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Exige/Elise License Plate Light Conversion to Small LED's. For the Weight Weenies here.

3.3K views 11 replies 8 participants last post by  VisualEchos  
#1 ·
This is for @carphoria

These lights are lighter, brighter, and better looking than the big black plastic things. Saves ~71 grams.

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This is an easy mod that is quickly and fully reversible to stock. It can be done without jacking the car up or removing any other parts.

First order some of these from Ebay:
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Find 4 of these male connectors in your garage. They clip into the existing Lotus hardware with a satisfying click.
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Remove the existing light (I think Phillips screws) and 2 rusty C clips from each side (you can see mine were not installed correctly by the turnip farmer working at the Hethel plant that day). The new LEDs are going to go through the inner holes (in the right hole below).
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Thread the LED light wire through the hole from the bottom, then put the nut over the wire and loosley tighten it in place. Now you have to attach those male connectors to each wire end. I chose to solder them and then covered that with heat shrink tubing. Then click the 2 connections into the existing Lotus light female connectors. If they don't turn on, just switch the wires to get the polarity correct.

Do the other side the same way. Turn on your lights and adjust the angle and tighten the nuts down. I ended up prety much exactly 45 degrees towards the center of the plate for nice lighting coverage.

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I zip tied the new wires up and out of the way. They seem to be fine near the heat of the exhaust, but I do not track my car. I do drive in 119 degree heat as I did today with no problems.

The end; lesson over.

So what did I do with the 71 grams of weight savings? I could have had better acceleration, braking and turning, but I went ahead and did another mod that added 75 grams.

LED engine bay lighting similar to the McLaren 720S so everyone around can see that mean 190hp ripping inline 4! It is much dimmer than the tail lights; just a subtle glow. Hard to tell in the crappy photo:
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Discussion starter · #5 ·
I see you still have stock LED tail lights… I think the GRP ones will also save you some weight over the stock LED lights. The stock LED lights have two heavy ballasts on their own bracket and the GRP tail lights eliminate that.
Thanks. I'm waiting for V5. I have a spreadsheet for weight and my next 100 pounds saved will cost ~25,000. I'll probably never get there so I do small projects for fun.
 
Discussion starter · #7 ·
I'm guessing that is carbon clams? 100 LBS is quite the goal!


Also, ordered the LED lights.... $9 why not!
Yes, carbon clams included. I just looked and I have it at $38,000 for the next 158 pounds. I'm currently at ~1905 pounds with a full tank and that's probably where I'll be for the time being. Should I have an 1750 pound Exige with full interior and A/C or a 1900 pound Exige AND an Elise? I'm gonna save my 38k for now...

BTW if you are interested in the carbon clams, they might not be as much $ as you think. You can sell your OEM clams for good money. They don't really save that much weight, but it is a bit more with the Exige (thicker, hand laid clams from the factory).
 
Discussion starter · #11 ·
Not exactly wired like the McLarens which stay on for 30 seconds after you shut off your car among other things.

It is wired into one of the sidemarkers so it is on anytime any of the lights are on.

I actually deleted my sidemarkers so I wired it up using a quick disconnect connector into the unused driver side rear side marker connection. You can't see the wires or LED's from a normal perspective and they can be uninstalled just by unplugging the wire from the factory harness.