DayTime Running Lights (DRLs) for US imported Cars

[ffffanman]

Nice, Real Nice!
Trev

 

[warrenw]

I tried those LED bulbs from SuperBrightLEDs.com. Found they had a very short life. 1-2 months. I had two that burned out one LED at a time, or started blinking.
Let me know if you have the same trouble.

It looks good.

 

[MWR01]

I tried those LED bulbs from SuperBrightLEDs.com. Found they had a very short life. 1-2 months.

What do you know? It's been a little over two months and one of the LED bulbs has burned out!! Good thing they were cheap. I can't say I've even driven it very much since they were installed. Back to incandescent till a better LED comes along.

 

[warrenw]

What do you know? It's been a little over two months and one of the LED bulbs has burned out!! Good thing they were cheap. I can't say I've even driven it very much since they were installed. Back to incandescent till a better LED comes along.

Much better luck with these...
OEM bulb is a 4 Watt. I replaced the bulb with a 10Watt Xenon. Bought them here:
http://www.1000bulbs.com/Wedge-Base-...ht-Bulbs/5972/

 

[soloracer951]

Looks like RIV is getting more difficult on the DRL issue. I just brought in a 911 Turbo and while I had no issues getting it legal for Canada I did see that they have changed the DRL requirements. They now say that bulbs to be used as DRL's must be stamped "DRL" and that includes if you were planning to use park lights. Gone are the days of adding a set of driving lights or LED's as DRL's. Just FYI.

 

[warrenw]

Looks like RIV is getting more difficult on the DRL issue. I just brought in a 911 Turbo and while I had no issues getting it legal for Canada I did see that they have changed the DRL requirements. They now say that bulbs to be used as DRL's must be stamped "DRL" and that includes if you were planning to use park lights. Gone are the days of adding a set of driving lights or LED's as DRL's. Just FYI.

Interesting. My 2009 Tacoma Pickup uses the park lamps. (factory)
come to think of it. So does Chevy and Dodge.

Need more clairification.

 

[lpjang]

I just got my clearance on the DRL's last week and I took the easy way out. I bought a set of sleek oval-shaped Halogen fog lights and had them put on just under the lights of my 97'. They were installed at Canadian tire with the driving light relay attached to the side by the fuse box and wired to the fog lights.
It took about 2 hours to do and charged me $180.00 for installation and materials. I bought the lights at Canadian Tire too.
Afterwards, i was all clear on the RIV.

 

[99 rs]

I ended up taking a different approach to the DRL issue on my 2002 with fixed headlights. I used some Canadian Tire parts, so if that sounds like cheating to you, read no further! (And my humble apologies ...)

Essentially I created a separate circuit outside the wiring harness for the DRLs and, as Warren suggested, used the parking light spot in each headlamp assembly. First off, I bought one of the DRL Modules from Canadian Tire ($40). Then I picked up a couple of sockets to use instead of cutting into the existing factory parking light sockets, again at Canadian Tire (about $3.95 each, I think). These sockets work for wedge style bulbs, exactly like the existing parking lights.

I connected the power side of the DRL module as instructed: red wire to power (in this case the terminal the battery directly connects to in the fuse box under the hood), black to ground (just outside the fuse box) and then the trigger wire, which turns the DRL module on, to the unfused side of the wiper motor terminal in the fuse box. The wiper motor circuit is active only when the key is in run mode.

Then instead of connecting the remaining wires into the existing wiring harness to turn on the low beams and the parking lights, I connected them as the positives of the Canadian Tire sockets. Each socket was then also connected to ground. (The remaining wire of the DRL module intended for the high beams I simply cut and taped off.) Now I had a separate wiring harness for the new DRL circuit. The sockets themselves were a very close match to the existing parking light housing, but three of the four tabs needed to be trimmed off to allow the sockets to fit and turn 90 degrees to lock tightly into the housing.

