| fvince |
Are the two models of lights offered at "street-looks" standard for all makes and models of vehicle? Is there any reason that the wedge model listed would not fit on the "X"?
I like the look of the brake lights. I'm not sure about the blinking backup lights, but they should get the attention of folks behind you. Probably worth a try.
I checked other LED brake lights offered around the Web and these are about half the price of others. I wonder why?
Unless someone tells me these won't fit on my "X", I might try them just for fun. |
|
|
| raddray |
No way can they be that bright at that cost. A decent LED that is bright costs $$. I tried the APC brand on my motorcycle and it was CRAP... I tried another sold by http://www.led.net/ . NOW THOSE ARE BRIGHT... Unbelievably bright... HURTS TO LOOK AT THEM when the brakes are on... but expensive... 50 bucks each...
Thats the only bulb I use on my taillight on my motorcycle now... Brighter, quicker response and durable.
Not sure what type of bulbs the MDX brake light uses but I know they don't make ones that fit my S2000 otherwise I would buy a set for it.
Update:
Won't work on the MDX. The brakelights are 7443 and 7440 for the center brake light.
http://www.sylvania.com/bin/carApp/...el=MDX&x=22&y=7 |
|
|
| msu79gt82 |
| ... with an upper center brake light that blinked about 5 times and then stayed on. I thought it was an interesting attention getter. |
|
|
| MDXtrous |
quote:
Originally posted by raddray
I just sent them an email to see if they will be coming out with 7443 LED bulbs. I hope they do....
Now, that will be a good improvement to the X... Please keep us posted. |
|
|
| MDXtrous |
| Found a site and just ordered a pair of 7443 LED stop/tail lights. Should be here in a week or so. Will post pics/comments when I install it.... If it's good I may consider it for the other lights... |
|
|
| wmquan |
There is apparently a very wide variation in the quality of LED bulbs. The main one seems to be in angle. Obviously a brake light primarily needs to be seen by the vehicle behind it, but even that's not a very narrow angle (given that the vehicle behind you has to see the light from varying heights, during cornering, etc.). Some bulbs advertise a wider angle than others. I know there's one brand that is very expensive, and has multiple LED's at different angles to help "fill in" the gaps. Usually, the more LED's, the better.
It's likely that the LED bulbs in the MDX will require the use of resistors to "trick" the bulb-out warning sensor. That's because the bulbs draw less current, and the sensor thinks they're out. Acura TL owners have reported this problem. Some outfits that sell the LED bulbs have this, which has to be wired into the bulb assembly.
The main advantage of the LED bulbs will be their faster lighting time. Supposedly it'll give the driver behind you an extra fifth of a second or something like that. Doesn't sound like much, but I suppose that can be the few feet that makes the difference between tagging your rear or not. |
|
|
| MDXtrous |
Thanks wmquan,
Very informative. I'll look out for the angle and also the bulb-out light. Mine only cost $19.98 so one, I don't know how bright it is, two, it's not that expensive to try out. But will let everyone know. |
|
|
| MDXtrous |
Ok, ordered two stop/tailight bulbs from http://www.lightlens.com/coloredbulbs.htm . I got the LED7443R, which are supposed to replace the high tail light and stop light. Long story short, I returned them already, and for the following reasons:
1) It doesn't come on if you just switch the lights on. They only come on when I step on the break. I suspect, the bulb is expecting a bit more current when the lights are on.
2) The bulb itself is VERY bright, brighter than the OEM one on its own. But because the LEDs are all focusing straight and all the leds face the one directy back towards the back of the car, the reflecting feature of the OEM lens is hardly utilized. So you get a very bright concentrated light back at you of maybe 1 inch in diameter, instead of feeling the light is coming from the whole lens. wmquan had mentioned that there was not much coverage, and that's the problem. The OEMs (because it's a round bulb) reflect off the lens, making the light area much bigger. For it to work better, some of the LEDs should be made to point back at the reflective lens, and the bulb should be made much bigger in diameter, kind of like the LED street red lights now.
Anyway, here are some pics.
This is the bulb in the box. $19.80 plus 3.50 shipping. |
|
|
| MDXtrous |
| View of the LEDs |
|
|
| MDXtrous |
| Back of the MDX before installation, without stepping on the break. |
|
|
| MDXtrous |
| Back of the MDX before the install without the breaks. |
|
|
| MDXtrous |
| Light installed on the left pic. Notice the phenomena where the light is mainly coming from the LED bulb, sort of like a laser as compared to the right OEM light. |
|
|
| MDXtrous |
| Closeup of installed LED. |
|
|
| MDXtrous |
| Cloesup of OEM bulb (top) |
|
|
| MDXtrous |
| Last one comparing the two |
|
|
| MDXtrous |
Given the nature of the LED lights and how it's very focused as opposed to dispersed light, this application would probably work better with a signal light or backup light.
Hope this is useful for people considering LEDs for lighting. For it to work they would either have to have some LEDs face towards the refletive lenses.
One more note, I used Sylvanna to determine what bulb I needed:
http://www.sylvania.com/bin/carApp/...el=MDX&x=25&y=5
Then installation was easy. All I had to do was use a screwdriver to pry onpen the tabs protecting the screws for the light housing, unscrew it and pull it off. Then all I had to do was twist the base of the bulbs 90 degrees counterclockwise and the base could be pulled out. The 7443 is a wedge bulb, meaning all you have to do is pull out the old bulb and pop this one back in. |
|
|
| raddray |
| So are you going to keep these bulbs in your MDX? The other company I wrote about in my previous post uses better LED's and has a better design for the bayonett type bulbs. They actually point LED's back and also to the sides so that the light pattern shines not only back but to the sides too... Hope they will do that for the 7443 bulbs if the make them... They have not responded back yet. |
|
|
| MDXtrous |
quote:
Originally posted by raddray
So are you going to keep these bulbs in your MDX? The other company I wrote about in my previous post uses better LED's and has a better design for the bayonett type bulbs. They actually point LED's back and also to the sides so that the light pattern shines not only back but to the sides too... Hope they will do that for the 7443 bulbs if the make them... They have not responded back yet.
No, I won't be keeping them. As a matter of fact I already sent them back. Now, what you're talking about would be much better. Let's hope they make the 7443 bulbs. |
|
|
| wmquan |
Sorry that the bulbs didn't work out for you.
Were they dual-wattage? E.g. can take a low current to burn at a lower intensity, higher to burn at full. I would have thought it would have let them turn on when your lights were on, at a lower intensity. |
|
|
| MDXtrous |
quote:
Originally posted by wmquan
Sorry that the bulbs didn't work out for you.
Were they dual-wattage? E.g. can take a low current to burn at a lower intensity, higher to burn at full. I would have thought it would have let them turn on when your lights were on, at a lower intensity.
I don't believe so. That's probably why it didn't work just turning the lights on. |
|
|
|
