[s-cars] LED Lights - Test Results

[Bruce Mendel]

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I bought two 1157 LEDs from http://www.wixtools.com/html/ultraleds.html. Th=
e bulbs I got were super-red, 1157, 24 LED ones (18 facing out, six side-fa=
cing).

Fit and finish were both good. They plug in easily, no clearance issues in =
the tail lamp housing. They light up a great looking bright cherry red, and=
 stay very cool for their brightness.

When viewing them head-on out of the housing, they are blindingly bright, e=
specially in brake or turn signal mode. They also do that awesome LED insta=
nt lightup and great on/off flash, no dimming or brightening on the way to =
on or off.

However, once in the assembly, they lose a ton of light due to the poor LED=
 viewing angle and diffusion of the lens. I did two scientific tests:

1=2E Close the garage door behind the car and look at how much light they t=
hrow on the white garage door (I meant scientific FOR ME, not for anyone el=
se).
Winner - Standard 1157 bulbs put more light on the wall in tail-light mode.=
 LEDs seem very dim on the door.

2=2E Stand behind car at approximate (that's a technical term which means "=
about") driver's height, and see how bright they look.
Winner - Standard 1157 appear brighter and fill the lens better, except at =
a very small viewing angle of head-on when the LEDs look brighter.

Overall, the LEDs are cool, but the lack of a mirror in the lens, the very =
opaque tail light, and the poor viewing angle of the LEDs conspire to eat u=
p all that brightness and make them appear worse than standard bulbs.

He is sending me even brighter LEDs without the side fire array for me to r=
un more scientific tests, so I'll report again with my white lab coat on. N=
ice guy, nice place, too bad the bulbs don't work well in our cars. And at =
$69 EACH (gulp) it's a no-brainer to stay stock (NOTE: on their packing lis=
t, I could make out their cost through all the black area.....$29.40 each).=
 The only advantages I can tell are brightness if you're lucky enough to se=
e them at the correct angle, and speed of illumination which may be worth 2=
0 feet at 70MPH and avoid a rear-ender.  Of course, if you have an RS2 setu=
p, no one should be so close to your rear bumper anyway. :)

Bruce
93 S4, white lab coat off for now

p=2Es. I also bought halogen 1157's, 10/55W, and they KICK ASS, but generat=
e a lot of heat and might be confused for brake lights when they are only i=
n tail light mode due to brightness. But I'll use 'em anyway!