So, time for an update.
I love having LED stop lights for their improved reaction time, but even the third stop on the Kangoo was incandescent. The main stop/ tails were done a while ago, but the third stop was left. It's only a W5W globe and led versions just aren't bright enough.
So I bought a pair of proper T20 sized stop lights and modded one to work.
I cut a away a lot of the base until it fit into the stock socket, the bulb holder was discarded and substituted with a cable tie and a dab of silicone.
To improve brightness, I added a pie dish foil reflector to the recess, it's held to the sheet metal with VHB tape.
Here it is illuminated:
It's a touch brighter than stock, not as much as it should be given I only buy the very brightest LED's I can get. The light pattern just doesn't suit this kind on application, but it's something I can work on later.
I re-added my solar panel and roof rack. I don't really see a measurable MPG loss from the roof rack, and the solar panel probably restores any MPG lost. It's also nice to be able to put long items straight onto the roof without having to install the rack first. In short, it makes my car much more user friendly, and I can EOC with the vent fan on all I want knowing that my battery will be 100% full after parking for 10mins on a sunny day.
Mounting up my plastic backed flexible panel was a pain. It's backed with alu mesh for rigidity and to act as a heatsink, and I scoured long and hard to find a suitable alu profile to make my side rails from. It uses rivnuts and T nuts to attach to the undersize of the rack, leaving the top free for loads as normal.
I used these handy pipe bending pliers to make up some curvy mounting straps:
Here's a sneak preview of a future mod:
Results? Last tank saw a bunch of really great commutes (including a record of 4.7l/100km) but the tank was only a disappointing 6.85l/100km.
With the solar panel and roof rack back on, I have a new best tank to date of 6.05l/100km or 38.85MPG US
