It is important that the LED emits same beam pattern as the original halogen lights. It will not work well with the design of the original design of the projector headlamp unit. The height and pattern of the light source are different. Notice that the height of the light source from the base and light projection are almost identical.Ī bad LED substitute looks something like this:īad LED substitute. What you need to do is get the led bulb that mimics the light source of the halogen bulb.Ī: A good LED that mirrors its halogen counterpart looks like this: Q: Should you get aftermarket LED headlights?Ī: If you want to, go ahead. Q: What are the disadvantages of halogen lights?Ī: They are less energy efficient and not as bright as LEDS. If you want less glare in foggy conditions with LED lights, make sure to opt for warmer light tones. In bad weather conditions, they don’t cause as much glare as LED lights since halogens naturally have a warmer tone. They are cheaper than LED and HID lights.ģ.
They don’t require drivers and heat dissipation systems.Ģ. Q: What are the advantages of halogen bulbs?ġ. LED lights can cause unwanted glare in bad weather conditions.įull beam with LED headlights. Hence improper replacement of an LED bulb for a halogen bulb may result in poorer illumination.ģ. LED lights are not omni-directional (project light in all directions). This results in a rather bulky setup for the headlights.Ģ. LED lights need drivers and some of them need fans. This might not mean much for a 200hp engine but it makes a difference for fully-electric cars.ġ. LED lights enable the fancy DRL on Audi cars and fancy car interior ambient lightings.ģ. LED bulbs are a lot smaller, allowing more freedom in design. The faster illumination of the LED light is great to alert other drivers faster in case of emergency braking. That’s why LED lights were first used in brake lights in 1992 by BMW and continue to be used until today. They light up immediately when current is present. Some of them even have other methods of dissipating heat from the emitter like braided heat sinks that dissipate heat.ġ. The difference is the heat is concentrated at the emitter. Contrary to popular belief, LED lights get hot as well. But LED lights usually come with a fan and a heat sink which might counter the energy savings you just obtained with the LED light.Ī: Yes. Basically, less energy for a brighter light.Ī: Yes. LED lights can emit 72 lumens/watt while halogen lights only emit about 25 lumens/watt. LEDs are about three times brighter than halogen headlights. Q: Are LEDs really brighter than halogens?Ī: Yes. Let’s go over a few questions about this topic. But if LEDs are so good, why do we still use halogen lights in brand new cars of today? Is there any truth to the statement? Part of it, yes.
Some say that halogen headlights should be a thing of the past and are not as good as LEDs. Some car reviewers even express disappointment over new cars that don’t come with LED projector headlights.Ī few brand-new cars that still use halogen lights (projector and reflector) include the Honda Jazz, Toyota Yaris, Toyota Vios, 1.8 L Honda Civic, Honda City, Perodua Axia, VW Vento & Polo (comfort line), and Honda HR-V(E). With LEDs often praised for their low energy consumption and brighter light output, one might wonder why halogen headlights are still around.īeing offered in more premium variants, it is no surprise then that LED lights are perceived as the better option than their halogen counterpart. There are even cases of LED headlights being used across all variant of an entry-level car like the Perodua Myvi.
The same goes for some premium models in Malaysia like the Toyota Camry. Premium brands like Mercedes-Benz and BMW only offer LED headlights in all their models in Malaysia. Lower spec Mercedes-Benz cars in Europe come with halogen headlights. HID lights are only offered in handful of brand-new cars so we’ll leave them out of the conversation. The use of LED headlights can now be found in premium variants of some cars like the Honda City and Honda Civic. Like all new technologies, LEDs first became available in premium cars only. LED headlights followed 46 years later in 2008 (Lexus). Halogen headlights were first introduced in 1962.