.
Anyway anime have this advantage that there will happen everything you draw. And this rule unfortunattely doesn't apply to the real life
So repeating in real life anything you saw in anime its generally bad idea.
Don't do it Although you my watch on you tube epic fails of guys who tried and FAIL miserably

no skill whatsoever..... Just idiocracy.

Quote from Chupacabras84 :

Although you my watch on you tube epic fails of guys who tried and FAIL miserably

Whel that the most fun part

Quote from Chrisuu01 :

And i doubt it would be legal to try it at like say Le mans racing

It happens ALL the time. A car spins and knocks a headlight or 2 off. Even if 1 headlight breaks or dims after a crash, the officials tell the driver to pit immediately.

Night driving is a bitch at the best of times on unlit roads as dipped headlights + people coming in the other direction with their lights on means you can't see more than 10 feet in front of you anyway.

Trying it with your lights off would be nuts. The only good night driving is either on a well lit road or with no traffic and full beams on.

Quote from Xaid0n :

You'll find it is possible in real life to drive on an unlit road with no headlights, iirc the army train you to do that.

Takes about 10-15 minutes for your eyes to adjust to the darkness (providing there's no light around) and you can drive in darkness.... its fun believe me

yeah right enough, my mate said it was one of the most outrageous things he has done. It takes about 5 mins to let the eyes adjust to the light available.

I remember watching the entire series of Initial D 4th Stage. That was amazing.. simply awesome.. I loved the music. xD

Quote from Xaid0n :

You'll find it is possible in real life to drive on an unlit road with no headlights, iirc the army train you to do that.

Takes about 10-15 minutes for your eyes to adjust to the darkness (providing there's no light around) and you can drive in darkness.... its fun believe me

Just because something is possible, doesn't mean it's advisable.

The only reasons why the army will let you drive like that is to reduce the likelihood of being painted by bombs or artillery, and make it harder for the enemy to gather intelligence about your manoeuvres. The balance of risk in such a scenario may favour driving without lights, but it's still very dangerous.

Quote from AstroBoy :

You would be stupid to drive without lights on, i have done it before driving away from a girls house in the dead of night but as soon as i got away i turned them on, it can get quite hairy even fi you know the roads so in short. DONT DO IT!

Care to divulge the juicy details about WHY you were driving away from a girl's house in the dead of night without headlights on? I smell Romeo and Juliet here, or perhaps her father was lining you up with a AT4?

Quote from samjh :

Care to divulge the juicy details about WHY you were driving away from a girl's house in the dead of night without headlights on? I smell Romeo and Juliet here, or perhaps her father was lining you up with a AT4?

Hahaha! LOL! Oh this so wins! Lets just say i know how to work the magic.

Ha! My post has been sig'ed!

Doing that is downright dangerious and stupid. Sure, even if you know where you're going, other people won't see you. If you do that in racing, expect to get cutoff if you try to take the inside line of a turn because whoever you're racing will probably have no idea where you are. And you really do not want to have your headlights off when racing on a mountain pass. My friend video'ed himself racing down Glendora Mountain Road and all you see is pitch black just a few yards ahead because his car lights were the only lights. The only thing stopping a car from falling off the mountain was a bank of dirt only 5-8 inches high or a few loose rocks. There were hardly any guardrails.

Oh and apparently, Tazio Nuvolari used that same tactic when he raced Achille Varzi in 1930. He supposedly tailed Varzi with his headlights off at 93 mph and turned them on right when he overtook him. Just thinking about that makes my nuts shrink in fear.

Quote from samjh :

Ha! My post has been sig'ed!

Your post had so much epic winning in it, that it should be remeberd!

It depends how close to a major settlement you are and whether it is overcast. Street lights reflect of clouds and the upper atmosphere, so it is rarely pitchblack unless you live in the wilds, where it really can be utterly dark.

In night racing your car is required to have all it's lights operational, I believe in ACO (Le Mans) if you pass the pits with an inoperable light the lap isnt counted and you will consequently be black and orange dotted (A race control flag to return to the pits or pull off because your vehicle is dangerous or in the case of exhaust issues, in breach of legal noise regulations).