Hello All. This is my first post on the forums. I have a 2009 Acura TL with the Tech package. I have noticed that the Fog and driving lights are not very bright and the color is way off. I am looking to match as close as I can to the HID headlights. My question is should I replace the Fog and driving lights with HID kits or LEDs. I have had HID kits in the fogs and driving light in my Truck. The only Issue I really ran into was that the ballast or light bulbs would go out causing me to have to replace them. This happened a lot. That said I am wanting to make the fog and driving lights brighter and whiter. I am also looking for ease of installation. In fact just with the normal HID lights turned on at night I get high beamed a lot. I guess people here are not use to seeing HIDs lol. Also if you all could provide me with a good place to purchase what is suggested that will be greatly appreciated
Thanks
Rob

 

If you want visibility then HID for foglight. For Driving Lights, I have LED on my DRL.
FYI for the DRL LED set up you need a kit with Module and Relay to disable the error message and give you full 12V instead of 6V power

Here is my set up. I recently took my headlamp apart and took out the shield in front of the high beam area so it is a lot brighter now.

DRL LED








My HID Foglight -Philips 3000K

 

Here is the DRL LED kit
http://www.jlclightings.com/9005-CRE...-p/sku_067.htm

Not sure if they still have the 10% off but here is the code ACURA10OFF

Specify them that you have an 09-12 TL. Because the 07-08 TL DRL and Current TL DRL kit is different since the newer TL computer are very tricky.

 

KB1Spec I guess you would recommend LEDs for the DRL and HIDs for the fog?

 

Nice Ride! what are the long LED strips at the bottom? Did you get those from the same site?

 

If I were you, I would put DRL LED for the OEM headlamp and HID Kit for the Foglight. I like to have good visibility for the foglight especially at night and depending if you live in the city or rural area.

The LED strip between the signal and foglight are another set of DRL that I put in before I had the DRL LED on the headlamp. Looks overkilled but I like it. I think JLC sells something SIMILAR to that. The one I have is a German brand call Nolden and costed me like $369 a set.

Have Fun!

 

Great looking front, really gives the TL a whole new persona - I wish I had the skill to indulge in such mods.

 

Do you lose your high beams with the drl mod?

 

High beam still works but not as bright as the halogen unless you upgrade to the CREE LED which is not advisable if you add a heat sink

 

What did you finally choose for the fog and driving lights, HID or LED? Do you have any pics?

 

Could you explain a little more about the heat sink and why its not advisable to use the CREE LED.

 

CREE LED tends to get very hot if prolong usage if it have a built in heatsink. It also depend on the housing of your headlamp or taillamp. Most...if not all of the housing are plastic. You can use the CREE LED as a DRL set up. But you are responsible if there's any problem on heat or melting of the housing or wiring. So use at your own risk. My friend's shop is coming out a CREE LED/SMD LED combo for the DRL and with a low heat resistant CREE. Supposely they are testing it out and let me know if they are coming out and have me test them out.

Unlike foglight housing, they are glass and the material of the plastic are more durable for the amount of heat built up inside the foglight.

 

i went with 6000k HID fogs. I had a set of LED fogs in from vleds. though one day i noticed condensation in on of the fog housing. took it to the dealer, and they replaced the housing and the bulb. i asked for the bulb back, and the tech had to get it from the trash cause he said it fell apart in his hands. a plastic piece a broken off that holds the seal in place, and the led bulb section had come apart, as it was only being held on with a little bit of glue. it still works. just in pieces.

the LEDs were bright but never seemed to have substance behind them. bright too look at, but didn't seem to add anything. i go HIDs and it is very different.

My next goal is to match the DRL bulb with the low beam and the fogs, but i don't want to lose the high beam function. and there are no white halogens. many advertise that its as white as HID, but not even close. they are whiter with full power, but with lower power for drl, its just yellow.

 

KB1, do I need something special for the fogs if all I want to do is replace the factory fogs? Would I need error free or cree led's? Cant I just buy some 55w H11 led's and replace my fogs? I like quick and easy. I'm sure if I put HID's in my fogs I would get pulled over every night. I'm on the verge of buying fogs and switchbacks to match my headlights and have several questions.

 

for the fogs, you can just go and get the LED h11 bulbs. i had them before and never got an error

 

Are you getting the LED for the foglight just cosmetic look and not functional? No error on that if you decided to get LEDs for the foglight. Just pretty much plug and play.

 

Sweet!! Thanks guys, but does it matter the wattage? I found that the factory fogs are 55w bulbs. However, I have a feeling a 55w LED is going to be crazy bright..

 

okay so for the fog lights one could buy led h11 bulbs but what kind of bulbs would you need for the DRLs

 

9005

 

Any update on your friends Cree LED? Did you get to try them out?

 

noticed the leds are pretty bright as it is.does actually using the high beams present the possibilty of damage to the bulbs?

 

KB1, this one will work for my 2009 Acura TL?

http://www.jlclightings.com/9005-LED.../001125-12.htm

 

also 18-SMD or 65-SMD? What do these numbers mean?

Just got the car, don't know much about cars, all the help would be greatly appreciated!

 

No...
The module for the drl only work for 12 up TL. We have a customer with 2009 TL and it will not work for this module. JLC will have a new revised module for the 2009 - 2011 TL in a few week.

 

Alright great! Thanks! Please let me know!

 

We should get it sometimes end of this month.

 

HJAHMAD, will this work for a 2009 TL?

http://store.ijdmtoy.com/Slim-Digita...ersion_kit.htm

 

Hey KB1, did you guys get them yet?

 

^+1

 

i'm waiting, let us know kb

 

i private msg'd KB1, and he said that the module needed for the "hybrid" bulb only works on the 2012 TL, theres a slight difference in the module.

i think im gonna go with the LED kit and hopefully my fogs can compensate for my Highbeams a bit.

https://store.ijdmtoy.com/ProductDet...e=LED_SKU45_R2

type in coupon code: GOJDM and you'll get like 6 or 7 dollars off, covers shipping.

also a member told me that they have 4th of july sales, not too far away, so i might wait to see if i can get a better deal if its worth it.

 

To be clear, they will not have an updated module for the 09 TL? I have 6k fogs so I don't think I will miss the hi-beams as they don't make a big difference right now anyways. My headlights are 4300k. I know the color does not exactly match but like the visibility of the 4300k headlights vs the 6k. So with that said. I will go with LEDs for DRL. If they will not revise the module to work with the 2009TL.

 

I saw these on iJDMToy.com. Has anyone tried them?

http://store.ijdmtoy.com/ProductDeta...uctCode=SKU-4N

 

nice find, these look like they would solve our issue, but after reading the description, im not sure if its just the SMD as DRL and the CREE has the hibeam. or does it just have the smd and cree's on at the same time. time to do some research on em.

 

I email iJDMToy that very question. I will let you know what they say.

 

I'll be looking for the answer also. Looks like a great buy.

 

They did email me today but they didn't answer my question. All they said was it needed a DRL decoded it which I already knew. I emailed them back telling them so. Hopefully I will hear back tomorrow. Thank you

 

Any way you can get the stores number? Id rather call them up and ask than wait for a email. Hopefully its what were waitimg for. Also if you dont mind, ask them if itll work on the 2009 tl's.

 

Well i got these in yesterday (from the link above), they are not as bright as advertised. I can deal with this better than the yellowish look. I hope i have not too soon. Could be something better?

 

Unfortunately, they don't have anything similar as a fog replacement.