Does anyone have any experience with switching to led head light bulbs? These are the kind in question. http://www.carid.com/2006-subaru-wrx-led-lights/lumen-led-lights-10257174.html I am wondering if they would even work because I read a thread on nasioc a while ago but it was from something like 2009 so I doubt that they were talking about these. I want them to perform better than the replacements you can buy anywhere or I will just have to pass.
I'll be by my dish. The only reason I am considering doing this is because I'm getting my head lights painted and my theory is I might as well replace all my bulbs at once while they are out and easily accessible. I haven't taken the time to look at how to get at them with the housing on the car but if it's anything like my mazda it will be a chore.
LEDs for the license plate and interior (as long as they are white) give the car a more crisp look if you ask me. Anywhere else though and not only will it look ricey but you'll decrease your vision. I'm not sure if they have a special lenses but from what I've seen, LEDs are mainly for looks and not function.
All of my Amber lights, license, and interior lights are leds. I bought them from www.v-leds.com out of them I have had only one Doa. But it was going to be an extra anyway.... I am happy with mine, had them for 2, almost 3 years no further issues....
LEDs definitely have function if you buy the right ones. You truly get what you pay for. If you want quality ones like really good quality go onto http://www.vleds.com/bulb-type.html
LEDs will be worse then hid. Also for the same reason. Unless you have projector housings the light will go everywhere rather then in the direction you need it.
I believe the main difference is that a "regular" headlight uses a reflector (and to a certain extent the fluting in the front cover) behind the bulb element to direct the light into a usable pattern. A projector headlight uses a lens (think of the lens of a movie projector) to form the beam pattern.
This will explain much better than I can. http://headlightreviews.com/projector-vs-reflector-headlight-housing-2/ My buddy tried to put LED lamps in his 2009 WRX. They failed miserably. Your best cost effective route for increasing your headlamp output is to use an aftermarket buld. PIIA, Sylvania are 2 of the most popular and will make a big difference. (many offer different colors to give that ricer tint...)
So what I've gotten out of the 5 minutes I took to google the subject is that my 06 wrx has reflector ("regular") headlights? Does anyone know other wise?
I don't see what is wrong (rice references) with ANY type of headlight technology as long as two things occur: one, it allows the driver to see better and two, it does not interfere with other drivers (glare or aim). I seriously doubt any sort of LED upgrade is worthwhile to a headlight assembly not designed from scratch for an LED light source.
I've seen a couple LED headlight conversions into a reflector housing that Sound Connection in Brainerd had done. They weren't as bright as HID's but were a huge improvement over halogens. The proper low beam LED bulb will behave similar to a halogen. They direct the light straight up into the reflector housing so you still get a beam cutoff
Your original link shown bulbs with only enough light to be suited for reverse and corner lights. Definitely not a headlight. rexy and trig shown a link to good led bulbs, 2k lumens almost. About double a normal bulb and 2/3 the power of a 35w HID. If you have projectors should just go HID, they cost less anyway.
Yea those links are better than the ones I found. I just pulled up one of the bulbs to see what people thought of them. Good point on doing hid though !
To clarify, you do have projectors but not projectors designed for HID or LED's. No matter what you do you will need a proper retrofit kit so they don't blind people. Don't just throw HID's in your halogen projector housings.
depends if it has a shield or not. My hella projector foglights have a shield even though they were made for halogen. Pull your bulb out, flashlight inside. If it looks like there is a horizontal shield at the bottom so light can only pass through the top then it is suitable for HID's. I made this diagram a long time ago to kind of explain to people this projector idea. Generally even a halogen projector has a shield in it, however it is not "bi xenon" meaning that it has a solenoid to provide two different(bi) beam patterns. In cases where HID's are not standard you'll usually have a low and high beam. The low beam will have a shield and no solenoid and meant for low beam and the reflector in the headlight will be the high beam. It really doesn't have a ton to do with if it was made for halogen or not, they are all shaped nearly the same and act the same. It's just if you have a shield in there or not, a functionality standpoint. This is the only acceptable set-up for HIDS period. The solenoid to drop the shield is not necessary but the shield is. That just opens the beam for high beam From a saftey and cost standpoint it only makes sense to make all projectors suited for low beam like this. It's cheaper and more simple than planning and engineering all these different reflector surfaces to make a DOT approved beam yeah?
Headlight leds are the future but they need better surface mirroring than standard headlight housings offer.
