My 2008 Roadster's daytime running lights come on when the car starts but they seem to be the same brightness as the headlights. My understanding on all my other cars has always been that they run on the high beam circuit at lower voltage to produce a dimmer beam but there is no difference in the beam when I turn on the headlights on my Z. Is this normal?

 

mine do the same thing

 

must be a canadian thing...

 

If they are HID then that is probably why - I know that for my mazda3 the canadian models have DRL, but they do not have the option for HID (for some reason they arent allowed?).

And yes its a Canadian thing, US models dont have DRL (at least my 06 doesnt).

 

Okay, it was explained to me by one of the salespeople at the dealer that I work for.
Because the high beams have a limited life span, the DRL's are the standard low beams at standard brightness.
Mystery solved.