LED VS HID

NoHonor937 said:

Should’ve read the part where the guy posts morimoto LEDs vs Morimoto HIDS pic. They look almost exactly the same. LEDs being plug and play. Lol the difference is a foot of light on the edges of the beam.

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Until you're driving in the rain...

Leef said:

Until you're driving in the rain...

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I’ve driven in the rain at night in my LEDs and had no problems seeing. I was worried about that when I first got them but there’s no concern now.

inFamousKicks said:

Ok cool, but I only posted this here first since this seems to be the most active thread on either the LED or HID topic(s). Definitely wasn’t looking for your opinion on why one is better than the other (regardless of the thread title).

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It’s a forum. A place where everyone’s opinions are shared.

cestjoel said:

I ended up getting new Maxima Projectors and making a custom shield. Here is a quick pic of the output on a wall. (Might need to adjust the drivers side a bit)

OEM Maxima Projector w/ custom shield
E30 Lens
Osram CBB D2S bulbs
Hylux 45 watt Ballast

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Long shot, but I’m doing the same thing (except Denso slim ballasts). Do you happen to have pics of your cutoff shield you made? Was it curved?

After resolving my issue I was able to install the Morimoto Elite HID kit over the weekend. Overall I’m fairly happy with them, excluding the blue tint (which according to others should apparently fade with some use). Light output seems to be improved as there’s more light projected outward and not just dumped in front of the car.

If I had to choose between hid or led I would definitely go hid. Hid will throw further and have a better pattern. But you just got to make sure the color is white and not blue. Blue tends to blend everything together making it difficult to see at night. Me myself I went with silverstar ultra replacement halogen bulbs. I’ve had very good luck with them in the past and can see excellent at night. Color is perfect. Some people say they burn out fast but I’ve never had that problem. But for 50 bucks and if you replace them every two years, I think your getting your moneys worth.

inFamousKicks said:

After resolving my issue I was able to install the Morimoto Elite HID kit over the weekend. Overall I’m fairly happy with them, excluding the blue tint (which according to others should apparently fade with some use). Light output seems to be improved as there’s more light projected outward and not just dumped in front of the car.

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Are those 6500K? If so, they will definitely burn in.

dallasjhawk said:

Are those 6500K? If so, they will definitely burn in.

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5500K I believe, but yeah, they’ve definitely whitened up since my original post. Much happier with them.

Revisiting this (once more). Purchased Hikari LEDs (new version or whatever is the latest according to Hikari). Had initially swapped out stock halogen for Sylvania Silverstars. Honestly they weren’t much different from stock. Hikari install was super easy. These don’t have an external driver so it was truly PnP. Color is cooler and nearly matches the LED DRL. Fans so far are fairly quiet. Seem brighter than halogens but will reserve judgement until I drive with them at night.

dallasjhawk said:

If you want functionality over looks, although HIDs look great too, then go HIDs. If you dont care that your lights wont help you in the rain, go with LEDs they'll look awesome until you cant see in a rainstorm. I have had both in my civic. i thought the LEDs were good and had good throw down the road until I drove in the rain. I couldnt see crap and it was just your average rain. I have the Morimoto HID Elite 35W 6500K kit and it works great

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Whats the difference between LED and HID?

Short version: In a "retrofit to my halogen headlights" sense, LED is more "plug and play", HID casts more light. LEDs can be had for cheaper, but could also include undesirable features like fans running whenever the headlights are on.

Long version: LEDs are the same type of lights used in most modern electronics and can be found everywhere from street lamps to dashboard indicators in your car. They work by passing electricity across two different materials, the junction of which emits light as the electricity passes through. LEDs have a front and a back, are great at emitting light in one direction (the 'front'), but since all light comes from this same spot, they are not great at sides and back. This is not great for a drop-in application because the halogen bulbs they are replacing are good at emitting light in all directions and the reflectors they're installed in are designed to take advantage of this quality. Most modern drop-in LED headlight assemblies are made up of multiple LEDs aimed in different directions to combat this difference and make LEDs perform closer to what the original halogen would in terms of the spread of light. LEDs are not great at handling heat, their output drops off significantly if they get overheated, so drop-in LED assemblies often have large heatsinks and fans attached to them to keep them operating in an acceptable range. Installing an LED is simple, many are a straight drop-in effectively the same as replacing a halogen bulb. Some LEDs will have a "box" on the wire somewhere that should be mounted somewhere to support the weight while driving.

