Just saw this video. A general rule for LED bulbs is use a colored bulb behind a colored lens, such as red led behind red lens. That's what emergency equipment installers do. It give you the best output of brightness/intensity. Keep up the good work.
The idea behind using the same color of LED chips behind colored lens is because unlike incandescent bulbs (which have quite a broad spectrum of light, ie. they actually shine more colors (orangfe, red, blue, yellow etc) with different intesity, due to principle on which they work, basically being a very hot wire) the led chips are actually quite good with having a narrow light spectrum. Meaning the red led chips have majority of their light output in red color, and only a little of other colors. The red lens basically work as a filter, so they block majority of other colors and only pass the red color. That is why you have the best color accuracy and brightness using the same color led chip as the color of the lens. The transmission of the light is most efficient in that setup. While you can have a white led behind red lens, it will work, but the overall result will not be the best.
but the light clearly looked pinker with the red leds. i found the red color to be better with the white led but the light was brighter with the red led. 13:36
I've got JDM astar max in red and they are the best I've ever tried. Extremely bright and when they light up they are red red not pinkish red as you are correct white bulbs in red taillight housing looks pinkish.
The issue with bulbs that share the same chips for parking and brake light is that often they interfere with the cruise control when the parking lights are on. That's because the chips are shared and there is voltage in the brake light circuit, tricking the computer into "thinking" that you're pressing the brakes. Found that out the hard way on my Elantra. I wonder if those sylvania bulbs would have the same issue? I wouldn't think so, but maybe you have a shot showing only the other two chips light up when you press the brake (while the parking lights are off)? That would show for sure whether or not any chips are shared.
Go to 3:14. That is the absolute best part when someone off camera says "I can't find it" when referring to the brake pedal. So cute. Thanks for making this video, very helpful.
White led are composite rgb chips, while red is just red. So you get more intensity with just red. Also as mentioned earlier the tail light housing acts as a filter letting only red go through
The original post is very old, but I’ll correct it anyway. White LEDs are actually blue LEDs where the blue + UV light of the LED excite a phosphor material that glows with a white color (the yellow color of the LED is actually the phosphor). The output spectrum of a typical white LED is weak in the red and strong in the blue, so behind a red filter the light will be relatively weak. The light from a red LED passes through a red filter unfiltered.
I don't know if it's already been mentioned in one of the comments, but all the Sylvania LEDs were noticeably quicker to light than the incandescent. That's a big plus for a brake light. The other LEDs were not as quick as the Sylvanias (to my eyes), but were still quicker to light than the incandescent. And I agree that you want the brightness of the brake lights to be discernably different from the regular running lights. Great video! Glad I came across while search Amazon for LEDs. It's made a huge difference in what I'll buy.
I had the EXACT same problem with choosing LED bulbs from the auto shop and getting disappointing results from the best brands. I'm glad I got to your video!
A lot of LED manufacturers suggest using red lights with red lenses. Because the white tends to look more pinkish because of the brighter white color. But thank you for showing the differences in quality LEDs to cheap LEDs
Thanks for this video. I bought the Sylvania 1157r to swap out the all the stop light and running lights on the rear end of my car (2018 Hyundai) The fast response of the brake light and how Sylvania handled the lower light output is what sold me.
My old RV has 3 tail lights on each side and I tried the cheap amazon LEDs and had the problem with the difference in brightness from running light to stop light not being very different. I'm glad I found your video. Thanks!
Man thank you... The ones I got from a well known online LED supplier did not have significant difference in brightness either and I almost got rear ended by an elderly woman with a lead foot. I just ordered mine.. Thanks for putting your cash into figuring this out for the rest of us. ..A grateful FB owner.
I had the exact same problem with a pair of led globes i bought on ebay. No difference between brake & tail lights. Dangerous for night time driving. Went back to standard globes. Thanks for the great advice, results are awesome. I'll try again. Cheers.
Found this while researching switching my 62 to LED.... this made me decide to stay with normal 1157s... even the reds don't look better than the left side in the video to me. Thanks for posting this.
@ 14:23 - “ Which one would you pick? I know which one I would pick.” I would pick the incandescents, because it doesn’t look like any of the LEDs you tested were any brighter, in taillight or brake light mode, than the standard incandescent bulbs. The LED reaction time from taillight to brake light is a little quicker, but if the LEDs aren’t brighter, why bother?
cbpitt01 Yeap leds in cars are a pain. Reaction time is the only advantage (and 3rd brake lite can usually do that task). LEDs in cars don’t even last longer than bulbs before they start to flicker and flash. Don’t waste your money guys! Standard is best.
I've noticed that they don't seem to last either. However, lately they have been made with heat sinks which seems to be the problem of all LED chips. They work well but need to vent the heat they generate. I just picked up some 1156 bulbs from Amazon that are designed for RVs and they are really nice quality and bright with a ceramic ring at the base of the bulb making it about 3/8" longer than a standard bulb. $15 CAD for 2 www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B077GVCH56/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I swapped back to my OEM units as certain led elements started to flicker as they started to fail. Just something to keep an eye out after awhile. Some vehicles will want a resistor if the lighting system is sensitive to voltages. It's been a couple years now, and perhaps the ones on the market are better hopefully. I've also been waiting to replace my interior lighting to LED just in case I have one of those "DOH!" moments of leaving them on all night. Which is why I have chosen not to do a review as of yet on my own personal channel. But great to see someone else providing their insights and product introduction to the various 1157's. Thank you. :) Cheers
This is exactly the type of video I was looking for. That change between tail light and brake light makes all the difference. That will make or break that mod for me.
