LED Foglights/Driving Lights

[StealthSpeed3]

$45 from Velocity LED + $5 shipping, 6000K.

Headlights only:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k78/SilverBullet98_77/Stealth3/HIDs/IMG_0235.jpg


http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k78/SilverBullet98_77/Stealth3/New%20LEDs/P6250008.jpg http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k78/SilverBullet98_77/Stealth3/New%20LEDs/P6250012.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k78/SilverBullet98_77/Stealth3/New%20LEDs/P6250018.jpg http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k78/SilverBullet98_77/Stealth3/New%20LEDs/P6250019.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k78/SilverBullet98_77/Stealth3/New%20LEDs/P6250031.jpg

[YSOSLO]

Wow! Those look a LOT brighter than I was expecting them to be, since my experience with LEDs is that they don't seem to throw light very far. Any pics from inside or on the roof looking forward?

[StealthSpeed3]

from behind looking forward:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k78/SilverBullet98_77/Stealth3/New%20LEDs/P6250033.jpg

from side:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k78/SilverBullet98_77/Stealth3/New%20LEDs/P6250020.jpg

[dmention7]

Any pics with the headlights off?

I was posting about this in a 247 thread recently.... but LEDs tend to look far more intense when you photograph the bulb itself. This is because the light is actually more intense. But the total amount of light cast off and projected by incandescent bulbs tends to be better unless the housing was designed for LEDs.

[LASERBLUE135]

looks incredible. I wondered when these would come out. But yes ^^^ wondering about light output.

[Workdawg]

You have to rewire them to get the fogs to turn on independently, unfortunately.

[dmention7]

Oh yeah, forgot about that. Good excuse to perform a simple mod though! lol

Or you could just pull the headlight fuse while you take the pics. I'm just curious how much light the fogs actually throw because it looks like the entire LED is recessed behind the reflector housing. Though, it's not like the factory bulbs throw a whole lot of light anyways, so from an appearance standpoint it definitely looks like you got a pretty good color match out of the LED fogs.

[StealthSpeed3]

i'll pull the headlight fuse tonight after work and take some new pics...

[YSOSLO]

If it won't work with the fuse out, then perhaps just a quick pick of the headlights-only and post it just above the pic you already posted with both of them on. That way we coudl see the added output the LED fogs are giving you. It looks like they're throwing a really nice puddle of light about 6-10 feet in front of them anyway. I don't know that my factory fogs do much more than that either though.

[1Kris06]

i'll pull the headlight fuse tonight after work and take some new pics...

either that or you could try running a thin wire from the LEFT peg of the tail lamp fuse to the POWER spot of the fog light relay. then they will come on with the parking lights.

[LASERBLUE135]

I'm just wondering light output vs HID headlights. Do these make sense over HIDs?

[dmention7]

Short answer, no.

Long answer, maybe, but it won't be cheap.

Headlights are all about having light from the bulb focused and/or reflected into a coherent beam that is cast on the road. HIDs and incandescant bulbs generate light in a 360 degree pattern around the filament/arc and the housings/projecters are designed to take that non-directional light source and focus it into a nice spotlight.

LEDs on the other hand are a VERY directional light source. They generate light from a very small surface area, which is why they appear bright to the eye, but generally don't create a whole lot of light, except for the more expensive high-power applications. The analogy here is the classic psi vs cfm issue when it comes to turbos. LEDs are a small turbo cranking out huge psi over a small rpm range. Incandescant/HIDs are a larger turbo making less psi, but delivering a larger total flow and supporting higher power. Actually an even better example is a laser. Those things are bright as hell over the small region they throw light, but when it comes to navigating in the dark, would you rather have the bitchin'est laser or the cheapest flashlight?

