LED vs HID? Thoughts

[Gamble]

Pretty sure my truck came with HID and I always loved them but LED seems to be very tempting. I have one LED light on my bike and it's brighter than both lights on bright on my truck. Low power consumption without a doubt. Longer life, I think so. Light output, I think it's more but I don't know for sure.

What do you guys think? Anyone here make the switch from HID to LED? They seem really inexpensive
Seen some that are LED bulbs and others that are LED upgrade kits. Not sure which I got on my bike and not sure the diff exacty

Discuss

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[10sec]

That does seem like a GAMBLE to change lights.

For real though, how could the light output of an HID not be enough? I drive a fuckin' 1997 Prelude with normal halogen headlights and I can see everything I need to see and I'm not blinding the fuck out of everyone else for my own benefit.

 

[SMRTSS1]

HID bulbs that are designed for the projector housings are aligned so the lighting element is set in the right spot in the reflector bowls to (usually) give the best light output. The element on an HID bulb has 360 degree coverage.

LED bulbs not designed for forward lighting in projector housings usually don’t throw as much usable light because the diodes aren’t aligned like the element on an HID bulb. Yes they appear brighter when looking head on but when you start driving the usable light isn’t as good as you thought.

If you’re talking about putting HID or LED bulbs in halogen housings either will be brighter than halogen but the scatter affect gets a bit ridiculous and blinding to oncoming unless you aim your lights down which kind of defeats the purpose.

If you already have HID projectors just get better quality bulbs and ballasts and maybe upgrade the lenses.

 

[Ron Vogel]

Ditto, and 4300k has the best output, try 6k+ in the rain...lol

The nightbreaker xenon bulbs have the best output, but are a little pricey. I went through a bunch of different hid bulbs in my last car and they were the best of what I tried...and I tried just about all the good ones. LEDs in housings designed for them are the best, and the new Audi/BMW laser headlights are even better.

Enjoy:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-WvK5WC4ns0

 

[syP]

I plan to skip HID all together and upgrade my colorado to LED headlights