Alcyone center tail light?

[Green1995SVX]

Do any of you guys wanna trade me your euro spec center tail light (with rear fogs) for a JDM alcyone panel?

-Mike

[svxistentialist]

Originally posted by Green1995SVX
Do any of you guys wanna trade me your euro spec center tail light (with rear fogs) for a JDM alcyone panel?

-Mike

Mike

Unlikely the UK guys would be able to swap. The car will not pass MOT in the UK without fog lights at the rear.

Irish regs are more flexible, I am running with the JDM centre, and the test passes it OK.

If you check the threads on this Forum, Tony Shale found a crashed one in a scrap yard on his way home from the Meeting. If it had a centre panel, no doubt they would sell and post it to you.

Joe

[svxistentialist]

SVX in breakers, first post, telephone number included.

To dial direct from the US, dial 0044, drop the first zero of the number, and dial the rest.

Joe

[svxcess]

Part number for the UK-spec rear decor panel with built in foglamps is 84251PA020 Cost is £360.67 ($542.88US plus shipping)

I never understood why the UK cars had rear fog lights but not front ones. Driving in poor visability I guess it is better to be seen than to see...

I considered getting that panel and wiring the fogs to the brake light circuit. That way I would normally have the two taillights (in each rear fender) but would have 4 brake lights.

[mohrds]

Anyone have a picture of the rear fog panel they wish to share so we know what you are talking about?

Doug

[svxistentialist]

Originally posted by svxcess
Part number for the UK-spec rear decor panel with built in foglamps is 84251PA020 Cost is £360.67 ($542.88US plus shipping)

I never understood why the UK cars had rear fog lights but not front ones. Driving in poor visability I guess it is better to be seen than to see...

I considered getting that panel and wiring the fogs to the brake light circuit. That way I would normally have the two taillights (in each rear fender) but would have 4 brake lights.
John,

If you buy the Alcyone centre panel from Green 1995 SVX, you will have four tail lights, 4 brake lights, that is how they are normally wired.

Joe

[svxcess]

Doug,

Detailed photos in my locker in the "US/UK rear panel" file. The first photo shows our stock panel
http://www.subaru-svx.net/photos/files/svxcess/208.jpg The next one is the UK panel http://www.subaru-svx.net/photos/files/svxcess/209.jpg

Instead of the 4 tail/brake light assemblies (2 on the rear fenders and 2 on the trunklid) the UK panel moves the backup lights out toward the edge of the trunklid, where our taillights are. The area currently occupied by our backup lights are now rear fog lamps behind the red lens.

I just didn't want to give up half my taillights. If I ever burned out one bulb that would only leave me with one...

[svxistentialist]

Originally posted by mohrds
Anyone have a picture of the rear fog panel they wish to share so we know what you are talking about?

Doug

Doug, I have pics of the UK cars, but they are not converted to jpegs yet.

Below is a pic of what I take to be an American car, pretty sure it came off John's CD. The UK centre panel looks the same, either side of the SVX logo in the centre is a fog light.

[svxistentialist]

This is the JDM tail panel, a picture of my car before I shipped it from Japan.

Note the two reversing lights closer to the centre. Outside of each reversing lamp is a second stop/tail light. They are pretty bright. If I brake at night, I can see roadsigns half a mile back lighting up red, so they give off a lot of light. This is probably why the Japanese feel no need for a proper fog light.

Joe

[svxistentialist]

Thanks for the pics John. Obviously the red car I showed is UK or Euro spec. The JDM panel I have is the same wiring and lights as the US version, except that my centre panel declares the car to be an Alcyone SVX, as opposed to a Subaru SVX.

If one bulb goes, you would have three left, not just one, but I know what you mean. The double lights are a good safety feature. Renault have surreptitiously used double lights on the rear of their new Laguna. And nobody seems to have noticed. They are a good company on safety.

Joe:)

[svxcess]

What I like about the JDM Alcyone panel I have on my pearlie is how subtle the wording is (black and almost invisible under the red lens) I don't like how blatant and garish the silver reflective lettering is on the US panel)

What I don't like is when you burn out a rear bulb the stop light on your dash illuminates to let you know, but if you burn out a second bulb the light on the dash goes out.

