Got some new LEDs last night. I've been thinking about converting my side marker lights to side repeaters (turn signals) for a while. It's always bugged me that the RX-8's signals are strictly front and rear, as this can be a real safety issue when you are driving on busy multi-lane freeways. Outside of North America this is how the corner functions anyway, so I guess you could say I truly have JDM corners now. I know these aren't as cool as the 6000K marker lights, but added safety is always a good thing. Here are the bulbs I used:

http://www.v-leds.com/Exterior-LED/C...81175-1-2.html


Also, I decided to get some of the strip lights from V-LEDS, which are 5 bucks each, so pretty cheap way to do footwell lights. I picked up 2 reds and 2 whites. The reds are on with the lights and the whites come on when the door opens. Links to the LED strips:

http://www.v-leds.com/Interior-LED/D...74244-1-3.html
http://www.v-leds.com/Interior-LED/D...74230-1-3.html

I also picked up one of the license plate frames, but didn't have time to install it yesterday, so look for an update on that this weekend.

Pics:

New side repeater:


Again, this is strictly a signal light now, when not signalling the light is off:


Footwells:
(I forgot to take a pic with the lights off and the door open, but I'll take a few more this weekend)

 

Looking good Aipex! I've always wondered why our lights work like that in the first place, it seemed strange. I'm not going to convert mine to turn signals though, what I actually want to do is put some amber lights in the fender vent to make a turn signal. I'm going to have to construct some sort of housing for that though, and a way to attach it to the inside of the body panels, and then tap it into the turn signals. So it will have to wait a bit, but I'm going to try it eventually.

Where did you tap those strips into for your footwells? I'd like to do something similar, but I am not exactly an electrician so I try to keep things simple as possible.

 

Well, the reason our lights are like that is because US regulations don't require a side signal, but do require a side marker light/reflector. These regulations are outdated. The rest of the world doesn't bother with the marker light but requires a side signal. I thought about doing something with the fender vent too, but in the end wanted to keep it simple.

The red footwells are tapped into the ashtray light (central location, dims with the dimmer switch) and the whites are tapped the same way as Rotary Rasps footwell lights are (which I don't remember off the top of my head, but if you search around the forum, there are some pics).

 

What do you guys think of these for the brake lights? http://www.v-leds.com/Exterior-LED/P...35733-1-2.html

They're on sale for $30 now, and it says they're much brighter than the $25 27-LEDs, so I was thinking of picking them up. But I'm still not entirely sure, especially b/c the only review gives them just a 3.

I need an LED strip for my trunk, so I may as well order them together. Thanks.

 

They won't be as bright as stock bulbs, so I wouldn't.

 

Installed the LED license plate frame with the auxilary reverse LEDs. There are 6 LEDs that are 3 watts each and holy cow they are bright. This thing is actually functional, and would be a great solution for people with red-out taillights. Here is a link and some pics:

http://www.v-leds.com/Exterior-LED/L...-p7367945.html
Note: they only have the chrome listed on their site at the moment, but they also will be selling black (which I have) and dark chrome.

 

^Looks awsome!

 

Some people in the course of this thread have asked about amber fog bulbs, well I just noticed that they have them available:

http://www.v-leds.com/Exterior-LED/D...72495-1-2.html

 

^ Thats exactly what I been looking for! I am sorry to ask again if this has already been answered... Does the v-leds require some kind of resistors or is it built in?

 

It's built in.

 

Damn I already go Nokya $@%^%$& lucky the reflectors are doing well with cap off on the traditional bulb type...tons of light reflection...

Oh well, thanks for the update...

 

Got confused. Is the Canadian DRL same as parking light and same as position light?

What bulb size exactly should I order?

 

No, in Canada the high beams double as DRLs (at reduced power). They are H9 bulbs. If you replace these with LED bulbs you will lose your high beam functionality.

The parking lights are the little mock projector lights in the inner corner of the headlight housing. They are 194 bulbs.

I don't know what "position" lights are, but I guess the parking lights could be called that in different markets.

 

Thanks a lot. That's exactly the answer I was looking for.

 

Just installed my fogs and HID bulbs...will have pics up later today

 

Did you get the HID bulbs from V-LEDS? What color temp did you get? Pics!

 

Yep the HID bulbs are from V-LEDS and the color temp is 6k with blue. And as promised, here are some pics! (unfortunately, my camera doesn't like night pics, so I did my best)

 

Hockey, how hard was it to change the low-beam bulbs? I am interested in the HID w/ blue from VLEDs like you have, but they look to be difficult to change, unless I am mistaken?

I had a helluva time swapping fogs, until I realized it would be easier on the passenger side to put the bulb in and THEN connect it.

 

replacing the low beams wasn't as hard as I thought. There is a DIY for this in the DIY section, but I would advise you to take off the bumper and remove the headlights while doing this. Using his method of going through the fender liner has alot more danger than removing the bumper and headlights. The rest of the instructions are good because that's what I used to change my bulbs.

 

hockeyrx-8: so in person your hid bulbs have a blueness to them? bit confused since i see a little purple from your pics. probably your cam though.

 

^yea...it's just the camera...looks really good in person

 

Looks good Ray. I was thinking of doing the same Mod. I gotta see your in person thou

 

Those look great! They look like a better match than my Philips Ultinons. Now I'm tempted to pick up a pair.

 

Some interior stuff to show off. V-LEDS is clearing out the 3x.5 watt 194 bulbs, so get them while you can. I picked up a pair for my map lights and they are awesome. I'm thinking about picking up another pair for my door courtesy lights.

The bulbs I'm currently using in my doors and in the dome location are from V-LEDS, but they are older bulbs that they no longer sell, so I can't post links to them. But, like I said, I'm thinking of using the same clearance bulbs in my door location and below is a link to the dome light that I want to upgrade to. Maybe my next order with them. Also, a link to the bulbs I'm using in my vanity mirrors (sun visor)

Current map lights, future door courtesy lights:
http://www.v-leds.com/Interior-LED/D...68710-1-2.html


Future dome light:
http://www.v-leds.com/Interior-LED/D...08258-1-2.html


Vanity mirrors:
http://www.v-leds.com/Interior-LED/V...81128-1-2.html


Also note the footwell lights with and without lights on. (they are more of a 5000K white than the 6000K map, door and dome lights but still look great).
One more thing: Almost all the brightness you are seeing in these pics is from the map lights, I can turn my current dome on and off and you can tell almost no difference (current dome is NOT using the high power .5 watt LEDs). This should change when I upgrade to the dome I linked to above.

 

I'm looking for yellow parking LEDs.. I have a set of yellow PIAAs on right now and its not yellow enough to match the yellow nykia foglights... how does the yellow parking LEDs look like?
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