4C - Weirdest Modern Turn Signals

"Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever" (superchan7) 09/19/2020 at 22:29 • Filed to: Alfa Romeo, alfa romeo 4c, turn signals, turn indicators

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Early in my ownership (more than 2 years ago!) I briefly mentioned that the indicators on the North American 4C are quite strange, and I finally remembered to snap a video:

It has both a ring of LEDs and a central filament bulb. If you thought perhaps there’s some clever functional division with the brake lights, you would be wrong—they all light up in unison for braking.

So for turns or hazards, you have a really odd visual effect of both the LEDs toggling instantly and the bulbs illuminating and dimming with a delay. Super, super weird.

The only explanation is that somehow neither the bulb nor the LED ring can meet US DOT specifications on their own (probably that weird surface area requirement), so they had to be mashed together.

Also, in the RoW car the central bulb is amber and not red, because it’s not used for the brake lights.

The taillights are a larger outer ring and not shared.

nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever 09/19/2020 at 22:51

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Maybe swap the filament bulb to LED? Blows my mind how many manufacturers use filament and LEDs. I think it was a charger or something with led running light and that slow burn / warm up fitment then in a blink LED is on. 

404 - User No Longer Available > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever 09/19/2020 at 22:53

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IIRC it has something to do with US rules about how big of a light surface area the turn signals and brake lights must cover. US car makers resort to making the whole damn brake light a turn signal combo, and European car makers rewiring turn signals like this. The previous-gen Tiguan had this issue.

IMO it’s stupid, now you have brake and turn signals the same colour, and you lose both turn and a brake light when the bulb burns.

EDIT: I just saw you mentioned this already lol.

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > 404 - User No Longer Available 09/19/2020 at 23:07

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Yeah it just speaks to “another one of those Yurp’ ean cars that weren’t designed for ‘Murica.”

The MkI Tiguan is insane when you just look at the light cluster, but just “American” when it’s illuminated .

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul 09/19/2020 at 23:08

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Yeah, if I get bored enough I just might swap in an LED cluster!

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever 09/20/2020 at 08:09

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...Wait...so it’s an amber bulb in the center and when it turns off the brake/tail LED ring comes on (North American style) in red as a turn signal and when that goes out, the amber bulb comes back on again, repeat...?

That’s really odd.....why didn’t they just stick with the amber bulb in the center like....oh, EVERYWHERE ELSE, lol.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > 404 - User No Longer Available 09/20/2020 at 08:10

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I never understood this either because you’re paying money to develop a separate thing that is worse...

Like...the current Ford Transit in the US. They still have the turn signal section in the taillights, but they removed the baffle between it and the reverse light so it’s now just one GIANT dim reverse light...

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 09/21/2020 at 13:28

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RoW car: The centre lens is amber, and the bulb flashes as a simple turn signal like on other cars . The LEDs are not a part of it . The LED ring just outside the bulb is used for brakes.

North America: The entire lens is red. The ring just outside the bulb is used simultaneously, for both brake and turn signals. There is no amber centre.

In both versions, the outermost LED ring is for taillights.

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever 09/21/2020 at 14:31

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Correction:

North America: The entire lens is red including the centre bulb . The LED ring just outside the bulb is used simultaneously with the red centre bulb , for both brake and turn signals.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever 09/21/2020 at 16:05

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Always thought making two separate clusters made no sense....why couldn’t they use the amber one here? Would’ve saved on costs :S

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 09/21/2020 at 16:55

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The US specs have some illuminated surface area requirements that ECE does not require.  The design process probably went like this:

“Make a light cluster that complies to ECE specs and fits into this hole in the body.”

*Designer designs*

“Oh, they want to sell this in the US too. You already finished? How can we make this pass US specs? No, changing the shape of the LED clusters is too expensive. Make it work with the existing LED clusters.”