(Version 2: Cleaned up and organized better. Suggestions added.)

Hi S2KI,
I wanted to make a resource for us to use regarding LED lights, and lighting improvements to the S2000. This thread is meant to provide concise, useful information on LED lighting and lighting improvements to the S2000. This excludes any serious modification of the electrical system.

Defining Best
For the purposes of defining "Best" I think the replacement LED should:
1. ...be easy to install, & fit in the housing / socket intended for the original incandescent.
2. ...meet or exceed the stock incandescent in terms of: Brightness, Viewing Angle, or be the closest available.
3. ...not be unreasonable in cost. Personally, I think more than $20 for a great bulb is too much.
4. ...be purpose-built. No microcontrollers or multicolored LEDs on a light that should just glow amber.

I will continue to update this first post with any good info I receive, or figure out on my own.
Cheers all you fellow light-snobs !

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~
[Online Automotive LED Vendors]
SuperBrightLEDs.com - This seems to be the current best LED vendor out there. Tons and tons of options, good build quality, even LEDs for custom applications.
YourLEDShop - Carries many of our bulb types, also has a cool "flexistrip" that would be good for an Audi-type modification.
SuperLumination - Huge selection of bulbs in all types. They also carry flasher replacements to fix hyperblink.
LEDTronics - A good site yet with a lot of options. They have car bulbs and a lot of components for more in-depth mods.
eAutoWorks - These people have a huge selection, too. They seem to focus on extremely bright LEDs (5W) But are very expensive.

[Overall Facts]
> All S2000 Factory lights work on a 12V DC feed from the battery. It is voltage-regulated and fused separately depending on the part of the car.
> Your flasher relays are electromechanical devices designed around the power draw for an incandescent bulb. If you replace them with LEDs (which draw much less current) the flasher will not behave properly. You can modify your existing flasher, or replace it.
> Incandescent bulbs rely on reflectors to directionalize their light. LEDs have the opposite problem: they use diffusers & lenses to spread out their very directional light. This is why you see a lot of LED "bulbs" with a lot of actual LEDs on them.
> For reference, a typical 3W LED is like the one you'd see in an full-sized LED MagLite.
> By comparison, a 21W (12V) Automotive incandescent light bulb is your average brightness of a taillight.
> The NTSB and other organizations came up with US Automotive lighting rules. In some cases they are very strict, in others not at all. What is certainly illegal is using a color other than the ones approved. (No white turn signals, blue license plate lights, etc). What's funny is that the red is a specific red color, whereas the white lights can go from nasty halogen-yellow to bluish-white like the original white LEDs.
> The actual federal statutes governing automotive lighting

The LED Light Table
[Front]
[Headlights (Low Beam)]
. FACTORY TYPE: HID (High Intensity Dispersion) D2S, 6500K
. FACTORY WATTAGE: 35W (via HID Ballast)
. RECOMMENDED REPLACEMENT: None. Replace with OEM D2S units.
. THOUGHTS: These are expensive, perfectly aimed, very bright lights. Why would you want anything else?

[Brights (High Beam)]
. FACTORY TYPE: H1
. FACTORY WATTAGE: 55W
. RECOMMENDED REPLACEMENT: H1 Long life bulbs. If you want it to match the HIDs color, the closest you can get is with a colored halogen bulb near 6500K.
. RATIONALE: Brights require more actual light output than current LEDs can provide. Halogen bulbs will also will give a far greater viewing angle than LEDs.

[Front Parking Lights/Front Turn Signal Lights]
. FACTORY TYPE: 7443 (This is a dual-circuit light. The second circuit "blinks" the bulb)
. FACTORY WATTAGE: 21W (When blinking)
. RECOMMENDED REPLACEMENT: ?
. RATIONALE: n/a

[Front Side Marker]
. FACTORY TYPE: 168 (194 also fits)
. FACTORY WATTAGE: 5W
. RECOMMENDED REPLACEMENT: ?
. RATIONALE: n/a

[Side Turn Signal Lights (by your S2000 logo)]
. FACTORY TYPE: 168 (194 will also fit)
. FACTORY WATTAGE: 5W (When blinking)
. RECOMMENDED REPLACEMENT: ?
. RATIONALE: n/a

[REAR (AP1)]
[Tail & Stop Lights (Same bulb)[/i]]
. FACTORY TYPE: 7443 (A dual-circuit bulb)
. FACTORY WATTAGE: 5W (Tail) 21W (Brake on)
. RECOMMENDED REPLACEMENT: ?
. RATIONALE: n/a

[Back Up Lights/Reverse Lights]
. FACTORY TYPE: 7440
. FACTORY WATTAGE: 21W
. RECOMMENDED REPLACEMENT: ?
. RATIONALE: n/a

[High Mount Stop Light (Center Mount Stop Light)]
. FACTORY TYPE: Proprietary LED Assembly (AP1 and AP2)
. FACTORY WATTAGE: Unsure - my measurements say 3.5W
. RECOMMENDED REPLACEMENT: None.
. RATIONALE: Why would you want to replace this? It's a wide array of very bright LEDs.

[Rear Turn Signals]
. FACTORY TYPE: 1156A (Amber)
. FACTORY WATTAGE: 21W (Seems high, but that's what Honda reports)
. RECOMMENDED REPLACEMENT: ?
. RATIONALE: n/a

[License Plate Light]
. FACTORY TYPE: 168 (194 fits also)
. FACTORY WATTAGE: 5W
. RECOMMENDED REPLACEMENT: WLED-xHP13-T (SuperBrightLEDs.com)
. RATIONALE: You want a 360 degree spead here, to fill out the reflector. Alternatively, you could aim a flat array of LEDs downward for a "spotlight" look.

