Center Brake Light Blinker>>>easy upgrade

[scottyb]

Installed mine today in 15 minutes. Great write up & really easy modification!!! Thanks.

[Tyger]

Originally Posted by blondie

I thought you folks might be interested in this- it turns out these 3rd brake light blinkers are not legal, nor are they likely to be soon. Mercedes Benz did indeed try to introduce the feature, but was rejected by the NHTSA. This information comes from the Aug05 issue of Roundel magazine.

This is not really the same thing. Mercedes was proposing to have ALL brake lights flash for EMERGENCY stopping only (i.e. jamming on the brakes hard). I am not surprised that NHTSA didn't go for that one. That's a major change.
Some sites selling the "third light" flasher contend that it is indeed legal in all states, but I have not seen any evidence supporting that contention (nor indeed any that show it to be illegal).
Of course there are still many cars and trucks on the road that are legal having no "third light" at all.

[Chococar]

I just installed me -- easy as can be. The flashing frequency seems to be just right. Thanks!

[just bob]

I installed mine last week. Really like the way that it only blinks if you haven't used the brake in the last 10 seconds (so it's not constantly blinking in stop and go traffic).

I'm also working on installing the DRL's so that I no longer have to fear all the blue-hair old ladies in their Cadillacs here in Florida. I started to look into the DRL's when I realized that my motorcycle (HD Roadking) was more visible to oncoming traffic during the day than my Storm Elise was! The DRL unit uses your front turn signal lights as running lights and a switch can be wired in so that they can be turned off at will. I wasn't initially keen on using DRL's, but it appears that many drivers just don't see my car otherwise.

Lawrence at WebElectricProducts has been very helpful. If you do get the DRL unit, let him know that it's for an Elise (each turn signal circuit draws 68 watts, which may be higher than on some other cars).

[Icedog_16]

Originally Posted by just bob

I installed mine last week. Really like the way that it only blinks if you haven't used the brake in the last 10 seconds (so it's not constantly blinking in stop and go traffic).

I'm also working on installing the DRL's so that I no longer have to fear all the blue-hair old ladies in their Cadillacs here in Florida. I started to look into the DRL's when I realized that my motorcycle (HD Roadking) was more visible to oncoming traffic during the day than my Storm Elise was! The DRL unit uses your front turn signal lights as running lights and a switch can be wired in so that they can be turned off at will. I wasn't initially keen on using DRL's, but it appears that many drivers just don't see my car otherwise.

Lawrence at WebElectricProducts has been very helpful. If you do get the DRL unit, let him know that it's for an Elise (each turn signal circuit draws 68 watts, which may be higher than on some other cars).

Why not just turn on your parking lights?

[just bob]

Originally Posted by Icedog_16

Why not just turn on your parking lights?

Parking lights aren't that bright up front (only 4 watts each, I believe). Also lights up rear lights, which I don't need.

[blondie]

Originally Posted by just bob

I installed mine last week. Really like the way that it only blinks if you haven't used the brake in the last 10 seconds (so it's not constantly blinking in stop and go traffic).

I'm also working on installing the DRL's so that I no longer have to fear all the blue-hair old ladies in their Cadillacs here in Florida. I started to look into the DRL's when I realized that my motorcycle (HD Roadking) was more visible to oncoming traffic during the day than my Storm Elise was! The DRL unit uses your front turn signal lights as running lights and a switch can be wired in so that they can be turned off at will. I wasn't initially keen on using DRL's, but it appears that many drivers just don't see my car otherwise.

Lawrence at WebElectricProducts has been very helpful. If you do get the DRL unit, let him know that it's for an Elise (each turn signal circuit draws 68 watts, which may be higher than on some other cars).

Daytime running lights do indeed increase safety. That's why Canada requires them. Although, as much as I love my Home And Native Land, it's worth pointing out that the cost of saving those few lives is very very high, and probably isn't a worthwhile public policy. Case in point:
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/question424.htm

Anyone who's read The Skeptical Environmentalist can appreciate that reasoning. Saving a few lives in the short term isn't always the right long term decision. So in summary, DRLs are probably a good idea for the Elise, but not as a public policy.

[/soapbox]

Sandy

[just bob]

Originally Posted by blondie

Daytime running lights do indeed increase safety. That's why Canada requires them. Although, as much as I love my Home And Native Land, it's worth pointing out that the cost of saving those few lives is very very high, and probably isn't a worthwhile public policy. Case in point:
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/question424.htm

Anyone who's read The Skeptical Environmentalist can appreciate that reasoning. Saving a few lives in the short term isn't always the right long term decision. So in summary, DRLs are probably a good idea for the Elise, but not as a public policy.