Thank you.I bought 1156 for my lawntractor headlights,and even as many leds that are on them,it's a whiter light,just not bright enough.The yellow light coming from the standard bulb goes about 4 ft, further.I'll look at the Sylvania options.
A couple of things - first up, I *think* the second set of bulbs you tested are "handed" LED bulbs. One pin goes through a voltage regulator, giving dim light for sidelights, the other pin goes straight to the LED array and has no voltage regulator. If you look at the test footage at 5:30, one bulb is brighter than the other. The dimmer bulb gets brighter when the brake is pressed, while the other bulb stays the same. If you had rotated the brighter bulb 180 degrees and tried again, you might have found they work better. You might want to re-test them? I could be dead wrong, but I've had LED brake bulbs do this for me, and it confusilated me for a while. The other thing is - the white bulbs probably are brighter (or equally bright) but your tail light glass is red. It filters out everything except red light. The rest of the light energy is wasted as heat within the plastic (they'll get a fraction of a degree hotter) when the light goes through the red coloured plastic. This happens with incandescent bulbs as well as LED's. Red LED's only emit wavelengths of light in the red portion of the visible electromagnetic spectrum, which will mostly pass through the red plastic without being wasted as heat. Third - if you've got a paper laminator, cut out circular pieces of aluminium foil with a hole in the middle just big enough to get the bulb through, then laminate them. Cut them out, but be careful to make sure there's no aluminium exposed at the edges (which could cause a short). The whole thing should be covered in lamination plastic. Put them on the bulbs, then put the bulbs in the sockets. Hey presto, reflectors for cheap. I did it for some trailer lights and it improved the light output by about 25%.
I've got a 1974 Jensen Healey that is sorely lacking in the illumination department. You just helped me nail down the brake and marker light choices...next up...finding the best choice for 7" round LED headlights !!
Another thanks for the post- I was having the exact same problem on a trailer I built. Showed exactly what the problem was, and the fixes. BTW, here in 2021, the bulbs you recommend are not on Amazon anymore- just the design from Sylvania that didn't work for your Supra. All of the links go to that model. But seeing what the issue was, and the great explanation was very helpful.
That's what I was looking for. simple comparison, get to the point and very helpful. these videos need to be supported. Thank you for the video and for your time.
Wow. I went down this rabbit hole about 10 years ago with my Datsun 240z, and then a few years back again for my Nissan 300ZX. LED bulbs have come a long way in ten years. Another difficult task was to find an amber front turn LED bulb that was equivalent to the incandescent. I did find them, but, like you, went through several bulbs in the process. But the end result, especially in the decrease of amperage load on the system, is well worth it.Thanks for sharing!
Just bought some Sylvania's for my Toyota Starlet Glanza yesterday without doing research and i'm glad of the results because i ordered them all RED and AMBER. I'll have to change the reverse/license plate lights later on. Thanks a lot for the video!
Thank you so much for posting this test of the different 1157 LED bulbs...I wasn't sure what to purchase until I saw your video. Sorry you spent all that money to do this test but it paid off in the end. And I'm sure you made a lot of people happy at your expense, saving them time and money and you may have saved someone from buying the ones your friend purchased, because I don't believe they are very safe either!! Now I'm going to get me the Sylvania 1157 Red bulbs. God bless you for sharing this...
I also bought a very similar LED bulb for my front turning lights. I took it out as I noticed that there is little difference between when I use the turning signals. Took them out and replaced them with a more expensive but amazing LED bulbs from VLED.
You always match the bulb color to the lens color, it's how they're designed. Awesome video and thanks for making this! Always difficult when buying LED bulbs that aren't 194's
Thanks for testing out the various led’s! I was concerned on the brightness difference when brake light came on and obviously only one worked in your experiment
Solid review. Im currently bulb shopping for my 2018 f-150. I had no idea they even made red l.e.d. bulbs for brake lights and this was a real eye opener for me. I definitely agree with your overall choice. Good work 👍✋👍✋
Yeah, about that housing. I tested red LED bulbs in my Harley which has a chrome reflector surface. The LEDs each produce a point light source with parallel beams of light. When these beams reflect off of the chrome surface it's still a point of light that's been reflected. So I created a white reflective surface by installing self adhesive vinyl sheet. This was more effective as a reflector because it diffused the beams as it reflected them into the lens, thereby lighting up the entire lens, not just a single point on it. The lens then directs the light to the desired target. They're now a lot more visible. Also, I installed a unit that flashes the brake lights causing an attention getter.
I had a set of those white Sylvanias (the last pair you reviewed) in a trailer. They were pretty much useless and you had to be really paying attention to see any difference between tail and brake. The trailer light housings had no reflectors and were just black. So I did the chrome paint thing. The difference was so minuscule. Either way, all that was visible was a faint, hollow 6-point-star pattern due to the Fresnel type taillight lenses. After a year, half of the led chips in one bulb were dead. I swapped over to a regular LED trailer light kit. Now, I have good bright taillights and brilliant brake lights.
I appreciate you doing this study. I have to say I’ve decided to stay with incandescent after all of this as I see no improvement in intensity and for the cost I can replace several incandescents.
6:58 was expected. It would appear that the Sylvania LED bulbs were designed with the idea that most cars use a reflector behind the bulbs, which would then reflect the light towards the red lens.
I use the backward facing Sylvanias. It's weird next to the halogens because where the halogens have kind of a hot spot in the middle of the lake on the MR2 it now has kind of a shadow. Thanks for sharing your findings. I'll be going back to incandescent for brake lights.
