[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

One question. With the law tightening up, what is the future.

Incidentally, we just got two Fastag stickers for our Honda Civic and Amaze.

If the light looks brighter (glare too) than other vehicles and it does not seem OE to the cops, they will stop you and slap a fine, seize your license and ask you to revert the lights to original and then return the license to you.

In our city roads, OE lights are sufficient if they are well maintained. Highway driving at night needs more light in some vehicles, best way to fix that is AUX lighting. That way you don't waste all that energy in the city where it is of no use.

[maker_of_things]

I have been pretty dissatisfied with the stock Himalayan headlights. I even upgraded to Philips Xtreme vision headlamps a couple of years ago, but it hardly improved the output as opposed to stock.

Last month I upgraded my headlamp to Philips Ultinon Essential LED headlights from Amazon (Amazon Link), and it really impressed me. I have a friend who has a Yamaha FZ250 with stock LED bulbs and he complains about the abysmal quality of those so I was a bit skeptical it would work. But the improvement is literally night and day.

The box contains 2 CSP style LEDs. The main reasons I went for Philips over Auxbeam or some other cheaper manufacturers was the thinner PCB and that the LEDs are only on 2 sides of the bulb (most cheaper options have 3 or even 4 sides which is not really what you want to have as it messes up the beam pattern). Another advantage of these Ultinon Essential over their other lineup is the heatsink. Its 4 pieces of braided copper wires. Most other LEDs have a big heatsink which would fit but it would require removing the dust cap covering the headlight bracket. These copper heatsinks can be pulled through the hole in the heatsink and it is snug fit. Also, a driver (not sure if that's the correct term) is provided for transforming the input voltage/current as required by the LEDs.

Adding some images for your reference. Apologies, but I do not have any photos of the process or any before/after comparisons.

LOW BEAM


HIGH BEAM


Philips Ultinon Essential LED


Older Philips XTreme vision


Driver module


Only 17W!

[rave20]

Hi,

Lights throw looks amazing on Himalayan. Can you share the Amazon link for the same?

[maker_of_things]

Originally Posted by rave20

Hi,

Lights throw looks amazing on Himalayan. Can you share the Amazon link for the same?

Oops, my original post didn't have the link.

Adding it here. It comes in a set of 2, although Philip's website has listed a product containing just one for Motorcycles, but I couldn't find it anywhere online.
https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B07Q39QNTD

[rambo1o1]

Hello.

I just picked up a used 2015 global fiesta. The original owner put HID for the low beam without projectors. This naturally causes blinding for oncoming traffic,so i am reverting to halogens for now.

Right now i am not going for HID with projectors due to budget constraints but would like to get a pair of LED for the low beams and Fogs. Will leave the high beam with the halogens.

The fiesta has H7 for low beam and H11 for fogs. After reading this entire thread i know that one the best LEDs are the Philips Ultinon but at 8k a pair, i would save up and get HID setup instead. Since the fiesta has separate bulbs for low and high, i should be looking at CSP chip tye LEDs?? i constantly buy from aliexpress so im comfortable with shopping there. I have seen a couple of brands mentioned on this thread and i would only go with what others have experience with.

I would prefer either 5k or 6k kelvin color temp but 5k only comes in one brand, ie Hlxg. seems this brand isnt too reliable. I am now deciding between 3 brands. there are both fan and fanless models and now i am really confused. will list out 3 options.

any help on which to choose for fogs and low beam will be great.

1. https://www.aliexpress.com/novsight
2.https://www.aliexpress.com2/cnsunny
3. https://www.aliexpress.com/maxgtrs

[supertinu]

Originally Posted by suku_patel_22

[/ATTACH]

The pics that you shared are perfect example of why you should not use LEDs in high beam . You can easily see how spread out the pattern of LED is vs the Halogen for high beam and that will make a huge difference on the highway for getting furthest visibility. This was the reason is swapped back to halogens on my XUV cause the LEDs just scatter all over and you wont really get the penetration at night you need. Strongly recommend you go back to halogens, right now you are just blinding the oncoming traffic with no real value for you on highway.

Originally Posted by rambo1o1

The fiesta has H7 for low beam and H11 for fogs. After reading this entire thread i know that one the best LEDs are the Philips Ultinon but at 8k a pair, i would save up and get HID setup instead. Since the fiesta has separate bulbs for low and high, i should be looking at CSP chip tye LEDs?? i constantly buy from aliexpress so im comfortable with shopping there. I have seen a couple of brands mentioned on this thread and i would only go with what others have experience with.


I would prefer either 5k or 6k kelvin color temp but 5k only comes in one brand, ie Hlxg. seems this brand isnt too reliable. I am now deciding between 3 brands. there are both fan and fanless models and now i am really confused. will list out 3 options.

