Clear or smoked 3rd brake light?

[mpikounis]

Carnewal sells two kinds of 3rd brake lights, smoked or clear for 85euro each (is it a good price?). Which of the two would you suggest will look better on a black C2 cabriolet? What is the standard for the 997s?

You can see the items here

Edited March 8, 2007 by mpikounis

[fastboydave]

Carnewal sells two kinds of 3rd brake lights, smoked or clear for 85euro each (is it a good price?). Which of the two would you suggest will look better on a black C2 cabriolet? What is the standard for the 997s?

You can see the items here

I have recently purchased a 'clear' third brake light from Carnewal myself. It is very good. I have a silver 996TT and therefore the clear/silver light was the obvious choice. If i had a black 996, i would go for the smoked. Although to answer your question, i believe the 997's have a cross between clear and smoked? But who cares? Go for what will look best on your car. Word of warning though...... as i have mentioned on another thread, when you get it, you will have to swap the wires on the vehicle side. As the light holds LED's it requires correct polarity. You can either cut and solder wires, cut the polarising 'pip' off or do what i did and 'back out' the crimps in the plastic connector housing (this is difficult!).

You say 85 euro? Yes, list price, but if you ask Gert for his best price, as i did, you'll get it at 55 euro, now that is a good price........ obvioulsy plus VAT (21.5%) and delivery.

Hope this has helped?

[violaGT3]

Carnewal sells two kinds of 3rd brake lights, smoked or clear for 85euro each (is it a good price?). Which of the two would you suggest will look better on a black C2 cabriolet? What is the standard for the 997s?

You can see the items here

Personally I would go with the smoked version for a few reasons, 1) 911's are not chrome intensive, 2) beings your car is black a chrome one would really stand out in general(and not in a good place), 3) that chrome one just looks cheesy in my opinion. Compare it with the taillights on the back of your car are they bright and shiney like the chrome light?

As for the price not sure but I have a cheap little old $10k Fiat/Bertone X1/9 that is Momo intensive, Momo is not cheap I know, but their products are good quality. That being said ><$100 is not a bad price for a lighting upgrade on a 911 as long as you know it is a quality product not some look-a-like from China that'll dissentigrate after a month in the sun. = )

Good luck with the choice.

Oh and all the 997's I've come across have had tinted 3rd brake lights. They Honestly are alot nicer looking too. One of the few highpoints I like about the 997's.

[fastboydave]

Carnewal sells two kinds of 3rd brake lights, smoked or clear for 85euro each (is it a good price?). Which of the two would you suggest will look better on a black C2 cabriolet? What is the standard for the 997s?

You can see the items here

Personally I would go with the smoked version for a few reasons, 1) 911's are not chrome intensive, 2) beings your car is black a chrome one would really stand out in general(and not in a good place), 3) that chrome one just looks cheesy in my opinion. Compare it with the taillights on the back of your car are they bright and shiney like the chrome light?

As for the price not sure but I have a cheap little old $10k Fiat/Bertone X1/9 that is Momo intensive, Momo is not cheap I know, but their products are good quality. That being said ><$100 is not a bad price for a lighting upgrade on a 911 as long as you know it is a quality product not some look-a-like from China that'll dissentigrate after a month in the sun. = )

Good luck with the choice.

Oh and all the 997's I've come across have had tinted 3rd brake lights. They Honestly are alot nicer looking too. One of the few highpoints I like about the 997's.

996 are not chrome intensive, correct. But the 'clear' light is not chrome, its basically Artic silver inside which suits me. But look at the headlights (chrome between lenses and clear) and then with the chrome 'Turbo' badge and chrome twin exhaust, on mine it matches perfectly and looks good, trust me. But I agree with you, he should get smoked in his case.......

[violaGT3]

996 are not chrome intensive, correct. But the 'clear' light is not chrome, its basically Artic silver inside which suits me. But look at the headlights (chrome between lenses and clear) and then with the chrome 'Turbo' badge and chrome twin exhaust, on mine it matches perfectly and looks good, trust me. But I agree with you, he should get smoked in his case.......

I see, I saw it as chrome with a clear cover, silverish. . . not so bad. I agree on a light colored car it would blend easily. But I see it a little harder to blend on a 996 as the rear end as the taillights are not exactly bright atleast not the ones I have seen they have a light smoke tint to them. Aside Big chrome on the tips "Primo" Big chrome, TURBO, 911, badge etc. "Primo" Big chrome on the third brake light? "Auto Zoneish" Next step chrome arch guards and 6 NOS stickers! J/K I looked into a chrome one but my car is the violet metallic and it just stood out way too much. I would be in full consent if the rear lights were something close to the front end but the rear end contrast would be too great in the wrong spot on a darker car.

