Anyone replaced all tail bulbs with LED?

[gstoli]

Originally Posted by Gary in BR

I bought a set of LED taillights assemblies. These appear to be OEM but have built in LED lights in the running lights and the brake lights. The blinkers and reverse lights are stock bulbs.

What do you mean "These appear to be OEM"? They are OEM and someone replaced the regular bulbs with leds, or they just look like OEM?

Originally Posted by Gary in BR

These LED assemblies are very bright. They are much brighter than anything I have seen on the road. I wish there was a way to show everyone how bright these are.

IMHO leds cannot be as bright as regular bulbs. They have many other advantages, but brightness is not one of them. Since, you have replaced your interior and some of the exterior lights, you might have noticed that color and warmth of the leds is much mcuh better, but brightness... I wouldn't say so... It may be that, because leds can be directional, with a good design of the lights the result to look better. But generally leds are less bright than normal bulbs.

Originally Posted by Gary in BR

From my research on LED lights for our cars there are 2 full assemblies made the one I have that looks OEM and another one that to me looks like the Carrera GT lights. Ebay has them both for sale. The other lights are not as bright as mine....how do I know? I have a set of them also.

So after this long post my opinion is if you want Bright LED lights and an OEM look get the LED assembly like mine. If you want LEDS as bright as stock and a different look. Get the other set.

Can you report on the led lights you tried? Send the ebay link or the name of the company that sells them. Which are the bright ones and which are not?

Thank you

George

[Gary in BR]

Originally Posted by gstoli

What do you mean "These appear to be OEM"? They are OEM and someone replaced the regular bulbs with leds, or they just look like OEM?


The lens has an OEM appearance, they are not a Porsche parts. But a very good copy of the lens.



IMHO leds cannot be as bright as regular bulbs.

With these LEDS in my car if I am on a 4 lane interstate with a large median I can see the red running lights reflect off of the exit signs on the other side of the interstate behind me. It is so clear I can see this reflection in red in my rear view side mirrors.




They have many other advantages, but brightness is not one of them. Since, you have replaced your interior and some of the exterior lights, you might have noticed that color and warmth of the leds is much mcuh better, but brightness... I wouldn't say so... It may be that, because leds can be directional, with a good design of the lights the result to look better. But generally leds are less bright than normal bulbs.



Can you report on the led lights you tried? Send the ebay link or the name of the company that sells them. Which are the bright ones and which are not?

Thank you

George

These are the lights I have and recommend them
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/97-04-PORSCHE-BOXSTER-DEPO-RED-SMOKE-LED-TAIL-LIGHT-NEW_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33716QQihZ023QQitem Z360025282509QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW


This is the other set of LED lights, I like the fact it is a different light pattern than OEM but these are in my opinion only as bright as OEM
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/97-04-PORSCHE-BOXSTER-986-EURO-RED-CLEAR-LED-TAIL-LIGHT_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33716QQihZ019QQit emZ290208571017QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW


George, it sounds like you really know what you are talking about when it comes to lighting. All I am basing my opinions on is what I have seen with my cars. I agree a LED is unidirectional so perhaps these lights are designed in such a way that the light is aimed so they appear brighter. As far as which is brighter in a laboratory I don't know. Maybe after the lenses on the OEM lights the brightness of a standard bulb is reduced below what this LED setup I have puts out.


I may try to get a video of the lights this weekend but I dont think it will translate well.

[Gary in BR]

This is a picture of the car with the lights on, If you look on my fence you can see the red reflecting off off my fence. Notice I have Christmas lights and my "garden" lights on. Also, my outside flood lights are on casting alot of light onto the car and fence. It is very bright in that area of may yard with just the floods on. For any red to show on the fence is an accomplishment.

[Gary in BR]

This is a picture of the car taken in front of my office, you can see 2 of the 6 security lights that are lighting the parking lot. With this picture you can see how much light is reflected off of the ground. From looking at the LEDs there are none of them aimed at the ground.

[Gary in BR]

Lat one...
Same night as the other picture. You can see how wide the reflection is on the ground.
I am not a professional photographer, i guess you can see that. But I hope this give a good idea of what these LED lights are doing for my car.