Recommendation: Front light bar?

[TheLandYacht]

So I live in, and drive on some VERY dark country roads, inhabited by forest creatures!!!!

It would be helpful to have a lightbar to help the High-Beam headlights light up the road ahead (and hopefully the brush & median to either side to see anything ready to jump into my path).

Any recommdations for a decent light-bar that'd fit fairly turn-key on a 2018 Mirage SE, perhaps with a relay to the High Beam circuit so they come on when I turn on the High's, so I don't have to fumble with a second switch every time a car comes around the curve/over the hill?

Maybe something in a bright LED package?

Thanks in advance.

[mohammad]

You didnt mention which mirage trim you have. But if you dont have the top trim. The best upgrade in my opinion would be to install the top trim headlights as they are projector bulbs which are going to be substantially better than just putting an LED bulb in a reflector housing.

See: https://mirageforum.com/forum/showth...p-with-bixenon

Alternatively you could try and add the projector into your headlights: https://mirageforum.com/forum/showth...ector-retrofit

the other obvious upgrade is to add foglight but i believe in north America the fog lights won't turn on with the high beam by default.

see: https://mirageforum.com/forum/showth...-with-hi-beams

Generally speaking installing any lightbar is a fairly easy task. you can probably just use a fuse tap on the high beam fuse to run a relay. The real question is where would you mount a light bar? if you plan on mounting it down low by the grille then its probably not going to do a great job at lighting up the road.

Heres a photo of someone with a lightbar: https://mirageforum.com/forum/showth...ll=1#post50140

doesnt seem to be putting out alot of light if you ask me. I would definitely focus on headlight upgrade and possibly adding foglight before considering adding something like a lightbar

[TheLandYacht]

You didnt mention which mirage trim you have.

I just got this thing (used)...so I'm not as familiar with trim packages as I'd like...how would I tell what trim package I have?

And you're right, I don't think a low-slung light bar would do much of anything at all. That one link doesn't show much of what the light pattern does at-a-distance.

As to upgrading the headlights, upgrading the bulbs to high-intensity LED was the first thing I did (less than a week after I got the car)...and it made a hell of a difference, I'll tell you!

Still, driving these dark country roads at night can be scary stuff. And I do it 5 nights a week.

[mohammad]

I just got this thing (used)...so I'm not as familiar with trim packages as I'd like...how would I tell what trim package I have?
.

Your proof of ownership should tell you what trim you have. Alternatively replace the vin in this link with the vin of your car and you will see the trim and all of its features. (this is official mitsubishi site) https://www.mitsubishicars.com/rs/fi...2A4HJ4FH011431

I also have LED bulbs in the reflector housing. Its a big step up sure but its still a lot worse than a projector. There's a reason most cars on the road have projectors and mitsubishi mirage offers them on the highest trim level. For me at least when I turn on high beams it becomes very obvious on the highway that a lot of the light is going to waste as the massive overhead signs light up as i drive past them. If i had projectors all that light would be projected through the lens and onto the road instead of being scattered in all directions wasting light that could be going toward the road.


You still havent mentioned which year/mirage you have but maybe consider buying a fog light kit like this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/324101154869 and putting in high quality bulbs? Remember to get the kit with its own independent switch as if you try to use the OEM foglight switch the lights will not stay on with the high beam as i mentioned before.

Keeping the origional look of the car is good, for aero dynamics andresale value(no holes in bumper) among other things.

On a side note. Mounting anything like a lightbar on the front bumper wouldn't be possible for me as my insurance company does not allow me to modify safety features of the car. the front bumper should be designed with pedestrian impact in mind and a light bar would of course ruin that.

[TheLandYacht]

If i had projectors all that light would be projected through the lens and onto the road instead of being scattered in all directions wasting light that could be going toward the road.


You still havent mentioned which year/mirage you have but maybe consider buying a fog light kit like this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/324101154869 and putting in high quality bulbs? Remember to get the kit with its own independent switch as if you try to use the OEM foglight switch the lights will not stay on with the high beam as i mentioned before.

Keeping the origional look of the car is good, for aero dynamics andresale value(no holes in bumper) among other things.

On a side note. Mounting anything like a lightbar on the front bumper wouldn't be possible for me as my insurance company does not allow me to modify safety features of the car. the front bumper should be designed with pedestrian impact in mind and a light bar would of course ruin that.

Scattering the light (like towards the fringes of the road & the brush)...is a GOOD thing.

As to tellin' ya more about ma' car, I'll do that as soon as I get my VIN dropped into that link later. (Yeah, I really should get around to introducing myself in the proper forum, shouldn't I? With pictures & all? Just bought this thing a couple of weeks ago for commuting. It's actually a pretty fun little ride.

