Everyone having LED lights now?

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mclasser

mclasser

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Seems like every new car has LEDs up front -- either DRLs, headlights, accent lights, etc. IIRC, Audi was one of the first to have LED jewel lights and they looked great/fitting on such upscale cars. Now every run of the mill Hyundai and Toyota seems to have them and I think it looks tacky. Saw a new Highlander today with LED DRL fog lights which Toyota basically lifted from the newer Benzes.
 
I think the ones that look like solid character lines are interesting and classy.

The cheaper ones where you identify the individual LEDs as points of light look like Christmas lights strung up. These just look cheap.
 
You'll notice that a lot do not look like they are a part of the original design, and were retrofitted into the next model year to simply add LED something or other to keep up with the other manufacturers. I like some of the new compacts, but seeing these [censored]-looking retros would turn me off more than lure me in, like, "oh, this one has LED's, too, just like a Benzito!!! Now I haz to buy!"

My Subaru has LED accent lights that look pretty good, since they were a part of the design, but they're not very expensive-looking. I'm hoping that means, like most things Subaru, that they'll look just ok, but last forever.
 
Originally Posted By: mclasser
Seems like every new car has LEDs up front -- either DRLs, headlights, accent lights, etc. IIRC, Audi was one of the first to have LED jewel lights and they looked great/fitting on such upscale cars. Now every run of the mill Hyundai and Toyota seems to have them and I think it looks tacky. Saw a new Highlander today with LED DRL fog lights which Toyota basically lifted from the newer Benzes.


Lexus 600hL had the first LED lighting. Not LED accents. LED accents on the first R8 were useless, only on the V10 were they better. But this Lexus came before that. I don't mind LED accents, I think it looks very "21st" century. It also is more efficient than Incandescent light bulbs.
 
Last edited:
I thought all the NEW cars are HID's , and LED's are considered old school , I updated all my old cars to HID they are much brighter than LED's
 
Originally Posted By: heyu
I thought all the NEW cars are HID's , and LED's are considered old school , I updated all my old cars to HID they are much brighter than LED's

No, most new cars are still have halogen headlight. Some higher end cars have HID as option and few cars have it as standard feature.

Few new cars have LED headlights(Low and High beams).

You just changed halogen bulbs to HID bulbs of your old cars ?
 
LED lights do look funny when it is obvious they are tacked on bling. It's a popular feature though, and relatively cheap to implement, so the manufacturers love it.

What's even worse are the aftermarket LED stick on light strips.
 
I don't care about how the lights look as much as how effective they are at providing excellent light on the road and for me to see well.
I know the new Corolla has LED low beam headlights but I haven't heard if they are actually good at providing good vision for the driver.

As for the accent lamps, looks are not important to me, but the cheap factor can be well disguised with a proper lens that diffuses the focused light so it looks more traditional incandescent like. Oh I hate the blue tint that these accent lamps give off too, if the light can't mimic 3500-4000k or so don't bother.
 
Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
LED lights do look funny when it is obvious they are tacked on bling. It's a popular feature though, and relatively cheap to implement, so the manufacturers love it.

What's even worse are the aftermarket LED stick on light strips.


But but but.... TRAWNN!!

cef3aae0-fac0-4b40-828a-a1927ac9cd35.jpg
 
Originally Posted By: heyu
I thought all the NEW cars are HID's , and LED's are considered old school , I updated all my old cars to HID they are much brighter than LED's


It's the other way around. I liked my Bi-xenon headlamps, came with headlamp washers. Now Mercedes got rid of the Bi-xenons and just have LED headlamps. They also got rid of the headlamp washers which is one of the things I liked about the car.

Also factory Xenon's are better than aftermarket, haven't seen much of the aftermarket stuff that was actually DOT approved.
 
Leds are making some big ground, the lower power consumption is a huge plus and if they are designed correctly they are very good for DRL because you really notice them.

