knight rider online

This may seem like a silly question but I'll ask anyway. The KITT dash has alot of lights to it and I was wondering if your fuel economy is affected because of this? I am considering installing a dash and would like to know if all those lights affects power/fuel consumption.

Cheers

Jase


p.s. Does anyone have (besides Mark's Custom Kits website) pictures of a right Hand Drive KITT dash?

I'm not 100% sure, but I think all the lights would only eat at your battery instead of guzzling any of your gas.

A car's fuel economy is affected by a lot of factors...airconditioning, incorrect tire pressure, poorly maintained engine (not serviced regularly), vehicle load, etc. But the number of lights inside the passenger compartment (dome light, dashboard electronics) does not in any way contribute to the gas consumption. The car's battery provides the power for this.

I dont have a KITT replica, but I do know in Privately Owned Vehicle, in order to hook up my emergency lights and siren. I had to have a special altenator. All the lights on the KITT dash would probably really drain a normal altenator. On my firebird I have only 5 blue lights and a small siren. And I had to go one step up, because I kept on ruining alternators.

The only way it could affect MPG would be by the extra weight it adds. That amount would be so small you wouldn't notice more than likely.

Just make sure you have a strong battery and a good alternator and you'll be just fine

I'm going a different route (if some day I get my Pontiac 6000's dash redone). I'm going to get non-acid optima batteries (about 5) and have the welders weld a braket in the trunk under the back shelf, and put the batteries there. From there I'll wire in lights on one battery, main PC computer (which will house the AI) on another, and security system and accessories on the other). The other two will be one for running extras and have an AC/DC power converter (in case of need of tools on the road, etc.) and the other will be a backup that the computer can switch to in an emergency. Further the main battery will power all the normal stuff that came with the vehicle.

I'll be getting a larger alternator but also a larger regulator or maybe fashion two regulators in that case.

I do have an unproven theory though on alternators and gas mileage. This is just my theory so I may be way off...

Larger alternators COULD take more gas. Any time you add something different to the engine itself it might affect fuel economy. I mean, think of it this way: Your engine is like a small power generator. The alternator is powered by the engine. The alternator in turn recharges the batteries. Too small an alternator and it will go out eventualy and you'll use up a lot of batteries. Larger ones will need more power to work, which means more work coming from the engine, and the engine needs more gas. It's probably why gas consumption goes way up also during use of air conditioners in the car (I've seen this happen to my car).

However, the amount of gas consumption that a heavier alternator would take up might be minimal to unnoticeable. It might not take up as much as say, air conditioning would.

I am not sure if any replica owners had compared gas mileages. I mean the replicas aren't normally driven enough for gas mileage to matter. If it's a daily driver, though, then it would have become noticeable to someone somewhere with a replica by now I would think.

I guess it might not even matter. But it was something I was thinking about when I read this.

I got another question about the dash. Where does the dash mount to?
Is there a special bracket? Or it goes right over the factory dash? Please, I need answers. This has been plaguing me for quite awhile.

I don't think a larger alternator is needed to power the lights from the KITT replica dashboard. A stock one is sufficient. But if the front scanner is of the high-intensity bulb type, a heavy duty alternator and battery is recommended. Fuel economy may be affected a bit because of the added weight of the larger alternator and battery, but not too much.

The airconditioner affects the mileage because when the compressor is engaged, load is applied to the engine (via the tension through the fan belt). The larger the compressor, the greater the load. When I want to save gas, I usually turn off the compressor (leaving the air flow on) from time to time, specially when going uphill or when the air in the cabin is too cold already.

A larger altenator would be better to have because it would keep the battery fully charged as you drive. And it would keep your battery full until the next morning. A battery with a larger capacity and more cranking amps would be a good choice.

Turboman, the dash mount onto the stock dash. There are a series of screws near the center defroster vent on the top of the dash pad. It bolts right into there. Also is a good idea to take some kind of emblem or molding tape to help secure down even more to the dash pad.

Here's a dashboard question... if your hands are on the steering yoke, then can you push a button on one of the switch pods without removing your hand from the yoke?

Knight Industries 3000 wrote:Here's a dashboard question... if your hands are on the steering yoke, then can you push a button on one of the switch pods without removing your hand from the yoke?

I think that is the general idea. Have the buttons just no gullwing

Knight Industries 3000 wrote:Here's a dashboard question... if your hands are on the steering yoke, then can you push a button on one of the switch pods without removing your hand from the yoke?

Yes you can do that, unless you have really short fingers or something.

I have a question about those buttons...do they really do anything besides act as movie props? Do replica owners assign those buttons to perform certain tasks?

From what I have seen, most use the buttons for show. Some have a few buttons funtional, like for the scanner, fog lights, etc.
I ended up going a step further and have hooked up all of my POD unit switches to something. I wanted it to be as functional as possible.

If your cheap and poor like me they are just for show and don't work.

Functional ones can run you from $400 to $1800 depending on who's making them. Static display buttons like mine run you about $80.

Since I don't have a T-top I just mounted a stock T/A hardtop overhead and routed my scanner and fog buttons to that.

I see...thanks a lot for the info Kitt-X and Army_F_Body. I guess it all boils down to how much the owner can afford to soup up their replicas huh? At least we know now that it is possible to assign functions to all those buttons and displays.

No problem. It's possible to do almost anything with a replica, just comes down to personal taste, finances, time, effort, etc.

And don't forget immagination.

"Imagination is more important than knowledge." - Albert Einstein

another question: does having all the lights on not distract from the view of the road at night time? i mean does it not make it a lot harder to see the road? like it is when you have the light on inside ur house and looking out at night?