As a final touch, instead of using the factory wedge bulbs, I used wedge-style LED bulbs in cool white from SuperBrightLEDs.com (US$3.74 each). The end result was a completely reversible system that passed the inspection. I didn’t have to cut any wires or modify anything on the vehicle itself. Everything is removable in about 5 minutes. The final picture shows what it looks like sitting in my garage, which is probably a little more dramatic looking than it appears in daylight.

However, Super Bright LEDs warn against putting LEDs in headlamp assemblies because they claim the heat will shorten the LED bulb’s life, but so far, so good. I love the look so I’m going to keep them there and see how long they last.

I'm about to do this to my 2005 as I need the running lights as well. In your opinion do the marker lamps in the headlights serve any purpose? Meaning do other cars see you or is it as you have no lights in there at all? I ask because the lights in my Tundra might as well be regular headlights. When I turn the lights on in the NSX that headlight bulb almost seems like it's for aesthetics only. What I'm really trying to get at is if the lights are useless for DRLs then I will wire them in temporarily for inspection; if they are functional then I'll wire them in properly. I tried standing back from my car and they seem okay but I guess I was trying to look for them. Looking into the sun or against street lights might just wash them away. Also, did you ever see if the wiring for the module is there? I know the 04-05s had some newer electronics so maybe they have the harness? I don't really car about the price of the module if it means plug-and-play.

 

[MWR01]

I think that the park lights are mostly for aesthetics and certainly don't put out the lumens of your Tundra's factory DRLs. Having said that, though, with the LED or other bright bulb in the socket, they are indeed noticable as two small blue-white dots on the front of the car. Think of the Audi LEDs; these are like that, but just one on each side.

At night, they get swamped by the headlights and so aren't noticeable, but they work in the day. I like DRLs because they are simply safer, so I wired mine in from the get-go. I have no regrets with using the parking lights. Hope that answers your question.

 

[MWR01]

About the module with hopes for a plug and play, I never looked myself but both my dealer and Warren assured me that it's not present on US cars. So I gave up and went the CDN tire route.

 

[ffffanman]

Mr. 99RS, I see you have moved out to Edson, Nice!
I hope we get to see your car out on the road next year.
Until then, enjoy life!
Trev

 

[warrenw]

I think that the park lights are mostly for aesthetics and certainly don't put out the lumens of your Tundra's factory DRLs. Having said that, though, with the LED or other bright bulb in the socket, they are indeed noticable as two small blue-white dots on the front of the car. Think of the Audi LEDs; these are like that, but just one on each side.

At night, they get swamped by the headlights and so aren't noticeable, but they work in the day. I like DRLs because they are simply safer, so I wired mine in from the get-go. I have no regrets with using the parking lights. Hope that answers your question.

I replaced the 4W bulbs with 10W. You can see them from a long ways.

 

[Dhalsim]

Warren,

Excellent thread. Sorry to hijack a little but maybe you could help me with a little problem. In your first post in the last picture you have the light assembly hanging out. On mine the wires on the right side of this picture no longer have power. Can this be traced back to a blown fuse? Or any other idea why I no longer have power to these wires? Thanks.

 

[Tony Montoya]

If I crashed into you and it was 100% my fault but you had no daytime running lights as required by law then I would say it was 50% your fault. I think I'd have a case and the legal system would have to decide that outcome.

 

[warrenw]

Warren,

Excellent thread. Sorry to hijack a little but maybe you could help me with a little problem. In your first post in the last picture you have the light assembly hanging out. On mine the wires on the right side of this picture no longer have power. Can this be traced back to a blown fuse? Or any other idea why I no longer have power to these wires? Thanks.

I may have looked into this before. It sounds familar...
I will check the schematics, but I am sure there isn't a fuse or anything that separates right from left. Does the signal lamp work? If both do not work, I would check the common ground. That connector can be a problem, if you have any corrosion. May be a broken wire or bad connection.
Send me a PM with your email so I can send you the schematics.

 

[95EagleAWD]

If I crashed into you and it was 100% my fault but you had no daytime running lights as required by law then I would say it was 50% your fault. I think I'd have a case and the legal system would have to decide that outcome.

