Auxiliary pods or a roof bar on the Fortuner: what I run, and where the law draws the line

With the Rann season about to open, the lighting question comes back every year in this club. The unlit stretches out past Bhuj make everyone want a pair of pods, or a full bar on the roof rails.

My car still runs the factory fogs and nothing more up front, and here is why. The counting rule is the one people miss. ACKO's lighting page says a vehicle can have a maximum of four front lamps including fog and auxiliary, white or yellow only, and an improper lighting challan starts at five hundred rupees before it climbs for repeats. Their explainer is here. The bigger worry is not the fine though. A roof mounted bar is an alteration, which drags you into the same Section 52 territory we chewed over with the Legender conversion thread.

Where I would spend: two small amber pods low on the bumper, switched separately, useful in Kutch dust and salt haze. Roof bars photograph beautifully and then throw bonnet glare straight back into your eyes on tarmac.

If you have pods on yours, tell me the mounting point and whether your beam clears the bonnet line cleanly.