Freddy, the Supra is not dumb... There should be a reflector behind each tail light bulb. They're just missing on yours. I remember seeing them when I had mine and had to replace a bulb. Look it up and try to get them, they'll make a big difference with those Sylvanias.
I have a 77 Toyota pickup and it has reflectors. Just went to LEDs and used the Zevo red for the brake lights. I also cleaned and polished the lenses real well. But also covered the reflector and panted the tan colored plastic housing gloss white. Remember gloss white reflects the most of the colors. I then plugged the socket holes with a small piece of paper town and cleaned the aluminum reflector, then sprayed it, and the new gloss white painted area, with the 2x gloss clear, to increase the shiny mirror effect.
@ KK-M5-E39 I have to do a "me too" on that. I had my old MK3 and after having all the mods done (lexus mod, hybrid turbo etc etc), it went for the head to be properly gas flowed and the mechanic (long story short) stole it. Police said they knew he had done it but not QUITE enough proof. Insurance paid out but only a tiny fraction of what the car was worth. Miss the old girl so much.
Tony, thank you for your enlightening research. Well done my friend! Comparing the incandescent beside the various LED you tested, I was disappointed as well. Honestly, with the best Sylvania Red vs the standard OEM incandescent, I did not see enough difference in brightness to justify the extra expense. But again thank you for your great work!...well done and very objective!
Thanks for making this video . I was searching for a while to get more info on switching to a led and the brightness difference , and didn't find much . Your video showed things I hadn't even thought about . You saved me money , I think I might try those amber 1157 led Sylvania bulbs
when you tested the 2nd set of LED bulbs, you were comparing them to 2 incandescent bulbs on the driver side lighting up when she hit the brakes, vs only the one (outside) LED bulb on the passenger side actually lighting up when they hit the brake peddle..
I agree that is playing with fire having the first and second bulb. But I would add some custom made reflector. The white ones are not brighter because the red lens filtered the white light reducing the amount of light visible while the red bulb had a red filter that did not filter any light making it brighter.
Really wish I had seen this vid before purchasing new LEDs for my '13 Corolla. I'm not sure now if the bulbs I ordered will have the same lighting issues as the first two tests. There was a lot of thought and planning (and money) was put into this video. Glad you found the right bulb in the end.
Thanks for making this, always wondered, but you did the legwork!! Okay, so I keep most of my yodas stock ish, but when the next taillight bulb goes out, I’ll invest in these. 30 years old and I’ve only replaced 1 bulb in the rear! Uhh, taillight housing.
You can still use the white ones, just put them in the reverse lamps. Then look for Amber ones for the turn signals and add an LED compatible flasher relay to counter hyper blinking.
Great video. Thank you. I just noticed that they changed the design on the lights. Now they all look like the one it reflects backwards. Even the red ones. Does anyone have a link to the red good ones? Old style i guess
Your video is very good and helpful. Thank you for the effort to help others decide on what L.E.D.s to choose as a replacement of incandescent bulbs. 🙂
At 5:35 on the video, the bulb on the top is already lit up as a brake light. It looks as if the bulb is not put in correctly. The lower bulb looks to be working as intended.
Use the brake light LEDs from vLEDs. The V6 versions are very expensive, but they are worth it. They are incredibly bright. They have lifetime warranties and are reliable. They are definitely different in terms of brake light vs. driving light brightness. They are the only ones I use.
Because the diodes light up instantly compared to the resistance needed to illuminate the filament in incandescent bulbs. Also, LED's don't reflect as incandescents do
True, TBH it means LED on brake lights is safer, than incandescent bulbs. It gives more reaction time for driver behind you. That's probably something you would like to invest if you like to be driving at dark
The difference is less than a tenth of a second. If someone is driving on that tenth of a second, he's already doing it wrong. You're going to be hit no matter what type of bulb you have.
Thanks for spending money and time to make this. Also, thank you in the comments that clarified some details. In Canada the Sylvania bulbs are $50 plus 13% tax. LED has some benefits but it’s not worth 20x the price for me.
Thank you so much for this video. I'm tired of spending money on bulbs that don't perform. Your corncern about the difference between running lights and brake lights is also my concern. It's not safe having so little difference between the two. I've been looking for a bulb for my classic cars where only a couple light up for the running light and the rest for brake lights. Being in the heavy duty trade and seeing the different lights on the semis, I know that that style works best. So again thanks for taking the time and money to show everyone this. 👍👍
Thank you for doing this video. I do agree with you with the first test. Although you do get a brighter light, there still need to be a significant difference between the brightness level of the tail light and the brightness of the break light. I would not have allowed those lights your friend kept to stay in my car.
I wonder how the red rear facing super bright would do in later model reflective tail lights and all the bulbs in reflective tail lights for that matter
In older cars try something simpler .... change from 1157 to P21 5W Bulbs regular incondecent . I noticed ages ago that the European cars like VW's had brighter tail lights in traffic. A quick look at the Part shop revealed the VW's were running P21 5W Bulbs. Now I switch them when I'm dealing with the simple twist in bases. Cheapest upgrade !
thanks 4 video and research...have an old 60's Triumph mc and the 1157 incandescent bulbs keep breaking a thin wire filament due to inherent vibration from motor. l always have to carry spares in saddlebags in the bulb has to be replaced on the run...was thinking of going for the 1st set of bulbs which owner installed and your test...its obvious that the Syvania reds r the best but will they stand up to the vibration from the motor?? oh! u should have wrapped the wires with some tape. U need the color coded wires for testing in case there is a short in the circuits..
Well done buddy, very informative video. Was having the same issue as your mate with not enough difference between normal rear running lights and brake lights, when pedal was pressed. Will look at these bulbs myself now. Cheers from down-under!
