Car Wiring - Adding lights

[nativepaul]

Originally Posted by rawfuls

I'll probably use blue LEDs to make it look like a spaceshuttle!

As far as I am aware the space shuttles never had blue LED striplighting, thus no amount of blue LED striplighting is going to make a Kia Sportage look like a space shuttle.

If I wanted to do it (which I dont), I would tap into a pre-switched supply like the dome light and boot/trunk light, rather than the cigerette lighter for power supply and fuse box to switch it, the lights you linked are 400mA each so one under each seat and one under the glovebox is 2amps extra, which I would have thought would be OK but i have no idea what size wiring Kia use, you need to check that out, if in doubt, you might want to switch the existing incandescent bulb with an LED replacement which will lower the current.

Whichever way you do it, Unless you want bare wires all over the car you will have to remove some trim, whether is is centre console, carpet, rear seats, rear plastics to run from the fuse box in your footwell to the seat and trunk. Or headlining, B pillar plastics, carpet, to utilise the dome light. Depending on how and where you want to mount it you may not have to remove anything in the boot/trunk if you use the boot/trunk light for switched power as it is in there already.