I wonder if I could replace the existing fog-lights with those & wire them into the high-beams with a relay (since the existing fog-lights turn OFF when you turn on the high-beams).

[TheLandYacht]

Here's what I found when I dropped my VIN in that link.

Exterior Features
aHalogen headlights
aFog lights
aLED rear combination tail lights aHigh mount rear stop light
aColor-keyed front and rear bumpers
aColor-keyed folding side-view mirrors with turn
indicators aColor-keyed outside door handles
aColor-keyed tail gate handle
aChrome grille accents aRear spoiler aPower side-view mirrors
aFront windshield variable intermittent wipers
aRear window intermittent wiper/ washer with defroster aDoor sash black out aSE badge
a14-inch alloy wheels
a165/65R14 tires aTemporary spare tire

[Mark]

You didnt mention which mirage trim you have.

He did mention his trim level in his first post, but trim levels keep changing in the States. Quoting his first post -

"Any recommendations for a decent light-bar that'd fit fairly turn-key on a 2018 Mirage SE, perhaps with a relay to the High Beam circuit so they come on when I turn on the High's, so I don't have to fumble with a second switch every time a car comes around the curve/over the hill?"

2014-15 trim levels (base to top) would have been DE & ES.

2017-2020 trim levels (base to top) would have been ES, LE, SE, GT. A RF (an ES with an upgraded stereo) was also stuck in between the ES & LE at times.

Since the 2021 update, the base to top has been ES, LE, BE, & SE. Along with a trend to add more features at the factory. For example, I saw a 2022 ES window sticker recently with over $2,000 in added features.

[mohammad]

Scattering the light (like towards the fringes of the road & the brush)...is a GOOD thing.

As to tellin' ya more about ma' car, I'll do that as soon as I get my VIN dropped into that link later. (Yeah, I really should get around to introducing myself in the proper forum, shouldn't I? With pictures & all? Just bought this thing a couple of weeks ago for commuting. It's actually a pretty fun little ride.

I wonder if I could replace the existing fog-lights with those & wire them into the high-beams with a relay (since the existing fog-lights turn OFF when you turn on the high-beams).

Scattering light horizontally is good yes, vertically toward the sky not so much.

If you already have fog lights just put in bright bulbs and follow the instructions in this post on how to make them independent: https://mirageforum.com/forum/showth...ll=1#post28498 if you dont know how to do etacs programing just search around on this forum.(although im not certain this will allow for fog & high beam at same time as its illegal in the USA)

[Fummins]

Here's what I found when I dropped my VIN in that link.

Exterior Features
aHalogen headlights
aFog lights
aLED rear combination tail lights aHigh mount rear stop light
aColor-keyed front and rear bumpers
aColor-keyed folding side-view mirrors with turn
indicators aColor-keyed outside door handles
aColor-keyed tail gate handle
aChrome grille accents aRear spoiler aPower side-view mirrors
aFront windshield variable intermittent wipers
aRear window intermittent wiper/ washer with defroster aDoor sash black out aSE badge
a14-inch alloy wheels
a165/65R14 tires aTemporary spare tire

Feel free to ignore the posts asking what trim you have!
Years ago I bought a cheap amazon 40" light bar. The mfg or box said ni-light iirc. It came with no wiring just a mount. It worked great. Obviously too bright to use with traffic around and I assume you realize that already.

I'm gonna have to mount that bar on my current truck somehow. I went camping the other day and really could have used the extra light. Ended up rolling into camp at midnight. I've got led headlight bulbs but they're not adjusted properly. Better than stock bulbs but would probably blind oncoming traffic. I'd prefer to have a light bar for back roads any day. They're cheap and put out more light than any overpriced factory fog lights or headlights will ever put out. I think I paid around $100 for my light bar, they'd be cheaper down there. Some hid headlights would probably cost over $500 then you'd have to dink around with the wiring way more.

Wiring one up to the high beam would be simple enough. Use the googles to search for a simple wiring diagram with a relay and fuse.

I found this thread:
https://mirageforum.com/forum/showth...ll=1#post50138

[minibishi2]

Currently I have a tiny light bar and tiny push bar along with a couple extra high/light projectors. My fog lights are also high/low projectors. Soon I'm switching out the little push bar for a large one from a tacoma and getting a larger light bar and more high/low projectors. I have all 6 projectors set up with my headlights on low beam and the light bar set to come on with my highbeam only along with the 6 projectors becoming high beams.. You can see everything.