I had a travel trailer with dim tail/brake incadesent lights due to no reflectors. I glued a few cents worth tin foil behind the bulbs, being careful not to let the foil have any contact with bare wires etc. What a difference....way brighter...best 5 cents I've ever spent!
Fantastic video! We learned that LED's with side projecting diodes, are designed for housings with chrome reflectors. Chrome paint is NOT chrome! LOL. RED LED's work better than white ones. The cheap-O LED's don't have much light change from running to brake. THAT is a big issue. I've been to that party myself. I don't know what it is, but nearly all those Chinese "bulbs" do that. Sylvania nailed it by wiring them up so more light up when brake is pressed. The cheapies, just use a dropping resister inside the bulb. I recently got a lot of 10 LED 1157's from eBay for $9.00 incl shipping! They are intended for boat and utility trailers with those round or square bolt-on housings. Since these housing usually do NOT have a reflector, these LED's have only a monolithic disc array all facing directly back with NO side emission. They are also the defacto bluish white color. Now....Since I learned my lesson on that little difference between running and brake light issue, I first tested one out by using a socket from an old car and my bench 12 volt supply. Yep! going from running to brake was hardly noticeable! When I powered up just one wire at a time, I noticed that the running light was actually brighter than the brake! Hmm. So, I reversed the supply lead and powered up the "brake" wire, then connected the "running" wire. OMG, now there was a significant change from running to brake! Concluded that the idiots wired the bulbs backwards! I filed a complaint and they finally admitted to a problem and issued me a full refund. So, what did I do? I carefully took each lamp apart, turned the wafer disc 180º, resoldered and bingo! They now work fine in my trailers! Yes, there is a decent difference from running to brake light now!
i think the odd looking skinny sides bulb might be best in that car IF you lined the housing with the bright side of HD kitchen foil wrap.. id like to see you try it..
Have you ever thought about aftermarket, custom lenses, that make the tail & brake lights, separate? Or modifying your stock wiring to do that? Like the last LEDs you tested, but it's a whole socket on each side, that stays off, until you press the brakes. The brake lights are a different pattern. Those are my favorite. They look great, and they're so noticeable. Someone has to be passed out drunk, asleep, or purposely trying to rear-end you.
Good video, I agree with your decision for the red sylvanias. Did you notice when the l.e.d. were side by side with the incandescent bulbs, the reaction time was marginally quicker for brake response?
Not sure if it's what I think it means, but the red Sylvania bulbs are marked for 3 watts. The white Sylvania in comparison to them are 2.5 watts. It could be the difference you seen.
Awesome video! I agree with you about the first bulbs you tested, I don’t feel like that’s very safe either. I really like the second to last ones you tested though, the red LEDs I’m gonna see if I can find a pair of those at my local Walmart or parts store
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Just saw this video. A general rule for LED bulbs is use a colored bulb behind a colored lens, such as red led behind red lens. That's what emergency equipment installers do. It give you the best output of brightness/intensity. Keep up the good work.
Some do, unless you use the installer that upfitted my vehicle. ‘Eye roll’ lol
I was about to say I didn't how the red got washed out because of the first white leds.
The idea behind using the same color of LED chips behind colored lens is because unlike incandescent bulbs (which have quite a broad spectrum of light, ie. they actually shine more colors (orangfe, red, blue, yellow etc) with different intesity, due to principle on which they work, basically being a very hot wire) the led chips are actually quite good with having a narrow light spectrum. Meaning the red led chips have majority of their light output in red color, and only a little of other colors. The red lens basically work as a filter, so they block majority of other colors and only pass the red color.
That is why you have the best color accuracy and brightness using the same color led chip as the color of the lens. The transmission of the light is most efficient in that setup. While you can have a white led behind red lens, it will work, but the overall result will not be the best.
Chrysler van's (Caravans) taillights are LED, but they are red lights behind the lens.
Seriously dude, thank you so much for spending your money to find out what works best. You the real mvp!
Thanks man im glad i could help the community, thanks for watching!
@@PoorManMods I'm doing the same but when i find the best one i send back all the others to Amazon and have a full refund 😆
The lens will filter all light except red spectrum, so you lose brightness with a white bulb. Also white will look pink
Yeah that makes a lot of sense, thanks!
Nice information, I'd already bought red LED for the taillight
but the light clearly looked pinker with the red leds. i found the red color to be better with the white led but the light was brighter with the red led. 13:36
I've got JDM astar max in red and they are the best I've ever tried. Extremely bright and when they light up they are red red not pinkish red as you are correct white bulbs in red taillight housing looks pinkish.
Yes. That's why the original incandescent lights are white?.... @@jamesf9610
My oem "Made in Japan" 1157 and 1156 bulbs are still kicking after 30 years in the Supra. Great quality bulbs back then.
Damn
I bet they are just as bright if not brighter than brand new bulbs.
Still kicken?
@@onesikm3 Yup, still working fine. Only upgraded the headlights to led.
Everything was better back then
I sometimes use UL rated aluminum tape as reflectors. It’s my secret tip. They can withstand high temps and reflects light perfectly
Aluminum foil may work if it doesn't contact the electrical leads.
Put aluminum tape in the housings.
i did and it didnt work the best lol
Was worth a shot I guess. Sucks it didn't work
No, use aluminum foil with double-sided tape. Foil is smoother and should reflect light better than aluminum tape.
There is a much much better chrome paint than what you used and it actually looks like a nice shiny pc of chrome and it works wonderful for such use.