Look up my orig post to get more specifics, but in general stick to CSPs only for reflectors. With XHPs you wont get any beam pattern at all. Also color is never accurate as marketed so dont worry about 5K/6K/6.5K in my view.

[dkaile]

I recently upgraded my Baleno Sigma variant's stock headlights to LED bulbs from Philips Ultinon Essentials at a cost of 3900/- for the pair. I am reading so many conflicting things about not upgrading to LED's etc., so I wanted to post my experience here. LED's are the future. My Ninja 1000 comes with full LED headlights from the factory and I absolutely love them. I was a bit apprehensive reading the experience of various forums to upgrading to LEDs from Halogens due to the beam pattern etc. But after doing do and having driven with them a few hundred kms, I would like to inform my compatriots that it really is a no brainer.

Here's the upgrade procedure that I have already posted elsewhere on the forum - https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/offic...ml#post4741622 (Maruti Baleno : Official Review)

The LED bulbs that were used -


Headlights OFF


LED Low Beams


LED High Beams


Notice the difference of the light pattern on the scooter ahead. So I suggest people to upgrade to LED's without apprehension just keeping in mind to go for good quality LED bulbs.

Cheers...

[scorpion_blore]

Might be a layman query, but better to be clear than repent later.

Planning to upgrade:
- halogen headlights to LED lights
- Roof-top cabin lights to LED with more brightness
- Boot LED lights

Would these light upgrade void the warranty? This is for the latest gen Amaze which was purchased about 18 months back.

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by dkaile

Notice the difference of the light pattern on the scooter ahead. So I suggest people to upgrade to LED's without apprehension just keeping in mind to go for good quality LED bulbs.

Cheers...

There is no way to tell if the LED is good vs halogen without the following:

1. side by side pic vs halogen
2. parking against a wall around 15-20ft away such that the beam pattern is visible around 1.5-2feet above the floor.

This sort of photo in a small lane is misleading and gives absolutely no data on how good LED's are.

The problem with LED fitted on regular reflectors is that they have too much foreground light that gives you the (false) impression that they are really bright and illuminate objects.

The negative aspect of too much foreground light is your eyes get more light than needed and hence contract which means dark objects are not that visible leading to problems.

The biggest issue however with LED's in reflectors is driving in rain due to excess foreground light and the temperature (white light) meaning you cant see at all in the rain.

Alos if the LED is not perfect fit in the reflector, the cut off pattern and beam shape will change which we can't make out in the pic.

This is why people need to be careful when recommending LED's blindly.

PS and Disclaimer: Above post is based on trying 5-6 different LED brands on 3 cars.

[dkaile]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

The biggest issue however with LED's in reflectors is driving in rain due to excess foreground light and the temperature (white light) meaning you cant see at all in the rain.

I think you are going a little overboard with the criticism of LEDs in reflectors. My Ninja 1000 also has LED in reflectors OE from the company. And I see just fine in the rain. And that is a much more high speed vehicle than most cars on Indian roads. Most car and scooter models are shifting to LEDs directly from the company with a majority in reflectors and some in projectors. To give a blanket statement that all LEDs are bad is probably not right. In fact all Baleno models except this base one now comes with LED Headlights directly from the company. If driving in the rain would have been so drastically affected by LEDs, would big companies be shifting to them? A correctly focusing good quality LED bulb is essential to get proper light. And why would reputed companies like Philips and Osram etc. be supplying aftermarket LED bulbs if they are not suited for the reflectors?

My comments have also been based on the experience of fitting LEDs in a variety of cars and also my Harley. Anyways to each his own.

Cheers...

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by dkaile

I think you are going a little overboard with the criticism of LEDs in reflectors. My Ninja 1000 also has LED in reflectors OE from the company. And I see just fine in the rain. And that is a much more high speed vehicle than most cars on Indian roads. Most car and scooter models are shifting to LEDs directly from the company with a majority in reflectors and some in projectors. To give a blanket statement that all LEDs are bad is probably not right. In fact all Baleno models except this base one now comes with LED Headlights directly from the company. If driving in the rain would have been so drastically affected by LEDs, would big companies be shifting to them? A correctly focusing good quality LED bulb is essential to get proper light. And why would reputed companies like Philips and Osram etc. be supplying aftermarket LED bulbs if they are not suited for the reflectors?

My comments have also been based on the experience of fitting LEDs in a variety of cars and also my Harley. Anyways to each his own.

Cheers...

The Ninja 1000 and many cars that come with LED's from factory are different that retrofitting LED's to reflectors that are designed for halogen bulbs.

My Kodiaq comes with all LED projector units which are vastly superior to my corolla's HID and the Ecosport's LED (retrofit).