[Interior]
[Dome Lights/Interior Lights/Map Lights]
. FACTORY TYPE: DE3022 (Single circuit, but varying power)
. FACTORY WATTAGE: 5W
. RECOMMENDED REPLACEMENT: 3022-xHP4 (SuperBrightLEDs.com)
. RATIONALE: The 4 LED Festoon bulb works well as it has 120degree LEDs, and wide placement. Snaps right into the existing "festoon" socket.

[Trunk Light]
. FACTORY TYPE: 168 (194 fits also)
. FACTORY WATTAGE: 5W
. RECOMMENDED REPLACEMENT: WLED-xHP13-T (SuperBrightLEDs.com)
. RATIONALE: Same as license plate light. You want 360 degree spread of light to work like the factory bulb.

[Easy LED Modifications]
(Should any arise)

 

Any question of "best" (regardless of what you're talking about) is going to be subjective so there are no "facts" in this regard. I really don't get why people on discussion forum sites don't get this. At least qualify what you mean by "best". Cheapest? Brightest? Most reliable? Easiest to install? Most durable? Closest to stock appearance? Less stock? A certain color temp? It's highly unlikely that any one solution will exceed all others in every aspect I've mentioned -- not to mention the ones that I haven't mentioned.

For dome/map, trunk and license plate lights I highly recommend the universal LED board lights. In these applications omnidirectional LED bulb replacements waste quite a bit of light as the majority of what you need should be projected in a single direction. The board lights that I have fit easily into each of their respective housings and produce quite a bit of even and broad lighting with no diffusion or makeshift reflectors required since there are 6 bright LED's on each board. Each board comes with a number of adapters to allow them to work in all three locations despite the fact that the stock dome/map/trunk lights aren't the same type at all. I know people have expressed concerns over how to mount these and the double-sided tape that they come with sounds like a duct tape/bailing wire solution but these work extremely well and I have had them in my S for probably close to a year now.

I can't speak for other applications as I have had no interest in using LED's for other lights as they're not always the "best" option (see above).

As for dealers and brands, mine were purchased via a Lexus IS group buy. Can't recall the brand but I can dig around. The link is in this subforum. I'm sure there are other good brands and sources though.

I'll post some photos as I promised to do in the past and never did.

 

my friend owns a business on called yourledshop.com check it out most of the stuff is high powered leds. im not promoting or anything like that just saying check it out a lot of the stuff is worth it..

 

takeshi - I get your point on the usage of the word "best." I don't like the attitude though.

Let me clarify: For me, the "best" LED solution would be the easiest to install, the longest-lasting, the closest to stock brightness or slightly above, the closest to stock viewing angle as well. The color will obviously be different. For these purposes, the price shouldn't be the biggest factor, as we're going for the technically-best device. I would like to put out a caveat though - I think for example (opinion) that MacGuyver's Mini is a cool device, but not the "best" for most applications since it is 1. too expensive (almost 50 dollars a light), 2. is too much for the application (it has several colors, an onboard IC etc) and 3. Requires modification to the cars electrical system in most cases. It is not plug-n-play for things like 168, 7443, etc.

This is the kind of attitude that ruins boards for me. I've put in a lot of effort here and I will continue to do so to help others who think the way I do. True, a "Best Practice" is based on your opinion of what is best. I would like to encourage discussion here on this thread about why something is better than the other. If you feel that the other bulbs should not be LED, why is that? Ideally in the future I'd like this thread to be a one-stop shop for people looking for LED-on-S2000 information. They can make their own decision from there.

Thanks, snipe99! I think I will add a section for all of the LED online shops we find.

 

Aren't all OEM HIDS 4100 to 4300k temp?

 

Yes they are. This post is a good idea. There are a few things I can contribute:

1. You can upgrade the factory HIDs with 55W ballasts on the factory bulbs. I've been researching this, and it seems like there's no concern of overdriving the 35W bulbs. My only concern is quality control when buying these things off the internet.

2. the best highbeams you can buy for the money are either the Philips Xtremevisions or a close second are the Osram Nightbreakers. These can be purchased cheapest at www.powerbulbs.co.uk. I bought a set of Nightbreakers only because they were on sale at the time. My highbeams are now bright enough that they don't look stupid next to the HIDs.

3. Out of the four LED sites you listed, superlumination is the best. Yourledshop and ledtronics sell bulbs that are going to be dimmer than stock. Both superlumination and eautoworks sells bright ones that are a true upgrade over stock, but superlumination has a bigger selection so you can customize every bulb type to your application. I especially like their bulbs that have a luxeon front and then SMT sides.

 

I never had experience with other LED sellers, but ive bought stuff from yourledshop, service is great, and its a BIG difference over stock.

 

Did some searching and thought i would just bump this thread for info.

I am wanting to just replace my license plate bulbs with a brighter, and more of a "pure white" LED light. I had several people suggest superbrightleds.com

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/sto...isp=%2F1157.htm

Now i found that the bulb type for the rear license plate bulb is a 168. On the site, it cross references to their WLED miniature wedge based bulbs.

They have a lot of different options with beam size and how many leds are on one wedge. Could anyone give me some feedback on which one i should choose? I am leaning towards the, "1 High Power SMD LED, 120 degree beam
Available in Pure White - 20 lumen @ 4500K"

Thoughts on this? I am also contemplating putting LEDs in place of my current dome lights because it seems so dark in the cabin. Any suggestions or information dealing with LED lights for the interior and license plate lights would be extremely helpful and appreciated.

 

Nobody, eh'?

 

the LEDs in the dome lights really make it look a lot classier, one of my locals has them, let me point him to this thread