Footman

iTrader: (2)

Hey guys,

I'm really excited about this so just felt like letting y'all know. My order from superbrightleds.com arrived...

I'll be changing the interior lights (courtesy, map, dome, glove, trunk) all to red LEDs to complete the evilness that Natalia is... hahahahahah

I'll post pics when she's done. She's really dirty at the moment though.

I also think changing the license plate bulb to red LED is just 'ig'nant', so I'm gonna leave that alone.


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On another unrelated topic, what do you guys do about the old hole drilled in the bumper for the license plate holder if you decide to move it down an inch to fix the "buck-tooth" syndrome? Do you just leave the hole as it is? Plastic hole okay?

Mazurfer

You'll never catch me!

Parking lights.......white 6 LEDs http://frickinbrite.com/catalog/prod...products_id=48

Clear Corners.......white 6 LEDs http://frickinbrite.com/catalog/prod...products_id=48

Door Courtesy lights.........blue 6 LEDs http://frickinbrite.com/catalog/prod...products_id=49

Map Lights..........blue 5 refractor LEDs http://frickinbrite.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=40_24

Rear Dome..........blue festoon/LED http://frickinbrite.com/catalog/prod...roducts_id=288

Glove..............blue 6 LEDs http://frickinbrite.com/catalog/prod...products_id=49

Footwells, have two blue LED circuit boards each side(driver and passenger), these are a little more subtle that what you've probably seen.
http://frickinbrite.com/catalog/prod...roducts_id=243

Under the front seats(near the rear), I have RR's blue circuit boards tied into the Courtesy and Footwells above.
https://www.rx8club.com/group-buy-center-85/custom-led-footwell-lights-118507/

Inside Trunk.....white 6 LEDs http://frickinbrite.com/catalog/prod...products_id=48

License plate......white 6 LEDs http://frickinbrite.com/catalog/prod...products_id=48

Brake lights........18 LED 7440/7443 red http://frickinbrite.com/catalog/prod...roducts_id=305

Back up lights.........18 LED 7440/7443 white http://frickinbrite.com/catalog/prod...roducts_id=304

Next up, I'm after all the dash and radio leds to blue, but that's gonna be a bitch! Unless I get Lurch to do it!

I think that's it unless I forgot something?

Well, I did do the fogs with Hoen H11's too! Yes, I am sick!

I also have the RX8Strakes Stealth brake light. http://www.rx8strakes.com/index.asp?...PROD&ProdID=31

zerobio

Footman,

Yes please post pics. Is it as simple as just unsnapping a light fixture and replacing bulbs? (sorry so dumb). If so, I might want to do some of what you did and may be asking some questions ... i have no skillz whatsover. Cool mod.

zerobio

Maz,

Do these links work? Didn't for me.

Mazurfer

Ooops..........I copied in from another thread.............didn't want to re-type. I went back and fixed them now.

Some of them may no longer may be offered or have moved to a different page or part number, but that'll get you going.


Dave

Neo

I've dealt with LED's for awhile now. And if there's 1 thing I learned, you need to get the SMT's 1watt or higher.
The normal "high flux" LED's will not be bright enough for daylight use.
Your brake lights and your turn signals will not be bright enough in daylight to be seen appropiately if you don't go with the SMT's.
I've had to resort to normal bulbs for the amber lights I have because the LED's, even in 1 watt configuration, were not lasting long or not bright enough.
So my turn signals are normal bulbs.
The red LED's don't suffer so much from brightness as the ambers do. So my rear tail lights are still the "high flux" versions. But I'll be changing them out for the new SMT's. They'll be brighter for daytime use.

I use a website called autolumination.

I'll be ordering a few more things from them come this new season.

Footman

iTrader: (2)

Neo,

I'm leaving the VITAL lights alone (exterior).. I'll only be modding the NON-VITAL (interior) lights.

I've decided I don't want to mess around with safety stuff.. cause external lights concern safety.

Footman

iTrader: (2)

Mazurfer, you're disgusting ...

Your car is like a christmas tree now I bet ahahahahaha
but you're right, I'll never really "catch up" to you, I don't intend to change any exterior lights.

StealthTL

iTrader: (1)

Mazurfer - got you beat on the map lights......3 watt blue leds with heatsinks and power resistors.

The downside is the heatsink started to melt its way out of the overhead enclosure.......but it's BRIGHT!!!


S

Neo

Footman,
I hear you. Thankfully there's barely any lights inside an FD. There's just 2 dome lights. Managed to use the 1 watt LED's for this and they work great. It's not a constant on application so they won't wear out like some of the exterior ones I've changed.

