gandro

I noticed that the 600HL will have LED headlights.
I wonder which perform better, LED or HID (coverage, intensity, quality of light). It will be interesting to hear the reviews in roadtests. Overall, I would expect LED headlights to be cheaper to manufacture than HIDs.

LexFather

Nothing can be better than LED. LED's can be programed by color, though white is the most expensive. THey will outlast the life of the car. SInce they are so much smaller than a bulb, car designers will be able to design some really unique headligh clusters. They are brighter and 1/10th quicker to light up than a conevntional bulb.

Audi has LED daytime running lamps, LS 600l h is the first with actual headlights.

My guess, invest in LED making companies b/c in 30 years every car will have these stadard.

Threxx

You can expect to see LED lighting available for your home and everything else in the near future, too. As said they are very flexible in terms of color and pattern as well as brightness (unlike xenon or halogen gases for example that like to either be 'on' or 'off'), ridiculously energy efficient, and very low heat output.

In addition to this they almost never die and can take an absolute beating without breaking.

I use LED headlamps on the backcountry hiking trips I go on because the halogen healamps, especially in cold weather, will only last 8 hours on three AA batteries. My LED headlamp is brighter for short distances (though the long distance brightness isn't quite as good, no big deal), a much clearer light that shows colors and contrast much better (more like sunlight), and the batteries last 300 to 400 hours, though the brightness is noticably less by 200 hours of use. Still much better than 8 hours! And I can drop it on the ground, throw it in a river, or whatever and no real risk of it breaking a filament or shorting out.

Gojirra99

The front of the new LS looks so much better with the LED's, that alone is enough to make them more desirable for this car . . .

rominl

iTrader: (4)

agree, it completely transform the look of the car. so much more aggressive and "wider"

and i think led also consumes less power?

Blackraven

It also looks like there's nothing to compromise as well.

Considering that the AFS on/off feature will be available for the LS Hybrid, nothing was given up in order to gain more.

The LED headlights are a sweet deal indeed.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

maybe initially the problem is cost. i wonder if led headlights cost more to make. and another great benefit of led is the instant on feature. hid is slow compared to led

gandro

The cost of LEDs is dropping fast. LED headlights will soon be cost competitive with HID, especially when there is no need for a complex power supply and packaging that is required for HIDS.
The issue with LEDs is brightness. They still arent competitive with Halogen and HID. Although somehow Lexus made it work. They must be using the most advanced LED technology out there. Which means they must be expensive. Can't wait to see them in person or even better take an evening test drive to see the results myself.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

it's pretty much like back in 98 when hid start to boom, it was super expensive and only very high end cars had it. now hid is everywhere and the cost keeps on dropping. same back way back when halogen was developed

it's a trend for sure. and yes, i am very interested in seeing how the led headlights play out on the ls600hl

LexLaw

So does this mean we will be seeing LED's in our new SC's?

Shantonu

Correct me if i am wrong, but didn't the Inifiniti Q45 has led headlights???

GSteg

iTrader: (15)

The Q45 used HID projectors. Each side has 7 mini projectors to project the beam. It's more for the wow-factor than anything else. LS430 projectors > Q45

...in terms out output

rominl

iTrader: (4)

correct, the ls430, sc430, s2000, tsx projectors, they are among the best in the market

well we already have led for taillights. headlights? i say maybe next gen?

Nextourer

Yeah.. Infiniti said their machine gun headlight system is so powerful, they don't need foglights on the Q45. And... now the Q45 has foglights... uh huh.

ic144

I have a feeling, there's going to be aftermarket LED headlights for the LS 460 once it comes out.

I have one question about LEDs.

Everytime, I see LEDs, I think about the LED flashlights we have. I noticed LED flashlights have a shorter range than halagen lightbulbs.

Now when it comes to cars, we're expecting the distance of the LED headlights to outshine the current HID technology right?