rapidfire

I'm planning of changing all interior and exterior bulbs to LED and chrome. I'll be getting all SMT LEDs from V-LEDS.com(white for map, vanity, trunk; blue for dome; red for courtesy).

For my exterior, I'll be getting MTEC super white and cosmo blue for high and fog, as I don't know which one look better so I'm getting 2 kind to try.

For turn, reverse, brake, side-marker, I will like to change them to chrome amber, chrome white and red bulb. I have found some chrome bulb from www.hoen-usa.com, www.automotivelightingusa.com, www.rx8strakes.com.

Does anyone have experience with these brand of bulbs(optic, xenon chrome) from www.automotivelightingusa.com and Höen chromium from www.hoen-usa.com and Rx8strakes bulb

BTW, I have crystal pearl white RX8.

Any help, opinion, comment are welcome and much appreciated.

Descent

I bought my clear corners and stealth(chrome) bulbs from rx8strakes.com. They work perfect and look great. I also bought the blue leds for the interior, which also look great too. I recommend rx8strakes.com very highly.

Tamas

iTrader: (1)

The stealth bulbs will be too dim.

Aipex8

iTrader: (1)

A lot of chrome bulbs will be too dim. I purchased cheap ones and they were about 1/2 the brightness of a normal bulb. I then purchased PIAA Mirror Orange 7440's for my signal bulbs and they are actually BRIGHTER than a regular stock bulb. You can get them on eBay. Highly recomended. PIAA makes a Mirror White bulb too, but they are pretty rare, I've only seen them once on eBay but you can see them on PIAA's Japanese site. Instead I went with Polarg Visual White bulbs for my reverse. I don't have a pic of them, but I'll post pics of my actual bulbs later tonight when I get home.

As for LEDs, I use V-LEDs bulbs for all 194 applications, which includes: parking lights, side markers, license plate, trunk, door courtesy, map and glove box (all white, except glove box which is blue). I also have V-LED festoon bulbs in my dome and both vanity mirrors.

rapidfire

Thanks for the reply guys. I have just ordered chrome bulbs(side-marker, all turn signal, reverse) from rx8strakes.com, I think total $94 something. I was thinking of getting PIAA bulb, no doubt they are superior quality but they are quite expensive + shippping for Canada and hard to find. If I go with PIAA, it will cost 3x the price. The cheapest chrome I can find is on http://www.automotivelightingusa.com call xenonchromes bulbs, they are like $9/set but I can't find any review on them, so better save than sorry, don't want any damage to the housing due to any kind of defective bulbs. rx8strakes bulbs seem pretty good according to this forum.

Aipex8,
What type of LED did you get from v-leds.com? I'm thinking of getting the SMT 5 led type bulb for my courtesy (may be SMT 11 led), map, trunk, golve, license plate; SMT 6 led type bulb for my dome; SMT 3 led type bulb for visor.

For the parking light, I was thinking of getting the SMT 5 led bulb or SMT 1 led bulb but alot of people on this forum had bad experience with LED as parking cos they burn out fast due to heat generated in the rocket housing. So right now I looking at getting W5W bulb from hoen-usa.com but their temperature are rated at 100 degreee as compare to 85 degree stock bulb, I'm scare that it will damage the rocket housing or the bulb will explode due to increase of temperature.

I'm also getting MTEC (super white, cosmo blue H11, H9) and hoen-usa (xenonmatch plus, xenon match H9, H11) as I don't know which will look the best on my crystal pearl white 8.

I hope all these bulbs will last awhile before they force me to get PIAA bulbs.

Aipex8

iTrader: (1)

Here are pics of my bulbs:

PIAA Mirror Orange up front:


PIAA and Polarg in back (the Polarg is a little bluer than I'd like, I'll be keeping my eyes out for the PIAA Mirror White:


In use:




LEDs in front and back (sorry, I didn't take interior pics. Maybe later):

rapidfire

wow, those reverse and turn signal bulbs look awesome and bright with abit of blue hue and orange hue. Guess I have to starting searching for decent priced PIAA bulb + shipping.

What type of led bulbs did you get for your interior, parking light and license plate?

Aipex8

iTrader: (1)

All LEDs have a tendancy to burn out and it isn't due to heat but voltage spikes. My most common burn outs were the parking lights and the license plate light. Using a resistor or "LED protector" will take care of this. I have no burn outs ever any more. Interior LEDs don't seem to suffer from voltage spikes as I've never had one go bad.

Here's what I use in my parking lights and trunk:


The bulbs I use in my clear corners they no longer sell, but they are similar to these except with fewer but larger SMTs:


Licence plate and interiors (except the dome and vanity):


"LED protectors" can be made or purchased from http://autolumination.com/equalizers.htm

nuke0907

iTrader: (2)

i have the PIAA mirror orange in my turn signals too. i highly recommend them as well. they are pricey but well worth it i think. it makes for a much cleaner look and they are bright as hell too.

rapidfire

Thx for all the input, I purchased all LED from v-leds.com, however the blue SMT 5 LED bulb won't fit in the map light housing. Interesting enough, the white SMT 11 LED bulb barely fit in the housing but it does fit . Too bad the blue SMT 11 LED is too big for the housing. Can't find other blue LED that's bright enough that will fit in the map light housing .

wonderful-life

Aipex, about the PIAA bulbs, where did you get hem?
I just installed my chrome bulbs from rx8strakes.com they look good, but it only has the half the brightness my stock bulbs had. Thinking of getting the PIAA's mirror orange you have, do they work okey?

nuke0907

iTrader: (2)

i have them too. they work awesome. i don't remember where i got mine though.

Aipex8

iTrader: (1)

They work great. I've had them for a couple years now. I got them from a local shop, so that probably won't do you much good, but they are available on eBay.

wonderful-life

But there's something I noticed, they still give that orange reflections when they are installed in the taillights/headlights. Are they available in chrome? And how much did you spend on those bulbs?

Aipex8

iTrader: (1)

All the pictures above are of the PIAA mirror orange. They are chrome, just a lighter coating of chrome than other bulbs. That is why they are bright. Yes, under certain light you can see the orange, but much less than a normal amber bulb. These are the absolute best option if you don't want to sacrifice safety by using a dimmer bulb. If you can't stand even a hint of orange then you will have to sacrifice safety and go with dimmer, heavier chrome coated bulbs.

Mazurfer

http://www.v-leds.com/Shop/Control/P...id/0/SFV/32481

The above will fit in the map lights, I'm using a different one from VLED no longer offered, but these will work. Mine where the inverted type.

They have inverted ones, but these new ones might be a tad longer and may not fit???? Probably would though.

http://www.v-leds.com/Shop/Control/P...id/0/SFV/32481

wonderful-life

Your right, I should have asked someone before I bought those bulbs from rx8strakes.com
But I think I'll use them anyways, they cost me 50 bucks despite everything.