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interior night lighting?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Audio and Electronics' started by Bob Allen, Feb 24, 2004.

  1. Bob Allen

    Bob Allen Captainbaba

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    OK, here's a question completely appropriate for a fifteen year old teenager, but is actually my question.....
    My partner has a lovely Jetta diesel wagon which is a dynamite car. One nifty feature is the drop dead gorgeous interionr lighting: dash lighting is red against blue, and every little knob, door handle, mirror adjusters, vents, etc, has an illuminated little red symbol next to it. It makes finding the door catches easy at night. Does the Prius have anything like this? I realize there isn't much of an instrument panel to light up, but what about all the other stuff that makes a car really Star Treky at night?
    Should be picking up "HUMU-NU" in a week or so. The name comes from the Hawaiian triggerfish. Road and Track in their 2004 review of cars, loved the Prius' "wedgie body, triggerfish shape". So do I.
    Bob
     
    #1 Bob Allen, Feb 24, 2004
  2. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    Not really. There are dim words on some of the buttons to help you find and recognize them. You can change the MFD color. But otherwise no, no fancy lights.

    Steve Goldenberg recently wrote about how he installed little LED lights in key spots around his Prius....you might be able to do that if you're handy and unafraid!
     
    #2 efusco, Feb 24, 2004
  3. Jonathan

    Jonathan New Member

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    I am also looking for ways to spice up the interior lighting. I like the LED idea and have also looked at LED 'strings' that you can run along seams etc. The left side of the dash and driver's door are particuliarly dark at night. Hope to try some stuff soon, as soon as I get the guts to learn how to take the dash apart.
     
    #3 Jonathan, Feb 24, 2004
  4. KTPhil

    KTPhil Active Member

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    Along these lines, I'm interested in adding lights that would illuminate the footwells (front and rear) when the door is opened. Drop something on the floor at night and it's GONE! ;-) Anyone know what wire is active, and accessible without a lot of disassembly?
     
    #4 KTPhil, Jan 23, 2005
  5. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    I would like to add LED footwell lighting that's setup similar to the dome lamps (OFF/ON/DOOR type settings). If anyone has successfully installed it, let me know! =)

    As for the original question, the only illumination is the steering wheel controls and the driver's window switch. no "premium illuminated entry" system à la Lexus
     
    #5 Tideland Prius, Jan 23, 2005
  6. techogurl

    techogurl New Member

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    First...if anyone decides to install the wire lighting, you should be aware that it will fade noticeablly over the process of a year. It's not designed to work forever so if you go that route, you'd need to reinstall it yearly to keep the effect going. Granted... the led style might be different from the string wire that I've seen in the past.

    As for interior lighing, I've got a set of Scion tubes installed in the foot wells and some blue leds in the front cup holders. The wiring is ran to a button installed where the EV switch should be so I can turn different lights on/off by choice. They look nice, but I don't use them as much as I thought I would so people might want to take some time to consider this before going ahead.

    I've posted about both of these topics...so you could search the forum for my posts related.
     
    #6 techogurl, Jan 23, 2005
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