ambient lighting is now something standard on a lot of cars even the newer porsches... articles on line say that it helps in keeping the drivers alert at night, in addition to other benefits.. is it worth putting these things on our 997's or will it destroy our interior? blue seems to be a common color... blue is what i have on my toyota land cruiser...

 

Not for me...I like the classic looking interior illumination the 997 has that's like my 914, 944, and 928s. The newer cars with the fancy lighting and screens doesn't fit the character of the 997 IMO.

 

I don’t drive my 997 at night so no use for me. LOL

 

Do what makes you happy. I replaced all of my interior bulbs with white LEDs to minimize current draw but that's as far as I personally would go.

 

I love well-done interior ambient lights. My '12 Cooper S had some from the factory, and I've always found Audi's use of red interior lighting especially to highlight the center console, shifter, and climate controls to be very nice and beneficial.

 

@jalvani I always liked the subtle red of my Audi's lighting, the tiny LEDs tucked into the door latches were my favorite.

Our cars (at least the .1 gen) have one white LED in the rearview housing that shines directly onto the shift **** but I think anything more as a retrofit will be difficult to integrate into the cabin.

 

Haven't driven my car enough at night to find that! I'd prefer red, and I would also prefer that the dash lights are red. if I ever pull the gauge cluster for re-work, I might have the LEDs gelled or swapped for red. IIRC, my EE buddy said red LEDs light with less current than all others, so swapping might not make sense w/o additional mods. Spitballing, obviously, as I've given it no real thought.

 

@jalvani I've swapped all the factory incandescent bulbs from my car and replaced with LED. The interior lights are much brighter but the color tone modernizes the look without fundamentally altering the aesthetics of the interior. ECS Tuning sells a kit that supplies bulbs for glove box, door puddle lights, overhead console, foot wells, frunk and engine compartment.

 

I truly dislike interior ambient lighting; I enjoy the darkened cocoon I sit in for night driving, I turn down the interior lights and allow my eyes to look out and seek for critters attempting to cross in front of me, but it might be my years of experience of driving around at night without lights.

 

Where would you add it? I first experienced ambient lighting in my friends MB and it felt like I was in one of those limo part buses.

I like the simple lighting of the 997

 

@TheMurse I've seen those kits in the past, but never jumped on them because I'm nervous about color temp. I don't want light any cooler than ~2700k and not much warmer than ~2200k unless it's just red light. Ambient lighting is such a personal preference item. Do you have a pic of your interior lighting post-LED install?

 

LED left, Factory Incandescent right

Interior prior to steering wheel upgrade


Nice and bright

 

Bulb size reference:

https://rennlist.com/forums/997-foru...ulb-guide.html

 

Replacing the old bulbs with LED's is a great modern upgrade for our cars for sure. My 997.2 has all exterior LED's (part of being a .2) but the interior is still old timey lights. The very best kit by far is from USP Motorsport. Correct color temp, no flicker, halo etc.
As to the initial post about "mood lighting" or something like that, leave that to the MB's, limos and pimp mobiles.

 

Its a yay or me a well done installation can really revive the interior if that's your thing