[mpikounis]

I have recently purchased a 'clear' third brake light from Carnewal myself. It is very good. I have a silver 996TT and therefore the clear/silver light was the obvious choice. If i had a black 996, i would go for the smoked. Although to answer your question, i believe the 997's have a cross between clear and smoked? But who cares? Go for what will look best on your car. Word of warning though...... as i have mentioned on another thread, when you get it, you will have to swap the wires on the vehicle side. As the light holds LED's it requires correct polarity. You can either cut and solder wires, cut the polarising 'pip' off or do what i did and 'back out' the crimps in the plastic connector housing (this is difficult!).

You say 85 euro? Yes, list price, but if you ask Gert for his best price, as i did, you'll get it at 55 euro, now that is a good price........ obvioulsy plus VAT (21.5%) and delivery.

Hope this has helped?

This is excellent info, thank you :notworthy: . Can I quote you on the price when I ask for a better price? Do you think I should replace both 3rd brake lights or just the one visible when the car is stationary?

Edited March 8, 2007 by mpikounis

[Stefan]

A friend and I both have Ocean Blue Boxsters (which is a dark blue in case you didn't know). He has the clear 3rd brake light. I have the smoked. I have to say that I think the smoked looks much better. For some reason you don't notice it as much when you're standing behind the car but when I drive behind him, the clear brake light really sticks out. There's something about the way it reflects sunlight. It is too bright and detracts from the beauty of the car.

I haven't seen the same problem with tail lights, just the 3rd brake light.

[Eric (Plug Guy)]

A friend and I both have Ocean Blue Boxsters (which is a dark blue in case you didn't know). He has the clear 3rd brake light. I have the smoked. I have to say that I think the smoked looks much better. For some reason you don't notice it as much when you're standing behind the car but when I drive behind him, the clear brake light really sticks out. There's something about the way it reflects sunlight. It is too bright and detracts from the beauty of the car.

I haven't seen the same problem with tail lights, just the 3rd brake light.

We have both in stock...feel free to email me for more details and pics.

eric@bumperplugs.com

(same lights)

[mpikounis]

We have both in stock...feel free to email me for more details and pics.

eric@bumperplugs.com

(same lights)

Eric I would be very interested to see how both the smoked and clear versions look on dark (preferably black) cars. If you can post a picture I would appreciate it. It would be great to be able to order them from the US but unfortunately that would mean taxes and a lot of paperwork to get them here in Greece.

[viper501]

I've got a smoked one from Carnewal on my black coupe. I'll try and post a picture of it in a bit.

O.K. here is a crappy camera phone picture on my filthy car. :censored:

Edited March 8, 2007 by viper501

[fastboydave]

mpikounis, not a problem if you want to quote me. Gert is very good and i believe will give you his best price. I can forward his e-mail should you wish.

[Dharn55]

Smoked is the way to go. I have one on my Ocean Blue C4 and it looks great. Really disappears unless the brake light is lit. The clear would show up much more. I have a cab so I put them on both the stationary light and the spoiler light.

[auto-xr]

I bought two smoked third brake lights. One for the one that is visible when the tail is down and one for the tail. They're both LED based and they are great. I had to switch the wiring around for the one in the tail. I bought them from porschedad on eBay for $115 or so. He may be selling the clear ones, but if you send him a message he may be able to get some smoked ones too. I can post pics later one tonight.

[viper501]

I bought two smoked third brake lights. One for the one that is visible when the tail is down and one for the tail. They're both LED based and they are great. I had to switch the wiring around for the one in the tail. I bought them from porschedad on eBay for $115 or so. He may be selling the clear ones, but if you send him a message he may be able to get some smoked ones too. I can post pics later one tonight.

You bring up a good point. The LED output is far superior to the stock incadescent bulbs.

[auto-xr]

Yeah, that's why I bought them. I figured the performance of the LEDs was worth a few bucks more. I also wanted to have both the third brake lights smoked, because I didn't want red lights anywhere if I could help it. Here are some pics...sorry about the quality.

[mpikounis]

I just got my order from carnewal. I went for the smoked version - I will post pictures tomorrow after I install them.

[mpikounis]

Installation of the 3rd break light was very very easy and I think the end result looks great. Here are some pics:

This is a good value visual upgrade I highly recommend!

[auto-xr]

Installation of the 3rd break light was very very easy and I think the end result looks great. Here are some pics:

This is a good value visual upgrade I highly recommend!

Did you also replace the light in the tail?

[mpikounis]

Yes I did (and forgot to mention it!)