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- Thread starter D_Frost
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Yeah, seems like many are still holding out on going LED as it has nearly no track record when it comes to headlight applications when doing a straight bulb swap.
Here is a link to an eBay listing for the bulbs: https://www.ebay.com (commissions earned)
The reason for choosing this type of bulb is mainly due to its fanless cooling design. The led emitter location is properly located where the filament would be located on a halogen bulb (or the Morimoto H11bulb). Also, there was no ballast to mount so that it is just a cable adapter straight into the bulb.
Photos coming.
popinfreshpsk
Member
- :
- Mazda CX-5 2015
Hi everyone. Just purchased a 2015 and love it so far. I started a CX5 subreddit page since there wasn't one. Just thought I'd share. http://www.reddit.com/r/CX5/
Congrats friend!
I agree, the LED lights you linked to are not an upgrade in terms of light output. In fact, they are rated by the manufacturer as having over 50 fewer lumens that the typical OEM H11 low beam. Did you replace the HB3/9005 high beam with LED's also?
The high beam is still stock. The DRL has been turned off (instructions are in the DIY section of the forum) and installed the LED DRL fog light grille. Having the HID bulbs in the halogen enclosure definitely has lots of potential glare if opposing traffic is below the cutoff (i.e.: going up the crest of a hill). HIDs also (imo) puts too much light directly in front of the vehicle reducing download visibility (to the eye at least).
You are probably right as H11 outputs ~1100LM, which would mean that a pair would provide ~2200LM while this LED setup will provide ~2000LM. Thus there would be a loss of ~200 lumens, which is about what a 25w incandescent bulb outputs.
Waiting for night time to take the shots. Gonna mess with the white balance and other manual settings for a bit.
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At long last... some pictures...
Here is a picture of the light against the garage door (<3 feet) with DRL off as the car was off:
After messing around with the settings and looking suspicious at night sneaking around with a camera and moving the car to various spots around a parking lot, here are some pictures. They're not great (gotta learn to take better beam pattern / cutoff pictures). Unfortunately, I don't have a light meter available. I have also tried researching what camera settings forum member 'sac02' used for their review of an LED headlight bulb by a forum vendor (http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...wall-amp-lux-comparison-LED-H11-LL-H11-100-H9 and http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...ic-driving-evaluation-LED-H11-LL-H11-100-H9); but was not conclusive. Keep in mind that their test was conducted on a Mazda 5 (not CX-5), which may or may not be designed similarly since the beam pattern and cutoff looked different. That being said, I am still unable to capture how the eye really perceives the beam. Settings used was ISO 800, f/4.0 , 1/5s, WB set to 5000K.
The following pictures are on-road shots. 1 big disclaimer is that my LED DRL is still on full brightness due to not having the cabling fixed to dim/turn off the LED DRL when headlights are on (cabling was affixed to the HID setup). This means that glare will be greater (as light is spread upwards) and foreground illumination will be greater (due to DRL being on full brightness). Fix is in the works but here are the pictures to start things off:
Side of road, slight incline (down road road-side sign illumination is alright; the speed limit sign is probably lit by the LED DRLs):
Parking lot (~9 spaces width in distance):
Parking lot against a truck (couldn't find a suitable wall, you can see the DRL on full brightness):
Slight incline, Acura MDX with "Jewel Eye" LED headlights passing by (couldn't take the shot earlier - low light focus is slow; but the MDX was MUCH brighter; might be able to match the width of the beam pattern if I had the same bulbs for LED fogs as well hehe):
Honestly for the money (spent about $50 for a pair), these LEDs are alright as halogen replacements (kinda like running a brighter version of 'xenon look' blue bulbs - but this observation is coming from running Morimoto 4300K 35w HIDs with ~3100LM output for about 6 months; so I lost over 1000LM) but besides the unique look with the blue/purple tinge (and a blue/white-ish beam) like the MDX or the new Corolla, the best way is to either upgrade to factory HID or retrofit with appropriate lenses and corresponding lighting source that is designed properly. I will continue to run the LEDs for a while to experience various conditions with them to get a better idea of its strengths and weaknesses but for now, I'm leaning towards going back to the Morimoto HIDs and maybe stuffing these into the fog light housing. On the 'bright side' of having less lumens, I can see better further down the road since the foreground light isn't overwhelming.