Actually white paint works very good
The issue with bulbs that share the same chips for parking and brake light is that often they interfere with the cruise control when the parking lights are on. That's because the chips are shared and there is voltage in the brake light circuit, tricking the computer into "thinking" that you're pressing the brakes. Found that out the hard way on my Elantra.
I wonder if those sylvania bulbs would have the same issue? I wouldn't think so, but maybe you have a shot showing only the other two chips light up when you press the brake (while the parking lights are off)? That would show for sure whether or not any chips are shared.
Go to 3:14. That is the absolute best part when someone off camera says "I can't find it" when referring to the brake pedal. So cute. Thanks for making this video, very helpful.
Haha my ex girlfriend 🤣
White led are composite rgb chips, while red is just red. So you get more intensity with just red. Also as mentioned earlier the tail light housing acts as a filter letting only red go through
thats not true. Thats why RGBW exists.
You can buy a daylight color LED that isnt composed of a RGB chip.
The original post is very old, but I’ll correct it anyway. White LEDs are actually blue LEDs where the blue + UV light of the LED excite a phosphor material that glows with a white color (the yellow color of the LED is actually the phosphor). The output spectrum of a typical white LED is weak in the red and strong in the blue, so behind a red filter the light will be relatively weak. The light from a red LED passes through a red filter unfiltered.
I don't know if it's already been mentioned in one of the comments, but all the Sylvania LEDs were noticeably quicker to light than the incandescent. That's a big plus for a brake light. The other LEDs were not as quick as the Sylvanias (to my eyes), but were still quicker to light than the incandescent.
And I agree that you want the brightness of the brake lights to be discernably different from the regular running lights.
Great video! Glad I came across while search Amazon for LEDs. It's made a huge difference in what I'll buy.
I had the EXACT same problem with choosing LED bulbs from the auto shop and getting disappointing results from the best brands. I'm glad I got to your video!
A lot of LED manufacturers suggest using red lights with red lenses. Because the white tends to look more pinkish because of the brighter white color.
But thank you for showing the differences in quality LEDs to cheap LEDs
People like you make life easier. Thank you 👍
Thank you!
Thanks for this video. I bought the Sylvania 1157r to swap out the all the stop light and running lights on the rear end of my car (2018 Hyundai)
The fast response of the brake light and how Sylvania handled the lower light output is what sold me.
My old RV has 3 tail lights on each side and I tried the cheap amazon LEDs and had the problem with the difference in brightness from running light to stop light not being very different. I'm glad I found your video. Thanks!
Man thank you... The ones I got from a well known online LED supplier did not have significant difference in brightness either and I almost got rear ended by an elderly woman with a lead foot. I just ordered mine.. Thanks for putting your cash into figuring this out for the rest of us. ..A grateful FB owner.
Thanks for watching! Glad I could help and glad you and the car are safe!
I had the exact same problem with a pair of led globes i bought on ebay. No difference between brake & tail lights. Dangerous for night time driving. Went back to standard globes. Thanks for the great advice, results are awesome. I'll try again. Cheers.
Found this while researching switching my 62 to LED.... this made me decide to stay with normal 1157s... even the reds don't look better than the left side in the video to me. Thanks for posting this.
@ 14:23 - “ Which one would you pick? I know which one I would pick.”
I would pick the incandescents, because it doesn’t look like any of the LEDs you tested were any brighter, in taillight or brake light mode, than the standard incandescent bulbs. The LED reaction time from taillight to brake light is a little quicker, but if the LEDs aren’t brighter, why bother?
cbpitt01 Yeap leds in cars are a pain. Reaction time is the only advantage (and 3rd brake lite can usually do that task). LEDs in cars don’t even last longer than bulbs before they start to flicker and flash. Don’t waste your money guys! Standard is best.
I've noticed that they don't seem to last either. However, lately they have been made with heat sinks which seems to be the problem of all LED chips. They work well but need to vent the heat they generate. I just picked up some 1156 bulbs from Amazon that are designed for RVs and they are really nice quality and bright with a ceramic ring at the base of the bulb making it about 3/8" longer than a standard bulb.
$15 CAD for 2
www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B077GVCH56/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I swapped back to my OEM units as certain led elements started to flicker as they started to fail. Just something to keep an eye out after awhile. Some vehicles will want a resistor if the lighting system is sensitive to voltages. It's been a couple years now, and perhaps the ones on the market are better hopefully. I've also been waiting to replace my interior lighting to LED just in case I have one of those "DOH!" moments of leaving them on all night. Which is why I have chosen not to do a review as of yet on my own personal channel. But great to see someone else providing their insights and product introduction to the various 1157's. Thank you. :) Cheers
This is exactly the type of video I was looking for. That change between tail light and brake light makes all the difference. That will make or break that mod for me.
Thank you.I bought 1156 for my lawntractor headlights,and even as many leds that are on them,it's a whiter light,just not bright enough.The yellow light coming from the standard bulb goes about 4 ft, further.I'll look at the Sylvania options.
Good video. 4:57 looks like the inboard passenger side bulb is seated wrong, or backwards. It wasn't cycling.
A couple of things - first up, I *think* the second set of bulbs you tested are "handed" LED bulbs. One pin goes through a voltage regulator, giving dim light for sidelights, the other pin goes straight to the LED array and has no voltage regulator. If you look at the test footage at 5:30, one bulb is brighter than the other. The dimmer bulb gets brighter when the brake is pressed, while the other bulb stays the same.
If you had rotated the brighter bulb 180 degrees and tried again, you might have found they work better. You might want to re-test them? I could be dead wrong, but I've had LED brake bulbs do this for me, and it confusilated me for a while.
