How do my DRLs look?

[Audi Junkie]

I hated not having any lights below the bumper, but the oem and ebay factory lights break easily. My normal DRLs are brown-outs, yuck. I know LED DRLs are coming pretty much standard on the newest cars, so I improvised some. What do you guys think?

btw- I have oem led taillights, so it "matches", right?

 

[mpvue]

I love rice as long as there's some beans with them.

 

[Chris142]

Are those blue?

 

[eljefino]

Can you make them pulse back and forth like KITT from Night Rider?

Myself I have misgivings about the black hood, sorry.

 

[Gubaru]

The blue is the cause of the angle, I believe. Don't seem bright enough to do anything other than get rice comments though, sorry.

 

[eljefino]

They do do one thing, make others look twice and say, "what is that coming at me?" just because it doesn't look stock. As DRLs, the visibility has a positive effect.

 

[Audi Junkie]

Originally Posted By: eljefino

Myself I have misgivings about the black hood, sorry.


It's not "black" rather carbon fibre.


How ricey can it be, when LED DRLs are mandated in EU?

The LEDayLine for retrofitting vehicle front-ends has a service life of around 10,000 hours.
Hella's new daytime running light
Hella's new daytime running light
Hella has launched a new, extremely bright, economical and long-life LED daytime running light (DRL) that switches on automatically when the engine is started up. The light can also be used as a position light.

The new LEDayLine DRL is 28 mm high and 220 mm wide. The clear-glass, pattern-free lens provides a view of the one-line matrix structure with five high-sheen vapor-plated individual reflectors. Five high-power LEDs shine their light indirectly from below into these reflectors, which radiate the light forward.

In the 12 V vehicle electrical system, the light consumes only 7 W of power, which means additional consumption is negligible. Also, with a service life of around 10,000 hours, the LEDs will last as long as the vehicle.

The compact, light plastic housing has a design depth of only 90 mm and can be mounted using screw and clipping attachment. A 500 mm cable leading off to the rear with a non-detachable three-pin AMP super-sealed plug is used for connection to the vehicle's electric system.

Hella LEDayLine
Hella LEDayLine
LEDayLine has a similar design to the standard light Hella uses for original equipment, and thus it fulfils maximum professional demands. The bright white light of the high-power LEDs ensures a highly recognizable vehicle in daylight and gives it a striking front-end design that can also be retained at night. The LEDayLine is also available in a 24 V version.

According to EU Commission plans, DRLs are to be made compulsory for all newly registered vehicles starting in the summer of 2010. Driving with lights on during the day improves safety and goes easy on the environment. This was confirmed by a study undertaken by the Federal Institute for German Roadways (BASt) in August 2005. According to BASt, daytime running lights specifically developed for the purpose are the most suitable. The additional consumption of fuel (maximum 0.02 liters) caused by LED lamps is hardly measurable

* http://www.hella.com/assets/Download_Special_LED-Broschuere_TT_GB.pdf

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: Audi Junkie
What do you guys think?

Looks like Christmas lights. Just missing Rudolf on the hood.

 

[tom slick]

When are you going to add euro side markers?

 

[Audi Junkie]

I never realized I don't have side signal indicators on this car. I'm definitely not adding them, but I never thought about it.

I'm hearing slightly negative message here, but no real suggestions of what would be better, no lights at all or oem style that break or some other driving lights, which I tried extensively with the RSX, and failed. There simply are not any DRLs or driving lights that interest me. Anybody have suggestions?

Oh, they were sold as "white", but are purplish, just not as much as in the pics.

 

[HTSS_TR]

I like LED DRLs on Audi, some new MB's have LED DRLs but they look tacky.

 

[asiancivicmaniac]

Originally Posted By: Audi Junkie
I never realized I don't have side signal indicators on this car. I'm definitely not adding them, but I never thought about it.

I'm hearing slightly negative message here, but no real suggestions of what would be better, no lights at all or oem style that break or some other driving lights, which I tried extensively with the RSX, and failed. There simply are not any DRLs or driving lights that interest me. Anybody have suggestions?

