[alfa] Re: Brake light upgrade-Now LED's

[Joe Elliott <jee@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

At 9:24 PM +0000 8/25/04, alfa-digest wrote:
> Date: Wed, 25 Aug 2004 12:37:56 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Nash Bap <nashbap@domain.elided>
> Subject: [alfa] Brake light upgrade-Now LED's
>
> Has anyone tried using  LED replacement lights in their vehicles? 
> These are LED clusters within a common base such as a 1157 or 1156 
> type which is what is used in most of our Alfas. I think these 
> clusters are much brighter overall, use very little current and 
> produce less heat.
When cheap LED replacements for 1156 and 1157 bulbs first became 
available via local retail shops, I tried them in a Milano, because a 
switch to LED's in that car's rear lights seemed like an obvious 
solution to the inadequate grounding problem that the Milano's rear 
lights suffer from.  Those bulbs were completely awful.  They didn't 
produce much light, and it all went in one direction, which is not 
what the optics in the taillights were designed for.  Much better LED 
replacement bulbs have always been available for $20 and up, but I've 
never felt like spending that much money for an experiment.  I've 
recently noticed that local auto parts stores have started carrying 
seemingly higher-quality LED replacement bulbs for ~$10, but I'm not 
sure I'd count on them to be as bright as OEM incandescent bulbs. 
I'd love to hear from anyone who has tried such bulbs with any 
success.  Here are some sources I've found:
http://www.wixtools.com/html/ultraleds.html
http://www.ledtronics.com/datasheets/intermedbase_index/intermed_index.htm
http://www.superbrightleds.com/1157.htm

Joe Elliott
'82 GTV-6
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