The other thing is - the white bulbs probably are brighter (or equally bright) but your tail light glass is red. It filters out everything except red light. The rest of the light energy is wasted as heat within the plastic (they'll get a fraction of a degree hotter) when the light goes through the red coloured plastic. This happens with incandescent bulbs as well as LED's.
Red LED's only emit wavelengths of light in the red portion of the visible electromagnetic spectrum, which will mostly pass through the red plastic without being wasted as heat.
Third - if you've got a paper laminator, cut out circular pieces of aluminium foil with a hole in the middle just big enough to get the bulb through, then laminate them. Cut them out, but be careful to make sure there's no aluminium exposed at the edges (which could cause a short). The whole thing should be covered in lamination plastic. Put them on the bulbs, then put the bulbs in the sockets. Hey presto, reflectors for cheap.
I did it for some trailer lights and it improved the light output by about 25%.
I've got a 1974 Jensen Healey that is sorely lacking in the illumination department. You just helped me nail down the brake and marker light choices...next up...finding the best choice for 7" round LED headlights !!
Another thanks for the post- I was having the exact same problem on a trailer I built. Showed exactly what the problem was, and the fixes. BTW, here in 2021, the bulbs you recommend are not on Amazon anymore- just the design from Sylvania that didn't work for your Supra. All of the links go to that model. But seeing what the issue was, and the great explanation was very helpful.
Thank you that saves me money the cheap stock bulb performs the best.
Helped me a whole bunch! Thank you! Got a 1965 Galaxie and a 1963 Fairlane Ranch wagon that will be getting LED upgrades.
Well done. Thanks for using the scientific process and being thorough. This was very helpful.
That's what I was looking for. simple comparison, get to the point and very helpful. these videos need to be supported. Thank you for the video and for your time.
10:25 for the best lights
Wow. I went down this rabbit hole about 10 years ago with my Datsun 240z, and then a few years back again for my Nissan 300ZX. LED bulbs have come a long way in ten years. Another difficult task was to find an amber front turn LED bulb that was equivalent to the incandescent. I did find them, but, like you, went through several bulbs in the process. But the end result, especially in the decrease of amperage load on the system, is well worth it.Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for watching!
Thanks for buying all these bulbs. They’re so expensive for what they are. You’re awesome
Thanks for watching
Just bought some Sylvania's for my Toyota Starlet Glanza yesterday without doing research and i'm glad of the results because i ordered them all RED and AMBER. I'll have to change the reverse/license plate lights later on. Thanks a lot for the video!
Glad I could help!
Thank you so much for posting this test of the different 1157 LED bulbs...I wasn't sure what to purchase until I saw your video. Sorry you spent all that money to do this test but it paid off in the end. And I'm sure you made a lot of people happy at your expense, saving them time and money and you may have saved someone from buying the ones your friend purchased, because I don't believe they are very safe either!! Now I'm going to get me the Sylvania 1157 Red bulbs. God bless you for sharing this...
Glad I could help! Thanks for watching!
I also bought a very similar LED bulb for my front turning lights. I took it out as I noticed that there is little difference between when I use the turning signals. Took them out and replaced them with a more expensive but amazing LED bulbs from VLED.
You always match the bulb color to the lens color, it's how they're designed. Awesome video and thanks for making this! Always difficult when buying LED bulbs that aren't 194's
Thanks for testing out the various led’s! I was concerned on the brightness difference when brake light came on and obviously only one worked in your experiment
good test- think I stay with incandercent bulb for now
Solid review. Im currently bulb shopping for my 2018 f-150. I had no idea they even made red l.e.d. bulbs for brake lights and this was a real eye opener for me. I definitely agree with your overall choice. Good work 👍✋👍✋
Yeah, about that housing. I tested red LED bulbs in my Harley which has a chrome reflector surface. The LEDs each produce a point light source with parallel beams of light. When these beams reflect off of the chrome surface it's still a point of light that's been reflected. So I created a white reflective surface by installing self adhesive vinyl sheet. This was more effective as a reflector because it diffused the beams as it reflected them into the lens, thereby lighting up the entire lens, not just a single point on it. The lens then directs the light to the desired target. They're now a lot more visible. Also, I installed a unit that flashes the brake lights causing an attention getter.
Oh nice thats awesome!
Finally!! Your the video I've been looking for! An actual in the lens housing comparison of LEDS.Thank you for your time and money spent.
Fantastic video. You set up the tests beautifully! Great job, PMM!!! Product specifcations and quality DO matter. God bless!
thank you!!
3157 are twice as bright as 1157 and fit the same socket. So-called "OFF-ROAD" bulbs are exactly what we need for the street.
I had a set of those white Sylvanias (the last pair you reviewed) in a trailer. They were pretty much useless and you had to be really paying attention to see any difference between tail and brake. The trailer light housings had no reflectors and were just black. So I did the chrome paint thing. The difference was so minuscule. Either way, all that was visible was a faint, hollow 6-point-star pattern due to the Fresnel type taillight lenses. After a year, half of the led chips in one bulb were dead. I swapped over to a regular LED trailer light kit. Now, I have good bright taillights and brilliant brake lights.
I appreciate you doing this study. I have to say I’ve decided to stay with incandescent after all of this as I see no improvement in intensity and for the cost I can replace several incandescents.
6:58 was expected. It would appear that the Sylvania LED bulbs were designed with the idea that most cars use a reflector behind the bulbs, which would then reflect the light towards the red lens.
I thought so too... but they’re garbage even in a reflective housing
This is so dope, thanks for doing such a detailed and comprehensive breakdown of each bulb - taking one for the rest of us!
