I need to do this! I just had a guy ask me in traffic if my brake lights were out lol.
Aaaaand we got pulled over because "our brake lights were out". I can't find anyone in LA willing to do this mod for me and I'm really not comfortable tackling it solo. Argh
I too have had people pull up and say my taillights aren't working (car is lowered on Novitec Coilovers and is maybe 4" off the ground.) When the Cali comes back from service and Airbag recall in ATL I will be doing this with pics and try to incorporate the turn signals. I believe the main rear lighting wiring harness runs along the passenger side to the passenger foot well. I have even considered doing the wiring under the steering wheel footwell at the switch but I need to inspect it first. Hope everyone had a great New Years!
Just an update to this thread. I had the lights rewired on our '15 Cali T. Instead of wiring the fogs to the lower lights, we left the wiring in place. So, admittedly, we have five brake lights now (not a terrible thing) and the fog light functionality actually still works as it did before.
No write up I'm afraid. I had La Jolla Audio do the work for me before I dropped off my R8 for work there. They more or less did what was described earlier in this thread, but getting to the lower lights to swap things around is a bit more complicated than it seemed. Rather than spend $$$ on extra hours of labor, we opted to leave the fogs as is, meaning, they still turn on as normal with the switch. However, the brake lights in the lower bumper continue to function, so when you hit the brakes, you get all five lighting up. I'll post a pic or two when I get home.
Here is a video I shot of the result in action. Sequence is lights on, brakes on, turn signals, then brakes off but I hit the foglight so you can see them on with the tails. I'm very happy with the results. . .
Thanks. Does this exact mod work on the Cali T? I agree that is looks much much better when all rear brake lights are "on full".
Yes. Our car is a Cali T. To answer the question about turn signals while braking, I checked it out. The lower lights (original brake lights) will flash for the turn signal and the upper lights will remain solid and bright under braking.
In lieu of switching the lights, does anyone think it'd be better if I tinted the brake lights red so they look like they should be brake lights? Or am I just crazy? Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
In my opinion that doesn't look so hot to me. Also, the mod is pretty straightforward for anyone decent with electrical. It was worth every penny in our book for the added visibility and lack of pestering from price who thought our brake lights didn't work.
I wish someone would strap a GoPro to their head with a head strap, do the mod, and upload it to YouTube. I'd attempt it then lol.
Great mod and good looking. I was heading to my car to do it when I realized my rear lights did not look the same as in the US. On my car/in Europe the center of the upper lights is white and used for reverse. It illuminates in white when going backward. What about the american versions ? Do you have a reverse light ? Where ?
The reverse light is the same, white and center in our cali T as you can see in the above video. It works the same after the mod.
Thanks. On my Cali the center of the light is white. On the pics of the blue cali above it is red. This confused me !
I really want to do this, and mostly understand the steps. They are a little confusing and I don't know if I will do it without more detail. If someone could post the exact steps in even more detail, I think more people would do it. If anyone goes ahead with this, please take photos of each step.
>>>>> Aballas a little confused and not sure if my wires are different from yours but I would appreciate your help and GREAT job on the mod looks great and trying to do the same thing to mine - I have attached pictures of my wiring If you'd like you can also text me 972-375-2591 again thanks in advance on your help! Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
