fastboyslim

iTrader: (2)

So, lets see what you guys have used for your imported cars without rear fogs. Any pics or ideas would be a great help. Cheers

scooby546

iTrader: (1)

Sure thing... had this issue with mine when I got it, no rear fog light. So, not wanting to have one hanging below the bumper and spoiling the looks, I sacrificed the right hand reversing lamp and built a dual LED array, angled to point backwards properly (reversing bulb holder is angled...). This is what the LED array looked like once finished:



and this is what the rear fog light looks like:



Note that this pic was taking in fairly strong daylight and sidelights are on, to give an idea of brightness. It was about equal to )or maybe brighter than) the standard fog light on my wife's car

Pete

GMballistic

iTrader: (1)

No picture's sorry but I've just got a small oblong Hella fog light on the rear. It's just under the bumper on the driver's side and look's better than some I've seen. I also got a genuine Subaru rear fog light switch from eBay to go in mine instead of a crap red toggle that was in it. Previous one was wired up terribly by the original owner or importer so I had an auto electrician do it in the end so it was all safe. Only cost me £5 odd for the switch but £60 odd for fitting!! atleast my car won't catch fire now though when I switch on the rear fog

joz8968

iTrader: (13)

Only the other week, ZEN removed my SVA horrid thing under the bumper, rewired it to the O/S reversing light, and replaced the reversing light bulb with a clear 36-LED bulb that lights red. To finish off the job, the nasty aftermarket SVA dash switch was replaced with the OEM rear fog switch - sorted.

Got through MOT just fine.

The illumination looks just like the lovely STi above . Nice, neat and OEM looking. Job done.

GMballistic

iTrader: (1)

I'm considering doing it when I get enough cash for those clear type original STi rear lights. Under the bumper doesn't look to bad though IMHO. My mate has a oval led fog light imbedded in his rear bumper (look's ok) but using the original light's & led's is a much better idea

scooby546

iTrader: (1)

The LED solution is a winner for sure, bit of extra work over say a red 25 watt standard filament lamp but worth it, and def. get a OEM fog light switch off eBay or something to operate it. Make sure you get one for the REAR for lights though, many are for front fogs. I ended up with one for the fronts, so sometimes I forget which one is which! They do have different colour indicator lights though, which helps. I'll probably change mine for a proper rear fog light switch one of these days...

Joz, how did you find out about the previous wiring, smoke

GMballistic

iTrader: (1)

scooby546 if you do go for the OEM Subaru rear fog light switch one day then try and get the connector plug with it too.....make's life so much easier.
I didn't and fiddling with 2.3mm (est) minature connectors was a real pain
My previously wired in toggle switch had no relay, no in-line fuse and was a fire waiting to happen. Luckily a nice auto electrician called Chris sorted mine out as I didn't want to risk fu**in' it all up and he did it for £60 (which to be fair was good as it took us 2.45hrs roughly).

scooby546

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, good point - I'll do that

Cheers

Pete

GMballistic

iTrader: (1)

No problem Pete Gareth

fastboyslim

iTrader: (2)

Thats awesome guys!! Scooby546 i dont think i can make a setup as good as yours mate, well done!

Does the rear fog light have to be on the drivers side?

joz8968

iTrader: (13)

GM
Sorry pal, I wasn't dissing your foglight.
As you say, it looks okay... but the reversing light mod is much better! lol :-D
Oh, and the rear foglight switch has a graphic with the "light beams" protruding straight out; the front fog switch has the beams facing downward, dipped.

546
I had no wiring issues even on the old SVA switch. If that's what you meant?

FBS
Yes. It's an MOT requirement.
Think about it... It defines the width of your car - between the foglight itself and the kerbside - so following cars can build a mental image of your car's position on the road in thick fog. Plus it tells them the extremity of you car if the ***** decide to overtake you.

fastboyslim

iTrader: (2)

Agree with you mate, i was just asking because i am sure i have seen them in the middle of a RX8 and a Peugeot 206.

joz8968

iTrader: (13)

Hey, you know what, you're right. THe Peugeots do have 'em in the centre don't they! In that case, the MOT must stipulate that it cant be any further over to the left than beyond the centre LOL.

