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Can anyone recommend a good led style headlight that won't break the bank!?
Hey guys, im trying to find a good led style headlight for my 99 C5. Someday id like to do projectors or maybe one of those headlight conversion style kits, but as of right now ive spent all of my money on my A&A kit and just looking to get a good headlight so that I can see at night lol. Sometimes I'm actually scared to drive the car at night because I can barely see **** with these headlights. Just hoping someone has a part number or place I can get a good priced headlight that works well. Thanks guys!
When I first got my coupe (had her a month shy of two years now!) I had the same problem. I couldn't see worth a damn with the halogens, and, at the time, I didn't know anything about the cool toys that Radioflyer makes.
Anyway, I got these LED retrofits from Auxbeam*: 9006 (low beam), 9005 (high beam), and they've been on the car ever since. I'm pretty happy with them, especially for the price, and I'm not blinding anybody like a lot of LED/HID retrofits seem to do.
*Forum sponsors may offer something similar, but I don't have an encyclopedic knowledge of the catalogs of every forum sponsor, and I'm not gonna put that much effort into finding out.
...but as of right now ive spent all of my money on my A&A kit and just looking to get a good headlight so that I can see at night lol...
The best cost effective solution is HIR bulbs. If you couple that with a Hi-4 harness (to keep the low beams ON when you switch ON the highs) the difference will be noticeable.
You can also upgrade the foglights and the results would be even better.
from Beamtech are plenty bright and won't break the bank. Get the 800 series. They use heatsinks rather than fans (silent operation and no moving parts to fail). No need to deal with ballasts and less heat than HIDs.
Besides the 880 configuration, Beamtech offers them in 9005 and 9006 configurations as well but I haven't read any reviews based on installing these as headlamp bulbs in a C5.
Led bulbs in a stock housing wont ever do it, since the reflectors in the stock housing are not designed for HD or led output..
Wont break the bank??? how much money is in the bank.
Real LED headlights are in the 1000 to 1500 dollar range. Radio flyer ( a forum vendor can get you the right thing.. ) suggestions for brighter lights in a bulb is just a waste of money, when put in a stock headlight assembly. Of course the hundreds of people who have done this will argue that they did not waste their money, but they did.
Led bulbs in a stock housing wont ever do it, since the reflectors in the stock housing are not designed for HD or led output..
Wont break the bank??? how much money is in the bank.
Real LED headlights are in the 1000 to 1500 dollar range. Radio flyer ( a forum vendor can get you the right thing.. ) suggestions for brighter lights in a bulb is just a waste of money, when put in a stock headlight assembly. Of course the hundreds of people who have done this will argue that they did not waste their money, but they did.
Plenty of people do a plug and play led upgrade and get great results. If you’re hyper-technical, yes, there is some light scatter because of the stock housing, but it’s better than the horrible output of the stock bulbs. Some people worry about blinding other drivers on a 2 lane road, but in my experience, these are much less bright than newer cars light output. Full conversion kits are nice, but they are too costly and require complicated wiring. They aren’t plug and play as they say. These look like they are $50. I’m not sure how these results are a “waste of money.”
There's no reason to be "stuck" on LED particularly if price is a concern. The headlight control module requires a specific current draw to trigger the raise/lower signal and LED bulbs simply don't draw enough current to do this. (Load resistors are IMO a fire hazard) Quality HID kits on the other hand will draw the correct amount of power and when installed in a quality projector system will yield excellent performance results. That being said, lets break down the pricing options for you starting with the least expensive:
1) Radioflyer's LED Fog light upgrade:- $55
Can't beat this price with a stick. Out-shines the 35w HID equivalent and won't pop the fuse or create heat issues like 55w HID kits in the tiny fog light housings. This is an excellent and very inexpensive way to improve your night-time vision:
2) Bi-xenon ACA headlights - $650
Since 2012, out Bi-xenon version of these sexy headlight have been providing phenomenal output for both low and high beam functions. Never worry about out-driving your headlights again.
3) Stealth Light Cannon Version 3.1 $1250
Using True Bi-LED projectors, these lights have the most focused hot-spot of all our headlights allowing you to see further than any other system we offer.
It's the stock housing that IS the problem. Better light bulbs will not fix it.
Nah. Stock housing causes some scatter but if someone could come up with a plug and play that doesn’t affect the up and down like radio flyer said, they would be sold out. Very few want to spend $650 and then have a super complicated install and running new wiring harnesses up to the battery and fuse box/ground. A majority of owners buy the led and just deal with the electrical issue as per the video above. Here’s a few more:
HIR's, i.e. 9011's and 9012's are higher output than the stock 9005/6 combo. Used them for years on another car - a definite improvement. But, the C5 reflectors are a poor design and tend to splash light around even with stock bulbs, so you really do not want anything too bright in there. As GCG said, HIR's with an all 4 on harness on Hi-Beam makes a noticeable difference; then add in Radio Flyer's fogs to top up the low beams and you will be in much better shape than stock. And not too much out of pocket.
I got my HIR bulbs from Candlepower in Rockville, MD. Also got my high power backup light bulbs from them as well. Combined with the Adjure unit, backing up at night is no a longer hit or miss operation.
Last edited by jackthelad; 05-06-2019 at 07:37 PM.
Plenty of people do a plug and play led upgrade and get great results. If you’re hyper-technical, yes, there is some light scatter because of the stock housing, but it’s better than the horrible output of the stock bulbs. Some people worry about blinding other drivers on a 2 lane road, but in my experience, these are much less bright than newer cars light output. Full conversion kits are nice, but they are too costly and require complicated wiring. They aren’t plug and play as they say. These look like they are $50. I’m not sure how these results are a “waste of money.”
Nah. Stock housing causes some scatter but if someone could come up with a plug and play that doesn’t affect the up and down like radio flyer said, they would be sold out. Very few want to spend $650 and then have a super complicated install and running new wiring harnesses up to the battery and fuse box/ground. A majority of owners buy the led and just deal with the electrical issue as per the video above. Here’s a few more:
Let's get some facts straight here. ACA housings cost $300-350. A good projector kit starts at $150. Custom made adapter brackets are $50+. At $500-550 in materials cost alone, Radioflyer is not price gouging you at $650. That is simply the state of affairs in getting good lighting in our C5 Corvettes. There will be no cheaper solution available for true HID/LED projectors into the headlights of our cars. Other cars can be retrofitted cheaper if you do it yourself, but now you're talking about baking the headlights to pry the lens apart, and so on.
Yes, some new cars have scatter due to poor optics from their lights. And they are rightfully getting flack for it. However, that does not excuse others in putting scattering LEDs into their headlights. As they say, two wrongs do not make a right. In fact, the fact that your headlights appear brighter from standing in front is absolutely an indication of bad light scatter. On my Corvette, the brightness of my headlights from a standing viewpoint is in fact less than stock, and my switchbacks actually appear brighter than the headlights.
Additionally, people are easily tricked by the difference between light color and light output. Things that are whiter will seem brighter, but with the same amount of light output, a person will not actually be able to see more. As most LEDs are in the 6500k+ range, people are actually able to see less with the same light output because the eye is not able to discern blue detail as well as yellow detail.
05-06-2019, 12:15 PM
Can anyone recommend a good led style headlight that won't break the bank!?
