European tail lights?

[whokilledkaji]

I just put my order in for a Ingot Silver EB Premium and had a few questions about European parts...

First, I'm working on getting the EB deck lid with faux gas cap. I know a lot of people in the US don't like the faux gas cap anymore, but I'm still fan.

My real question is about the clear tail lights.

I'm sure a lot of people in the US prefer the standard red tail lights and I like them as well, but after seeing pics of the clear ones, I'm a little interested in them. They look pretty good on Ingot imo.

Do you think it would be possible to source these in the US? Would they even be legal to use? (I know some test cars run around with them.) Also, do you think they would require special wiring or setup or just be plug and play?

Thanks!!!

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[Diode Dynamics]

I highly doubt they would be plug and play since they won't have the sequential setup

I'm sure it can be done, but those housings won't be cheap either ($900+ per unit IIRC)

Nick C.

 

[UNtamed67]

I highly doubt they would be plug and play since they won't have the sequential setup

I'm sure it can be done, but those housings won't be cheap either ($900+ per unit IIRC)

Nick C.

Is the sequential module/electronics part of the housing or is a seperate piece of electronic somewhere in the car or is it part of the 'central brain' and just a software setting ?

Suppose I buy US taillights an install them on a Euro car...any idea what will happen ?

eg : 3 lights as DRL, 2 (inner) at brake and red signal light (outer lights)...? This will be the std setup on the white Euro lights.

And....Are we speaking about bulbs or RGB LEDs with changing colors ?

 

[Diode Dynamics]

Is the sequential module/electronics part of the housing or is a seperate piece of electronic somewhere in the car or is it part of the 'central brain' and just a software setting ?

Suppose I buy US taillights an install them on a Euro car...any idea what will happen ?

eg : 3 lights as DRL, 2 (inner) at brake and red signal light (outer lights)...? This will be the std setup on the white Euro lights.

And....Are we speaking about bulbs or RGB LEDs with changing colors ?

The wiring harness for the US-spec and EU-spec tail lights will be completely different

I imagine the plugs are different as well

Nick C.

 

[UNtamed67]

The wiring harness for the US-spec and EU-spec tail lights will be completely different

I imagine the plugs are different as well

Nick C.

Great ! Why is Ford destroying the Mustang iconic tail....

Will you have specfic products for these Euro lights, a lot of Euro forum users are unhappy with these white taillights.

It seems we will also have small lights as DRL instead of the Iconic Tri-bar...anything we can do to swap this back to US looks ?

 

[UNtamed67]

The wiring harness for the US-spec and EU-spec tail lights will be completely different

I imagine the plugs are different as well

Nick C.

Do you think the LED's in Europe will be independant per color. I mean one led per color (in the outter segments an orange (turnsignal) and a red LED (DRL) or will it be one led per taillight segment with changing color like RGB LEDs...?

 

[Diode Dynamics]

Do you think the LED's in Europe will be independant per color. I mean one led per color (in the outter segments an orange (turnsignal) and a red LED (DRL) or will it be one led per taillight segment with changing color like RGB LEDs...?

They are single color LEDs, (red / amber), in an array with a plastic diffusing lens to give a uniform appearance.

Nick C.

 

[UNtamed67]

Would this mean it's possible to replace the amber with a RED one (turn allowed in BE). Is this a DIY solution ?

If yes, can you get hold of these ?

Does this also mean the inner and middle taillight segments have 2 RED LED's. One for regular land DRL lights and one extra for braking ?

 

[Diode Dynamics]

Would this mean it's possible to replace the amber with a RED one (turn allowed in BE). Is this a DIY solution ?

If yes, can you get hold of these ?

Does this also mean the inner and middle taillight segments have 2 RED LED's. One for regular land DRL lights and one extra for braking ?

Anything is possible, but it's going to be very difficult. Tail lights can't be baked open like headlights.

The lenses typically have to be cut open

Then you would have to replace those soldered on factory LEDs

Nick C.

 

[smidra]

They are single color LEDs, (red / amber), in an array with a plastic diffusing lens to give a uniform appearance.

Nick C.

Do you mean both red and amber are represented in each stripe and it is just up to the electronics which one is lit?

 

[Diode Dynamics]

Do you mean both red and amber are represented in each stripe and it is just up to the electronics which one is lit?

I'm merely speculating (haven't seen them in person yet), but I imagine the first two sections of the tail light have red LEDs and the outer section has just amber.

There shouldn't be any red illumination in that outer section of the tail light

Nick C.

 

[UNtamed67]

I'm merely speculating (haven't seen them in person yet), but I imagine the first two sections of the tail light have red LEDs and the outer section has just amber.

There shouldn't be any red illumination in that outer section of the tail light

Nick C.

The outer section defenitely has a RED stripe as well as the DRL's are 3x RED. Amber is only when used as turnsignal.

What I was wondering about is if the US segments each have 2 RED stripes...

 

[Diode Dynamics]

The outer section defenitely has a RED stripe as well as the DRL's are 3x RED. Amber is only when used as turnsignal.

What I was wondering about is if the US segments each have 2 RED stripes...

It's probably a dual-intensity circuit that utilizes the same LED array. It would look strange if you had another section of LEDs come on when the brakes were applied IMO

Nick C.

 

[Lsstefan]

Anything is possible, but it's going to be very difficult. Tail lights can't be baked open like headlights.

The lenses typically have to be cut open

Then you would have to replace those soldered on factory LEDs

Nick C.

Good day Nick.
I made some first grade schematics if you have some time to look upon them. Keep in mind it's been a while since I've used my electronics brain and we should ignore voltages, intensity and other stuff, this is just for the sake of the argument.
We're also going to ignore the daytime light that from what I've read is on on all three stripes. We're just going to talk about brake lights and turn signals.
In the EU we have the first two(starting from the interior of the car) as brake and the third as turn signal.
If for example I know I will turn without braking and brake without turning, I could wire all three "bulbs"(we'll use conventional bulbs so it's easier) to each circuit, so if I brake, all three light on and if I turn, all three light on/off. This is the case where I'd never use both circuits the same time.

Now if we'd wire the Flasher wire to the Brake wire, when the flasher is on, it could make the brake circuit go on and off, just like the turn signal. Unfortunately, I believe that this means the bulbs will receive voltage from both circuits, so double current into the bulbs, which may fry them.

The final one is to add an electronic switch to the brake circuit, and when the turn signal circuit is on, it turns the switch on and the switch opens the brake circuit, thus even if we press the brake pedal, there is no current flowing to the bulbs. When we put the turn signal into off position, the switch turns off, thus the brake circuit is closed and if the brake pedal is still pressed, the bulbs will light up.

I know these are medieval solutions and in 2015 car there shouldn't be garage soldering or hand made electronics, but I'm talking in a general way.
Life would be so much easier if we could use some programming...

if(turn) brake == 0
else brake == 1


Thanks for the patience of reading my crap.
Have a good day.

edit: I'll try to make a simple board with some batteries and LEDs and maybe a switch like I said and see how it goes. Going to measure some currents also and etc.

 

[luke1333]

also ecoboost doesnt have faux gas cap

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