Plug and play LED headlights ?

Vic_L said:

He's installing those LED bulbs into a Halogen REFLECTOR housing....what in...

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Axatax said:

Isn't that what is meant by a plug-and-play LED? ie. - to put them into a halogen housing, ie. the subject of this post?

Just asking.

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LEDs are plug and play in the sense that you can stick them in, plug them in, and they will shine light. What Vic is referencing is that he used LEDs in a reflector housing instead of a projector housing. Reflector housings are notorious for having horrible glare when idiots who don't know what they are doing stick HIDs LEDs or any custom lighting in them that they were not designed for.

That being said, there are situations where a well designed LED bulb will not glare in reflector housings. If you have 30 minutes to kill, this video is pretty informative:

This is plug n play Morimoto LEDs. https://www.theretrofitsource.com/headlight-conversion-kits/honda/civic-sedan-halogen-equipped/2017

Axatax said:

Isn't that what is meant by a plug-and-play LED? ie. - to put them into a halogen housing, ie. the subject of this post?

Just asking.

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If you put them in your new civic, then those are halogen projectors, and they wont blind people, but the throw sucks, if you but them in an early 2000s civic they have halogen reflectors and will blind everyone

Axatax said:

Isn't that what is meant by a plug-and-play LED? ie. - to put them into a halogen housing, ie. the subject of this post?

Just asking.

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Correct, the bulbs are plug-and-play.

Using LED bulbs in a reflector housing would not focus the light, but rather, cause it to scatter all over the place, which would blind oncoming drivers, and reduce actual usable visibility. Sure, it will look bright in your driveway...but that's about it.

More modern cars, like the 10th generation Civic for an example, will have PROJECTOR housings, but have a halogen bulb installed from factory. You can swap it out for an LEB bulb.

The 2003 (?) Matrix Scotty is using the LED bulbs on have reflector housings for the headlights -- you can clearly see it.

Got to respect other drivers

Soooo.... no plug in play headlights? Or we just bashing Scotty-do?

ttballs51186 said:

Soooo.... no plug in play headlights? Or we just bashing Scotty-do?

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we bash scotty and no, dont do plug n play LED, even the good morimoto Led kit isnt as good as a good HID set.

Sirius LED headlights on their website or amazon are only 50 dollars and they are great. They also make reverse lights, brake lights, map lights, switchbacks, and more.

Lasfit offers a great range of products and prices that no one really talks about. My lasfit low beam leds were $32, plugged right in and have been running strong for about two years with no issues. And they were under $40...

ttballs51186 said:

Soooo.... no plug in play headlights? Or we just bashing Scotty-do?

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In all honesty, if you buy a good set of LEDs they will be on par/slightly better than OEM. The problem with LEDs and the reason they aren't better than HIDs is that they produce bright light (high lumens) but the throw is pretty bad (low lux). Aka they shine bright but dont light up the road that well.

HID kits will give you the best results BY FAR and although not plug and play, they are relatively easy to install. However I personally have never owned an HID kit that lasted more than a year without having to troubleshoot ballast/harness/bulb issues.

LEDs if:
You live in a well lit urban area or you do not do tons of night driving
You are super adverse to "modding" anything in your car and just want "plug and play"
You want rock solid reliability
Color accuracy is more important than light output

HIDs if:
You live in the country or do lots of night driving
You need the brightest option for your headlights
You dont mind/are comfortable tinkering with basic electrical circuits every so often.

Personally I have HIDs, but I may be switching to the Morimoto XB LED full housings soon.

Recently installed Morimoto 2stroke 2.0s, and am very happy with them. Much better than the OEM halogens. Light up the road very well, and I live outside the city, and drive on dark roads a lot, I have zero complaints.

justasimpleman said:

Recently installed Morimoto 2stroke 2.0s, and am very happy with them. Much better than the OEM halogens. Light up the road very well, and I live outside the city, and drive on dark roads a lot, I have zero complaints.

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Do they make any noise?

I get the sense this is turning into a "LED vs. HID" debate threads...

I've had both. HIDs are very good, no doubt. But lately, the LEDs have gotten better. And for the cost? The LEDs I have now from Hikari were less than $50 and though they are not HID level performance, I'm pretty impressed with the throw, cutoff and brightness factor of these "cheap" LED bulbs, IMHO.

So long as I can see what I need to see on the road and others can see me, I'm good. Take your pick and don't blind other drivers with it.

Lol at the guys who still follow that guy for advice. Just as dallasjhawk said, technology flew past Scotty. Some of the shit he says is absolutely ridiculous. Go back to 1985 Scotty

McDavid said:

Do they make any noise?

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Some noise from the fans, nothing obnoxious.

The below site is quite helpful for research. I have both the Morimoto 2Strokes 2.0 (for my fogs) and the Morimoto XB 35W 5500 HIDs (for low beams). I love this set up. I was previously running 2Strokes 2.0 for low beams as well, but the droning noise from the fans bothered me quite a bit (but you can only hear them below 15mph). Since I live in Brooklyn, that's most of my driving.

If you install 2Strokes 2.0 for fogs, you won't hear them at all.

My HIDs are definitely brighter than the LEDs, but the LEDs are definitely an improvement over stock. HIDs do burn out every few years, but if you don't mind replacing the bulbs every few years @ $40 a pair. I highly recommend HIDs.

https://www.bulbfacts.com/