Oh, they were sold as "white", but are purplish, just not as much as in the pics.


They don't look "right". Ever consider retrofitting some projector HIDs and adding a pair of angel eyes?

 

[chevrofreak]

I'm making my own DRL's. They will be 16 (maybe as many as 20) white LED's per side, 2 rows of 8 (or 10), wired in parallel, and powered by a current regulator circuit that accepts 8-40V and puts out 320-350mA. I will need to figure out how to have them automatically switch off when the headlights turn on, because they'll be really harsh to look at when it's dark.

 

[eljefino]

Around here people clone the carbon fiber hood look with a black can of rattle spray paint... and their old steel hood.

 

[kkreit01]

Why do you want DRLs? Do you live in Canada or EU?
Suggestions?: stop now. Don't add more.

 

[Pesca]

Originally Posted By: Audi Junkie
I hated not having any lights below the bumper, but the oem and ebay factory lights break easily. My normal DRLs are brown-outs, yuck. I know LED DRLs are coming pretty much standard on the newest cars, so I improvised some. What do you guys think?

btw- I have oem led taillights, so it "matches", right?


I would say that I am not a big fan of this type of leds strip:
- They are cheaply made,
- They use not the best leds that is why they look to be in the 7-8000K range (blue purple more than truly white 5000K),
- They are not powerful enough to be seen during daytime (washed out in direct sunlight),
- Every young driver would install them on their cars which give them this ricey reputation.

In my mind you have two acceptable choices:

- Either buy the expensive replicas you find on the new golf (cannot remember the link right now but can find it if you want). They are as easy as the leds strip to use (almost PnP) but look way better (better construction, use of high power leds so true white light)... but they are expensive.

- Or Do it Yourself. Installing leds in your headlights or below the bumper using high power leds or, easier to handle and cheaper, warm white (still better than 7-8000K leds) 10mm leds. the good thing is you can be as creative as you want to be unique and don't look ricey... but it takes some time, skills (not that much don't worry), and trials and errors.

As an example, on my rogue, I want to use the space where high end models have their fog lights to put leds in it (first the 10mm version and may be later, I will change to high power leds).
Instead of fog lights, I have plastic pieces with 7 recess holes, just for look. I will use these recess and put leds in them and use the unused fog wiring I have on my car to connect the DRL function to them.

That is my 2 cents, but that has become my hobby in the past year, so I am a little bit biaised.

 

[SLCraig]

Originally Posted By: kkreit01
Why do you want DRLs? Do you live in Canada or EU?
Suggestions?: stop now. Don't add more.


Haha.. I disabled the DRL's on my car.. I like it better that way.

 

[chevrofreak]

Originally Posted By: Pesca
- They use not the best leds that is why they look to be in the 7-8000K range (blue purple more than truly white 5000K)


The 5mm LED's I'm getting are very white, but sacrifice a pretty good amount of output for it, they're only 14,000mcd.

 

[xxch4osxx]

I think they look fine, and Im NOT a ricer fan, lol. I like the way the car looks with that hood too. Maybe later on you can look for brighter LED's to replace those. High power LED's will come down in price with time, like everything else.

 

[Audi Junkie]

Thanks. Price was not a concern. I just needed a unit advertized as weatherproof. Having the LEDs on a strip which kept them strait and evenly spaced was important. My oem DRLs are brown-outs, so that kind of sucks. I live in an area now with a LOT of pedestrians and inattentive drivers, DRLs are a must.

I plugged these right into the harness base for the parking lights, low wattage lets me do that and no probs with the install...lol strait telephone wire. I prefer the solid strand, esp pushing it into the socket base for the tap. I can order some white LEDs, but I did not like the set-up I found. These were advertized as "white". I don't really want to bother re-doing the install anytine soon....mid-winter and I just did this job plus one side was glitchy and needed a redo.

Whatever, I'll keep looking, but sort of done with it for a while. I'm thinking maybe a bluish high-beam (seriously) so the brown-out is not so bad. The Highs are easily accessible, the lows not. I'd like some HID conversions for the lows if possible.