LED Lights vs Halogen. Stats? Pictures? How much better?

[kered424]

My dad drives an Acura TLX with LED headlights similar to the Civic Touring. I have a Civic EX with aftermarket LED bulbs. There's no contest. The TLX's headlights are so much brighter, covers a wider angle, and throws light farther. My Civic's headlights come nowhere near that, even with stock halogen bulbs.

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[ecm]

I installed their Xtreme kit with Philips 4300k bulbs. I am beyond happy with them.

Does the 4.3k color temp match the day time running light LEDs? I hate how the stock yellow halogens don't match the white led border.

I would think the DRLs are closer to 5k temp...

 

[Farcry1010]

I don't have any detailed test results to compare the two but subjectively the LED headlights on my Touring seem WAY brighter than the halogens on my '06 Civic. But, to be fair, the car was 10 years old so perhaps the headlights were hazy and/or the halogen technology has improved since then. It's surprising how much they light up the reflective signs on the highway from huge distances, though compared to all of the surrounding cars on the road with halogens. Plus the near perfect daylight colour balance means it renders crisp saturated colours and detail that you just can't get with the old orange halogens. I'm still amazed at how much better things look at night with these things and how it brings out the true colours of the cars around you. I measured the colour temperature of the LED headlights with my SLR and the colour temperature was an incredibly neutral 5300K with no magenta or green cast - just as good or better than professional photographic LED lighting kits (I'm a photographer/videographer).

I agree. I have the touring. The LEDs are very nice and bright, no problem seeing roadway in poorly or not lit roads while raining. I know the cutoff is not as good as HID with projector housing but I don't think that matters that much because I had my car parked at night and I came toward my Civic from down the road while driving my wife's car and it is not blinding at all. So I wouldn't worry about blinding others, it did pass DOTs stringent regulations btw. After coming from Audi with HIDs which have the best HIDs around and having a great cutoff the problem is that you don't see signs that well at night. Now with my new Civic with LEDs I see signs perfectly with that little bleeding just to brighten the reflective signs. So I have to say this Civic is a awesome to drive at night. I love the headlights on my Touring. My 2 cents.

 

[CivicMichael]

Does the 4.3k color temp match the day time running light LEDs? I hate how the stock yellow halogens don't match the white led border. I would think the DRLs are closer to 5k temp...

I measured the light temperatures with my SLR and the DRLs came in at 4600K with a moderate green cast while the LED headlights were 5300K with no colour cast. 4300K should match the DRLs nicely.

 

[aaronarf]

Here's a comparison of the LED low beams ( w/ fogs on) to the high beams within less than a second apart on the same stretch of road at ~50mph Screen grab from my dash cam so forgive the quality.

^Factory touring low beams w/ factory fogs

^Touring High beams

The foreground illumination is obviously much less with the high beams on because the fogs turn off. Next time I drive at night I'll try to remember to kill the fogs for a more accurate comparison...but most drive with their fogs on all the time anyways.

Look at the telephone poles for a good reference.

 

[ecm]

I measured the light temperatures with my SLR and the DRLs came in at 4600K with a moderate green cast while the LED headlights were 5300K with no colour cast. 4300K should match the DRLs nicely.

Ok good. If I can get away with the 4.3k matching, that is ideal. I had 5ks before on another car and actually didn't like how they lit up the road, they were to white if that makes any sense. I can see much better with 4.3k temp.

 

[BobM_Jr]

..but most drive with their fogs on all the time anyways.

Ahh...no, there's no point to it. They're not meant to be on all the time.

 

[UncleDomino]

Does the 4.3k color temp match the day time running light LEDs? I hate how the stock yellow halogens don't match the white led border.

I would think the DRLs are closer to 5k temp...

If I get out and look at the front of the car, the HIDs seem a bit yellower than the daytime running lights. They're supposed to warm up to 4700k over the first ~100 hours of use, so if the DRLs are 4600k, I'd imagine they'll be really close to a perfect match.

 

[aaronarf]

Ahh...no, there's no point to it. They're not meant to be on all the time.

They do give you much more foreground/shoulder visibility IMO.

 

[Billy4202]

FYI, if a cop flashes their brights at you because they think your brights are on, and you flash them back, be prepared. He turned around and I thought he was gonna pull me over. Followed me for a few, definitely ran my plates.

Fun times.

 

[Buccal_Up]

i would be very surprised if anyone preferred the halogen over the LEDs. That said i put in morimoto 5500K bulbs 35w and have been very impressed. I wish i knew someone with a touring so i could compare

 

[kirkhilles]

Have many people (I've seen a couple reviews of people that have) installed this:

http://amzn.com/B00VNBDWPK

I realize that you'll never get lights that are going to be anywhere close to the quality of the Touring, but then again if you can save a couple thousand (or more) by going with a lower Model + not have to worry about the cost of replacing the entire LED housing if something happens out of warranty, it'd be a no brainer. Personally, for me, I'd be willing to spend a little bit more (maybe up to a couple hundred), but get something easy to install, fits perfectly and will give me years of use without people even thinking my lights are aftermarket. I'd want to feel satisfied that I've "upgraded" my Civic, not just "customized" it.

 

[Mr.Brown]

Have many people (I've seen a couple reviews of people that have) installed this:

http://amzn.com/B00VNBDWPK

I realize that you'll never get lights that are going to be anywhere close to the quality of the Touring, but then again if you can save a couple thousand (or more) by going with a lower Model + not have to worry about the cost of replacing the entire LED housing if something happens out of warranty, it'd be a no brainer. Personally, for me, I'd be willing to spend a little bit more (maybe up to a couple hundred), but get something easy to install, fits perfectly and will give me years of use without people even thinking my lights are aftermarket. I'd want to feel satisfied that I've "upgraded" my Civic, not just "customized" it.

im happy with my OPT7 LED lights also. been using them for 3 weeks now

 

[kirkhilles]

im happy with my OPT7 LED lights also. been using them for 3 weeks now

Cool. Was it a significant increase over stock?

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