AW IR C3

Firstly Let me start off this review by saying that the USPS needs to stop wasting tax payer money and shut down. Package due Weds, shows up on Friday.

Anyways.

The lights are here and I have played with the one side already. First thing I can tell you is yes, the wiring is plug and play. Direct unplug and plug in. I left the lights on (batt) for 30m and they didn't get hot or even warm, bulbs or wiring. My ammeter is MIA so I don't have an amperage report for you yet.

Now on to Fitment;

The high beam (replacement for 4001 bulb) should fit into the stock location well enough; I will need to get about 1/2" longer screws for the retainer ring because the power wire is offset; not directly in the center. As a result the wire pushes the bulb out of the cup a tad. If one felt so inclined they could notch the cup to fit the wire. For now I am leaving that alone because I don't think it will be necessary .

The low beam (5006) came to me as a "work light" so it has a flange mount on the edges. The heat sink is also a bit larger than the high beam, so it's a bit more difficult of a fit. There are 3 ways this can be dealt with that I can see.
1. 1" longer screws for the retaining ring (trying this first)
2. Cut down the fins on the heat sink and remove the flange mounts so the back of the unit matches the contour of the cup
3. Cut the center out of the cup out

Performance:
WOW: I could probably just leave it at that one word. I think the $400 spent was worth every penny, and I haven't used them at night yet.

When you're looking head on on these bulbs its as bright or brighter than any performance or OEM HID bulb I have ever seen. Comparing these to the stock bulbs is almost unrealistic. I'll have to let the pictures do the talking.

Note: these pictures are roughly what the final outcome will be. The bulbs are not retained nor aligned. I'll have more pictures later tonight.

Amorget

Be very interesting to see what the beam pattern looks like. You are right, there is no comparing the brightness of the two.

pauldana

also interested... do you have the weight of the units compares to the glass one removed??

AW IR C3

The glass ones are lighter but I doubt the difference is more than 1/2-1 lb. each

7t9l82

I wish I could compare them to mine, hard to imagine they are better than what I have. The advantage I see is they take less power,but I don't pay the electric bill on my alternator.

Andy Tuttle

WOW! Just WOW! Worth saving up for!

AW IR C3

Here's the results:

I was able to get away with just using longer screws for the retainer rings. All screws are #8 pan heads, stainless steel. 2 qty by 3/4", 1 qty 1" for the high beams. 3 qty 1" for low beams. Also, the bulbs just clear the bumper with about 1/4" to spare. They do take a moment longer to open, I suspect due to the added weight and leverage.

A shout out to Corvette Paramedics here in South Jersey. I broke one retainer ring and they were the only ones to have any new ones around. They were also kind enough to loan me a set of 4 oem rings in case I bust another one (which I did) on the stipulation I came back to show them how it all worked out. http://www.corvetteparamedicsinc.com/

I definitely recommend this upgrade to anyone who has any affinity for lighting technology or isn't married to the stock look. I spent $400 for the set of 4. If you wanted to save a couple bucks you don't need to do both high and low beams at the same time. $125 per side for low beams, $75 per side for high beam.

Both bulb types on high beam at dusk:



Halogen high beam at dusk:



LED high beam at dusk (note how dark the ambient light looks due to the camera's inability to focus on anything but the beam, this was taken 15 seconds after the halogen picture):



Head on shot up close, comparison:



Better contrast:


High beam LED at twilight (both sides changed over now)



View for on-coming traffic 150 feet out. (adjusted for politeness)



Driving, low beams.

Kubs

Thanks for that comparison!! One of the things I was looking for was to see where the concentration of light went. When most people do an HID conversion in stock housings, or just brighter bulbs, they light up EVERYTHING. While this may seem good to the driver, oncoming traffic just sees a huge ball of light. Proper HIDs, or even factory bulbs, are designed to focus light in front of the car but down as not to blind oncoming traffic. It looks like these LEDs put out a similar beam pattern, just much brighter. It looks like it would be worth the money to me!

How hot do they get compared to the halogen after driving for a little bit?

jb78L-82

The LED light topic has been intriquing me for a bit now since I have been improving car headlights now for 35 years. Very interesting...no doubt the LED's pull min amps...I just upgraded most of the lighting in my house to LED bulbs (9 watts and no start up time) from Fluorescents (14/15 watts and cold start delay). The factory sealed beams are simply atrocious and any one who drives at night with these cars should consider an upgrade of some sort...sealed beams are terrible...period.

