The other thought I had was to use a dowel pin or blunt screwdriver to test the depth to the lip of the "reflector." I don't remember how difficult the access was, but maybe use your thumbnail or a permanent marker to mark the dowel pin. I would leave a little cushion for heat dissipation (so the bulb is not pressed up against the plastic bezel).
i will try a couple things this weekend cause i dont wanna buy a bunch of stuff that doesnt fit. lol
What did you end up doing?
In Sweden, all vehicles must drive with front-facing white lights on. These lights must be bright enough to be easily seen in full daylight. Most cars seem to have their low-beam headlights wired to turn on with the ignition. Canadian and European Insights apply only 6 volts to the headlights (not sure which beam) in running light mode (i.e., with the ignition switch on but the headlights off).
Having a U.S. Insight, my only option at present is to run with my low beams and taillights on at all times. Now that I have MIMA, I can see that this causes a continual forced regen to occur to keep the 12 v. battery charged. I can use MIMA to provide the necessary regen at more opportune times, but the better solution would be to use more energy-efficient daytime running lights. I might be able to replace the rather dim 5 v. incandescent 168 minibulbs in the front-facing parking lights with something like these 2 w. high-power LED's. Then I could wire these front-facing parking lights to turn on with the ignition with the rear lights turning on only when the parking lights are turned on manually. That would make my daytime running light power draw only 4 w., a small fraction of the power I currently use.
I am a little concerned that these longer LED's might be too long. Were you able to use the longer LED's? If so, were they noticeably brighter than the standard bulbs? The LED that I'm interested in claims to project 105 lumens of light, but I have no idea how that compares with the standard bulb.
Due to my still not taxed car i have not had it on the road with these bulbs yet, but standing in the garage there is a realy big difference between these & the
original 5W bulbs, original is almost yellow compared to these.
Unfortunately due to the fittings used for the parking lights, these LED bulbs are the brightest available ( at least what i have been able to find) otherwise i would have bought a pair of these: Matronics - Hvid SMD LED pære - 12V (21Watt) 7440
They are rated an light output of 21W, which should be more than enough
as DRL.
I have measured the inside of my headlamps, and there should be space for a bulb that is up to 9 cm. long.
If you want to make your DRL legal, you will have to get a DRL module that
automatically turns your DRL on when engine running, and turns DRL off again
as soon as you turn on your parking lights or low/high beam.
Out of the back of my head i believe the parts must be E87 approoved.
__________________
John, proud owner of the only I1 in Denmark.
Due to my still not taxed car i have not had it on the road with these bulbs yet, but standing in the garage there is a realy big difference between these & the
original 5W bulbs, original is almost yellow compared to these.
Your photos look good. Have you read any reviews about these lights? Unfortunately, many LED lights seem to fail rather quickly.
Quote:
Originally Posted by faxe
I have measured the inside of my headlamps, and there should be space for a bulb that is up to 9 cm. long.
Are you saying that a bulb up to 9 cm long could fit in the parking light enclosure? That's way longer than the standard bulb or any multi-diode high-intensity LED that I have seen being sold. However, I'm a bit concerned about heat in the parking light enclosure, so I probably would not want to push the wattage too high.
Quote:
Originally Posted by faxe
If you want to make your DRL legal, you will have to get a DRL module that automatically turns your DRL on when engine running, and turns DRL off again as soon as you turn on your parking lights or low/high beam. Out of the back of my head i believe the parts must be E87 approoved.
I think that my Insight does not have to follow those regulations because it is an imported U.S. car. My Insight currently has no actual daytime running lights. I just turn on my headlights whenever I drive (I sometimes forget). So I think that I could just turn on my parking lights if there were bright enough.
Are the LED's highly directional? Would someone approaching from a 45° angle have any trouble seeing you? That's been a conventional drawback of the technology, and I think some reflective strips would mitigate the problem somewhat.
It looks like you still have the same illuminated width as stock, which is nice.
Obviously we're all looking forward to data on the new aeromod, and I don't mean the radio antenna removal. Btw, if you relocate the antenna to inside the car (or inside the tail), you retain most of your radio reception.
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