Want to be sure the car behind you REALLY knows you're braking? Put on a center brake light pulsar. Put one on today and the thing works great. Turns the light into a strobe that no one can miss. Got mine from Mini Madness and it's a universal kit. Really good install info w/pics can be found in NAM under R56-Electrical, "JMike" - 9-17-07. Install was a snap with his help. Cost? $25 +S&H. :idea:
i saw a mini with one of these and i thought it was pretty trippy lol. it totally caught my attention too cuz i was driving right behind him.
Not to be a downer but one should check the legality of such and item in their state or province before ordering. They are legal in Texas.
Install is super easy. It took longer to get the tools out and put them away than the actual install took. And yes, tailgaters back off FAST! Here's a step by step write up of the third brake light pulsar The pulsar with a razor blade for size comparison These 8 torx bolts need to be removed 4 each side this is the third brake light loose Third brake light wire Tape removed from wires wires cut wires stripped ready for installation Installed into the pulsar and screws tightened All ya need to install All in all a pretty neat set up. I liked the way it looks especially at night in the very dark. Here's a video from YouTube. [ame=""]YouTube - 2008 MINI Cooper "PULSAR" Third Brake Light[/ame]
how the heck can we find out if this pulsar light is illegal or not nathan? lol now that i think about it i do wonder... but the newest generation mustangs, the '10 models i think, have those turn signals in the rear that blink in the direction the car is turning to. i think tahts pretty cool. and if thats stock on the mustangs, then should the blinking pulsar light idea be legal everywhere...?
The legality centers around the fact that the brake light's turning off while you're pushing the brakes. While in practice this gets ones attention, some law makers at some time thought it was a bad idea to have a brake light that doesn't illuminate the entire time the brakes are pressed. It does sound bad on paper I guess. Sequential turn signals have been around forever and aren't a legal issue since turn signals are supposed to blink.
Hence the second generation of the GMG product, with the smart traffic feature. Pulsar the first time the brakes are pressed, then a solid light if they are pressed within 10 seconds (I believe it's 10 sec, could be wrong). In the ironic department, I FINALLY got and installed the GMG pulsar, after talking to Dave (one of the founders, and local club member) for about a year and a half. Then got rear ended less than a week later. I don't put the blame on the pulsar, though. I still firmly believe in them, and will be making sure that the pulsar is still there when I finally get my MINI back. Local members have even put them into other non-MINI vehicles, including commuter cars and huge dually trucks.
About a year and a half ago, I bought a set of pulldown straps from GOMINIGO. As a bonus, they included a free pulsar light kit. I never installed it... that was until about a month ago. I'm glad I did. It REALLY helps noticing the car in front of you. I'm not sure why but for some reason when I'm driving the mini, people like to ride up my butt when I put my turnsignal in. In fact, I attribute the pulsar light to saving my car one week ago. I was waiting to turn into my neighborhood. I looked in the rearview mirror and saw a Crown Vic boring down on me. (They were doing waaay faster than the speed limit) Point is, the pulsar light only flashes for a little bit so when I realized I was about to get plowed, I let off the brake and hit it again. The pulsar flashed the in a second, I saw the Crown Vic nose dive. Thank God for those flashing brake lights. Mark
I have it on my R53 and will be putting another one on my new R58 next summer. The first one I put on was from MINI MADNESS and it was a piece of crap, it shorted out the first day and I had to get a whole new third brake light(yes it was installed correctly). The second one was from OUTMOTORING, much better quality and still working great after three years.
The OUTMOTORING one I bought from Aaron works very nicely on my MINI. I put one in Scooter boy's MINI too. Easy to install & they really do help keep folks awake behind you. No matter where you buy one, just get one. As far as legality goes I seriously doubt it would be a problem, but then again you never know.
I have installed them on all my Mini's from first to second generation the new ones that Go Mini Go makes that allow for several different options is a great improvement on the ones that just flash. The new GMG pulsars have a 4 or 6 flash setting and a smart mode that if the brakes are reapplied in stop and go traffic they will flash the first time and not the second time if it is within a few seconds. And a mode that flashes every time you hit the brakes.