S.2/Turbo 'Audi style' sidelight conversion

sawood12 · Mar 12, 2009

I think it looks great and suspect it looks even better in real life. One of the very few external 944 mods that I think actually works. Good work!

barrysmith · Mar 12, 2009

ORIGINAL: John Sims

[&:] I'm afraid that's not doing it for me.

Another 944 owning Director of the Club has, apparently, introduced 4 hi output white LED's in the area next to the indicator bulb. He is a very conservative chap but suggests they look rather good. I am looking forward to seeing the results.

While not struck on the LED strip indicator - white LED strips top and bottom of the lens could look pretty fair with all the practical advantages as noted previously.

Thanks for your comments John.....

PHOTO'S NOW ON THANKS

Sorry to say I am not a wizard on the photo side of things on the forum, so I have sent the photo's to John Simms, I will say in the flesh its the LEDS are fantastic,

remove the light complete and then drill 4 10mm holes following the honeycombe back, the 4 LED lights screw in perfectly from the front,with the locking nuts fitting the honeycombe. wire in the 4 bulbs a small harness and then rewire the live only to the switch area on the centre consul, the blank switch is replaced by one from the 928 and all looks perfect. You can pick up the earth a light level from the side light or adjacent body fitting.

You need to change the indicator bulb for a 9 light LED that omits the light to the front there is no light of amber transfer to the 4 10mm leds its perfect it also flashes quicker more like a modern car and before someone say's why not buy a modern car the answer is I have one, I have only put modern lights on the 944 because its used daily at a steady 85 on most motor ways and its nice to be seen without being to loud..

wolfie308 · Mar 12, 2009

Barry, I like the sound of that also and look forward to seeing piccies.

I have to disagree on the matter of fitting any LED bulb as an indicator in the S.2/turbo front with clear lenses - I've tried a number including 25 LED clusters(19 front + 6 round the sides). They just don't illuminate the lens enough when viewed at 45 or worse 60 deg, and in bright daylight I'd go as far as to say they're dangerous. Sorry if I sound a bit opinionated, but it's an area I've done a lot of work in. I believe LED lighting will for certain be the future - I'm sure we're not far off high power LED projector style headlights becoming common place.

I'm even more confused about the high speed flashing - the same as you get when a bulb has blown? I thought that would be illegal - somebody please correct me if that's not the case, but it was precisely what I was trying to avoid hence using the filament bulb and the amber LED strip together. I wanted to achieve similar or better visibiliy than the stock amber lens with clear bulb, but with a bit of updating.

I'm thinking of conducting evening viewings if anybody's interested [

]

Peter Empson · Mar 12, 2009

My white car doesn't have side repeaters and flashes quicker than normal but will still get through an MOT without problem. I had a look online and it has to be within 60-120 flashes per second, so there's quite a large range and I guess as standard the 944 is at the bottom of that scale.

barrysmith · Mar 12, 2009

Sorry if I mislead you, the flashes are quicker, but only like my audi tt, the leds indicater bulbs show at all angles, due to the angle of the reflective rear lense or I have been lucky on the bulbs iv'e bought, they don't interfer with the brightness of the high white light given off by the 4 large leds and when they are on together you would say they are 2 seperate lights, but we know its only one.

when John gets time to put the pic's on ,I think you will be surprized , I was. send me your a email address I will forword pictures..

John Sims · Mar 13, 2009

ORIGINAL: barrysmith

....when John gets time to put the pic's on ,I think you will be surprized ...

All part of the service. [

]

I like that lots. I like the nice white light on the side lights as well.

Looks like another job to add to the list.

barrysmith · Mar 13, 2009

John do you not sleep at night , look at the time man, thanks Barry

wolfie308 · Mar 13, 2009

Peter - thanks for clarifying on flasher speed. Just a thought are flasher relays available suitable to overcome the high speed flash? Apparently they are for the 964 and I know they are for a number of Toyota models. Also I thought front side flashers were obligatory for MOT?....probably wrong again [8|]

Barry/ John - Many thanks for the pics, I must say I like them a lot too and goes to show I don't have all the best ideas [

]. I still remain unconvinced about the angle of view you get with the LED bulb for the indicator, but things have moved on a lot since I tried one. Certainly when I tried them in the 944 rears with clear lenses, the view from the side was dismal, but this may be largely overcome with the new tower style LED bulbs

Here's a few pics of another 'project' which illustrates what I mean.....

