Made an upgrade to LED daytime running lights this past weekend. Driving a small car in DC traffic requires keeping lights on to be seen by the other brain-dead, distracted drivers, but the only option with the FD is to keep the pop-up headlights on or use the parking lights, which are not very bright. The lower edge of the radiator opening on the front facia is perfect for a row of LEDs. Several types are avaiable from Autozone , Advance Auto, NAPA or on line. Stick-on super adhesive backing makes installation easy and there is a wire (black with white stripe) on the battery side of the engine compartment going down to the fans that is powered only when the ignition key is on to wire in to. View from the front with the LEDs on makes the car stand out in traffic and will hopefully keep some idiot from pulling out in front of me.

 

like to see pics

 

Photo attached. I used low end LED strips- cost less than $20. Adhesive backing seems adequate. Will see if they stay in place after a few miles. May also add more lights to outline a full circle around the opening and also in the brake duct opening.

 

your fog lights dont work? also, wouldnt cars not directly in front of you not be able to see them anyway?

 

i like the idea, however when i do it, i'll get some that are slightly smaller and put them under the running lights, since they attach via adhesive anyways.

 

wrathof shampoo- the fog lights require the headlights to be on low beam. I tried re- wiring the fog light switch on the console, but there is an interlock with the main headlights that prevents this fix. the whole idea of doing this was so I did not need to have the pop-up headlights on. (could have done the complete headlight replacement to sleek lights, but that is a future project) . Cars directly in front of me probably will not see the LED or foglights, since thy are down low. I am most concerned about the driver waiting to pull out in traffic a couple hundred yards ahead who may not notice a small low car like the FD. It is almost as bad as motorcycle riders who have cars pull out all the time.......Oh, I just didn't see you... excuse.

 

tt7hvn- sounds like you have a plan. There are dozens of different types of LED available. Mine are actually pretty small- 1/4 inch x 1/4 inch. They look larger due to glare in the photo. Most of the strips can also be cut to size and re-wired to make a custom size, so you can configure the shape and size to fit your needs. I was tempted to make a tri-oval rotary shape, but am not quite that talented. I notice you have a 1 liter bike, so you probably have people pull out in front of you all the time. Difference is, your bike can go into warp speed to go thru them.

 

no offense but you still cant fix idiots with leds, thankfully most people in dc drive lower cars anyway than anywhere else in america (more hondas, acuras, infiniti etc and less SUVs) I remember seeing a dude in a CRX get backed into and totalled at a train stop. the idiot in the big *** suv looked out the rear view mirror and didnt see the CRX because it was lower than her, backed up right into it and totalled it, cause the idiot was too impatient to wait for the train barriers to lower. but seriously, those maryland idiots on the beltway are who you need to look out for, not the dc drivers.

all you need to do is put a wire from your battery to a relay, power that to the fog lights, and put a switch under your dash to trip the relay. there you go, fog lights on. dont use the stock wiring at all.

 

also when i was in dc i was driving a turbo prelude, when people ran a stop sign when it was my turn anyway, i just peeled out getting as close to them as possible making tons of noise and a huge scene. in the end they cut me off but i made them pee their pants and think twice about doing it again.

 

I do like the brightness, but really like the STAGE 5 weight reduction you did to the license plate. That is a serious amount of holes!

Vince

 

Project88Turbo- Yeah- drilling holes in an aluminum plate really helped! Seriously, I wanted to let air thru it, since it blocks the opening in the front facia that supplies air to the radiator. I am on my third motor. Previous two went largely due to overheating. I have upgraded radiator and everthing else to keep the motor cool, but in VA they require the stupid front license plate. In the stock mounting position it blocks at least 40% of the radiator opening. I inverted the bracket to lower it, but it still blocks air flow. So far the cops have not bothered me, since I was careful not to drill into any of the letters or numbers.

 

wrathofshampoo- My daily driver is usually a BMW X5 4.4i, so I am one of those idiots that backs over small cars. Or when I want to get medieval, I drive my F250 with its environmentally un-friendly V-10 engine. No one pulls out in front of me when I drive that vehicle. So... size does matter. On the flip side, if I ride my horse along the side on the back roads, no one seems to know how to pass safely.

 

but the v-10 in the rx7. sometimes size does matter in the opposite direction!

 

Hmmmmmmmmmm. V-10 in RX-7. It would take some modification to fit that hunk of steel in the FD. It might fit sideways, but then, at least in Japan, there would be an extra tax because it exceeded the small car size limit.

 

actually, it goes by engine size, not vehicle size. but the RX7 is already in the highest bracket, even though the engine is actually very tiny, because it is considered in the special "sport car bracket" alongside cars like the Honda NSX. a subaru wrx sti is considered a "family vehicle" however. the way they do it is extremely stupid. so I get to pay highest road tax, highest JCI, and my additionally insurance is doubled.

 

Looks good!

 

Did you cheese hole your license plate?

 

Mr3plus1- Another poster already asked, although I prefer the term "structural weight reduction" to cheese hole. Note that curbs have also ground off the bottom edge of the plate.

Project88Turbo- Yeah- drilling holes in an aluminum plate really helped! Seriously, I wanted to let air thru it, since it blocks the opening in the front facia that supplies air to the radiator. I am on my third motor. Previous two went largely due to overheating. I have upgraded radiator and everthing else to keep the motor cool, but in VA they require the stupid front license plate. In the stock mounting position it blocks at least 40% of the radiator opening. I inverted the bracket to lower it, but it still blocks air flow. So far the cops have not bothered me, since I was careful not to drill into any of the letters or numbers.