LED headlight upgrade completed
#1
Drifting
Thread Starter
LED headlight upgrade completed
I just finished installing LED replacement headlights into my 951S and thought I'd put up a little review. These headlights are pretty new to the market and made by GE. They are sold under both the GE "Nighthawk" brand and Truck-lite. They are a little expensive at about $200 per bulb.
Install
Replacement is dead simple. It's as easy as changing a regular bulb with no rewiring or anything. You just pop out the sealed beam unit and plug in the LED unit with no fiddling. The harness connects up and the retaining ring holds the bulb in perfectly. I wanted to retain the pop-up headlights, while improving lighting and getting something a little more unique for my car.
Performance
They are definitely brighter than the stock halogen and the pattern of light they throw is much more contained. The cutoff is fantastic; mine will need some adjustment to line the right and left to match. Unfortunately it's the middle of winter and I can't get any pictures in the wild yet, nor can I comment of how they do under driving conditions yet. The top half of the bulb is the low beam setting and the bottom half is the high beam.
Pictures
Install
Replacement is dead simple. It's as easy as changing a regular bulb with no rewiring or anything. You just pop out the sealed beam unit and plug in the LED unit with no fiddling. The harness connects up and the retaining ring holds the bulb in perfectly. I wanted to retain the pop-up headlights, while improving lighting and getting something a little more unique for my car.
Performance
They are definitely brighter than the stock halogen and the pattern of light they throw is much more contained. The cutoff is fantastic; mine will need some adjustment to line the right and left to match. Unfortunately it's the middle of winter and I can't get any pictures in the wild yet, nor can I comment of how they do under driving conditions yet. The top half of the bulb is the low beam setting and the bottom half is the high beam.
Pictures
#3
Drifting
Thread Starter
They are close to 5600K color temperature... so daylight color. My garage is painted blueish, so that might make it look more blue than it really is. They should not be annoying to other drivers because the cutoff is so good. I'd say it's even sharper than my E46 M3 projector headlights.
#5
Drifting
Thread Starter
#6
Rainman
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
I would like to see action shots of these, at night whenever possible.
What wattage are these? With my full headlight setup I am using about 40 amps so being able to cut back while still seeing would be nice.
What wattage are these? With my full headlight setup I am using about 40 amps so being able to cut back while still seeing would be nice.
#7
Rennlist Member
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#8
Drifting
Thread Starter
You're going to have to wait till spring for action shots, it's still -10°C here in Edmonton. There are a bunch of action shots from Jeeps that are using these. I'm not sure how they will compare because of the difference in height off the ground. As far as wattage, this is what the GE FAQ says "The GE LED Headlamps produces a similar amount of light to 55 watt halogen product however, because LEDs are more efficient, the LED Headlamp uses less power."
#9
Rennlist Member
#10
Rennlist Member
I like.
#11
Nordschleife Master
imo LED will be the ONLY option in few years. Very long life, excellent performance, lighter and low power consumption will drive this. Too expensive for now but the price will drop rapidly in a couple of years.
#12
Drifting
Thread Starter
Yeah, it was a bit of a gamble. The local guys were having a discussion about headlight options and I volunteered to be the guinea pig on this one. I like the look of these ones better than most of the CGT conversions and "quad headlights" etc. that I've seen. The biggest surprise was that the bulbs actually are noticeably heavier than the sealed beam halogens they replaced.
#15
You're going to have to wait till spring for action shots, it's still -10°C here in Edmonton. There are a bunch of action shots from Jeeps that are using these. I'm not sure how they will compare because of the difference in height off the ground. As far as wattage, this is what the GE FAQ says "The GE LED Headlamps produces a similar amount of light to 55 watt halogen product however, because LEDs are more efficient, the LED Headlamp uses less power."