amber and natural amber equivalent bulbs

[huffmuds9320]

The car is a 1994 Acura Integra. The previous owner installed clear lens for the front turn signal/side marker assembly. I believe the stock ones are supposed to be yellow color lens. The bulbs listed for them are 1157 and 168. They currently have clear bulbs in them but I would like to put in amber color bulbs. I was able to find the amber version of 1157. But I don't see the amber version of 168. I did come across 194na and 2827 but not sure if I could use those. Also does anyone know what the difference between natural amber (NA) and amber (A)? Any suggestions welcome, thanks.

 

[Boyce]

Have you considered the new LED bulbs? I would expect them to last forever.

 

[GMGuy]

194NA will work. The 194 is a 2cp bulb, the 168 is a 3cp bulb. Don't fret the lower wattage rating, the 194 is used in a lot of (older) domestics for marker lights.

Alex.

 

[RFIRE]

I know of no LED bulbs that are legal substitutes for a 194 or 168 series bulb. They fail to meet the minimum brightness requirements. This is not to say that a DOT or EU approved bulb cannot be made.

Richard

 

[Drew2000]

You can use the 2827, which is a WY5W, 5 watt lamp. It is a superior euro-spec lamp that is brighter than the 194/168 American bulbs.

Drew

 

[sciphi]

+1 to WY5W bulbs. They are brighter than US-spec bulbs.

 

[ikeepmychevytoo]

looks like 168 is exactly the W5W...

http://www.donsbulbs.com/cgi-bin/r/b.pl/168.html

 

[Drew2000]

168 is 3 MSCD* @ 14 volts, 1500 hour life

W5W/2825 is 4 MSCD @ 12 volts, 300 hour life [noticeably brighter (esp. at 14v) but shorter life than the 168.]

*Mean Spherical Candela (average value of the luminous intensity of a light source in all directions)

http://www.sylvaniaautocatalog.com/new_sylvania/BrowseSylvina.asp?BatchId=20

Drew

 

[ikeepmychevytoo]

By the way no Euro bulbs with amber color. WY5W would be quite orange.

Get the longlife version (168 LL) and paint with transparent yellow glass paint that hobby stores would carry. That's how I preserved the original look of my older car, can't be differentiated form the original 194 A. No amber lights in Euro.

 

[Drew2000]

FWIW, in the US there really aren't any "yellow" signal lamps, regardless of the lamp type. The 7440 (WY21W), WY5W etc. Euro and Japanese OEM lamps are exactly the same color as US-spec "natural amber" 3157NA 1157NA, 168NA etc.

PIAA does make a true yellow 168 lamp and you can find some after-market yellow lamps in a limited range.
http://www.amazon.com/PIAA-19173-Plasma-Yellow-Wedge/dp/B0002MAHKE

Drew