There is still however a huge problem with led based junk bulbs being swapped into halogen reflectors.
 
Led taillights bug my eyes when they're pulse width driven-- they flicker. There are ways to soften this electrically.
 
Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
Originally Posted By: heyu
I thought all the NEW cars are HID's , and LED's are considered old school , I updated all my old cars to HID they are much brighter than LED's

No, most new cars are still have halogen headlight. Some higher end cars have HID as option and few cars have it as standard feature.

Few new cars have LED headlights(Low and High beams).

You just changed halogen bulbs to HID bulbs of your old cars ?




I added the HID kit to my old cars ,( 94 toyota/97 Saturn/97 Lumina ) , The kit include all the wiring and ballast
 
Originally Posted By: heyu
Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
Originally Posted By: heyu
I thought all the NEW cars are HID's , and LED's are considered old school , I updated all my old cars to HID they are much brighter than LED's

No, most new cars are still have halogen headlight. Some higher end cars have HID as option and few cars have it as standard feature.

Few new cars have LED headlights(Low and High beams).

You just changed halogen bulbs to HID bulbs of your old cars ?




I added the HID kit to my old cars ,( 94 toyota/97 Saturn/97 Lumina ) , The kit include all the wiring and ballast


I hope you're not talking about hid bulbs into halogen projectors or reflectors those are the worst mods you can do.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?380558-What-s-wrong-with-projector-retrofits

HID projectors retrofits are the only thing that is even close to "acceptable" , even though most are you poorly executed and still illegal. The projectors must be designed for hid bulbs since halogen projectors are different.
 
Originally Posted By: mclasser
Seems like every new car has LEDs up front -- either DRLs, headlights, accent lights, etc. IIRC, Audi was one of the first to have LED jewel lights and they looked great/fitting on such upscale cars. Now every run of the mill Hyundai and Toyota seems to have them and I think it looks tacky. Saw a new Highlander today with LED DRL fog lights which Toyota basically lifted from the newer Benzes.


I am not a fan. I think halogen looks better in the front. Maybe to the driver the extra light on the road is good, but styling is a bit meh to me. Also, while they ought to rarely fail, I bet I can buy lots of halogens for the cost of one LED setup.

Now LED in the rear, again Not a fan--but LED ought to light up faster, and thus be helpful to the driver behind you. There I think LED has its place, and while it might be pricey if it fails, perhaps it is an ok tradeoff.
 
Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
Originally Posted By: heyu
Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
Originally Posted By: heyu
I thought all the NEW cars are HID's , and LED's are considered old school , I updated all my old cars to HID they are much brighter than LED's

No, most new cars are still have halogen headlight. Some higher end cars have HID as option and few cars have it as standard feature.

Few new cars have LED headlights(Low and High beams).

You just changed halogen bulbs to HID bulbs of your old cars ?




I added the HID kit to my old cars ,( 94 toyota/97 Saturn/97 Lumina ) , The kit include all the wiring and ballast


I hope you're not talking about hid bulbs into halogen projectors or reflectors those are the worst mods you can do.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?380558-What-s-wrong-with-projector-retrofits

HID projectors retrofits are the only thing that is even close to "acceptable" , even though most are you poorly executed and still illegal. The projectors must be designed for hid bulbs since halogen projectors are different.



Absolutely ! Almost a hundred thousand miles between the 3 cars with HID's in halogen projectors and driving in other states no issues

The forum you posted is all about marketing to invest in whole new lenses ( projectors ), They work perfect in stock projectors

( they actually omit less light in stock projectors )

IF THEY ARE AIMED correctly It is Very acceptable modification and not illegal
 
Originally Posted By: eljefino
Led taillights bug my eyes when they're pulse width driven-- they flicker. There are ways to soften this electrically.


I've noticed this as well, it is VERY distracting and actually give me a headache, frankly the LED tail lamps (not stop lamps) are seemingly too bright in many models and can actually fool you into thinking they are stop lamps.
 
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