I have been experimenting with LED lighting for some of my cars. While my observations are anecdotal I have formed rather firm opinions based on my experiences. I have tried a significant variety of LED arrangements and types in four different types of cars, Jag, 56 Dodge, 63 Avanti, Tiger. Only the SMT (Surface Mount Type) exceed the brightness of a conventional bulb in all directions. Essentially, the lens and reflectors on our cars were designed for light from a single point source, the bulb filament. LEDS like Steve shows mounted on a board, are not as bright as SMT LEDS and they have a very narrow directional emission. Typically they are bright only when viewed from a very specific angle. And what are the chances the ditz on the phone combing her hair is going to be at that angle, let alone see it anyway.
I have found SMT LEDS mounted in the standard base mount work the best in our application. They should be front and side firing lights. But again, because they are not a single source light, therefore the parabolic reflector and the fresnel lens really can’t do their jobs. The result is a less than bright functional light visible form all angles. To be honest, I went back to a conventional bulb on the TIger. But what I did do that made a huge improvement, greater than LEDS, was to get the lamp reflectors chrome plated. Now the lamps can do their jobs.
What I am looking for are the red lEDS that police and fire service vehicles use. Now those suckers are bright.
Here’s a sight for SMT lamps.
http://www.ledlight.com/t20-wedge-18-ul … light.aspx
TT