Rear sidelight bulb upgrades ?

[ESDavey]

My std rear bulb sidelights are quite dim in my view. Could just be old bulbs so started to look & found these options :

380 Twenty20 92 LED 12V P21/5W Canbus Bayonet Bulb http://goo.gl/h6R2I6
380 Philips Vision Plus 12V 21/5W P21/5W Bayonet Bulbs http://goo.gl/ajoPWt

Anyone got experience of extra bright bulbs or LED bulbs ?

[phillpot]

ESDavey said:

My std rear bulb sidelights are quite dim in my view. Could just be old bulbs?

Do bulbs "wear out" ?

bad or corroded connections, dodgy earth, do you have a full 12+ volts at the contacts?

[mk1fan]

Incandescent bulbs degrade from the moment of first use. Poor connections make matters worse.

Not had a lot of success with 'dual filament' LED bulbs. The ones you linked too use a small number of 5050 smd which are unlikely to match the light output of a regular incandescent.

Another consideration is that the red lens will filter a lot of the light out. So a red coloured CREE LED will use its outputeffectively. These are pretty expensive though. On the plus side, you can ignore the need for a Canbus ready item.

As per Mike's post, check the connections too.

[bluezeeland]

The bulb-holder clusters corrode between the plastic carrier and the electric connections (the galvanised 'ways') Prior installion of new on mine they either worked at their own will, or not at all.......so, yes, check if you get enough elec 'juice'

[FlipFlopGriff]

Got 80W CREE LEDS in mine and matching brake light bulbs from carmodshop. The rear lights (and combined fog light) are BAZ15D and you need red. Brake lights are single filament but cant recall the reference BA15S? Massive difference and straight swap. Not cheap but well worth it to be seen.
Use the code audiforum to get a 10% discount.
FFG

[mk1fan]

Is the current set up dual filament or single filament?

If its single filament then the LED bulbs are a good upgrade. I use LEDs on the rears except the dual filament ones (the S has combined stop/tail).

[FlipFlopGriff]

is combined with the fog light and the brake light is a single filament. I though they were combined rear light/brake light (as per the Chimp) so ordered the bulbs then found out they were different on the Griff. Carmodshop did a straight swap so all good. Been in 12 months now and are fantastic especially is you have smoked rear lenses.
FFG

[FlipFlopGriff]

rear light/foglight:
http://www.car-mod-shop.co.uk/566cree-5r-baz15d-56...

brake light (I think, but in red):
http://www.car-mod-shop.co.uk/382cree-80-80w-ba15s...
FFG

[ESDavey]

Thanks. Looks like LEDs get a solid vote. anyone tried the Philips Vision Plus bulbs ?

[FlipFlopGriff]

Some more indo and a video of a chim fitment:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
They also come on a fraction quicker than standard which is an obvious benefit.
FFG

[jay-kay-em]

phillpot said:

Do bulbs "wear out" ?

Brightness can reduce over time. The filament is essentially getting burnt away and these burnt deposits land on the glass envelope. This is why some bulbs turn black. The result of this is reduced brightness.

Light output is of course reliant on multiple factors; earths, reflector dust, mildew etc.

Each to their own with LEDs. I personally don't like them as I think they look incongruous to a classic car. Its like putting a digital display on Big Ben.

They are also 'technically' illegal as it voids a euro lamp 'E' marking.

[FlipFlopGriff]

jay-kay-em said:

Each to their own with LEDs. I personally don't like them as I think they look incongruous to a classic car. Its like putting a digital display on Big Ben.

They are also 'technically' illegal as it voids a euro lamp 'E' marking.

Not the greatest analogy. The bulbs make the car more visible which is a big benefit to the existing candle bulbs, especially behind the smoked lenses and I cant see how you could tell if they were LED or not unless you had a direct comparison nearby. They can be easily swapped back for the absolute purist (but why would you put yourself at greater risk). Technically illegal but passed the MoT.
Personally, anything which makes the car more visible and can reduce the potential of someone hitting you up the rear is a bonus.
FFG

[jay-kay-em]

FlipFlopGriff said:

Not the greatest analogy.

Oh I don't know. Not too bad I thought. How about UPVC windows in a National Trust home?

