I recently received my first pair of car headlight LED bulbs. The first impression are here:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...ml#post4347783
Next morning, I installed both the bulbs and waited anxiously for the darkness to fall, but as the fate would have it I was down with the flu by the evening. I never knew karma would punish me with fever for installing the LED bulbs or was it because I judged them too early without even giving them any chance to prove themselves.
Tonight at around 9PM I felt that I was alright enough to go for a short drive. So asked a friend to come along and begin our search of a dark or dimly lit street and the best we could find for tonight was this and that's how it looked with car headlights completely off.
This is low beam, notice the cut off line, although no where near what can be termed as sharp, it still does exist. Also look how with absolute awe that gentleman is staring at the headlights.
This is high beam, and it is as bright in the darkness as a thunder bolt (same color too), the gentleman who was staring at the headlights a moment ago, vaporized into the thin air as he couldn't face the pure awesomeness.
Now it was time to check whether it will blind the oncoming mortals with candle lights with its supreme brightness which can even vaporize a curios human being. The windshield was not the cleanest and the cameraman was not in his fittest, so please don't mind.
This is low beam, and the focus is set right onto the driver side headlight. You might call it a glare but in all honesty it wasn't too bad to be considered as a glare at all. Pictures don't do justice here, or may be I did not take the picture like it should have been captured because to the naked eyes it seemed pretty acceptable.
The menacing high beam, this is where all the hell breaks loose, you are staring right into the eyes of the monster and there is nothing else but the darkness surrounding it. There it's just too much brightness, I wish I knew a word that exaggerate brightness it was that bright for a simple car headlight.
Even when I got out the result was pretty much the same. And I could personally tell you that it is really too bright to look at head on.
Driving Experience
As it was it's first little test on it's complete potential I was very carefully reading every little response given out by the other vehicles and hoping to find a few high beamers, I was indeed glad I found quite a few of them.
On Low Beam
Headlight was set at 1 on the level scale of 0-3. Almost non of the oncoming traffic showed any signs of discomfort, or like they were bothered by the glare or too much brightness.
These LED lights are 6500K, even a M800 Alto with modest halogens of color temperature 3000K or thereabouts was casting it's yellow color over these.
But, one thing I did notice was that in case of oncoming high beamers I could for once see light on my path, I could see road better. In past with even the best of halogens, it wasn't the case, it just used to go dark all around and only the road on the left bank would remain faintly visible. This could also be because of the fact that I had too much attention and focus on this short drive.
On High Beams
There is light everywhere, on road, nearby trees, on houses along the road and on their first floor balconies. You feel illuminated

And as I was happily cruising along appreciating and enjoying the LED headlights performance, all that joy was stolen by a beam of light and it was a high beam. It was the first of the test subject and the car was a 2011-13 white Wagon R. Flashed twice may be and he dipped his lights to low beam immediately. Next example is of a complete imbecile, this time it was a Swift and he banked to the left slowy but did not change to low beam. The full high beam treatment was given to a notorious TATA 407 driver on a non crowded road, he not only dipped it to low but also slowed down as a result. It simply jolts it's victim like a thunder bolt. Everyone responded to the high beam flashes and I mean everyone, in one way or another.
LED vs HID
• These H4 LED Headlight bulbs are specifically made for a halogen housing. The functioning principal is similar. The low beam glare is still lower than something like a 100/90 halogen bulb. But, there are no HID bulbs that can imitate the halogen bulb effectively, no matter what you try there will be too much glare for the oncoming traffic. The transition from low to high beam is instant in case of LEDs.
• LED bulbs like a halogen bulb has a single point of failure, the whole bulb itself, whereas in case of the HID either the relay or the ballast or the bulb could fail, so atleast 3 components that can fail instead of one whole.
• LED bulbs are waterproof but in case of HIDs, though I have used waterproof ballasts I have never came across waterproof bulbs.
• Installation and adjustment is simple and easy of LEDs when compared to the only effective and complicated HID Bi-Xenon projector Installation.
• High heat generated by HIDs can burn the halogen housing if at all used as such, thus projectors are very compulsory still even if one doesn't care about blinding oncoming traffic.
• All said and done there still remains the fact that HIDs currently are the best available source for car headlights, a 55W HID in a good projector housing is simply better than any top of the line aftermarket LED halogen housing headlight bulbs. But the future is LEDs for sure.
• The bling factor of LEDs is 100% but not so much in performance. In extreme situations one might regret choosing these even over halogens. That said, I will wait for the ordered 3000K bulb to arrive before giving any further opinions.
• If your car is in warranty period than it is better to use a LED bulb as a replacement for halogen as it's a plug and play setup, no wiring harnesses or any sort of relay is required. You can install the halogen back in under 5 minutes without any hassles.
• No matter what you choose always keep a spare pair of halogen headlight bulbs in your car at all times. Neither the aftermarket LEDs nor the HIDs are as trustworthy as the good old halogen bulb.
Disclaimer: I did not drive on high beam at any point except when really required. No one was really forced to dip there headlight beams only 2-3 flashes were made to check the reactions, except for one time during the TATA 407 incident. No birds, animals or humans were harmed during this small test, except that the current whereabouts of the gentleman staring at the headlights remains unknown.