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PAT 4 > Issue 3: Evo-R Front Concept LEDs
Written By: David Pitlyuk
Welcome back to our newest issue of PAT V4! In this issue we'll be installing the Evo-R Front Concept LEDs. Not really sure what these are? Well you know those orange reflector sidemarkers on the bumper?
Yeah, those things! In my opinion, they look bland, and they don't even light up! Well, Evo-R came up with a viable solution, and it looks kick ass too! Their version of the Z sidemarkers are silver with 6 bright orange, white, or blue LEDs built in:
We went with the white LEDs. The silver plastic matches the car accents like the wheels, door handles, and emblems nicely, but we opted to take it to the next level...we painted them to match the car color. We dropped them off for a day over at the boys at Auto Collision Specialists in Reisterstown, MD. Now, I know how hard it is to find a good body shop, but I was very impressed with their setup, and very happy with the quality of the work (and it was before telling them about the promotion they'd get in this article). I would definitely recommend them, make sure to speak to Chuck and tell ActiveTuning sent you. Anyways, back to the front concept LEDs...here's how they turned out painted:
We installed them before we got them painted as well, so you'll be able to compare and see what they looked like before and after. Depending on personal preference, you may want to keep them silver. Here's the comparison shots:
Looks pretty good, ehh? Let me tell you, at night, these are the biggest head turners...If I drive when it's starting to get dark and onward, I feel like I'm in a Ferrari or something because of all the pointing. They look really great, and in my opinion give a pretty aggressive stance at night. We'll take a look at more shots later on, but lets talk a bit about the installation.
Installation is fairly easy on the product, and I think if you follow the instructions, anybody, even newbies, could tackle this project. The instructions provided were pretty straightforward, and even included pictures. I always solder and tape my wire splicing (but you can just use wire connectors), so the tools that I used are (You don't need to use ALL of these tools):
- Philips Screwdriver
- Small flathead screwdriver
- 10mm Socket
- Ratchet
- Shorty Philips Screwdriver
- Spreaders
- Solder
- Soldering Iron
- Electrical Tape
Alright, we're going to start off with the left side, which is easier, because there is a coolant reservoir on the right side that requires us to take about 35% of the bumper off. Depending on the tools that you've got, you made need to raise the car a little bit to get clearence for some of the screws.
You can click on any of these pictures to get a bigger version.
First thing to do is turn your wheel as far you can to the left.
Next, you'll see two screws on the bottom corner of the bumper. You can use a 10mm socket or a screwdriver to get these off.
Now you want to look for this screw in the wheel well. You'll probably need to use your shorty screwdriver...if you don't have one, be prepared to take your wheel off.
Now that you've got those 4 screws off the car, you need to pull back the black plastic wheel well cover on that part of the car...just enough to be able to see the sidemarkers and getting a hand in there:
Unscrew the two screws in the picture above, and you can pull the sidemarker right off. Pop the new Evo-R front concept LEDs in the same spot (make sure to use the one that says "L" on it), and use the same screws to set it in there. Next, if you look up and towards you inside the wheel well at the headlight, you should see this little plug and wires sticking out...it's the parking light wires:
At this point you need to connect the wires coming off the Evo-R lights, and connect them to the parking lights. On mine, my wires were too short, and had to be extended, but Evo-R has now corrected that issue, and includes plenty of wire on their new units. The red wire from the Evo-R lights needs to connect to the green wire on the parking lights, and the black just goes to black. Make sure you secure the wires however you are doing so (I soldered them and taped them up). At this point everything should work on the left side, to turn your parking lights on and make sure the LEDs turn on. Once all is good, put everything back together in reverse order, and get ready to start working on the right side.
Alright, as I mentioned before, the right side requires a bit more work. If you follow the same steps as the left side, and open up the wheel well, you'll see this the coolent reservoir in the way. So do the same thing we did on the left side, but also add these steps:
Pop the hood and take off the first four snaps on the top of the bumper. Now I ended up breaking two of these, so I found out the technique is pull the center part up a tiny bit, then lift the whole thing from the bottom and it should come right out:
Back into the wheel well, you'll see three silver bolts, take those off:
Remember those two bolts you took off the bottom of the bumper? Go back down there and take the next one, and the one behind it (closer to the inside of the car). At this point, you can pull the bumper, and you should be able to do this:
If you look down there, you'll see the factory sidemarker attached the same way as the left side.
Take it out the same way, and put the new Evo-R one in. At this point you do the same connecting wires, but to the right headlight, then test, then put everything back together, and you've got it all installed! I told you it wasn't THAT bad ;-)
Thanks to Evo-R for providing the front concept LEDs.
In our next issue, we'll start adding some performance to the car by installing the K&N Typhoon Short RAM Intake. We'll have dyno tests and all, so look for that soon! In the meantime, here's the pics I promised:
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