Originally Posted By: hansj3
For your consideration:
http://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=521070
He seemed to have good luck with them. That said its not a filament illumination and the light dispersal isn't the same
I think it's funny -- the first photo he shows of the beam pattern against his garage wall demonstrates the significant departure from "correct" that the LEDs have done (and he declares "so far so good"). Instead of the cutoff being sharper on the left, allowing an upsweep to the right (which is what we need in a right-hand traffic country), the LEDs produce a concerning upsweep to the left. At least he later on recognized that the LEDs put too much light down in the foreground.
His street view is really telling, and demonstrates the fallacy of being able to "eye ball" what an effective light pattern is. His picture looks great to a lot of people. "Look at all that light on the road -- I can see great!!" To the contrary, it has a tremendous hot spot just in front of the vehicle, and this is hugely detrimental to night vision. Any light that's not far down the road competes for your eyes' attention. This is why fog lamps should not be used in most situations, and certainly not at speeds above about 25-35 mph -- you're going way too fast to be able to use them effectively, and all of the side light is fighting the light down the road for your eyes' focus.
The most effective things you can do to improve your night vision, and this applies to every vehicle, and costs little:
- Ensure your lamp housings are clean.
- Ensure your bulbs are new or fairly new, and of the proper type.
- Ensure your lamps are aimed properly.
- Turn the dashboard dimmer down all the way.
You'll be amazed at what turning the dash lights off can do to your night vision. Modern dashboards are WAY too bright for most situations. Turn it down all the way, so that the light fades softly into your peripheral vision, and you'll find it much easier to see distances at night.