Here's a shot of the projector with the blue/purple tinge (which I believe the LED is emitting 6000K but the lens design is creating this effect; I noticed similar effect with 4300K HIDs as well):
Last photo is for beam throw, the yellow dead end sign reflecting back (the speck in the middle) is about 600 feet away (I'm at the top of the hill, there is a metal halide street lamp directly above me):
Here is a picture of the light against the garage door (<3 feet) with DRL off as the car was off:
After messing around with the settings and looking suspicious at night sneaking around with a camera and moving the car to various spots around a parking lot, here are some pictures. They're not great (gotta learn to take better beam pattern / cutoff pictures). Unfortunately, I don't have a light meter available. I have also tried researching what camera settings forum member 'sac02' used for their review of an LED headlight bulb by a forum vendor (http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...wall-amp-lux-comparison-LED-H11-LL-H11-100-H9 and http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...ic-driving-evaluation-LED-H11-LL-H11-100-H9); but was not conclusive. Keep in mind that their test was conducted on a Mazda 5 (not CX-5), which may or may not be designed similarly since the beam pattern and cutoff looked different. That being said, I am still unable to capture how the eye really perceives the beam. Settings used was ISO 800, f/4.0 , 1/5s, WB set to 5000K.
The following pictures are on-road shots. 1 big disclaimer is that my LED DRL is still on full brightness due to not having the cabling fixed to dim/turn off the LED DRL when headlights are on (cabling was affixed to the HID setup). This means that glare will be greater (as light is spread upwards) and foreground illumination will be greater (due to DRL being on full brightness). Fix is in the works but here are the pictures to start things off:
Side of road, slight incline (down road road-side sign illumination is alright; the speed limit sign is probably lit by the LED DRLs):
Parking lot (~9 spaces width in distance):
Parking lot against a truck (couldn't find a suitable wall, you can see the DRL on full brightness):
Slight incline, Acura MDX with "Jewel Eye" LED headlights passing by (couldn't take the shot earlier - low light focus is slow; but the MDX was MUCH brighter; might be able to match the width of the beam pattern if I had the same bulbs for LED fogs as well hehe):
Honestly for the money (spent about $50 for a pair), these LEDs are alright as halogen replacements (kinda like running a brighter version of 'xenon look' blue bulbs - but this observation is coming from running Morimoto 4300K 35w HIDs with ~3100LM output for about 6 months; so I lost over 1000LM) but besides the unique look with the blue/purple tinge (and a blue/white-ish beam) like the MDX or the new Corolla, the best way is to either upgrade to factory HID or retrofit with appropriate lenses and corresponding lighting source that is designed properly. I will continue to run the LEDs for a while to experience various conditions with them to get a better idea of its strengths and weaknesses but for now, I'm leaning towards going back to the Morimoto HIDs and maybe stuffing these into the fog light housing. On the 'bright side' of having less lumens, I can see better further down the road since the foreground light isn't overwhelming.
Here's a shot of the projector with the blue/purple tinge (which I believe the LED is emitting 6000K but the lens design is creating this effect; I noticed similar effect with 4300K HIDs as well):
Last photo is for beam throw, the yellow dead end sign reflecting back (the speck in the middle) is about 600 feet away (I'm at the top of the hill, there is a metal halide street lamp directly above me):
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Wow, thanks for taking so much effort to show us the results of your LED low beams!
And, I agree, it is very hard to get a good idea of lighting performance by looking at photos due to variables of exposure, white balance, etc. Did you simply turn the color balance on your camera (or post-processing software) until it looked like what you saw from behind the wheel? I'm thinking setting it at 4500K may give a more accurate rendition than 5000K (mostly judging by the last image in the series).
One thing that has me wary of LED's as headlights is my experience with LED headlamps (the kind you wear on your head), flashlights etc. There is something about the spectrum of many LED lights that bothers me. Even when the LED is very bright, I can discriminate what I'm looking at better with a dimmer tungsten light. LED's are often very bright but sometimes depth perception and contrast can be lacking. I'm not sure why this is but I suspect it has to do with the "spikey" nature of the spectrum created by LED lights. It goes beyond rated color balance which is simply the average color. As a motorcyclist, it is especially important to be able to judge the pavement surface. Is that moss, slime, sand or dirt on the roadway? Is it wet or damp? A full spectrum quartz halogen or HID with a rather warm color balance appears to give me the most feedback here. And, excepting for the brightness advantages, I think the quartz halogen has a slight advantage in this regard, even over my preferred (not too blue) HID's.
And, I agree, it is very hard to get a good idea of lighting performance by looking at photos due to variables of exposure, white balance, etc. Did you simply turn the color balance on your camera (or post-processing software) until it looked like what you saw from behind the wheel? I'm thinking setting it at 4500K may give a more accurate rendition than 5000K (mostly judging by the last image in the series).