Now, take something like brake lights or turn signals, and you have a whole different situation. You're not trying to illuminate the ground, you're trying to create a visible signal for other drivers. LEDs work just fine because although they're not casting a large total amount of light, the little bit of light is being emitted by a very small surface area, and appears pretty intense to your eye. So instead of seeing the entire brake light housing turn red, you tend to see a bright pinpoint of red, unless the LED bulb and/or housing are designed for that use.

tl;dr - It takes a lens designed for the LED's light output pattern to make usable lighting. Unless you have LED headlights from the factory, LEDs in your headlight housings won't make shit for light. That, and the heatsinks required for that kind of total light output would be frickin massive.


For more info, look up light "intensity" versus "irradiance"

[YSOSLO]

Nicely said Jay!! Since I'm in a situation where I may be needing to replace my fogs soon, and I'm all about light output rather than saving power via lower voltage LEDs, I'm looking forward to seeing more pics to decide if this is the way I want to go or not. Looking forward to more pics whenever you can get them up A. Thanks.

[StealthSpeed3]

almost killed one of them tonight delivering, American Blvd was flooded and i got about 6 inches in and was like SHIT!! and backed out. It still works, just needed to dry off the bulb and the connectors. One or 2 decent days and i'll get some pics up hopefully with both in perfect working order.

[SLyness18]

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/store/index.cgi?action=DispPage&Page2Disp=%2Fpt%2Fdrl.html
Would these work as a direct replacement for fog lights. much cheaper, not that it means they are better? do u need anything special to switch over to led lighting? i wana do my interior lights also. this site has them all, and for a decent price

[YSOSLO]

I've replaced all of my interior lights with LEDs and they work great, although I went with white to ensure I can actually see what's up. Some colors (blue, green, red etc) are much darker which makes it tough to see. I've also replaced my sidemarkers with LED. Apparently you don't have a hassle unless you try to replace your blinkers with LEDs. If you do that, then you need some other relay or something. I think there are a couple of members that have done that swap though, so they can chime in.

A, did you ever get any other pics of your fogs? Post 'em up dude!

[1Kris06]

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/store/index.cgi?action=DispPage&Page2Disp=%2Fpt%2Fdrl.html
Would these work as a direct replacement for fog lights. much cheaper, not that it means they are better? do u need anything special to switch over to led lighting? i wana do my interior lights also. this site has them all, and for a decent price

you could, but LEDs don't really provide visual light that you'll see from inside the car. making your fog lights essentially useless. and by the time you find good leds that MAY provide enough light, you could've bought an HID set.

[SLyness18]

well, thats not really a problem, i have hid headlights and cant see my fog lights when they are on anyways. i just want them to be the same color, looks kinda goofy with the yellowish fog lights and the whitish blue headlights. i know performance first visual appearance second, but i dont wana waste that much on fog lights, 25 bucks aint too bad tho.

[StealthSpeed3]

Pete - planning on removing the little metal ring inside the bulb to see if that helps with light output, will put more after that.

[SLyness18]

got all my interior lights in, now im working on the fogs. do u have to go from under the car, or does that hole black plastic housing pop out the front.

[1Kris06]

got all my interior lights in, now im working on the fogs. do u have to go from under the car, or does that hole black plastic housing pop out the front.

assuming they are similar to the lower fogs on the 6, you can get at the bulbs by slightly removing the wheel liners and/or the splash guard under the front bumper.

[SLyness18]

alright ill try jacking it up so i can get a look at er

[SLyness18]

Fogs are a lil off color but much better than halogen. decently bright and only 11 bucks
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs397.snc4/46069_695880827641_56015054_39397635_602244_n.jpg
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs153.ash2/40992_695880857581_56015054_39397638_2063422_n.jpg
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs428.snc4/47108_695880867561_56015054_39397640_3832634_n.jpg
Pictures dont do it justice. Interior lights are plenty bright to see, but not so bright that they wreck ur vision.

[SLyness18]

and i did the license plate and trunk lights just white
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs155.ash2/41073_695883856571_56015054_39397797_4098914_n.jpg
All the lights together only 52 bucks plus 5 shipping.