mx5cartalk.com

Being an immigrant, I'm not yet up to speed on what's legal and what's not on cars in Australia.

Today's question is: are clear repeaters and reflectors (as pictured) legal in Victoria?

Also, can I 'de-tango' the front indicators and just use an orange bulb instead?

Reflectors on the side( where fitted ) must be amber by law. Side turn signals must flash amber which means you can use a clear lens but need an amber wedge bulb- amber and clear wedge bulbs have the same base.

The front turn indicators use an amber sub lense and a clear bulb - if you remove the amber lense a substitute amber bulb does not fit the bulbholder aperture. Amber 15mm bulbs have a 150degree config ( BAU15s) but a clear bulb has 180deg ( BA15s). You can force them in but it is not designed to fit and by some standards not the right way to carry out a mod.

I reckon the amber side reflectors are a good safety feature on a small car.

What Mr M said. However, if you get the clear side "reflectors" with the bulb holders in them you can fit orange bulbs and make them work with your indicators or parking lights, and then they are legal.

As Mr M and Garry said I don't think they are technically legal unless you wire them up as indicators. However, a lot of us (myself included) haven't wired them up and still use them as they look so much better. I would think it is more of an Australian design rule for new cars, rather than something police enforce. They still reflect after all and the majority of cars have no side reflectors at all. I personally wouldn't worry, take them off your current car and bring them over for your new one.

Cheers chaps!

yep, as morlock said, if you have reflectors, they need to be orange (except rearward facing ones, they must be red)

you can legally paint over the reflectors, as this renders them not reflective, and therefore no need to be orange.