If you can't see a car in the daylight, with or without DRLs, you probably shouldn't be driving.

You SHOULDN'T have a case, because something as dumb as that should be laughed out of the courts and not have any time wasted with it.

 

[Tony Montoya]

Why do we bother with DRLs if a car is equally visible with or without them?
Why is the govt cracking down on cars without the required DRLs?

 

[EuroBoutique]

Warren:

I was looking at your hand drawn schematic and it’s pretty easy to follow – I will attempt this later tonight but I do have 2 questions:

a) In your diagram the diodes are shown as each one with the stripe end connecting to each of the red wires, but in your second photo of the diodes, why do you have the striped ends twisted together?
b) Are the two red wires on each parking lamp interchangeable? They are identical in markings so does that matter which one goes where?

Thanks

 

[Valhalla]

I just did this upgrade and it worked great. Add a fuse to #3 was a bit troublesome but finally got it going. Waiting on some nice LED's to plug in and then I won't be invisible any more. Thanks for the tip and DIY. Much appreciated.

 

[EuroBoutique]

Take a look at these, we've sold quite a few sets to Canadian NSX owners and it's been very popular and the output is amazing!

Check out our vendor page thread:
http://nsxprime.com/forum/showthread.php?t=149179


here's a few pics from owners who sent us pics:

and my personal NSX:

 

[myw]

i beleive many recent mercedes also all use LED strips in the front bumper cover as well as the DRLS in Canada.

Looks like RIV is getting more difficult on the DRL issue. I just brought in a 911 Turbo and while I had no issues getting it legal for Canada I did see that they have changed the DRL requirements. They now say that bulbs to be used as DRL's must be stamped "DRL" and that includes if you were planning to use park lights. Gone are the days of adding a set of driving lights or LED's as DRL's. Just FYI.

 

[EuroBoutique]

For NSX owners worried about the DRL "stamp" for legal use in Canada our lights do have this.

We checked and here is the logo on the back of each light:

 

[NSX2play]

Hella has some great five LED daytime running lights that sell for about $250 - $300 for a pair along with a relay and wiring harness:

More details here: http://www.myhellalights.com/index.php/default/daytime-running-lights/universal-daytime-running-lights/

or if you want to convert your turn signals into DRLs, Daniel Stern Lighting has an inexpensive option: http://www.danielsternlighting.com/products/products.html

which option cannot be seen on his website until he completes his move in late September 2011.... .......but it was there when I looked about a week ago!

 

[EuroBoutique]

Hella has some great five LED daytime running lights that sell for about $250 - $300 for a pair along with a relay and wiring harness:

More details here: http://www.myhellalights.com/index.php/default/daytime-running-lights/universal-daytime-running-lights/

or if you want to convert your turn signals into DRLs, Daniel Stern Lighting has an inexpensive option: http://www.danielsternlighting.com/products/products.html

which option cannot be seen on his website until he completes his move in late September 2011.... .......but it was there when I looked about a week ago!

Our lights are NOT the same as the HELLA in any way, please do not post false info...that's like saying the AMG and M3 cars are the same!

 

[NSX2play]

Our lights are NOT the same as the HELLA in any way, please do not post false info...that's like saying the AMG and M3 cars are the same!

Nothing in my post is false.

• Hella is an internationally recognized manufacturer of automotive parts and they do manufacture a very nice five led DRL system. The price range I have quoted is what I have found by searching the web.

• Daniel Stern is a recognized lighting expert. And he does sell a module that converts parking lights into DRLs.

I wasn't disparaging your product, just pointing out an alternative. So please don't take it personally.

To help this thread, perhaps you could explain why your lights are not the same as the Hella lights and why they are worth more than the Hellas? That would help us NSX Prime members in making an informed decision on whether to buy your Stage 2 lights or the Hellas. I agree with your philosophy NSXS deserve quality products, I just want to understand what additional quality one gets if they buy your product instead of the Hella product (Phillips, another reputable manufacturer, also markets an led product similar to the Hella led DRLs).