potmilkz

cant justfy 100+ for led... sorry

wreak

I think this looks good but I have a question for you guys switching up your DRL's, why bother? I never have my DRL's on I just turn on my HID's at all times day or night because I always prefer the look of HID's.

C8N

^ I actually pulled the fuse for the DRL

emanon256

Do you think these LEDs will give more visibility for night time mountain driving than a good pair of Halogen high beams? I have $70ish PIAAs which are quite good for halogens. Hard to justify the price if it isn't a substantial difference.

robpp

iTrader: (2)

the vleds have a warranty,

while some others are cheaper I would look into if they are guarantee or not/

just saying.


oh well that thinking might not hold up with these prices

these are the exact LOOKING match to the ones I paid 140 to vleds for about 6 months ago.

i guess at this price buy 5 sets and keep the change LOL

http://www.bk-led.com/50w-3600lm-900...hts-p-368.html

Brock79

I drove the car last night and as DRL's they are almost bright enough to use as headlights. They are certainly brighter than the stock high beam bulb. When I used the high beams it was almost like I had two set of HIDs. The high beams acted the same way as the stock halogens as they just spilled light everywhere on the road. The light is much clearer and crisper and even nicer than the HID output. It might be hard to understand exactly what I'm saying without seeing it. Also as far as price, these are suppose to outlast 4 sets of halogen bulbs. So 4 sets of PIAAs at 70 comes out to 240. I don't know if the life of the bulb is exact though.

I do however have LED lights on my fish tanks and they are guaranteed to last 10 years with 8 hours of use age on them daily. So far 5 years of having them I have no issues at all. This is what led me to go with these. The led lights for my tanks were 500 each and I needed 4 of them. The cost is expensive at first, but cost less down the road. The original lights were 500 for the entire fixture and another 400 in bulbs. A savings of 1100, except it cost me 400 a year in bulb replacement. So after 5 years I would have spent 2 grand plus the 500 for the fixture. I have already saved 500 and I have 5 years of life left in them. I'm not saying you're going to run your car lights like this though.

Brock79

Those look pretty damn close to the same exact ones I ordered, wonder if that's exactly what you get though? Or is it the product you will reciecve will look similar?

TRSAndrew

It's highly unlikely. Performance of LED isn't anywhere near matured at this point, so a high end pair of 9012 bulbs or an HID setup will still far outperform LEDs.

Brock79

I would say they on are on par with each other. Now an led setup that has a substantial power source say 110/220 will throw off a ton of light and even more than a Metal Halide. I believe the breakdown is something like a 100 watt metal halide bulb is equivalent to a 40 watt led set up.

TRSAndrew

From a headlight standpoint, they're still not as good as HIDs just yet. For incandescent indicator bulbs, proper LED bulbs like the V3 Tritons will outperform the stock bulbs easily.

wreak

So are you saying Acura downgraded by updating the MDX, TLX and RLX with LED jewel eye headlights over HID's when it comes to lighting performance?

TRSAndrew

Depends on if you modify the stock OEM HID projectors.

Here are the OEM MDX LED headlights in our projector test room:



It's certainly better than the Nissan Rogue OEM LEDs (also made by Koito like the MDXs), but OEM HIDs will perform better.

OEM Rogue LED low beams:



The Bi-Xenons in the 3G TL perform better than the 4G TLs stock for stock, but you can mod the 4G TLs to be on par with the 3G less having a high beam.

Brock79

I have to disagree as I have seen them side by side and the led headlight is clearer, crisper, whiter and just as bright. I would say if anything they are right on par with each other, except the LEDs have a longer lifespan.

TRSAndrew

We have both here in person, so I can certainly assure you they're not to HID quality yet from an output standpoint.

LEDs will last longer, but if one fails, you're replacing the headlight and not just a bulb.

We sell the MDX lights right on our website as well: http://www.theretrofitsource.com/clo...kit-49146.html.

Keep in mind, the MDX uses three projectors for low beams versus one in an HID setup.

potmilkz

brock.. believe me when i tell you andrew knows what he is talking about.. you are voicing your opinion but facts and pictures prove a thousand words..

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

lol at brock going head to head with a lighting guru.

brock has only messed with LED head light replacements, while andrew has a website and provides a service specifically for lighting.

I wonder who to believe....
it aint brock!

TRSAndrew

I don't mean to start any arguments or disagreements, as the MDX LEDs do perform among the very best I've seen... for LED headlights. We have HID projectors that out-perform it surely.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

dont worry, brock is a special breed.
he's not even a troll, matter of fact he's just dense.

potmilkz

andrew, you da man.. also any discount codes that work currently?

