Reverse / Reversing light/s

[AdamD]

no, because its not a reverse light.
euro cars usually only have one reverse light, the other is a rear red fog light.
the rear fog light is used during heavy fog/snow fall.

you can use your headlight switch to turn on the rear fog light, usually by pulling out the dial slightly.

US-market cars get two reverse lights, and a central electrics module coded to support it. It's possible that a recode of the module could allow both lights to be enabled on reverse, but I've not heard of it working so the best way to achieve it is to rewire the light that was the rear fog (tap into the reverse wire), and purchase a Euro (LHD)-spec inner tail light cluster to replace the one in the car with the rear fog - as per what Lucas has done.

[Hillbilly]

Why not save all your money and gently tap the brakes when reversing. Gives more than enough light to see by.

Have done that for years and so far havent hit anything when doing it.

[hoi polloi]

I kinda like having a rear fog light though... Anyone who says we don't need them in Australia doesn't drive from Sydney to Wollongong very often...

- A.

[Brett_J]

Wow, I didn't know reverse lights were serious business !
I didn't even know I had one reverse light till someone pointed it out recently, I'm not so retarded a driver that I rely on a small 20w globe to help me drive my car backwards, I've been doing it over 20 years now, if I can't manage it, something's wrong, lol.

I think the younger generation rely too much on reversing cameras and other technology to take up the slack in their horrible driver education these days. I can't imagine a young bloke these days in a small truck with no back window and camera trying to reverse out of a small driveway, their would be Twitter posts and Facebook posts galore, #stuckinanalley #yolodintoafence etc.

[geoff_gti]

hahaha Brett!!

[MovieDude]

How hard is it to get a second reverse light installed and working for the Mk 6 Golf GTI?

[Mk R]

How hard is it to get a second reverse light installed and working for the Mk 6 Golf GTI?

It would probably be a real pain. You could try swapping the reverse globe for a bright LED globe perhaps. You could also just turn on the rear fog light instead. It's red but it'll be much brighter for you than just the reverse light.

[MovieDude]

Yes but I was thinking of improving the aesthetic look over the incapacitated mono-light look of the standard setup.

[The_Hawk]

Everything is possible. I know a guy who did this mod with parts from VW Central (or you can source your own).

It's possible to get a US spec "inner" tail light to add another clear lens to the other side...

I assume you lose the fog light though, but get dual reversing lights. Not sure on the coding or anything, but I'm sure Dean from VW Central can sort you out on that front too or at least point you in the right direction.

Funnily enough the US guys are going the other way and converting to a single reverse light + fog light for the "Euro look"

[Lucas_R]

How hard is it to get a second reverse light installed and working for the Mk 6 Golf GTI?

Ive done it on my Mk6 GTI and did the same on my R. See info here: My other German fling: Mk6 GTI

The standard tail light on the drivers side has a fog light built into it which is not serviceable (not accessible without cutting the light housing open) so you need to source a European right hand side light (BKS Tuning sell standard lights and also the Golf R LED lights) which uses an actual reverse light. Then you have to tap into the reverse light wiring on the left side and run + and - cables over to the right hand side and wire it in so that both sides turn when you engage reverse.

Photos don't do it justice...they are waaay brighter than the stock bulbs. Visibility when reversing at night is much better too.

Also - as a side note. If you are chasing even more light for when reversing, upgrading your number plate lights to brighter LED's also helps and also looks really nice to have the crisp white light.