Topic

Driving in Norway during winter means loads of snow - and dark roads.

As an attempt to improve the light capacity of the MGF, I am considering fitting a LED bar to the front of the car.
Have any of you done this, and are you able to help in terms of installation (where/how), wiring, relays and the like?

No one in Norway 🇳🇴 would want to be in front of you with that burning into their retina.
Obviously it would have to be switched in conjunction with the main beam but providing it’s within local regulations & were operating under those conditions I’d be inclined to fit one.
Being me & with my propensities fiddle, I’d probably fit a photoelectric switch allowing automatic on/off when I was in traffic or in town.
The other thing to consider is cooling. Obviously it would be a winter fit & my guess is that your ambient temperature would have the bulb in my mercury thermometer suffering with molecular overcrowding.
It would have to be removed during your warmer period (do you have those?)
One mod’ that I did a while ago & it fits well with this is to fit a supplementary red high intensity brake light on the splat under the bumper, central to the exhausts. When I have my rear fog lamps on & I brake this, along with the boot mounted light strobe & it’s is very effective.
Even though the light output from this unit is impressive I have modified it by reducing the current limit resistor value to over drive the LEDs & because the switching speed is reasonable the LEDs handle the current. As it is so infrequent use other than testing I expect a reasonable life span.
A chap down the village had followed me over the Grane during a not infrequent muggy day & commented on its effectiveness.
Which was nice.
M

Regulations says we must hava a override switch, so we can stop the LED bar work with the mainbeam in trafic.

lights

Some good ideas here.

You could use the same ready made circuit that is used here to control DLR (daytime running lights). It turns them off when the headlamps are on

The best bit about some of those modules from china is the plastic box.

LED light bars seem to be going outta fashion here in Oz, they were a must have for every tosser with an SUV, but now they seem to be loosing favour to individual LED driving lights.
I can’t say I’ve even seen a light bar worth having, but that may well be an unfair assessment as most of them are cheap and nasty eBay rubbish from China, there may well be quality ones available, but I’ve not encountered any.
You might be better to find a pair of quality driving lights, there are many compact LED designs available these days.

Regardless of what you choose, do make sure they are quality and not Chinese eBay rubbish.

As for wiring them in, most kits will have wiring, a relay and switch included, which following the instructions provided, you spice the wiring into to existing circuitry,

Now if there is no such wiring is provided or the instructions are beyond understanding (poorly written instructions are a common theme these days) you need to intercept the wire running from the dip switch to the high/full beam light, and fit the additional switch there this will give you the ability to dip all the lights at once, whist also allowing you to turn off the additional lighting if required. After this additional switch you need to have a relays to prevent over loading the dip switch, then just wire in the auxiliary lighting.

Thanks a lot.
There is a wiring loom provided, and the bar itself is of high quality brand.

I tested a bit last night, and if I fit it just above the lincenseplate, it won't show too much.

Next challange is to remove either the radiator cover (where the spare wheel is attached) og the front bumper, in order to lead the wires to the battery and relay.

Is it the type of light bar that can also be wired into the indicators so it will flash amber when turning ?

Crumbs, is there such a thing? I remember my mum & dad getting a Teasmade (a bedside clock which brewed up for you just in time to be ready when the clock went off) that bit is for younger viewers.
That was the first multifunction piece of kit I recall.
Our Chinese friends will portmanteau any item with any others if it’ll turn a few yuan.
Deep fat air frying ice maker tricycle anyone? With multitone electronic sounder torch.
M

The european cars don’t have this option, we use low beam during daytime.

Led bar fitted.
Wired so it works with high beam, but with A switch so it can be switched off and using only the standard main beam.