I'm looking to do the clear corner corner marker upgrade. I was was looking at the V led site and found that the they have a dual action bulb that stays white while on and blinks amber when turning. Has anyone installed these bulbs with there clear corners? If so can I see some pictures? Here's the V-Led link:

http://www.v-leds.com/Shop/Control/P...by/sell_price#

 

This would be a cool upgrade, but the problem is that the bulbs are too big for the clear corners

 

those are pretty sweet! but at $50/pair, they better work well!! i am seriously considering these b/c i'm about to buy clear corners. i have my oem corners painted black and the bulbs removed completely right now.

to get the blinker working, you have to do some kind of wiring though, our corners are not wired for blinker use...

 

^^that's true, they look a bit bulky

 

194 bulbs are used in the corners. It's a single filiment bulb and there are only two wires running to it (instead of 3 like a 7443 bulb) so you won't see a bulb like this in 194 size.

2tone, If you aren't currently running any bulbs there, why not just tap into the turn singal wiring which is just a couple of inches away and use them as turn signals only with amber LEDs. This is how all non-US RX-8's use the corners anyway. If you see pics of non-US 8's with their lights on you'll notice the corners are not lit.

 

thanks aipex. i want white running lights (so on w/ the headlights); i like the idea of wiring it into a blinker also, like some people have already done. i guess tapping into that wire isn't too hard? i have to check the law too, white running lights are ok but blinkers must be yellow? bottom line is i don't want "amber" anything, so i might just skip the blinker part altogether

 

Here's a quick answer on legality: Texas has adopted FMVSS No. 108 as state law on vehicle modification. This means that any modifications you make must meet the Federal regulations to sell a vehicle in the US (OR and WA, where I live and play, are the same). Federal regulations state that a front corner marker must not only light amber, but it must REFLECT amber. So, technically, just the clear corner itself, regardless of bulb, is illegal.

Having said that, I've had clear corners with white LEDs in for years and have never been pulled over. I don't think anyone on the forum has ever been pulled over for having clear corner housings. For using blue bulbs, yes. A few for using white LEDs even. If you use amber LEDs I'd be willing to bet you'd never be pulled over. If you are running white it could happen though, just depends on where you live, population density, how busy the cops are, how old you are, how many other visual mods you have, etc.

If you don't want amber, but don't want to worry about cops, what I mentioned before about rewiring as a turn signal only would probably be safe. You're unlikely to be pulled over for having your corners act as amber turn signals (but off when headlights are on).

 

interesting, thanks!! i didn't realize they had to REFLECT amber too. i guess that's why all us-spec manufactures use amber side markers, i just didn't think about it! well, like i said, i've had the bulbs out and the oem houseing PAINTED solid black for a couple years and have yet to be cited for it. KNOCK ON WOOD!!

that last idea is a good one, clear corners, off w/ headlight, on as an amber blinker...

 

So all in all it can work will some small re-wiring done? Another thought would be to use this in the actual headlight housing for the small bulb in the far outside point. Would that also work?

 

No, the corner takes a completely different bulb size. You'd never get a 7443 bulb to fit in there. The far outside bulb in the headlight housing is your turn signal. It is a 7440 bulb (which is the same size as a 7443, just that it's a single filiment bulb). In theory, you could use the dual color bulb there with some minor modification. But you already have a parking light in the front, so I don't know what the point of this would be except that you think the dual color bulb is cool and want to use it somewhere.

This bulb is really meant for a different application. For example, my girlfriends Mazda3 uses a single dual filiment bulb in the headlight housing for both the parking light (dim setting) and turn signal (bright setting). This bulb would give her a white parking light and amber signal. If you look on the Mazda3 forum, there are some people that have these bulbs and they are not very bright, not bright enough for a safe turn signal anyway.

 

Thanks for the info hopefully in the future there will be a small bulb that could be configure into a our lighting set up. I'll have to keep my eye open . Thanks for the info Aipex and everyone.

 

hmm. this would be a very interesting undertaking if we could find the bulb in the right size

 

Again, you would need to have a bulb with a dual filiment, which means that it would have three contact points at the base (like your taillight bulbs which act as taillight and brake lights). So you would not only need a custom bulb (there are no small dual filiment bulbs that would fit in our clears), you would also need a custom socket that had three contact points in it for this custom bulb to fit in. This custom socket would also have to fit in the opening in the corner housing itself, meaning it would be specifically for the RX-8. This would be costly, and if you are willing to spend that kind of money then you might as well buy the dual function corners that clearcorners.com sells:

http://www.clearcorners.com/products/mazda/se/f_smark/

 

I say you should just skip the clear corners or the led upgrade and have the space where your side markers are supposed to go filled in.

Very clean look

 

I think he is on to something here

tsunami ftw!

 

^ Exactly

I had my Autoexe side markers filled in, looks great

 

1. I like our side markers because they are flush.
2. It required to have side markers.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObTSec7ik4w

Personally i think they look stupid.

 

yeah it is required to have them however it has a stock appearance and no one can tell so its not like your going to get pulled over and ticketed for it

 

I actually think they look pretty cool, it's just that the RX-8 doesn't share a running / parking light with a turn signal, so they are totally useless to us. Now, my girlfriends 3 on the other hand has a single amber bulb that is parking light and front turn signal. These would be perfect.