HIDs by contrast are less commonly found in other applications, but similar technology lamps can be found in overhead industrial & outdoor lighting. They work by creating a spark between two electrodes and maintaining it, a little bit like having a tiny piece of lightning in a bottle. As you can imagine, this means HIDs can be extremely bright, and since lightning emits light in all directions, they don't have the same downside of LEDs. The location where the light is generated is still different in an HID bulb than it is a halogen bulb, so HID bulbs in halogen housings will still perform worse than halogen bulbs in the same housings in terms of the even spread, and appropriate cut-off, of light. They are extremely bright, though. Installing HIDs is easy, but not as easy as installing LEDs above. All HIDs require a separate driver that needs to be mounted somewhere in the car. The car harness is connected to the driver, the driver then connects to the LEDs. Occasionally there is an additional component inline called an igniter that helps the bulbs start up, this typically does not need to be mounted. Some people (myself included) also install a relay kit to power the HIDs. This is because when starting up, the driver can consume large amounts of power, which can in some occasions draw more power than the OEM circuit is capable of delivering, leading to a blown fuse. By connecting the drivers through a relay kit, the load on the vehicle harness is minimal - just enough to power the relay - and the load of the HIDs is covered by the aftermarket wiring you install. I'm making this sound more complicated than it is, it is a very easy install to do, but it is not as simple as LEDs. Automotive HIDs have also been around longer, so the technology is more mature.

If you're willing to replace the housing instead of just dropping in replacements to the existing housing, the differences between LED and HID drops off. Housings can be designed to effectively use any of the three main lighting technologies (LED, HID, Halogen) and are found in numerous OEM applications. I have not seen many good LED projectors or full housing retrofits for the 10th gen Civic myself, but HID options do exist. This process is considerably more involved, requiring the removal and disassembly of the OEM headlight housing. This will get you the best output, though, bar none.

dallasjhawk said:

If you want functionality over looks, although HIDs look great too, then go HIDs. If you dont care that your lights wont help you in the rain, go with LEDs they'll look awesome until you cant see in a rainstorm. I have had both in my civic. i thought the LEDs were good and had good throw down the road until I drove in the rain. I couldnt see crap and it was just your average rain. I have the Morimoto HID Elite 35W 6500K kit and it works great

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dallasjhawk said:

If you want functionality over looks, although HIDs look great too, then go HIDs. If you dont care that your lights wont help you in the rain, go with LEDs they'll look awesome until you cant see in a rainstorm. I have had both in my civic. i thought the LEDs were good and had good throw down the road until I drove in the rain. I couldnt see crap and it was just your average rain. I have the Morimoto HID Elite 35W 6500K kit and it works great

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Do you have a video of how to connect the relays?

Israel said:

Do you have a video of how to connect the relays?

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unfortunately no, I'm super lazy and paid a shop to install them and mount my ballasts. That way, if I ever have an issue I just go back and the shop handles it all

gav007 said:

I went with LEDs because I wanted plug-n-play and long lasting lights. I chose fanless LEDs over the fan ones, so that I don't hear the sound of the fan spin inside the car.

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What type of LEds are you using for Headlight and Fog?

Hey guys,

I actually just had my LED's fry out my wiring. One of my lights went out then I went to put in the Halogen bulbs in and those didn't turn on either. I have an appointment with honda and they're hopefully going to replace the wiring under warranty. Here is a link to the thread I made with more information with my issue https://www.civicx.com/threads/headlight-connection-issue.40912/

I really want to have LED's in but I am afraid of this issue happening again. Some people are telling me to put a relay in but I have never done anything like that.