Headlamp Legals in UK

[spegtek]

What's the score with the UK legals on the 2010 Camaro? Does anything need modifying to comply and will the SAE marked units pass the SVA or MOT?

[Applegarth]

You do need to modify the lighting to comply with the UK requirements, however that is pretty much all that you have to do in order to pass the MOT or SVA.

[spegtek]

Thanks Applegarth - what are the mods exactly? Are there any weblinks you know of?

[Applegarth]

Headlights: need to adjust the aim of the lamps so that they don't blind oncoming traffic.

Fog lights are required:

If the Camaro is non-RS, you already have fog lights with a switch but that's not enough. You also need to wire a brake light to come on when you switch the foglights on.

If the Camaro is an RS model, you can convert the daytime running lights to "fog lights", but you need to deactivate the daytime running light ability and wire a foglight switch in the cab.

Turn signals:

You will need to convert the front side marker to a side repeater for the turn signal. You can either convert the side marker to a dual-intensity side repeater, or a side repeater only.

The rear turn signals need to be deactivated and you need to find a way to install amber turn signals. Reverse lights are not required, so you can simply deactivate your reverse lights, wire the turn signals into the reverse lights, and install amber bulbs into the reverse light sockets. Or, you could install some sort of amber repeater onto your tail lamps.

The simple way to describe the legal differences, is that you need to have amber turn signals visible from any side of the vehicle (front, side, back), no red lights can blink, and you need a fog light system (which includes 2 front and 1 rear light).

You will most likely also have to adjust your parking brake. From what I have seen with Chevrolet, the parking brakes are not well adjusted from the factory. Part of the MOT is to check for reserve parking brake travel.

[redleader]

Are Halo head lights OK then?
As it appears many of the Camaro's I see in the UK have them :-O

If so, where can I get them / upgrade (in the UK) :-)

[stray bullitt]

Originally Posted by redleader

Are Halo head lights OK then?
As it appears many of the Camaro's I see in the UK have them :-O

If so, where can I get them / upgrade (in the UK) :-)

Yep the Camaro halos are UK legal. The beam from them, and indeed my previous Mustangs are flat, and therfore do no slant toward oncoming drivers the way a mainland European spec car would likely do. They are better in fog than standard halogens, negating the need for auxiliary fog lights. Hence the RS spec Camaros have daylight running lights in the bumper rather than fogs.
I came across these, but they need to be fitted by someone fairly competent with auto electrics.
http://www.phastekperformance.com/20...s-dualhalo.htm

[Rendo]

Originally Posted by stray bullitt

Yep the Camaro halos are UK legal. The beam from them, and indeed my previous Mustangs are flat, and therfore do no slant toward oncoming drivers the way a mainland European spec car would likely do. They are better in fog than standard halogens, negating the need for auxiliary fog lights. Hence the RS spec Camaros have daylight running lights in the bumper rather than fogs.
I came across these, but they need to be fitted by someone fairly competent with auto electrics.
http://www.phastekperformance.com/20...s-dualhalo.htm

Believe it or not, the Camaro is actually one of the easier vehicles to make compliant to UK laws. Just to clarify, most of what you described is the HID (High Intensity Discharge) headlights, which are paired with the Halos in the RS package. The Halo itself doesn't contribute to not needing fog lights.

The HID+Halos aren't cheap, but well worth it. I never use my brights on back roads because I just don't need to; however, get use to getting flashed a lot. People also tend to think I am riding their ass at night when I am not and will pull over when I am a quarter mile behind them.