DRL/High Beam LED Conversion Kit (Part II)

[KuroNekko]

Has anyone found any aftermarket headlight assembly for the Kizashi? I can’t seem to find any

Aftermarket? Likely none exist. The Kizashi was too low of a volume seller for aftermarket parts like headlights. Your best bet is used parts from junk yards as new OE headlights would be hard to find and expensive.

[bootymac]

Yeah, the LED kit market is definitely larger now and even places like Autozone are currently selling LED conversion kits from major names like Philips. While the drop-in kits are not DOT approved, they are sold for "offroad use only". Given that most new cars come with factory LEDs, it's just common now to see LED headlights in the 6000K color temp. The kit bulbs are also better now at placing the emitters in a way to most closely resemble a halogen bulb's filament. This allows the LED bulb to cast a light pattern more closely to the halogen's pattern, which is how it was designed to be. Indexing is another important aspect in which newer bulbs are easier to rotate within the headlight to optimize the reflection. Another aspect is that newer kits also have a wider range of operating voltage. Some work at 8 to 24 Volts while older kits like mine are 12 to 24 V. The lower voltage threshold allows vehicles with low voltage DRL systems to run the LED kit without issue. PWM still need capacitors though. Lastly, it appears that many kits now have smaller fans and heat diffusers so that the bulb can fit inside sealed headlights like our Kizashi's.

If anything, these new developments are why I would get a newer LED kit because though my old one still works, the light pattern can be better. I've wrote about it before but I have an LED kit in my motorcycle which perfectly resembled the halogen H4's filament reflection. It casts the exact same light pattern on the road but with a brighter and whiter light. I'm sure the headlight is also more noticeable to others on the road, aiding in safety.
Basically, there have been a lot of developments that make LED kits better now for conversion and because the Kizashi's bulbs are so difficult to change despite being prone to failure, it's a serious consideration for Kizashi owners.

What do you think about Philips Ultinon LEDs? I recently installed a set on an older vehicle with H7 reflectors and couldn't believe how well they worked. Significantly brighter yet the glare and cut off were acceptable - I imagine they would work very well with projectors? Only potential issue is that they only draw 20W so it may trigger a bulb out warning on some vehicles.

https://www.powerbulbs.com/ca/product/p ... ed-h7-twin

[KuroNekko]

Yeah, the LED kit market is definitely larger now and even places like Autozone are currently selling LED conversion kits from major names like Philips. While the drop-in kits are not DOT approved, they are sold for "offroad use only". Given that most new cars come with factory LEDs, it's just common now to see LED headlights in the 6000K color temp. The kit bulbs are also better now at placing the emitters in a way to most closely resemble a halogen bulb's filament. This allows the LED bulb to cast a light pattern more closely to the halogen's pattern, which is how it was designed to be. Indexing is another important aspect in which newer bulbs are easier to rotate within the headlight to optimize the reflection. Another aspect is that newer kits also have a wider range of operating voltage. Some work at 8 to 24 Volts while older kits like mine are 12 to 24 V. The lower voltage threshold allows vehicles with low voltage DRL systems to run the LED kit without issue. PWM still need capacitors though. Lastly, it appears that many kits now have smaller fans and heat diffusers so that the bulb can fit inside sealed headlights like our Kizashi's.

If anything, these new developments are why I would get a newer LED kit because though my old one still works, the light pattern can be better. I've wrote about it before but I have an LED kit in my motorcycle which perfectly resembled the halogen H4's filament reflection. It casts the exact same light pattern on the road but with a brighter and whiter light. I'm sure the headlight is also more noticeable to others on the road, aiding in safety.
Basically, there have been a lot of developments that make LED kits better now for conversion and because the Kizashi's bulbs are so difficult to change despite being prone to failure, it's a serious consideration for Kizashi owners.

What do you think about Philips Ultinon LEDs? I recently installed a set on an older vehicle with H7 reflectors and couldn't believe how well they worked. Significantly brighter yet the glare and cut off were acceptable - I imagine they would work very well with projectors? Only potential issue is that they only draw 20W so it may trigger a bulb out warning on some vehicles.

https://www.powerbulbs.com/ca/product/p ... ed-h7-twin

I have no personal experience with the LED bulb kits from Philips but I imagine they would be excellent and really designed to reflect much like a halogen. The market for these have really matured and now you get brand name LED kits like the Philips even in Autozone. I recall that when I started the headlight conversion project almost ten years ago, you could only get kits from non-OEMs thus the quality and performance were really hit and miss.

As for the wattage issue and warning systems, they are more easily remedied these days with relays and resistors. In fact, there are now products specifically made for the issue. When I first got into LED kits, capacitor kits didn't exist to deal with Pulsed Width Modulation for DRLs. I recall that my first capacitors from VLEDs and TRS were things they appeared to make in-house to address the issues people like me were having with LED kits. However, these capacitors lasted about seven years and I just recently replaced a set with Morimoto capacitors which are significantly better. I recently had the passenger side LED for the DRL/High Beam go dim (not out). They came back to proper operation with the new capacitors from Morimoto. I took photos but didn't get around to posting it. Anyhow, these are the capacitors:
https://www.theretrofitsource.com/morim ... quantity=1

When my actual LED kit dies, I might just look at products such as Philips Ultinon. They appear to be cheaper than the fancy aftermarket stuff while being more accessible. This would make testing them out and returning much more convenient if they just don't work well for a specific application.

[bootymac]

I came across this incredible resource and wanted to share: https://www.bulbfacts.com/led-kits/char ... ctors.html

They test various halogen, LED and HID bulbs in both reflector and projector headlights. It is quite something to see how well some of the LEDs perform in projector headlights!

[KuroNekko]

I came across this incredible resource and wanted to share: https://www.bulbfacts.com/led-kits/char ... ctors.html

They test various halogen, LED and HID bulbs in both reflector and projector headlights. It is quite something to see how well some of the LEDs perform in projector headlights!

Awesome! Thanks. My DRL/high beam LED kit is definitely now malfunctioning even with new Morimoto capacitors so it's time to replace them. I'll be reviewing this site before making a purchase to replace the old kit. The old kit was something I bought on clearance from TRS and though the pattern was not great, the bulbs lasted several years. Now, the selection is better than ever and even major names like Philips are in the aftermarket LED kit scene. I was going to check out the Philips Ultinon per your recommendation as the application is H7 in reflectors.

[bootymac]

I came across this incredible resource and wanted to share: https://www.bulbfacts.com/led-kits/char ... ctors.html

They test various halogen, LED and HID bulbs in both reflector and projector headlights. It is quite something to see how well some of the LEDs perform in projector headlights!

Awesome! Thanks. My DRL/high beam LED kit is definitely now malfunctioning even with new Morimoto capacitors so it's time to replace them. I'll be reviewing this site before making a purchase to replace the old kit. The old kit was something I bought on clearance from TRS and though the pattern was not great, the bulbs lasted several years. Now, the selection is better than ever and even major names like Philips are in the aftermarket LED kit scene. I was going to check out the Philips Ultinon per your recommendation as the application is H7 in reflectors.

I have the "V2" Philips Ultinon Essentials that are fan cooled (V1 are passively cooled with braids). They didn't do so well in high beam reflector applications based on Bulbfacts testing. However, I think I would value beam pattern the most since they double as DRLs.