natnut

Just wanted to share a great experience with this product :

http://buddyclub.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=5600

I went down to the vendor and had them personally fitted. Installation was a breeze--basically a straight swap of my stock bulbs for the mini-circuit board and strictly plug-and-play.

From using my car as a guinea pig, these are the interior lights of the 2nd Gen GS that DEFINITELY can be swapped out for these LEDs :

1) center dome light.
2) the 2 front map reading lights(just behind the dome light and sharing the same plastic housing as the dome light)
3) the reading lights(located just above the rear doors next to the hand-hold)
4) the boot light

These LED arrays come with double sided 3M sticky tape to keep them in place and come with 3 types of adaptors.

In total,I swapped out 6 interior lights. It cost me 30 Singapore dollars each which works out to $19 USD per LED array.

My personal experience with these lights :
They are FREAKING bright !!!
Basically you replace 1 stock incandescent bulb with an array of 12 LEDS.
There is no problem with the common problem of unidirectional lighting of LEDs since there are 12 LEDs performing the function of 1 bulb. Reading a book is less strain on the eyes and the car interior looks FAR cooler.

These LEDS are Japanese made and there is a Japan website but since I don't read Japanese, I went with my local retailer(he posts as Saaber in the link I provided)

Guys, I can't recommend these LEDs hightly enough. You should ask Carson Toyota to organise a Groupbuy for these lights or contact this Singapore retailer about international sales.

Disclaimer : I am in no way related to or have a vested interest in this brand of lights.

Blanco

iTrader: (8)

Got pics??? Installed?? Sounds intriguing.

O. L. T.

iTrader: (17)

Only real issue I see is that SMD's are to be looked AT, not have them looking at something else. Regular led's use a clear glass case with a dome to project light out, whereas an SMD is not designed to disperse light at all, it is designed to light up and be looked at.

if you follow me...... regular led's are used to light up an area and broadcast light away from the led, SMD's are designed to be the focus of attention, not to broadcast light to the focus of attention.

Hope that makes sense. Anyway, there are a lot of SMD's on that swatch, so it might light up the area ok. SMD's just aren't designed to shoot light like led's are.

Blanco

iTrader: (8)

That's why I'd like to see pics of them installed and on.

darksparkz

iTrader: (1)

Wouldn't this draw too much wattage over the stock bulbs? Pictures too please =)

O. L. T.

iTrader: (17)

In small amounts LED's/SMD's are generally more efficient, however in larger quantities they can draw a bit more than a stock bulb. Depends on the number.

Lexucan

An LED can be either a thru-hole device (your standard LED with the two wire leads extending from it) or SMD (Surface Mount Device) which means it is soldered directly onto the surface of a circuit board - no wires.

Two examples of SMD LEDs:

Domed - which is the same style as most common LEDs and illuminates in a pattern similar to an incandescent bulb


Flat top - as used in LED arrays similar to the ones natnut bought and has a very narrowly focused beam of light.


So, if you are looking for an LED array that showers more of the surrounding area with light, the domed-type is what to look for. They are pretty easy to distinguish from one another.