My turn signal lights I've reverted to bulbs because, so far, they're the only ones that give the proper amount of brightness to be seen in broad daylight.
The problem with older cars is alot of the housings are reflective based. Which means alot of the LED's, especially the newer generations, don't use the reflective housings to their full potential. The LED's are very narrow focused.
This being said, I've managed to get the proper ones for my application.
Now the car has a mixture of LED's and normal bulbs.
All my amber lights are standard bulbs. But the red lights are LED's. Mainly my rear side lights along with my brake lights.
The high flux units I have in my rear lights do the job nicely at night. But they suffer a bit in broad daylight. This will be fixed as soon as I get some SMT's in there. That'll be plenty bright for daylight use.

I like the LED's for what they do. The brake lights light up much quicker than they would using conventional bulbs.

You should look into it for your car. I have no idea why Mazda resorted to conventional bulbs for the 8. Hopefully with the facelift they have fixed this.

Mazurfer

I use the Stealth amber bulbs in my turn signals.

And while not SMT's, I use these in my brakes and back up lights. Red of course for brake and white for backup. You think they look gaudy, but they really don't.





Lot of people have had some issues with Autolumination, so take that for what it's worth. I've always used VLED's after researching on this site.


Dave

Neo

Looks like they're exactly the same regarding LED types. Except they only offer a few SMT's. No where near the amount that autolumination provides.
Regardless, you'll have problems with every manufacturer.
Thankfully I haven't had an issue. All my LED's work. I've just been disappointed regarding light output.
You really need to move to SMT's, 1 watt, 3 watt, or even the 5 watt stuff to come close to a conventional bulb's brightness.

I think this next upgrade should be the final one. Some SMT's, leave the ambers conventional, and get some backups for the 194's I have presently.

Mazurfer

Ouch!
To tell you the truth........I don't really ever use the map lights anyway, but the effect upon openiing the doors is good. The 5 refractors spread the light out a little better in order to fill the lens better.

TurboEight

iTrader: (1)

what are SMT?

Mazurfer

Surface Mount Technology

As an example:

http://frickinbrite.com/catalog/prod...roducts_id=390

Neo

The SMT brings LEDs very close, if not exactly, the same amount of brightness a conventional bulb will give.

Mazurfer

You are mostly correct. That was a look on the interior that I was not going for. I wanted a more subtle glow.

I agree with you on external, but where I'm using them(and what I'm using) are good to go. I'll see if I can find two pics. One with lights on and one with brakes applied.

Footman

iTrader: (2)

Okay, it's half done... I got tired after work today. Only managed to install all the interior lights except for the footwell LEDs.. those will go in next. I'll post pics after all of it is completed.

The Pure WHP super bright LEDS I installed on the map lights are so bright... they almost completely drown out the red inside... it overpowers the single 9-LED Festoon bulb in the dome light completely.

If I sacrifice functionality and put the red LEDs in the map lights then it would all look matched, but reading in red maplights isn't that great, what do you guys think?

Neo

Any pics?

Mazurfer

Well.....................I have blue in the map lights. How often do you really use the map lights anyway? Guess it's up to you and what you like/don't like.

Kris

Ive changed all of my bulbs to LED, Including the FOGS!

Park Light
Side Reflectors
Turn Singlas
Back Up
Stop Light
3rd Brake Light
Lisence plate
Dome Light
Map Lights
Courtesy lights (on the door)
Glove Box
FOG Light

All super white

987HYS

iTrader: (1)

Just replaced mine:
Parking - cool wite
Corner - warmWhite
License - warm white
Fog - white
Courtsey - Blue
Dome - Blue
Map - cool white

Aipex8

iTrader: (1)

What foglight bulbs are you using? I'm going to pick up a pair of 18 SMT fogs from V-LEDs next week. They don't have them on their site yet, but the V-LED eBay store has them:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...EWA:PIC&ih=018

I'll post pics when I get them in.

Neo

You noticed the small note they made regarding these LED's?
Not to be used as main source of light.
That's because it's not going to be bright enough for daytime use. Sure, you'll be able to recognize them, but they won't be as bright as a conventional bulb.

In the case of the foglights for the RX8, I would look into HID bulbs.
You can easily get an HID kit which will provide you with alot more light and it'll be completely white.

The LED's I would get for the front parking lights. The small little light right next to the highbeam. Get LED's for those.
Don't get LED's for H11 use. These SMT's are simply not going to cut it for brightness.

Mazurfer

This may be a first, but I'll agree with you on that one Neo!

The fogs are better left to non LED's.
I put in Hoen H11's in the fogs.