Clear lens, amber filament bulb

with 25 LED bulb

and from the side.....

I'll try and take some more pics of mine later from 45 round to 90 deg from the front.

Another point mentioned on TIPEC was of several instances of LED sidelights being pronounced 'too blue' by different MOT inspectors, and failing them. My question is - do they use some kind of 'spectral analyser' or is it just a completely subjective assessment?.....I think I can guess the answer [

] Has anybody here failed on that?

John Sims · Mar 13, 2009

I am seeing Barry next week so will undertake a full investigation with pictures.

Perhaps we could get it in Porsche Post to quell some of the criticisms of limited 944 interest. Perhaps I'll only put it in Porsche Post so only members get the benefit [

].

Peter Empson · Mar 13, 2009

ORIGINAL: wolfie308

Peter - thanks for clarifying on flasher speed. Just a thought are flasher relays available suitable to overcome the high speed flash? Apparently they are for the 964 and I know they are for a number of Toyota models. Also I thought front side flashers were obligatory for MOT?....probably wrong again [8|]

As I understand it, if you can see the indicators from the side (as you can on my car) then you don't have to have them. I assume a turbo will require them however as they don't have wraparound front indicators.

I was going to try a relay from an American car if I had problems as they don't have side repeaters either. Somehow whacking in some resistors felt like a bit of a cheat in a lightweight car [

]

Diver944 · Mar 13, 2009

ORIGINAL: Peter Empson

I was going to try a relay from an American car if I had problems as they don't have side repeaters either. Somehow whacking in some resistors felt like a bit of a cheat in a lightweight car []

Why not simply plug some bulbs into the wiring up in the wheel arch? Would give you a nice partial neon wheel arch effect when turning corners

Peter Empson · Mar 13, 2009

ORIGINAL: Diver944
Why not simply plug some bulbs into the wiring up in the wheel arch? Would give you a nice partial neon wheel arch effect when turning corners

I like that, it'd go with the spinners and the burberry check I'm getting too [

]

Hilux · Mar 13, 2009

Perhaps I'll only put it in Porsche Post so only members get the benefit [].

[

][

] Excellent - one assumes this refers to another thread [

]

georgethackray · Mar 13, 2009

ORIGINAL: Diver944
Why not simply plug some bulbs into the wiring up in the wheel arch? Would give you a nice partial neon wheel arch effect when turning corners

They'd be best in Blue wouldn't they?

wolfie308 · Mar 14, 2009

Well my Chinese sidelight LED's arrived today. Not particularly bright from the front, but add a nice accent light to the combination lamp. I'll keep looking for some with a better radial spead. Barry...yours are MUCH brighter, but they do look rather.....blue by comparison.

John - I'd be pleased to see any more pics of Barry's and any comments seeing them in the flesh. As we know, they're very tricky to capture accurately(especially with a simple camera like mine)

And here's a couple from pretty close to 90 deg from the front. I think you can quite clearly see the indicator from this angle which was one of the aims. I always feel nervous nosing out into a road with obsured visibility, so I'd like the indicator to be seen from the front corner.

Pastry · Mar 17, 2009

I was pretty impressed by this picture;

So bought these;

But seeing this (sidelights) i'm not so sure now;

Im curious wolfie did you buy the same 12v 1W BA9S bulbs as Red GM? are they just mounted/oriented differently on a S2 to a lux, or is it just the photos giving wildly different results for brightness? In your photo the sidelights barely look lit at all.

This is just regarding sidelights, I think the LED flashers/sidelights above are evolving into a nice looking upgrade for S2 owners.

wolfie308 · Mar 17, 2009

Pastry...yes they are the same bulbs I bought and was also a bit underwhelmed by them. It may be partly down to the fact that in the first pic, no flash was used - my pic was shot on auto with flash. I can't qiute remember, but they may be more forward facing in the Lux units, which would make a huge difference.

I'm looking for some 'tower' types which give a more even all round illumination. Some LED's claim to offer 180 deg visibility, but the reality is that the light level at 90 deg to straight on is only a fraction of what you get looking dircetly at it. These are the sort of thing I'm looking for....2nd item down

http://www.superbrightleds.com/BA9S6_specs.htm

If anybody knows of a source in the U.K for something similar, I'd pleased to give them a go

zcacogp · Mar 18, 2009

What sort of resistors are you running with these? As in, would it be worth dropping the resistance a little to drive the LED's a smidge harder and see if they get brighter?

Oli.