TRSAndrew

Yup. Check it out: https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...3#post15058923.

Brock79

Yea, but you guys all own sports cars as well. I forgot what crowd I was dealing with. And like Wreak posted earlier why did Acura start using LED headlights then? This set I used for my TL is not my first step into the led field, it is however my first venture into using them for a DRL replacement. So let's not get things twisted here. Also like I mentioned they have been used on the Vette forums as well. So guess where my first set went over a year ago. Any one wanna take a guess?

Brock79

Yea, that's not true either, you can replace one led and not the entire set up.

Brock79

You might be a little disappointed as they don't make certain products for our 2009-11 years.

TRSAndrew

Not on the MDXs, unfortunately.

TRSAndrew

Easy: marketing.

potmilkz

thus the key word the RETROFIT source (TRS)

plus, its bulbs and shit, if your car is h11.. get a damn h11 bulb.. it has nothing to do with years, makes and models

wreak

Brock you're the definition of a know-it-all, clearly he knows what he's talking about. Yes I called it into question but I also know the hids in my 2005 tsx were better than the ones in my 2012 tl so just because something is newer doesn't mean it's always better. The guy has a bloody test room for projectors I think he knows what he's talking about.

andrewcjduong

Well TRSAndrew. Since we're on this topic. Are there any recommendations to have the best output for high beam as well as maintaining the DRL usage? In Ontario, it is very much illegal to have a car without DRL's (at least it won't pass a safety). I'm trying to replace my DRL/High beam and Brock's LED light seem to have good output for a day time light and high beam.

TRSAndrew

I've seen some from VLEDs first hand that I was really impressed with: http://www.vleds.com/shop-bulb-numbe...5-5k-mtg2.html.

However, I saw them during the day, and high beam performance might actually be lost.

BobsUrUncle

Tagging in to track this thread.

2snail

here is a link to my retrofit thread using LED lights as my fog lights. I replaced the entire housings with these from superbright at 39.95 each it was cheap. The only fab work is to make them mount to the original screw holes of the OEM fogs.
http://www.superbrightleds.com/morei...ght/1499/3260/








this pic from inside the car is with both low beams and led fog lights on. I have not received a single highbeam with this setup.




https://acurazine.com/forums/4g-tl-2009-2014-123/led-fog-light-retrofit-905752/

Brock79

Yes, you can. The only thing that would make this impossible is if Acura intentionly made it that when you opened the housing it would destroy the LEDs. I don't see this happening at all, but there's a small chance. The LEDs in the Acura headlights are wired in a series, this you just need to figure out which diode is burnt out. Then you simply replace that diode and your set is running again. I have done this numerous times with my fishtank LEDs, and all LEDs work the same.

Brock79

Only when I know what I'm talking about, you don't see me commenting in the wheel section of this forum, because I really never paid attention to offsets and wheel weights and what ever else that is related to aftermarket wheels.

Cruelty82

lulz!

andrewcjduong

Brock I think TRSAndrew meant that as a customer who has a burnt out LED and shows up at an Acura dealership, you can't purchase one LED bulb and replace it in the headlight. Of course if you remove it all and cut it up then you can. The same thing goes for the brake light. They're all LED and pretty sure the only way to replace it (for those who don't want to or don't know how to cut open a tail light) is to replace the whole tail light.

I could be wrong... I'm no expert.

Brock, I also noticed that your first post, you put the link of the LED setup that is a 9008/H13 and not a 9005 (I think that's our DRL/high beam size). Is there a difference?

potmilkz

sure anyone that has the technical skills can de-solder the led and rewire another one on there.. that is IF you can buy the exact same LED which i dont think is sold to the public that easily..

Brock79

The link is right, you have to scroll through the selections though. Our light was at the top if I remember correctly.

sockpuppet

I had no idea LED's threw off any gases/chemicals, but had a chance to look at an LED bulb (kid's nighlight) in my house last night, and the housing is hazed and practically falling apart.

potmilkz

not sure if you are being sarcastic or not.. lol

sockpuppet

Not in the least. I've always treated LED's as akin to magic...nice light with little heat. And I like the look of them as DRL's in so many cars now. But I had no idea they would break down their own housings like that. The bulb I was referring to is one that my son uses as a kind of nightlight. He rarely remembers to turn it off in the morning, so I was happy when I found an LED that fit the base, since it meant less power consumption, cooler temps, and would arguably last longer. And although the bulb still lights up the same, the lens is coming apart.