Gauge Lights Change Color In Traction Off Mode
 

Now this is strictly just an idea at this point, but I would like to know if there is anyone that would know if it is possible to have a second set of led's to change the gauge color in Traction Control Off Mode(in an FR-S) Such as from White to Red.

I have seen this concept on a few cars here and there, and I think it would be sweet to have it work in an FR-S/BRZ. If anyone has any input or knowledge on the idea please let me know. PS, I am not too great at wiring and electronics so bear with me.

Here are a few pictures to show what I'm talking about.

If it looked like that whether traction were on or off it would be amazing lol.

It's certainly possible, the circuit wouldn't be all that complicated. It would just need to turn off one color and turn on the other color when it detected voltage on the traction control light. The trick would be finding the right lights to use for the dash. If it used LEDs you might be able to replace them with multicolor LEDs. Incandescent bulbs would be a lot difficult.

Either way its a good amount of custom work.

I bet @Andrew@Autolux might be able to throw some insight into this.. I swear I was thinking how cool this would be yesterday.. I wanna change all my red out for white and it would be cool for a bright dark red to come on in "race" mode when it's all turned off

Thanks for the insight guys. Is there any way you could figure out a technical view of what the wiring would look like for this setup? Also do you think you could get Andrew at Autolux on this page to give some advice? Thanks again for the help so far.

There are probably a hundred different ways this could be done, the wiring is probably less of a concern then how you would fit different colored where there is currently a single color.

As for the circuit it's really impossible to say without pulling it apart and seeing how it's wired. I would most likely use a small programable microcontroller. My personal favorite for this sort of circuit is the PICAXE. It's cheap, and simple to program.

If you're looking for a circuit design there are too many unknows to give any real detail, and honestly this is not the sort of project you can take on yourself without a pretty good background in electronics.

Hmmm, this has got me thinking...

If I were to attempt something like this, I would dissect the back of the gauge cluster to gain access to the circuit that illuminates the "TCS Off" light and use that as the trigger lead for whatever lighting method I choose. Rigging the lights behind the dash wouldn't be the tricky part, it would be the switching circuit.

If someone were to get their hands on a gauge cluster from a totaled 86 that would be the place to start testing as I wouldn't recommend it on your own car first.

Sure would be a really cool project though for someone with more expertise/talent/TIME than I.

Scott

That's gotta be a job trying to find a totaled one but I know what you mean. I would't want to screw anything up especially with my gauge lights.

Also on a slight side note, would it be much easier or the same to rig up the same thing except have the gauge lights turn red when you redline. Kinda like the light that you can set at a certain rpm. Would that work too? Or would it be just as hard.

Darren

This is definitely doable. The problem is there's no market for it. I can't see selling more than 5 kits at most.

-Andrew

You certainly don't need a microcontroller for it! A fair chunk of work though.

Andrew, I wouldn't necessarily want to get a kit but I would love to do it myself if possible. Is there any simple way that you could explain what I would need to complete it? Or is there programming involved. In that case I would have no clue what I'm doing then. lol

This sounds very interesting! I'd love to try this myself too! Maybe hook up some sound effect while at it! It would be like "breaking seed" if anyone here is into Gundam.... :D

I'm going to pretend you didn't say anything about sound effects. Anyway my buddy said about building a small circuit board and using a transistor to swap the white lights to the red when the traction off light is on. Will that work?