LED VS HID

Snoopyslr

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This is why I'm harping like a broken parrot about putting in relays when doing headlight mods. The OEM wiring is very thin. People have this idea that relays are something complicated. A relay is essentially a switched switch. You make a connection with something like your headlight switch that uses very little current and the relay in turn makes a connection that can handle loads more current. So when you turn your headlights on, your drawing power directly from the battery and not through the OEM wiring.

Installing a relay kit is insanely easy. I even created a post on here showing how to build your own, although you can pick relay kits up very cheap these days.
https://www.civicx.com/threads/how-to-install-hid-kits-with-no-risk-of-damaging-factory-wiring.1595/
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Israel

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I changed my headlight to a pair of LED bulbs two days ago and have some comparison photos for those considering this mod.
My problem with the stock bulb is the poor visibility on the side of the road. Look the first two pictures, the second one is from my friend's 2015 Mazda 3 Touring.
Note that two headlights are about the same brightness, it was the camera that makes the civic's seem to be brighter.
But you can see the pattern is pretty different.
I bought a pair of LED bulbs on Amazon, and they are pretty high quality. Plug and play, no external drivers. Check the results in the picture.
Aside from being cooler, the visibility is better than the factory halogen bulbs.
I also tested this with a friend, driving toward him in all directions, making sure this headlight does not blind anyone on road.
The company sold me the bulb claimed they were California legal, so should be fine to use them anywhere.

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What type of LED are you using?
 

dallasjhawk

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something I immediately notice is the beam pattern of the led. notice how the stock halogen, while not appearing as bright is actually a direct beam of light which would light farther down the road. The Led is already wider and much more scattered and that wall is maybe 10 ft away. now imagine how scattered that is at 25 ft and then 100ft and 200ft which is the test the IIHS uses to determine lighting ratings. Its why I say leds in halogen projectors are awful. The diodes are on only 2 or 3 sides and cant produce a light like an hid or halogen filament bulb

Honda Civic 10th gen LED VS HID upload_2019-9-6_7-58-57


Honda Civic 10th gen LED VS HID upload_2019-9-6_7-58-57
 

w00t692

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something I immediately notice is the beam pattern of the led. notice how the stock halogen, while not appearing as bright is actually a direct beam of light which would light farther down the road. The Led is already wider and much more scattered and that wall is maybe 10 ft away. now imagine how scattered that is at 25 ft and then 100ft and 200ft which is the test the IIHS uses to determine lighting ratings. Its why I say leds in halogen projectors are awful. The diodes are on only 2 or 3 sides and cant produce a light like an hid or halogen filament bulb

Honda Civic 10th gen LED VS HID {filename}


Honda Civic 10th gen LED VS HID {filename}
You can't actually know that without measuring the intensity of the hotspot if it's brighter in intensity it's still going to shine down the road just as far if not further beam spread would have to be also accompanied by lower-intensity in the hotspot. So no,what you're saying is not necessarily true.
 

dallasjhawk

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You can't actually know that without measuring the intensity of the hotspot if it's brighter in intensity it's still going to shine down the road just as far if not further beam spread would have to be also accompanied by lower-intensity in the hotspot. So no,what you're saying is not necessarily true.
Actually its pretty much true of any drop in led. 99% of them dont even have the advertised lumens on the box. all you have to do is go read any blog from lightwerx or trs and its true over and over
 


w00t692

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You say "it's true of any drop in over and over". Again, YOU haven't measured it and you not only don't know, but you're suggesting you do based on a blog post. I'm not disagreeing that there's TONS of drop in LED kits that are incorrect, but there's also quite a few drop in LED's that are geometrically correct for a halogen housing nowadays. The physical filament mimicry is what makes the beam pattern work.
 

dallasjhawk

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You say "it's true of any drop in over and over". Again, YOU haven't measured it and you not only don't know, but you're suggesting you do based on a blog post. I'm not disagreeing that there's TONS of drop in LED kits that are incorrect, but there's also quite a few drop in LED's that are geometrically correct for a halogen housing nowadays. The physical filament mimicry is what makes the beam pattern work.
and at $180 a kit for the LEDs, the HIDs are still better. I mean I guess the companies making these and writing blogs have no idea what they are talking about right? This comment is about their 2 stroke LED kit

Honda Civic 10th gen LED VS HID 3LZPXL3HQSBFalA4xcRq7wchOhXKFxtMWTeqNH9A5NAge1S1NrmZE4f74IUGCx04G5iRFgNrs&_nc_ht=scontent-dfw5-1
 
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w00t692

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I never said HID isn't brigher or better. As of right now, HID is brighter. It probably will always be for a drop in replacement retrofit, but LED's are getting ridiculously better at a fever pace. I wouldn't have even considered an LED drop in even 3 years ago. Most of the good LED setups are not drop in replacements, as the way good LED's work are in conjunction with individual projector housings and multiple LED's.

Almost forgot in this reply. A drop in HID into any stock housing is the worse possible configuration period. Its' unsafe, poorly lights the road and blinds everyone. A proper retrofit is the only way to do HID.
 
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LegendaryElite

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What type of LED are you using?
It is from LASFIT, they used to be on Amazon but not anymore. Still going strong after almost 2 years.

something I immediately notice is the beam pattern of the led. notice how the stock halogen, while not appearing as bright is actually a direct beam of light which would light farther down the road. The Led is already wider and much more scattered and that wall is maybe 10 ft away. now imagine how scattered that is at 25 ft and then 100ft and 200ft which is the test the IIHS uses to determine lighting ratings. Its why I say leds in halogen projectors are awful. The diodes are on only 2 or 3 sides and cant produce a light like an hid or halogen filament bulb
if you look at the Mazda 3's photo, it's the same pattern as my LED but less bright. It could also be that the camera sensor or software enhances the yellow light for whatever reason.
The fact is that I feel safer on the road with this set of LEDs. Stock halogen of Civic provides weak side visibility and this LED covers the side way better.
I wouldn't disagree that retrofit HID could be better, but a poorly installed HID will always be the worst on road. Drop in LED is getting better and you should try it before making the judgment.
 

Israel

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It is from LASFIT, they used to be on Amazon but not anymore. Still going strong after almost 2 years.



if you look at the Mazda 3's photo, it's the same pattern as my LED but less bright. It could also be that the camera sensor or software enhances the yellow light for whatever reason.
The fact is that I feel safer on the road with this set of LEDs. Stock halogen of Civic provides weak side visibility and this LED covers the side way better.
I wouldn't disagree that retrofit HID could be better, but a poorly installed HID will always be the worst on road. Drop in LED is getting better and you should try it before making the judgment.
Are they fanless?
 


86salmon

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Almost forgot in this reply. A drop in HID into any stock housing is the worse possible configuration period. Its' unsafe, poorly lights the road and blinds everyone
Retrofit is indeed the best way to do HID, but to say it's the worst for ANY housing is wildly misleading, especially in this application with the Civic x projectors. If you read this thread you would see this
 

dallasjhawk

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Almost forgot in this reply. A drop in HID into any stock housing is the worse possible configuration period. Its' unsafe, poorly lights the road and blinds everyone. A proper retrofit is the only way to do HID
wrong again chief, hids are horrible in halogen reflector headlights but are perfectly fine in halogen projector headlights that come on most factory cars today. Any other myths you would like debunked today?
 


 


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