Yes, you're right. Rear fog light is standard in Europe.

 

I'm curious... does the fog light automatically disengage itself when the ignition is turned off, or can it be turned on permanently? The reason I ask is because one of my pet hates are ******* who leave their rear fog lights turned on all day every day. Not a problem over here where virtually no vehicles have rear fogs, but back home in Australia it seemed to be a plague.

Quite apart from being annoying, rear fog lights can be downright bloody dangerous when it's not foggy, because they're very bright and they're aimed straight into the eyes of the driver behind.

 

that's what I noticed on the one I observed. with no fog it was almost blinding even being red. you can PM me now eccles - my box is open again.

 

In Europe normally when you turn off the ignition fog lights automatically disengage, so I think RX8 will be the same.

You're right, rear fog ligths can be a bit dangerous when is no fog because they're very bright, but RX8 right fog is in a very low position..

 

Does anyone know anything about a rear fog light? It's a red light that fits into the rear rotary design below the bumper. I've only seen it on pictures of the "European" RX's.

 

I know no one in the US has it yet
I know I want one

 

I wrote to Japan parts about the rear fog lights and they told me(without explanation) that would not "suit" my American model.

 

that sucks

 

Try Canberra my friend... even in Winter and Spring time in Melbourne

 

This is a mod that looked easy, but then turned nasty!
Bought the 'Rear Fog Light' assembly from Canzoomer (I never could resist a good sale!)
Just the lamp, so I wouldn't have to take off the rear bumper to install the wiring harness.
I thought I knew where to cut, the little rotary shaped 'well' has a bit of a ridge at the bottom that looks like a 'cut-here' situation.
Too easy, cut out the bottom of the dimple and test fit the lamp. Doesn't fit, and the screw holes are still an inch from the screw brackets, so another inch of depth has to go.
My poor Dremel tool is knackered from all this plastic and dust.

 

So I finally get all th surplus plastic cut away, I had to remove everything inside the 'lip' of the cutout, except one quarter inch.
Mount the lamp and screw it into place.
Run some wires up thru the grommets into the trunk, and tap into the rear light circuit.
A switch, and a fused power tap into the hot wire.

 

Lights up real nice... too nice... it is a FOG light after all, and resembles a laser beam from behind. First cop that sees this is giving me a ticket.
OK, a resistor to lower the output....no, that just makes a feeble laser beam.
So I replace the bulb with a cluster of red leds......now it's WAY too bright.
.....Red leds at 90 degrees, pointing sideways into the reflector.....(probably a mistake to use 8,000 candle power high intensity leds)......led powered laser beam.
A 70 ohm resistor finally tames the intesity to sub-cyclotron levels. I figure as long as it is a bit dimmer than the normal rear lights, I should be OK.

 

Mounted the switch inside the trunk lock cover while it was off, a nice recessed switch so it would not get switched by luggage, and the whole thing finally looks great.

Couple of shots from behind......

 

wow,

looks really good

 

Wow, EXCELLENT post Doctorr! I too have the rear fog and plan to put it in when I get a chance, and you just saved me a WHOLE lot of trouble and experimentation. Coupla questions though...

First off, when you got done cutting, how much was gone and from where? The rear flat backing to the rotary symbol, plus another inch into the rotary shape from the rear? So if you look at the inside of the rotary shape, there was only a 1/4 inch of plastic left? Just want to make sure I'm clear here.

Secondly, where did you get the automotive-rated resistor?

The rest I can handle. Thanks...

 

Question: For clarification (for me anyway), so is this fog light still hard wired to your brake lights? I want the rear fog light but want to use independently of the brake lights. Thanks.

 

The cutting - you need to take off all the plastic inside, except the last quarter inch of the first little rim around the 'well'. You can just make out the lip that is left at the top of this picture. I found it is impossible to take a picture of my LED 'bulb' inside the reflector....

The wiring - It is now more of an illuminated symbol, instead of a 'projector'. Since it is no longer bright I just wired into the rear running lights, but the control is inside the trunk. If you wanted on/off control from the dash, you could buy the wiring harness for it, but it involves major surgery, bumper removal etc. Or you could just buy the Mazda switch which fits next to the DSC Off button, and run your own wires.

'Zoomer can get the light, the harness and the switch fairly cheaply, and he even has a nice optional switch - it is a two-in-one button, one 'fog light' switch and one 'DSC Off' switch in one unit, the same size as the original (and the same PRICE!)

A resistor was no good, it dimmed the bulb, but left it focussed back down the road, just like the original.
I used L.E.D.s to light it up, but not 'blind' people behind. My LEDs were just a little too powerful, from a flashlight project I was doing. I DID run six of them in a string under the dash, three in each footwell, powered from the running light circuit. They make nice bright foot lights.

 

Very nice further explanation, many thinks. But where was it you said you got the automotive-rated resistor, again?

I think I'm going to try it with the stock bulb and a resistor, but paint the top of the bulb with high-temp paint first so that it will only bounce off the reflector. By my reckoning, that oughta do the trick.

 

Did I say 'Automotive' Rated...?

I think I meant 'Old Zenith TV' rated!

I found a 20w resistor was about the right size, this one is 3.9 ohms, but of course will make a lot of heat, you would want to keep it away from plastics!

 

LOL, ok thanks.

 

why would you need a 20w resistor for LEDs, they don't use a whole lot of current.......?

 

Well, I got my light installed today, although I have not wired it in yet. Still pondering how I want to do that... brake lights at reduced power, running lights at greatly reduced power, dash switch at full power, or a combo of all of the above. We'll see.

Cutting the rear underbumper was painful, but went well as I gained confidence. Had to cut quite a bit more than I thought... initially cut to 1/4 inch of the outer edge, then had to cut that last 1/4 inch out too to make it fit.

Anyway, MUCH THANKS to Doctorr and for all your help. This is an excellent mod, IMHO.

 

the hole left BEFORE second cut. The "crease" is where I ultimately cut to.

 

another angle before the second cut...

 

second cut, showing extra cut out