Have you seen the movie The Fast and The Furious? Did you see the great looking cars that had glowing colors under the car, in the fender wells, door handles and along the sides? Does your car look as great? Probably not, unless you have added neon lighting.

One of the hot (no pun intended) new car modifications is to add neon lighting to the outside of the vehicle. There are a wide variety of different kits and colors available, something to please everyone: well perhaps not the police in some communities.

You could start with the most basic kit, which has one or more one color neon tubes. The basic tube kits usually have 4 neon tubes in them. Two longer ones about 48" each for the sides of your car and two shorter ones, usually 36" in length for the front and back. The kit will probably also contain wiring, a mounting bracket, a switch and a connection block. Almost all of the tubes are sealed in high impact acrylic to protect them from debris that is found on the streets.The next step up in kits is those that have a set of different length tubes. One set comes with two 50" and two 30" neon tubes.

People just want to have something different from other drivers. More complicated are those that have a digital control box. One I have seen has 14 different modes and 11 different speeds. You can really have fun choosing from a strobe, chase, or scan, while you are also changing the colors and the speed. If that's not enough, because you are a die hard light freak, you can get some kits that offer from 2 to 4 million different colors. They do this by having various solid color tubes with millions of color steps in each one. Now you can go from a fixed controller to a wireless remote controller.

Now that you have your kit, should you install it yourself? That depends upon your skill level. Can you use basic hand tools like a screw driver, a heat gun, a pencil or marker, an electric drill and shrink wrap? Can you also follow instructions? If you have any concerns than you should leave the installation to a professional. Each kit comes with their own instructions, but in general you should use jacks when you raise your car up. You should also disconnect the battery before beginning. Typical mounting brackets will require you to drill holes in the body of the car. Use a silicon sealant on the screws to protect your car from water damage. The final caution regards the local police department. Some have no problems with cars that are equipped with neon lights. They may not like them, but it may not be illegal. In other communities it may be against local ordinances. So it is best to check before you spend a lot of money and time on something that could get you into trouble.