Phace

I saw that Super Bowl commercial-
Has anyone seen these in real life? Would it be possible to retrofit some on a c5 with the pop-up lights?

TheRadioFlyer

LED technology is only Just beginning to see the headlight market. IN order to see mass use, they will have to overpower the output of HID headlights. The biggest factor in LED headlights is being able to dissipate the heat generated without damaging the LED element. Thus far, it would be possible to get about the same output as a halogen light source, but LED technology just isn't on par with HID.

The question you'd have to ask is what is the Benefit of and LED light source over an HID. Most HID light setups use 35w of power to generate about 2000 Lumens. LEDs are known for their low power draw, but in order to compete with HID, LEDs need more current. A 20w 12v LED will generate 1200 lumens so to get to HID brightness, they use about the same amount of power.

Color quality of both HID and LED are variable from the ugly halogen yellow color so that is a non factor

Lifespan of an HID bulb is on the order of several years. LEDs typically last as long if not longer, but high output LED headlights have not been out long enough to establish a long-life reliability history.


Could it be done? Yes, Is it a good idea? perhaps. The question you'd have to ask is what your ultimate goals are. If you decide you'd like to try it out, let me know and I can build a prototype to test out.

JW Motorsports

We're working on high powered leds that will work with our lower projector pop up kit. It will probably be a while before it's ready though.

Phace

theradioflyer, your post is completely valid based on the state of LED lighting technology for some time, but this commercial clearly points to an advancement in this new technology. The lighting is supposedly so bright that vampires vaporize as if struck by sunlight.

This is fantasy, of course, but that doesn't mean they don't have new bright lighting based on LEDs. We know that technology is advancing, and particularly in the LED lighting innovation. We all are interested in the latest advances, and this is exactly how we would see it- introduced in a new car, probably by a foreign manufacturer. Audi qualifies.

As for there being interested only if it beats HID, I disagree. HID has some wonderful benefits: luminosity, longevity, power usage. It also has a number of disadvantages: No simple retrofit (projectors), the need for a ballast, the ramp-up time to achieve steady brightness, the loss of lifespan by "flashing" them. For retrofit purposes, all LED lighting needs to do is be easy to install (no ballasts), have a lifespan of at least a little better than existing lighting, give a clean color, and be at least a little brighter than standard incandescent lighting. We have to assume that all of these needs will be met if not already then at some point soon. Once that happens, LEDs will be hard to beat in terms of ease of use and cost.

So my question remains, has anyone seen this yet in person?

68ragtop69

MSG C5

My ACA HIDs have already killed 4 vampires so until the new LED headlights are proven, I'm good.

Speeddemon777

I have thought about this alot too...I havent started making the set up yet but so far I have picked sst-90 which are new leds capable of well over 2000lm at a constant drive of about 8500ma. For the fogs I was thinking either Cree MC-E. I found that 1000lms are more then enough for fog lights. The hard thing is there are little to no drivers for the sst-90 leds. The drivers and heat sinks are what make the difference between an led that lasts 1000hrs and 10000hrs. When I priced out all the parts not including any labor I cam up with like 400-500 dollars roughly thats including projection lenses.

TheRadioFlyer

The need for projectors is relevant to any lights source used in a low beam application. Reflector based optics are very large by comparison, and do a horrible job in effectively distributing light. Projector optics maximize the usefulness of the the light source while preventing excessive glare to oncoming traffic.

Cold Start-up times for modern High quality HID equipment are incredibly low (sometimes as short as 3 seconds to full power) and some aftermarket kits are approaching this benchmark.

The inability to flash HID lights without damaging them is being made up for by the introduction of Bi-xenon projectors. (a technology that until the introduction of the SLC V2 headlights and as an upgrade option to the LC 2.0 headlights) were not available for the C5 Corvette. The Bi-xenon feature allows a single light source to provide both high and low beam by the movement of the cutoff shield inside the projector. The pattern changes instantaneously and draws nearly no power to do so.

I was able to to some testing today using a 20w 1200 Lumen wide-angle LED installed in a LC 2.0 projector. The resulting luminosity was comparable to a 55w halogen bulb in the same projector but with a far cleaner color and a wider cutoff. While the 20w version may not be the ultimate solution, I've ordered some components to experiment with a 3500lm 50w variant of the same LED which should yield results that can compete with HID for brightness.

jrprich

ONLY 4 ........I think I killed that many on the way home tonight. They really don't like the ACAs but they REALLY hate the 55 watt HIDs in my factory fogs :

CBZZZC5

55K on mine. Vampires not miles

Phace

I look forward to the report. Meanwhile, does anyone know what they are using in Audi's new "daylight headlight" system?

One of the downsides to all of the HID setups is the price. It would sure be nice to get a plug-and-play drop-in solution for LEDs, at a reasonable (read low) cost.

Phace

For theradioflyer,

FWIW, I've seen the posts and the items you have set up and I've always been interested in them. I enjoy the innovation in lighting.

VETJAZZ

I really don't like the look on the Audi as I see them driving down the road, and I wouldn't want it on my C5.

Phace

I don't like the lines they use either, but if the headlights are bright, the shape and size of the lighting could be made to compliment the vette.

I'd also look into replacing the fogs and maybe even the amber DRLs.

TheRadioFlyer

If you're referring to using the stock headlights and just using an LED light source, the output would be horrible and the patten even worse. Part of the reason the C5's headlights are so horrible is the reflector/lens setup it currently uses. Even with HIDs, the light is so randomly scattered, that glare will cause you to loose long-distance vision.

Phace

I'm sure that's true. It would have to be a drop-in plug-compatible replacement (optimally). Something that would replace the entire reflector. The good news is that any projector assembly for LEDs are going to be smaller than HID since the light emission point is smaller than the HID, and the heat is also less. It might even be plastic

Radicaltimes

For the cost of the R8 headlights it may be cheaper to just buy a C6

TheRadioFlyer

I'm not certain about the heat issue. One concern for high-wattage LEDs is dissipating the heat. This is why high output LEDs have large ALuminum heat sinks. It's not that the heat could damage the projector so much as the the LED itself could burn out.

Phace

Yes, I know. I expect the solution will have heat dissipation built into it.

No matter the method, it seems Audi has a solution they are comfortable selling, that is both bright and long-lasting. I'd like to know what it is and see if it can be adapted to our purposes.

RespondsWithGif

It looks like audi is using 4 smaller projectors per headlight. Why would that be? Maybe 4 500 lumen LEDs that can equal the output of an HID bulb?