Daytime running lights mod in August 2011

If you live in a country where the car lights have to be always on then this mod is maybe convenient for you too.
When you turn on the low beams, the dashboard lights, rear lights and licence plate lights turn on as well. This creates larger electrical drain and load on the alternator, which in returns has more resistance to rotational motion and makes the parasitic losses of the engine power greater.

In the case of Integra Type R DC2 the lightning can drain up to 150 Watt / 0.15kW of power. The fuel consumption is approx. 0.1 liter per 100km higher as well.

Inspired by DC2 forums I made my own version of Daytime Running Lights a.k.a. DRL.
The principle is to use the High beam lights as a DRL but in the serial connection, not parallel which is a stock configuration. In serial configuration the power output is 1/4 of the parallel configuration. The high beam lights generate 2x60 Watt of light power, this translates to only 2x15 Watt in the serial configuration.

I am using 2x SPDT car relays to switch between the serial and parallel configuration. My schematic looks like this:

The red drawing is the core of the DRL module. The dark green drawing is optional only if you want the "lights-on-reminder" unit to work with the DRL. Otherwise you just have to feed 12V + from "Parking-lights-on" source /light green drawing/.
I switch on the DRL lights manually via combination light switch by switching the high beams on. The combination switch stays in position 0. When I switch it to parking lights or low beam lights the relays power on and switch the configuration from serial to parallel, back to the stock condition.
Of course the combination light switch has to be modified for this to work. Unfortunately I did not make any photographs how I modified it. I disassembled it and have bridged the contacts in order to bring the power to the high beam lights permanently, therefore they can also work in 0 position independently.
I have just this video on how to disassemble the combination switch.

This means I can switch on the high beams independently of the parking and low beam lights. The blue drawing shows you what contacts have to be bridged.
You could instead make an additional switch to feed the power to the high beam lights. Its up to you.

The DRL module with wires.

Finished job.

Sample video of how the DRL works:

UPDATE (November-20-2013)

I have come up with alternative wiring for DRL lights. This wiring works fully automatically, which means the DRL lights turn on with the key in IG1 position and turn off with key in ACC or 0 position. The DRL lights also turn off with the combination light switch in position 1 (PARK LIGHTS) or 2  (HEADLIGHTS). An override switch for disabling the DRL should also be incorporated as depicted.

This alternative version is easier to hook up, so if anyone wants to modify the lights for DRL I recommend the updated wiring.