Beyond Headlights: WRX Lighting Mods That Shine

Ignite your Subaru WRX/STI with a lighting transformation that goes beyond the ordinary. The focus often falls on headlights, but a truly exceptional lighting strategy covers every angle of your machine. When you’re ready to make your Subaru truly yours, start with WRX lighting mods that shine beyond headlights.

Why Upgrade Your WRX/STI Lighting Beyond Just Headlights?

Your Subaru WRX/STI’s lighting system offers many enhancement opportunities beyond essential headlights.

Here’s why a comprehensive lighting upgrade offers significant advantages:

• Enhanced safety: Improved lighting ensures you see the road and are seen by others, particularly in challenging conditions.
• Personalized style: Your vehicle reflects your personality. Strategic lighting modifications customize its appearance, giving it a unique and aggressive look.
• Increased functionality: Brighter interior lights help you find items, and effective fog lights cut through adverse weather. Upgrading various components makes daily driving more convenient and comfortable.

A holistic approach ensures every aspect of your vehicle benefits. Let’s explore these options to help you achieve optimal visibility, safety, and a customized look for your WRX/STI.

Fog Lights and Driving Lights

Fog lights are crucial for visibility in poor weather conditions like fog, rain, or snow. They mount low on the vehicle and cast a wide, low beam to cut underneath the weather. This helps illuminate the road directly in front of you.

Many enthusiasts prefer a selective yellow color temperature for fog lights. This is because yellow light has longer wavelengths. The color can reduce glare and improve contrast in adverse conditions.

The design of driving lights, on the other hand, is to supplement your high beams. They project a powerful, long-range spot or combo beam to light up the road far ahead. These are ideal for empty backroads or trails but are too bright for use with oncoming traffic.

Proper installation for both fog and driving lights often involves a relay harness connected directly to the battery. This provides stable power and prevents overloading your factory wiring.

DRLs and Accent Lighting

Daytime running lights (DRLs) and other accents define your WRX's visual signature. Many modern WRX models feature a C-shaped DRL within the headlight housing. You can upgrade these with brighter, more uniform LED C-lights or switchback versions that flash amber with your turn signals. Other accent options include "demon eyes," which add a colorful glow inside the projector lens, and "halos" or "angel eyes," which are illuminated rings that circle the projector shrouds.

When installing these lights, quality wiring is key. Use appropriate gauge wire, solder your connections, and use heat shrink to protect them. Some LED upgrades, especially for turn signals, may require resistors or a new flasher relay to prevent "hyperflash" (a rapid blinking). Always verify local laws regarding forward-facing accent light colors.

Taillights and Rear Visibility

Your vehicle's rear lighting is just as important for safety as its front lighting. Aftermarket LED taillight assemblies offer a modern look and improve brightness over stock incandescent bulbs. Many options feature sequential turn signals, where the light moves in the direction of the turn, making your intentions clearer to other drivers.

Upgrading your reverse lights to high-output LEDs makes a huge difference when backing up at night. These powerful bulbs illuminate the area behind your car, which is especially helpful if you have tinted windows.

When installing new taillights, pay close attention to the gaskets. A poor seal can allow moisture to enter the housing. This will cause condensation and potential electrical issues. Inspect and replace old gaskets to keep your taillights clear and functional. Proper installation of these components on something like your 2015 Subaru WRX lights can prevent these issues.

Interior Lighting Upgrades

Improving the lighting inside your WRX makes the cabin more welcoming and functional. Swapping factory incandescent map, dome, and trunk lights for LED bulbs is a simple but effective modification. LED interior kits are available in various brightness levels and colors, from a clean, modern white to a subtle red.

When choosing interior LEDs, consider their brightness. An overly bright dome light can be distracting at night. Also, check the polarity; if an LED bulb doesn't work, try flipping it 180 degrees in the socket. Footwell lighting kits can add a custom ambient glow to the cabin, and you can wire many to turn on with the dome light or a separate switch.

Underbody and Engine Bay Lighting

Functional lighting can extend to the exterior and under the hood of your WRX. Underglow or rock light kits, once purely for show, now serve practical purposes. At night, they can illuminate the ground around your car, helping you see obstacles. For off-road applications, rock lights are essential for spotting terrain.

Engine bay lighting is another practical modification. Installing waterproof LED strips under the hood makes nighttime maintenance or roadside repairs much easier. Mount these lights securely and route the wiring away from hot or moving parts like the exhaust manifold or belts.

Power, Wiring, and Control

A successful lighting system depends on a solid electrical foundation. Avoid overloading factory circuits. For high-power accessories like light bars or powerful fog lights, use a relay and a fuse tap to draw power from an appropriate source in your fuse box. Always run a dedicated ground wire to a clean, unpainted spot on the chassis for a reliable connection.

Calculate the total amperage draw of your new lights to select the correct wire gauge and fuse rating. Plan your switch placement for easy access without drilling unnecessary holes in your dash. A clean wiring job looks professional while preventing issues like parasitic draw, which can drain your battery when the car is off.

Fitment Across WRX Generations

Subaru has produced several generations of the WRX, from the GD chassis ("Bugeye," "Blobeye," "Hawkeye") to the GR/GV, VA, and the newest VB. Lighting components are rarely interchangeable between these generations without modification. Connectors, mounting points, and housing shapes differ.

For example, removing the front bumper is often necessary to access headlights on newer models like the VA WRX, while it might be simpler on an older GD. Always purchase parts specifically listed for your model year to ensure proper fitment.

Maintenance and Troubleshooting

Even with a perfect installation, lighting systems require occasional maintenance. Periodically check your headlight aim, especially after suspension work, to keep the light on the road. Watch for signs of condensation inside housings, which point to a bad seal.

Address flickering lights or error codes promptly, as they can indicate a loose connection, a failing ballast, or a CANBUS system issue. Keeping connections clean and free of corrosion will help your lighting system perform reliably for years.

A thoughtful approach to illumination improves your confidence and safety on the road. From projectors that cut through the darkness to accent lights that express your style, these upgrades are key investments in your driving experience. By focusing on quality components and proper installation, you can build a setup with WRX lighting mods that shine beyond headlights.