I LOVE my Rapid, however, the one achilles heel I would like to resolve is to have the lights left set to sidelights, and switch off when I remove the ignition key without the car beeping at me and having to manually move the switch. It doesn't sound a big deal but my 2004 hyundai coupe did it and i feel like i have gone back a technological level. I imagine it would involve switching the 12v to the light selector through the acc on the ignition barrel but before I investigate and possibly damage the barrel assembly, it is probably worth knowing if there are any free contacts on it. Has anyone done such a modification? 

Your old Hyundai Coupe won't have had 'Daytime Running Lights' (DRL's), your Rapid does.

 

DRL's negate the need to drive during the day with dipped headlights on, for those that prefer to make themselves as visible as possible.

 

As with the sidelights on your Hyundai, the DRL's turn on and off automatically with the ignition. The only disadvantage being (at least in the UK) that DRL's don;t also operate at the rear. This is easily fixed though with some basic coding using something like VCDS or Carista, to mirror those countries that require DRL's to show front and rear.

 

If your car is activating the audible warning with the switch in the sidelight or dipped headlight position when you open the drivers door then this might suggest your Rapid is not equipped with automatic headlight operation? If it did, then you would be able to leave the switch in the dipped headlight position without the audible warning, but unfortunately still not the sidelight position.

 

Sidelights really have no place these days, they're not bright enough to be of any benefit during the day (compared with DRL's or dipped headlights), and aren't bright enough to allow for sufficient visibility in poor light conditions or at night in 30mph limits, despite the advice in the Highway Code advocating their use.

 

Illumination whilst parking at night is all they're of use for, but then the car is fitted with dedicated parking lights via the indicator stalk.

 

DRL's...

 

The reason I left my sidelights switched to "on" in my coupe was that I had removed the pointless w5w bulbs and fitted two pairs of led "halo rings" inside the headlight unit, which became my DRL's, as such. 

I am planning a similar modification with some led affair on the rapid, which would in turn replace the current halogen DRL's (which I dislike). If i were to wire the leds from the DRL's, they will extinguish when set to main beam, which I don't want. If I wire them to the sidelights, I will need to switch them on every time I enter the vehicle. It is no major hardship, but I believe there is always a way to achieve my goal. 

Edited 4 April, 20206 yr by Zakiwashi

10 minutes ago, Zakiwashi said:

The reason I left my sidelights switched to "on" in my coupe was that I had removed the pointless w5w bulbs and fitted two pairs of led "halo rings" inside the headlight unit, which became my DRL's, as such. 

 

Pretty sure that will be an MOT failure as the halo rings are probably too bright for use a sidelights.

 

A better plan would be to leave the w5w bulbs in place and fit a relay to power the halo rings when the ignition is on and the sidelights are off.

 

13 minutes ago, Zakiwashi said:

If i were to wire the leds from the DRL's, they will extinguish when set to main beam, which I don't want.

 

But it's a legal requirement for DRLs...

 

Unless the halo rings have two brightness levels, they can't be used for both DRL and sidelights.

The coupe was my previous car, had it for 14 years, 10 of which I had the "halo's" fitted. Never got so much as a tsk tsk on my MOT. 

 

@silver1011, do you happen to know which countries require DRL's to show front and rear? I've tried switching the dashboard country on my MY 14  Rapid using Carista (US, Japan, Germany, Europe, Canada, etc) and I failed to find one setting that activated the rear lights. Would the fact that my Rapid's light are manual impact the results of this setting changes?

3 hours ago, danieldur said:

@silver1011

Rear DRL is a recent change in the UK . My 14 Rapid didn't have them but my 17/18 does.

 

I believe Scandinavian countries had them a while ago. Try changing to Sweden.

Edited 28 August, 20205 yr by camelspyyder

Carista only gives the following options: Germany, Europe/Other, USA, Canada, Great Britain, Japan, Saudi Arabia and Australia. Nothing about northern Europe.

I cannot try them right now, but I'm sure I already tried them all. 

 

I changed from a 2014 to a 2017 facelift car and Carista offers many more DRL options on that including the  "Scandinavian DRL" front and back. The older car is electronically different. 

 

Have you emailed Carista to ask for the feature you want? They are very accommodating.

 

Or maybe find a OBDeleven or VCDS user instead.

Another idea. Check if the SEAT Toledo settings on Carista give any different options for your Rapid.

I did it the other way, modded a Toledo with Rapid set on Carista before the Toledo was officially supported.

On 28/08/2020 at 15:24, danieldur said:

@silver1011, do you happen to know which countries require DRL's to show front and rear? I've tried switching the dashboard country on my MY 14  Rapid using Carista (US, Japan, Germany, Europe, Canada, etc) and I failed to find one setting that activated the rear lights. Would the fact that my Rapid's light are manual impact the results of this setting changes?

 

Rather than selecting a country, the rear tail lights can be activated with front DRL's using a dedicated option in the coding.

 

If it isn't an option in Carista then as mentioned you should be able to do it using OBDeleven, VCDS etc.