One thing that has me wary of LED's as headlights is my experience with LED headlamps (the kind you wear on your head), flashlights etc. There is something about the spectrum of many LED lights that bothers me. Even when the LED is very bright, I can discriminate what I'm looking at better with a dimmer tungsten light. LED's are often very bright but sometimes depth perception and contrast can be lacking. I'm not sure why this is but I suspect it has to do with the "spikey" nature of the spectrum created by LED lights. It goes beyond rated color balance which is simply the average color. As a motorcyclist, it is especially important to be able to judge the pavement surface. Is that moss, slime, sand or dirt on the roadway? Is it wet or damp? A full spectrum quartz halogen or HID with a rather warm color balance appears to give me the most feedback here. And, excepting for the brightness advantages, I think the quartz halogen has a slight advantage in this regard, even over my preferred (not too blue) HID's.
The color temperature was set in-camera...I used 5000K originally as I was trying to replicate what forum member 'sac02' was using for his review in hopes that we can have a consistent comparison across the board. It's pretty obvious now that it's not going to be easy 
I can see if I can try another set of pictures using 4500K.
As for the LED spectrum, you may be onto something. What you may be observing is the limited Color Rendering Index (CRI) of that LED bulb. When compared to sunlight, the objects lit by the LED doesn't reproduce as faithfully (or realistically) as an incandescent bulb thus the "things look off" feeling (kinda like using indoor fluorescent light - you will notice there is a CRI spec on the packaging). Here is an article that explains it a bit more: LINK
Looking at the CRI of Cree XM-L LED emitters, the cool white (which I presume would be the emitters used in the bulbs I got) has a typical CRI index of 65, which would probably cause colors to be muted somewhat. (source: LINK). That is one of the reasons I would prefer warmer colored bulbs.
As a fellow motorcyclist, I can appreciate the need to have adequate lighting as it is very easy to out ride the light if it is poor (one of the reasons that I try to only ride when there is daylight). That being said, these LEDs do outperform some of the cheap aftermarket HID kits (especially >5000K ones) you see on eBay.
One of the reasons that I am running the LED bulbs longer is to see if my eyes will adjust to this change in the spectrum of light.
I can see if I can try another set of pictures using 4500K. As for the LED spectrum, you may be onto something. What you may be observing is the limited Color Rendering Index (CRI) of that LED bulb. When compared to sunlight, the objects lit by the LED doesn't reproduce as faithfully (or realistically) as an incandescent bulb thus the "things look off" feeling (kinda like using indoor fluorescent light - you will notice there is a CRI spec on the packaging). Here is an article that explains it a bit more: LINK
Looking at the CRI of Cree XM-L LED emitters, the cool white (which I presume would be the emitters used in the bulbs I got) has a typical CRI index of 65, which would probably cause colors to be muted somewhat. (source: LINK). That is one of the reasons I would prefer warmer colored bulbs.
As a fellow motorcyclist, I can appreciate the need to have adequate lighting as it is very easy to out ride the light if it is poor (one of the reasons that I try to only ride when there is daylight). That being said, these LEDs do outperform some of the cheap aftermarket HID kits (especially >5000K ones) you see on eBay.
One of the reasons that I am running the LED bulbs longer is to see if my eyes will adjust to this change in the spectrum of light.
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Suddueth13
Member
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- 2011 Mazda 2 Sport, 1987 Mazda RX-7 Turbo II
Well I have to say it's not as spotty as I would have guessed. It's still very underwhelming though. It looks even narrower than halogens. For less money, I'd still with H9's or spend the money on a retro.
So my quest for better LED lighting continues. Just purchased what appears to be something that VLEDS will be offering soon: http://www.vleds.com/h11-eti-3000lm.html
Once I get them in my hands, I will compare them with my existing set (considered gen 1 while these are considered gen 2) and the stock halogens when time allows.
Once I get them in my hands, I will compare them with my existing set (considered gen 1 while these are considered gen 2) and the stock halogens when time allows.
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- 92 & 16 Meyatas
picked up our 2015 meteor gray cx5 last night! love it so far! got the touring without bose/sunroof. wife hates sunroofs??? looking forward to chatting cx5's! mark
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my summer dd
my summer dd
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- Mazdaspeed6
Sweet NB.
And the CX-5 is very lovely in MG. Wish it were a possibility for my wife's CX-5, at the time of purchase. :/
And the CX-5 is very lovely in MG. Wish it were a possibility for my wife's CX-5, at the time of purchase. :/
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- 92 & 16 Meyatas
thanks! how do you like the taurus sho?
Nice looking Mazdas! Congrats!
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- 92 & 16 Meyatas
Thanks, just sold my p5 in the spring, had that for 12 years and I'm selling my 09 trib to my daughter who needs a car desperately!