FlipFlopGriff said:

I cant see how you could tell if they were LED or not

Then they aren't going to prevent that collision then....

FlipFlopGriff said:

but why would you put yourself at greater risk

I think the day we decided to drive fibreglass cars with all the safety features of a soapbox racer, the element of risk that we expose ourselves to is a grey area.

The OP wants brighter tail lamps. Everyone has said upgrade to LED. I disagree with that. Restore light levels to OE would be my first recomendation. LEDs are incongruous to the vehicles age. And besides, brighter tail lamps than OE can get confused with stop lamps.

You mention the smoke lenses being a compromise. As we all know, they carry e-marks from their installation in the Cavalier GSi2000 so the fact they are smoked is not a compromise; they meet legal requirements. I propose that there is nothing wrong with the brightness of good quality branded filament bulbs, E-marked, with good earths, clean contacts, clean lens & reflectors and run at a healthy alternator 13 to 14 volts.

Are you saying GM fitted unsafe rear lamps to the GSi2000?

The type of person who crashes into the back of you is too busy on their smartphone to worry about rear lamp intensity.

The problem with LED's is that they are only bright when looked at square-on. Their construction acts as a magnifying glass. This is fine when installed in a lamp unit designed for an LED. However, lamp units type-approved for 5w/21w filament bulbs have a chrome reflector designed for a light source which casts light in all directions. A large proportion 5w/21w LED 'bulbs' do not throw light behind them which means your chrome reflector does nothing. End result - you have brighter lamps when followed square on, but go off square, for example a car in lane three approaching a car in lane one, and the lamp performance can be greatly reduced - sometimes worse than their filament originals.

Edited by jay-kay-em on Monday 7th September 18:38

[FlipFlopGriff]

jay-kay-em said:

I think the day we decided to drive fibreglass cars with all the safety features of a soapbox racer, the element of risk that we expose ourselves to is a grey area.

The OP wants brighter tail lamps. Everyone has said upgrade to LED. I disagree with that. Restore light levels to OE would be my first recomendation. LEDs are incongruous to the vehicles age. And besides, brighter tail lamps than OE can get confused with stop lamps.

You mention the smoke lenses being a compromise. As we all know, they carry e-marks from their installation in the Cavalier GSi2000 so the fact they are smoked is not a compromise; they meet legal requirements. I propose that there is nothing wrong with the brightness of good quality branded filament bulbs, E-marked, with good earths, clean contacts, clean lens & reflectors and run at a healthy alternator 13 to 14 volts.

Are you saying GM fitted unsafe rear lamps to the GSi2000?

The type of person who crashes into the back of you is too busy on their smartphone to worry about rear lamp intensity.

The problem with LED's is that they are only bright when looked at square-on. Their construction acts as a magnifying glass. This is fine when installed in a lamp unit designed for an LED. However, lamp units type-approved for 5w/21w filament bulbs have a chrome reflector designed for a light source which casts light in all directions. A large proportion 5w/21w LED 'bulbs' do not throw light behind them which means your chrome reflector does nothing. End result - you have brighter lamps when followed square on, but go off square, for example a car in lane three approaching a car in lane one, and the lamp performance can be greatly reduced - sometimes worse than their filament originals.

Edited by jay-kay-em on Monday 7th September 18:38

I've got some Bridgestone SO1's on a spare set of OZ multispokes if you want them. Things move on and sensible upgrades are a non brainer in the majority of cases. The CREE bulbs give good light from the side.
I live in a listed property so that analogy I'm more comfortable with.
FFG

[chris212]

I live in a listed property so that analogy I'm more comfortable with.
FFG
[/quote]

Any LED's in there?

[FlipFlopGriff]

chris212 said:

I live in a listed property so that analogy I'm more comfortable with.
FFG

Any LED's in there?

Yes, virtually all of them - no brainer and I'll be struggling to get incandescents for much longer. Our electricity bills without heating were £130pcm but now with biomass heating our electric bills are £60pcm and around £120pcm on pellets but we get more than that back in RHI payments.
Mostly everything else is traditional and I'm removing as much cement, gypsum and 1970's decoration (previous owner didn't give a hoot about being sympathetic to the building nor applying for any consents) and replacing with breathable products.
FFG