[svxistentialist]

It's probably using a Wheatstone Bridge type circuit to monitor the loads from the rear bulbs, and light up a warning light if it is out of balance. If you blow one on either side, it will even the load.

In Germany, they do not have the light duplication trick like Japan and USA. But it is illegal to drive without a full set of spare bulbs. So I suppose you are stuck with replacing the blown one as soon as it happens

Joe:)

PS Know what you mean about subtle on the rear panel. A number of times I have come back to my car in bad weather when the rear is mud smeared to find someone has rubbed the centre panel to read what the car is.

[Trevor]

Hi Joe your car looks exactly like mine as far as I can recall, my wife has it out at the moment so can't check the back panel. However I do not have the badge on the right rear. What does it say as it is not clear in my read out ? The only "Subaru" visible on mine is on the wheel centres. Colour is exactly as yours. I am not inclined to gaze at mine from the outside as my prime interest is in how it goes and handles. My first option is a quick rack. Did you actually purchase yours while in Japan ?

I note many posts regarding owners having people asking about the car as it is so unusual. This is something I have not experienced since owning the car for 18 mths. The very first comment I have had was a day or two ago when a petrol station attendant remarked " You don't see many six cylinder Subarus about ". Kiwis must be more than average in ther knowledge of cars or simply have become bored by the diversity on display here. I would estimate there are no more than sixty SVX in NZ at the most.

[b3lha]

The alcyone tail lights are very nice, but there is a problem in converting the two inner brake lights to fog lights.

IIRC: The wire that goes into the boot lid has 4 cores: ground, running-lights, brake lights, & reversing lights. If you simply cut the brake light wire and connect it to a switch then the high-level LED-style brake light (which is also in the boot lid) will become a fog light too - which looks a bit odd.

To get around this problem, the importers of our car used the two outer brake lights for the fog lights.

We are planning, when we have time, to replace the cable going into the boot with a 5-core cable so that the inner brake lights can be operated separately from the high-level light.

Then the inner lights can act as fog lights and the outer and high-levels one as brake lights.

Or, with the addition of a relay, it will be possible to have all five brake lights and also to use the inner two as fog lights.

[We noticed at the meet that some SVX's don't have the high-level LED-style light so this will not be a problem for them. It didn't seem to be dependant on the year, model or colour, was it optional?]

Phil & Belha

[svxistentialist]

Originally posted by Trevor
Hi Joe your car looks exactly like mine as far as I can recall, my wife has it out at the moment so can't check the back panel. However I do not have the badge on the right rear. What does it say as it is not clear in my read out ? The only "Subaru" visible on mine is on the wheel centres. Colour is exactly as yours. I am not inclined to gaze at mine from the outside as my prime interest is in how it goes and handles. My first option is a quick rack. Did you actually purchase yours while in Japan ?

I note many posts regarding owners having people asking about the car as it is so unusual. This is something I have not experienced since owning the car for 18 mths. The very first comment I have had was a day or two ago when a petrol station attendant remarked " You don't see many six cylinder Subarus about ". Kiwis must be more than average in ther knowledge of cars or simply have become bored by the diversity on display here. I would estimate there are no more than sixty SVX in NZ at the most.
Trevor,
The rear logo says SUBARU, plain and simple. I am going to have the bumpers resprayed, so I will have it taken off and left off at that point.
Same as yours, you would have to look real close to see a maker anywhere. It is embossed on the hub centres, and also on the steering wheel, but hard to spot. Also it says Subaru on the stereo, although the units are made by Panasonic.

60 SVXs is a huge number! They were not imported to Ireland, so very few here know they ever existed. A couple of cognoscenti have come to me at car shows and such, they would be aware from magazines. Mine was the very first I ever saw, and I was not disappointed.

I have never been to Japan, I bought the car off a Japanese website. Talk about impetuous!!

Joe:D

[Richdev65]

I have a similar problem. I wired up mine myself. The `blank`panel they put in the UK cars can easily be removed with some paint remover and some gentle rubbing. I thought I had done a pretty neat job until someone told me that It does work as a brake light but also flashes when an indicator is put on.I.E. If you are braking and indicating at the same time( if slowing down at a juction for example)then it will flash with the indicators. It works perfectly if braking normally. How can this be ? All I did was to wire into the stop/tale wire, which is nothing to do with the indicator wire!

Any Help on that one!

Rich.