7" LED Headlamps

[Pasha]

"The only problem might be the lead time"

and the price. Wow. 

you can get JW Speaker ones for less than that (£620 a pair), and they're renowned to be the best. Wipac ones are about half that, and the ones from the "original cafe racer" are £105 for two and they're E-marked. 

I know you get what you pay for, but in this instance, unless they're gold plated, I doubt it. 

If I sound ungrateful, I'm not, and you comments are much appreciated. 
 

 

[Billy.Whizz]

JAL lights look the best and are the best. Buy once cry once.

[ScottR400D]

#27. In what way are they the best? 

[Pasha]

My comment exactly. Anecdotal evidence that they're the best is useless. And they don't look that special. They look like what you get of you Google classic car 7" headlamp led replacement. At twice the price !

I have no issue spending money, ask my wife, but that's just laughable. 

[ScottR400D]

Well, if they last several times longer than the less expensive competition or come with a much longer warranty, or are brighter, better focussed or something, fine. To an extent.  

Where are they made? Where are the competition made? 

What makes them 'the best'?

[ACFowles]

Very interest in this thread.

I have the same questions and concerns - there is a lot of choice and a wide range of prices, but how do we know which are the best?

I have 2 Jeeps that always get MOT'd between Christmas and New Year.  Currently, both have replacement LED bulbs in the existing 7inch round fittings.  They've been installed for years and give a great beam pattern with a brighter, whiter light.  I've been very pleased so a bit peeved that I might need to spend hundreds on replacing them.

Then in the summer I've the got the 5.75inch units in the Caterham 

[Jonathan Kay]

Yes. More photographs of beam patterns would be very helpful.

I recommend taking them when only one side has been changed so that the left-right comparisons show Before and After.

But if that isn't possible then with colour balance and exposure locked so that the camera isn't trying as hard as it can to hide the difference!

Jonathan

[John Vine]

Re #31:

...so a bit peeved that I might need to spend hundreds on replacing them

Can you not simply replace them with halogen bulbs for the MOT? (Always assuming the MOT tester even picks you up on the LEDs.)

JV

[ACFowles]

May well take that route, John

[7 wonders of the world]

I looked at several before buying the ones from Furore I linked to earlier, one of the main reason was the effectiveness of the DRL's, I'd seen several Caterhams using the CC version with the horizontal bar type DRL which was no where near as noticable as the HALO type.

 

[ACFowles]

Taken a bit of a punt and ordered these: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/-/313701537600

They seems to be quite generic and supplied by a number of eBay's multitude of drop-shippers. Plan is to compare with existing LED lamps and halogen they replaced.

[Jonathan Kay]

Please could that comparison include the beam patterns?

Jonathan

[ACFowles]

I'll do my best :-)

[Jonathan Kay]

: - )

Jonathan

[Garry7]

I am running the Wisamic LED inserts with the Halo wired to the sidelights. E marked and I think I paid £112 for the pair, delivered.

Had them adjusted prior to the MOT, passed with no issues at all. They give a nice flat beam and I don't get flashed by every oncoming car (as I used to with the LED bulb only solution).

In the pub car park test my halos were brighter than quite a few other 7's dipped beams. Halos are wired into the sidelight circuit, using the red wire only. The black wire needs isolating with some tape.  

Garry

[ScottR400D]

Garry, any resistors or other wiring mods needed? 

[Wrightpayne]

What does the black wire do? 

[Pasha]

On the ones I have bought, it is the wire to make the halo lamps light yellow, so they can be white or yellow depending on which wire you feed the 12v to. I guess so you can use them as indicators, though the danger there is that the main lamp should also dim when they flashed, to give the best visibility of the indicator... and it doesn't, and I already have indicators.

 

 

[SM25T]

Nothing needed to fit the Wisamic modules. They are great.

[ScottR400D]

Thanks SM. 
 

#42 I understood the various wiring options were to enable the halos to be always on or to be on with sidelights. 

[neil wattam]

I fitted lowered brackets & LED units in the summer. 

Haven't been through an MOT yet and like others, don't do too much night driving, but the difference to the standard candles is marked 

 

bought from Cafe Racer - https://www.originalcaferacer.com/product/lotus-caterham-7-classic-car-led-headlight-cree-x-2-light-5-75%E2%80%B3-e-approved-530-copy/

 

Haven't read this entire thread, but thought I'd share!

 

[cobar]

Neil, on those lights how does the DRL brightness compare to the dipped beams?  Dimmer, brighter, or about the same?

Thanks,

John

[neil wattam]

probably about the same John - I'll see if I can dig out a photo for you....

[cobar]

Thanks Neil, I appreciate it.  I'd like to use a proper DRL setup on the new build rather than continue to manually switch the dipped beams on/off for every drive.  I'm considering both these lights and small standalone units behind the grill.

-John

[Wrightpayne]

Cobar,

Just a thought - some of these headlights come with built in indicators as well as DRLs - what about converting the original indicator to a sidelight? 
 

Ian