Will New Bulbs Achieve This?

[.Ryan]

Hiya folks,

Bit of a strange one, but whilst in traffic today I was behind some nice new model vehicles which indicate in an instantaneous, more digital flicker kind of way (there really is no other way of describing it).

Is there a way to achieve such a look by using different bulbs? Do I sound crazy?

Cheers!

[troy45]

Most likely using an LED system for the indicators rather than filament bulbs - it's surprising that the naked eye can actually spot the difference where standard bulbs gradually light up compared to LED's which hit full intensity a lot quicker.

[Philf1]

Yes I agree, new Mercs and the like seem to use LEDs for the DRL/indicator and brakes. They do seem to switch on/off instantaneously

[.Ryan]

Looks like CREE is the way to go, need to do my research on this one.

[Stoney871]

If you're changing your indicator bulbs I recommend you leave at least one pair of standard bulbs in the system somewhere (side repeaters may be the best option) as running a full LED indicator bulb set up (without resistors) will result in the indicators flashing too quickly.

I personally have silvertec type bulbs front and rear to get rid of the orange tint to the clusters and LED side repeater lamps.

[matthewluhman]

The factory led lights have big driver units that power the leds which is why they last for years as its the micro driver chip units on after market LED Bulbs that fail and cause them to flicker before giving up. Aftermarket LED Bulbs work best in eg side lights that get turned on and left on as its the on off function thats kills them quicker

[troy45]

I got hold of a scrap front foglamp off a modern car and was surprised to find it used LED's instead of bulbs - couple of really bright LEDs and a chunky unit containing some electronics which I assume is the above mentioned driver unit.

If you're changing your indicator bulbs I recommend you leave at least one pair of standard bulbs in the system somewhere (side repeaters may be the best option) as running a full LED indicator bulb set up (without resistors) will result in the indicators flashing too quickly.

I personally have silvertec type bulbs front and rear to get rid of the orange tint to the clusters and LED side repeater lamps.

I didn't think you'd notice an improvement with silvertec bulbs in the headlamps as the lenses are also orange?

[matthewluhman]

Silvertec bulbs are normaly intended as a upgrade for lamps with a visible orange bulb. The above fog lamps may actually be drls As some manufacturers instead of redesigning there cars to meet new laws are just replacing fog lights with drls and these ideally should be low power consuming compared to the 55w of a fog lamp bulb

[troy45]

The one I stripped down was most definitely a foglamp. The light from the LEDs was directed down into reflector/lens so gave the impression of being a filament bulb unit.

[matthewluhman]

Makes sense to use leds as fog lights. Normaly directed up into relector so light exits the lense coming down the way as if directed down into to reflector it would exit upwards blinding oncoming cars and foglamps are designed to give a low spread of light only.