Thanks for watching!
I use the backward facing Sylvanias. It's weird next to the halogens because where the halogens have kind of a hot spot in the middle of the lake on the MR2 it now has kind of a shadow. Thanks for sharing your findings. I'll be going back to incandescent for brake lights.
Freddy, the Supra is not dumb... There should be a reflector behind each tail light bulb. They're just missing on yours. I remember seeing them when I had mine and had to replace a bulb. Look it up and try to get them, they'll make a big difference with those Sylvanias.
I guess that makes sense, my supra is missing alot of things haha thanks man!
Poor Man Mods You're very welcome. Love watching Supra videos by you, even though it makes me miss mine dearly...
I have a 77 Toyota pickup and it has reflectors. Just went to LEDs and used the Zevo red for the brake lights. I also cleaned and polished the lenses real well. But also covered the reflector and panted the tan colored plastic housing gloss white. Remember gloss white reflects the most of the colors. I then plugged the socket holes with a small piece of paper town and cleaned the aluminum reflector, then sprayed it, and the new gloss white painted area, with the 2x gloss clear, to increase the shiny mirror effect.
@ KK-M5-E39 I have to do a "me too" on that. I had my old MK3 and after having all the mods done (lexus mod, hybrid turbo etc etc), it went for the head to be properly gas flowed and the mechanic (long story short) stole it. Police said they knew he had done it but not QUITE enough proof. Insurance paid out but only a tiny fraction of what the car was worth.
Miss the old girl so much.
I'm very impressed with your effort. Thank you!
Tony, thank you for your enlightening research. Well done my friend! Comparing the incandescent beside the various LED you tested, I was disappointed as well. Honestly, with the best Sylvania Red vs the standard OEM incandescent, I did not see enough difference in brightness to justify the extra expense. But again thank you for your great work!...well done and very objective!
Thanks for making this video . I was searching for a while to get more info on switching to a led and the brightness difference , and didn't find much . Your video showed things I hadn't even thought about . You saved me money , I think I might try those amber 1157 led Sylvania bulbs
Thank you for a great comparison, your time and expense is much appreciated.
Thanks!
when you tested the 2nd set of LED bulbs, you were comparing them to 2 incandescent bulbs on the driver side lighting up when she hit the brakes, vs only the one (outside) LED bulb on the passenger side actually lighting up when they hit the brake peddle..
I agree that is playing with fire having the first and second bulb. But I would add some custom made reflector. The white ones are not brighter because the red lens filtered the white light reducing the amount of light visible while the red bulb had a red filter that did not filter any light making it brighter.
Most excellent video! Two thumbs up. I think I'll stay with the good 'ol incandescent.
You're correct. The parking lights should standout when braking IMO. I was also surprised that the red bulbs were btighter than the white leds.
Really wish I had seen this vid before purchasing new LEDs for my '13 Corolla. I'm not sure now if the bulbs I ordered will have the same lighting issues as the first two tests. There was a lot of thought and planning (and money) was put into this video. Glad you found the right bulb in the end.
Thanks for making this, always wondered, but you did the legwork!!
Okay, so I keep most of my yodas stock ish, but when the next taillight bulb goes out, I’ll invest in these. 30 years old and I’ve only replaced 1 bulb in the rear! Uhh, taillight housing.
You can still use the white ones, just put them in the reverse lamps. Then look for Amber ones for the turn signals and add an LED compatible flasher relay to counter hyper blinking.
I like the red one to. Thank for doing all the work, I have been trying to decide which LED for my tail lights on my MX5 MK3 NC.
A man of practical science. I salute you!
Great video. Thank you.
I just noticed that they changed the design on the lights. Now they all look like the one it reflects backwards. Even the red ones. Does anyone have a link to the red good ones? Old style i guess
I like them for the visual as much as the brightness, probably more
That first bulb looks like it is wired backwards 4:16 .
Like the brake and running are backwards
Your video is very good and helpful. Thank you for the effort to help others decide on what L.E.D.s to choose as a replacement of incandescent bulbs. 🙂
Thanks!
The bulb on 10:30 is off-road ONLY, it's a 35W brake light.
Get the aglind as I did, very good.
At 5:35 on the video, the bulb on the top is already lit up as a brake light. It looks as if the bulb is not put in correctly. The lower bulb looks to be working as intended.
Yep looks like one bulb defective absolutely no change when brake is applied. Junk bulb 4 sure nice catch.
Do they last like the incandescent bulb ?
I got red LEDs a few years back and they were supper dim. This blew my mind at the end.
Use the brake light LEDs from vLEDs. The V6 versions are very expensive, but they are worth it. They are incredibly bright. They have lifetime warranties and are reliable. They are definitely different in terms of brake light vs. driving light brightness.
They are the only ones I use.
Also if you notice the LED is on and off quicker then the incandescent bulb.
I noticed that as well!!!
Because the diodes light up instantly compared to the resistance needed to illuminate the filament in incandescent bulbs.
Also, LED's don't reflect as incandescents do
True, TBH it means LED on brake lights is safer, than incandescent bulbs. It gives more reaction time for driver behind you. That's probably something you would like to invest if you like to be driving at dark
The difference is less than a tenth of a second. If someone is driving on that tenth of a second, he's already doing it wrong. You're going to be hit no matter what type of bulb you have.
@@bigbill2444 If you're going 100km/h that's almost 3 meters
Thanks for spending money and time to make this. Also, thank you in the comments that clarified some details. In Canada the Sylvania bulbs are $50 plus 13% tax. LED has some benefits but it’s not worth 20x the price for me.