Just curious if the '06 Elise imported to The True North strong and free will have DRL's or have a waiver?

Howstuffworks.com is a pretty cool site (been in my favorites for awhile). It's amazing to see how high the total costs for global DRL's are. However, when I calculated my individual cost, using their numbers and my pair of 21 watt lights, I realized that those suckers are going to cost me roughly $3 (the price of 1 gallon of gas) for every 7500 miles of daylight driving.

Probably wouldn't even need to consider this if I had gone with CO or SY!

[peck555]

they will have DRL's,according to two people I've spoken to from Lotus.

[ChrisB]

Originally Posted by blondie

Daytime running lights do indeed increase safety. That's why Canada requires them. ...
Sandy

DRLs do increase safety under certain conditions. The studies that led to the adoption of DRLs in Canada and at least one European country (don't recall which off-hand) were conducted in far northern latitudes where there are extended periods of twilight and many two-lane roads. They found that, during these extended periods of twilight, many drivers felt it was light enough to not need lights. Indeed they felt they could see quite well. But, oncoming cars at a distance were often not seen until they were dangerously close. DRLs were designed to solve that problem.

In the US, except for Alaska, we don't have as pronounced a twilight period, so the benefit is significantly reduced. They are also of virtually no value on divided highways.

[reganfin]

Although I am not interested adding this mod to my car at this time, I came across this info and thought some of you might want to try building your own.

http://www.uoguelph.ca/~antoon/circ/flashing.htm for instructions

Here is a gif of the circuit board.

[Randy Chase]

I finally did my install. It was very easy since as Michale pointed out, it is done off the car.

I decided to not use the crimp on connectors and went with solder and heatshrink instead. Even with that, it still was under 30 minutes and involved very little skill.

I like it. You can see that the light immediately comes on and then flashes. At this amount of labor and cost, it is a no-brainer to install if it just remotely saves you from one person not noticing that you are braking and his not being able to stop in time.

[GaryD]

OK... so I just tidied up the desk and found the flasher module kit lying under a bunch of old stuff and thought I would go install it... Took the light off the car brought into the living room spliced everything together and then thought about the module banging about in there. Didn't have any foam like Michael used (see 1st post) but carved a rectangular pencil eraser into a u-shape to hold the module. (My wife just lost a souvenir eraser from the National Gallery in London out of her pencil box

Anyway bolted back on the car - it works! My first mod completed after 27,000 miles and the part sitting on my desk since a couple of weeks after Michael posted. I just ordered Multi-vex mirrors today... I hope my lead time improves on the next project!

[tvacc]

This is a great mod.....think i will try it.

[bluejae]

i think i'll get this too... i wonder how many blinking elises/exiges are out there

[nocash]

Thanks for the pics, easy install, I feel a little better.

[Trendy Exige]

How do you install this blinker module on the Exige if the 3rd brake light is located on the rear bumper and behind the rear clam?

Do I run the same steps after I take the clam off and hope that the layout would not be different than described on the Elise write-up? I don't wish to take off the rear clam for nothing. Does anyone know of this?

Feel free to chime in on this anyone.

Thanks!

-andy

[Ian]

I don't think you would need to take the rear clam off. Can't you access the back of the brake light from inside the boot?

Originally Posted by Trendy Exige

How do you install this blinker module on the Exige if the 3rd brake light is located on the rear bumper and behind the rear clam?

Do I run the same steps after I take the clam off and hope that the layout would not be different than described on the Elise write-up? I don't wish to take off the rear clam for nothing. Does anyone know of this?

Feel free to chime in on this anyone.

Thanks!

-andy

[Trendy Exige]

Do you mean the trunk? Your not speaking Canadian are ya? Just teasin...I'm going to see if there is a way to get to it from the trunk tomorrow when there is daylight.

Thanks Ian!

-andy

[TimMullen]

Originally Posted by Trendy Exige

Do you mean the trunk? Your not speaking Canadian are ya?

It's a British car. The space in the back where you put things is the boot. The removable top over the interior is the hood. The cover over the engine is the bonnet. (We don't know what the cover over the engine/boot is supposed to be called: http://www.elisetalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19246.) The list goes on...