I have had 4 Hella Euro Lead Chrystal Lenses on my 78 since 1983, yes 1983, when they were illegal to have any light other than the sealed beams...55/60 watt lows, 100 watt highs. These lights even today are pretty special...they can match almost the light output lumens of an HID but draw MUCH more amperage and get hot to the touch like all halogens along with the halogen yellow/white color. HID/LED have much less amperage draw, tremendous lumen output, and excellent light color...extreme white.

I did an HID conversion about 2 years ago on my DD with theretrofitsource.com for HID's...TRUE hids with placing in the light housing an HID projector with a proper beam cutoff to focus the lights. My Hella Euro from 30 years have a very sharp Z beam cutoff as well. Any automotive street low beam should have a VERY defined beam cutoff so as to not blind oncoming traffic.

I could not tell from the pictures if the low beam LED had a focused beam cutoff?

Just an FYI....that Amtrak began a pilot program using front locomotive LED lights...I have seen them during my travels on the trains for work travel...only on the Amtrak regional trains, not the high speed Acela's which I ride mostly...The lights are simply stunning compared to the crap sealed beams Amtrak was using on the regional trains and the Acela. I did a google search on the subject after I saw the first train with LED's about 1 year ago for the story. The light lumen output is amazing with low amperage draw along with long life BUT is intended for LONG distance illumination with low regard for scatter glare....very impressive.

AW IR C3

The one nice thing I notice with these bulbs is when using low beam the LED's behind a prism are the only ones activated. This does create a pattern. Now it's not the typical hockey stick pattern that the halogen housings have of modern cars but rather a circle pattern. This gives you the ability at least to control where the beam intensity is and avoid blinding on-coming traffic. The bulbs do let off a good amount of peripheral light but nothing major, especially when compared to looking head on to the prisms. Now something I may do is go back over the top 1/4 of the prisms with a white or silver paint to try to effect the beam pattern so I get more of channeled beam rather than a circle beam, so I can adjust the bulbs up a touch higher without giving drivers free Lasik.
High beams, all bets are off....don't look at it.
Added bonus; if you drive in traffic you get an additional few car lengths in front of you for braking. That and I found people are less anxious to cut me off.

jb78L-82

Another option for everyone are HIR bulbs-Halogen Infrared bulbs. Have HID bulbs on my 300 Chrysler low beams but wanted to upgrade the output of the high beam Halogens without any major work. Bought a set of HIR bulbs which are the same wattage (65 watts) as the OEM bulbs but HIRs which are designed to put out 75% of the lumens of HIDS with the same OEM wattage draw...They are impressive in terms of lumens but still have the yellowish/white light of a standard halogens.....very good improvement for very small dollars....$40. Just another option.....

Richard Daugird

I must be the only one who HATES LEDs with a passion. Every time those bright *** blue lights blind me, I wish I had a BB gun...

Amorget

Those are not LEDs, those are HIDs. People who just throw HIDs in their standard halogen headlight are the people you hate, not people putting them in appropriate housings.

Kubs

HID bulbs have a different burn location than a standard bulb. Therefore when you put an HID in standard housing, the angles of the housing are incorrect for the new bulb. This makes the light go all over the place instead of being directed to the road. A proper HID blub in an HID housing will direct the light down and away from the eyes of oncoming traffic. However, this requires more expense and often more work than the average joe want to do so they go the easy route, which sucks for the rest of us.

If you look at the pictures of the LED lights shining on the white gate/house, you will notice the LED light concentration is in the same spot as the halogen. If these were HIDs in the wrong housing the whole house would be lit up as well.

Richard Daugird

I gotcha. " this requires more expense and often more work than the average joe want to do so they go the easy route" that would describe their mentality, and if you mention it to them, they don't care. I flashed my brights at one guy, he actually followed me home and tried to pick a fight over it!

jb78L-82

For those that want to put true HID's in a non HID housing, you need to go to:

theretrofitsource.com

like I did on my grand prix and install a proper HID projector in the OEM housing.

And you are right, it was a lot of work BUT the lights are awesome and don't blind on coming traffic...ever drive a GP with OEM halogens...pathetic..candles

KENS80V

Are these LED lights DOT certified? If not then they are technically illegal.

AW IR C3

Yes, they are quite "illegal"

Richard Daugird

I can't count the number of times I have driven for miles and miles at night with a car next to me forgot to turn on their lights, and they never noticed. I just don't see the necessity for super bright lights under normal driving conditions. Maybe out in the mountains where a deer may jump in front of you. Even when they are aimed properly, the color of them gives me a headache. And $400?!?!?!? Crazy.

AW IR C3

welp, when you're driving in the city every day and you come to find out the lights you thought were yours are not, you'd be humming a different tune. Not to mention that your lights need to be bright enough to see through being blinded by oncoming traffic.