Here's a thread I put up that shows how LED's give a false impression of more light but when you park against a wall and compare with halogen you see it is useless:

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/diy-d...s-upgrade.html (DIY: Ford EcoSport LED Headlights upgrade)

The Ninja 1000 like some cars (example VW Tiguan) have reflectors with LED however there is no "bulb" inside. There is a very careful array of LED's inside the reflector designed to give the right beam pattern+no foreground light and a bright hot spot farther away. That is why your Ninja as well as Tiguan have very good light even with LED's inside reflectors.

Cars like Baleno have LED projectors which are also good but Baleno and other Maruti cars have one problem that is colour temperature. It's too white for effective rain driving. In my Kodiaq I can make out the light is more yellower than a Baleno (my guess is 6500K for baleno and 5500K for Kodiaq). This makes a difference.

If you add LED bulb to any reflector light there are very high chances you will get seemingly "bright" light but that is the whole problem with people doing LED upgrades.

Like I explained in my thread, you need to check for beam pattern, scatter of light, sharply defined hotspot and no foreground light.

Without the above data points it's a moot point saying the LED bulb is better than halogen just cause the light is "brighter". With LED's it's not just about brightness but quality of light pattern.

[pixantz]

Originally Posted by dkaile

I recently upgraded my Baleno Sigma variant's stock headlights to LED bulbs from Philips Ultinon Essentials at a cost of 3900/- for the pair.

So I suggest people to upgrade to LED's without apprehension just keeping in mind to go for good quality LED bulbs.

Cheers...

+1 to that. I have also seen the Ultinons in action and they are right up there with the best.



The main problem with people wanting to upgrade to LEDs is that they immediately get access to the cheapest of options, typical Indian mentality logic of cheap-is-best kicks in, and the end result is you have a crappy product because the bottom line is, 99.9% CHANCES ARE, IF YOU BUY A CHEAP LED HEADLAMP BULB, YOU'VE PAID MONEY FOR CRAP. NO TWO WAYS ABOUT IT. PERIOD.

Originally Posted by Vid6639

The Ninja 1000 and many cars that come with LED's from factory are different that retrofitting LED's to reflectors that are designed for halogen bulbs.

My Kodiaq comes with all LED projector units which are vastly superior to my corolla's HID and the Ecosport's LED (retrofit).

Here's a thread I put up that shows how LED's give a false impression of more light but when you park against a wall and compare with halogen you see it is useless

what you are saying used to hold a lot of truth from the time retrofit bulbs began to appear for reflector headlights till recently. Basically it is a lot of "make-hay-while-the-sun-shines" story for all the creepy LED people. But in today's date a few reputed manufacturers like Philips have found the holy grail and seeing is believing as to what they have achieved. No hanky panky here.



That said, most people also do a mistake of just putting the retrofit LED lamp in and expecting it to work accurately just like that. That's a folly too. You have to tweak the alignments most of the time to get best results. Again, if you have the cheap lamp, it's a waste of time. Most of the times you have to align the beam to tilt down a bit.



Just my two-and-a-half cents.

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by pixantz

+1 to that. I have also seen the Ultinons in action and they are right up there with the best.

That said, most people also do a mistake of just putting the retrofit LED lamp in and expecting it to work accurately just like that. That's a folly too. You have to tweak the alignments most of the time to get best results. Again, if you have the cheap lamp, it's a waste of time. Most of the times you have to align the beam to tilt down a bit.

Just my two-and-a-half cents.

Agree with you on the cheap chinese ones being pretty much useless and the point that you need to align them after fitting.

However, I am very sure that even the branded ones like Philips and XD are still not perfect.

I have not tried these Ultinon Essentials but did try the Ultinon Xtreme which is almost 2x the price of the essentials and it too was not perfect after alignment.

The problem changes from car to car with LED's. There is no universal LED bulb that works on all cars perfectly. There is a lot of trial and error and it's easy to think they work because of the brightness vs actual light beam pattern.

[mathur2012]

Has anyone tried these relatively more expensive chinese LEDs ?

Url : https://a.aliexpress.com/_d7ov7wh

Going by specs and other features mentioned , at least prima facia, these looks better to me. Seller claim them to be brighter than HIDs. Although yesterday I have already ordered cheaper LEDs recommended by OP in his last post but today I came across these LEDs, I am inclined to order these as well. It will better to know anyone's experience if one has used them.

[dkaile]

Here's a nice guide why 3 or 4 sided (read CHEAP) headlight LED bulbs DON'T work and why thin and perfectly designed 2 sided LED bulbs like the Philips Ultinons for example, work perfectly in reflector headlights with near perfect beam pattern. If you are still not convinced, God bless you...

https://youtu.be/nnD_sDWNjEw

Cheers...