And they will fail long before their supposed 25-50k hrs lifespan rating.
Thank you so much for this video. I'm tired of spending money on bulbs that don't perform. Your corncern about the difference between running lights and brake lights is also my concern. It's not safe having so little difference between the two. I've been looking for a bulb for my classic cars where only a couple light up for the running light and the rest for brake lights. Being in the heavy duty trade and seeing the different lights on the semis, I know that that style works best. So again thanks for taking the time and money to show everyone this. 👍👍
Thank you for doing this video. I do agree with you with the first test. Although you do get a brighter light, there still need to be a significant difference between the brightness level of the tail light and the brightness of the break light. I would not have allowed those lights your friend kept to stay in my car.
Thanks for watching!
I wonder how the red rear facing super bright would do in later model reflective tail lights and all the bulbs in reflective tail lights for that matter
Thanks so much for your research. I chose the white LED one.
In older cars try something simpler .... change from 1157 to
P21 5W Bulbs regular incondecent .
I noticed ages ago that the European cars like VW's had brighter tail lights in traffic.
A quick look at the Part shop revealed the VW's were running P21 5W Bulbs.
Now I switch them when I'm dealing with the simple twist in bases. Cheapest upgrade !
thanks 4 video and research...have an old 60's Triumph mc and the 1157 incandescent bulbs keep breaking a thin wire filament due to inherent vibration from motor. l always have to carry spares in saddlebags in the bulb has to be replaced on the run...was thinking of going for the 1st set of bulbs which owner installed and your test...its obvious that the Syvania reds r the best but will they stand up to the vibration from the motor??
oh! u should have wrapped the wires with some tape. U need the color coded wires for testing in case there is a short in the circuits..
Well done buddy, very informative video. Was having the same issue as your mate with not enough difference between normal rear running lights and brake lights, when pedal was pressed. Will look at these bulbs myself now. Cheers from down-under!
I had a travel trailer with dim tail/brake incadesent lights due to no reflectors. I glued a few cents worth tin foil behind the bulbs, being careful not to let the foil have any contact with bare wires etc. What a difference....way brighter...best 5 cents I've ever spent!
Fantastic video! We learned that LED's with side projecting diodes, are designed for housings with chrome reflectors. Chrome paint is NOT chrome! LOL. RED LED's work better than white ones. The cheap-O LED's don't have much light change from running to brake. THAT is a big issue. I've been to that party myself. I don't know what it is, but nearly all those Chinese "bulbs" do that. Sylvania nailed it by wiring them up so more light up when brake is pressed. The cheapies, just use a dropping resister inside the bulb. I recently got a lot of 10 LED 1157's from eBay for $9.00 incl shipping! They are intended for boat and utility trailers with those round or square bolt-on housings. Since these housing usually do NOT have a reflector, these LED's have only a monolithic disc array all facing directly back with NO side emission. They are also the defacto bluish white color. Now....Since I learned my lesson on that little difference between running and brake light issue, I first tested one out by using a socket from an old car and my bench 12 volt supply. Yep! going from running to brake was hardly noticeable! When I powered up just one wire at a time, I noticed that the running light was actually brighter than the brake! Hmm. So, I reversed the supply lead and powered up the "brake" wire, then connected the "running" wire. OMG, now there was a significant change from running to brake! Concluded that the idiots wired the bulbs backwards! I filed a complaint and they finally admitted to a problem and issued me a full refund. So, what did I do? I carefully took each lamp apart, turned the wafer disc 180º, resoldered and bingo! They now work fine in my trailers! Yes, there is a decent difference from running to brake light now!
Great video. I went with sylvania zevo 3157A in my 08 ranger for marker lights with reflective internals. Works great
Use a couple of the super bright bulbs for reverse lights
i think the odd looking skinny sides bulb might be best in that car IF you lined the housing with the bright side of HD kitchen foil wrap.. id like to see you try it..
What a great product review, one of the best on you-who tube and I love my power probe also!!
That was amazing, thank you for this post.
Have you ever thought about aftermarket, custom lenses, that make the tail & brake lights, separate? Or modifying your stock wiring to do that? Like the last LEDs you tested, but it's a whole socket on each side, that stays off, until you press the brakes. The brake lights are a different pattern. Those are my favorite. They look great, and they're so noticeable. Someone has to be passed out drunk, asleep, or purposely trying to rear-end you.
I'll go with the red Sylvania you have recommended. Thanks.
Thank you for making this evaluation. It has helped me find the bulb that will work the best for my car.
youre welcome!
Great video! But why not still use the first bulb and have it setup where only have one bulb is lite for running and 2 bulbs for brake?
Try using HVAC reflective tape to make your stock housings bounce the light thru the lens..
Good video, I agree with your decision for the red sylvanias. Did you notice when the l.e.d. were side by side with the incandescent bulbs, the reaction time was marginally quicker for brake response?
Thank you! im gonna grab the Sylvania red ones for my civic ej1 coupe!
Thanks for watching!
Lucky me, my subarus have reflective shields in the taillights..
always go with the color of the lens.. except turn signals if lens is clear.
Not sure if it's what I think it means, but the red Sylvania bulbs are marked for 3 watts. The white Sylvania in comparison to them are 2.5 watts. It could be the difference you seen.
Outstanding video, your the best
Thanks for making this video
I have the same problem with 1157 led witch one to buy
Thank you for the time effort and money spent.
Awesome video! I agree with you about the first bulbs you tested, I don’t feel like that’s very safe either. I really like the second to last ones you tested though, the red LEDs I’m gonna see if I can find a pair of those at my local Walmart or parts store