Big Pete

RHS reverse light on our wagon is now the fog light. I know quite a few people who've done this too.

fastboyslim

iTrader: (2)

This is the plan, what bulb did you use mate?

Woody69

iTrader: (6)

When i fitted my sti rear lights i noticed there was no fog in them for MOT

I got an led strip off flea bay for a couple of quid, if you dont like it
24 LED 3RD BRAKE LIGHT REAR TAIL CAR VAN CARAVAN CAMPER on eBay (end time 17-Sep-09 17:06:40 BST)

scooby546

iTrader: (1)

Cheers mate

Yeah sorry, was meant for GMB just re-read this thread after more caffeine and realised

Glad you like it

Funny story about mine vs MOT... I was quite pleased with my efforts, took the car up to my favourite MOT station & was talking to the tester about it beforehand, he said it should be fine as he had seen them before.

Later on tho he came back in to see me, could see he was smiling about something... he said he had to fail it on the fog light he laughed and said the light at the back is fine, but there was no indicator bulb on the switch! Damn thing, i was so happy the fog light worked i didn't check the switch light anyway, lesson learned I guess

Glowplug

iTrader: (8)

I done the same as Woody69 Can't hardly see it day to day

I like it Woody

joz8968

iTrader: (13)

Yeah bat and woody, that LED strip is rather groovy actually, nice one! A neater solution than the underbumper 'bulky' SVA foglight option for imports

546, lol, yeah the switch has to light up too. Does it always have to light up orange, btw? Or can it be red, or any other colour, etc.?

scooby546

iTrader: (1)

Hi Joz, not sure about the colour, mine (eventually) lit up orange, but the front fog lights have a green indicator. Guy at the MOT station said there had to be an indicator light, but it didn't matter which colour as long as it was on the switch / v near the switch

Cheers,

Pete

GMballistic

iTrader: (1)

Pete's correct on that....for the MOT the switch has to have an indicator light on it to alert you that it's on. My genuine one's have an orange bulb in them both.
BTW Woody69 that LED look's awesome, got to admit that look's so much better than my red pastile box hanging off the rear bumper I liked it until this thread started

Woody69

iTrader: (6)

Thanks for the comments guys

Although i wont take credit for this idea, VTRSteve a freind of mine came up with it, and was really easy to install, when you have you lights turned on eh steve?? hes into his retro fit ideas, think i will do the bi-xenon headlights next..................

stinger_sweaty

just a quick one on this folks, will it fail a mot if you use a front fog switch for the rear fog lamp?

joz8968

iTrader: (13)

I'm 99% certain it'll be okay. It will light green (I think) as opposed to orange, but I think at least if it has a bright light (regardless of colour) that comes on when in the 'ON' position, then it's okay.

I stand to be corrected though...

joz8968

iTrader: (13)

stinger, do you need a Classic rear fog switch then?

I have one surplus to requirements, complete with connecter and the 5 (out of 6) pigtails coming out of it, if you need one...

stinger_sweaty

well my sti verion 3 had some front fogs fitted, which i dont like because sti's are not ment to have front fogs it also has the front fog switch fitted it turns orange, and wanna wire up a under bumper fog light to the front fog switch. How much u looking for that rf switch joz?

joz8968

iTrader: (13)

Fiver sent regular post. Any good?

BUT... If your front fog switch is now redundant, I'd save your cash and just wire up the rear fog light to it, as you mention (seeing as it lights orange anyway).

The only other difference is that the front switch's little line art graphic has the 'light beams' pointing down, compared to the rear's 'beams' pointing straight out. Plus I think the rear's graphic is mirrored comapered to the front's... All of this is of academic interest only, though.

Red-RA

Did you all wire up an original subaru fog light switch or did you use an after market switch? I've been struggling for days trying to work out how to wire the switch up and I just dont get it. Does anyone have a 'how to' for the original switch? I just dont understand where each wire is supposed to go to out of the back of the switch.

Red-RA

oh, I have a legacy GTB by the way. Not sure whether these are wired up differently to the Impreza or not but anything is a start. Thanks