When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
if you think the LEDs on your Lexus are not correctly aimed, take the vehicle to an Inspection Station and have them verified, in CA the CHP will test and correct for a $25 fee.
i don't care what your background is. I'm going off actual users experience and not some paper numbers. When my tri-beam on the rcf lights farther and brighter than any of my friends IS OR RC (yes I tried it) on a dark stretch of highway, that equates it being superior.
Yeah that's not how headlights work. A layperson will automatically think that foreground illumination=efficacy. Absolutely not. Otherwise every ricer in their 90s Honda Civics with $20 HID ebay kits will outperform $200,000 luxury cars due to the massive foreground they put out. LED headlights are still in their infancy, and as with HIDs, need time to mature where they're on par. Heat management, duty cycle/durability, and control systems and sub systems are still getting better every generation. The current standout for LED headlights is Koito BI-LED out of the Prius V. The same manufacturer as your Lexus Tri-beam LED (I told you I'm up to date with my light knowledge right?). The reason why the same manufacturer can create a high performing LED on a family car and a poor performing unit on a much more expensive car (such as your RC) is one reason: size. Your RC headlights look great, but the application itself calls for a small size. The Prius has a huge goofy looking headlight, but can better manage a large projection unit with excellent heat management. A Lexus must be reliable and you can't push that much juice through your tri-LED and expect it to last long given the heat management capability of such a small unit.
So is the tri-LED nice? Absolutely. Is it high performing? I'm afraid not.
My intent for pointing this out in my OP is to not get anyones hopes up for wanting to swap out.
Usually people who invested in something (say a car) are more inclined to believe theirs is the best, despite evidence to the contrary.
Not me. I have a 3IS with the bi-LED option, but I'm the first to admit it does not compare to my RX350 bi-xenon projector swap I did in my CT200h (a 10 year old technology)
if you think the LEDs on your Lexus are not correctly aimed, take the vehicle to an Inspection Station and have them verified, in CA the CHP will test and correct for a $25 fee.
To the guy with the charts... I bet you also believe the magazine 1/4 mile times for cars too. Yup, Lexus made a significantly more expensive, yet inferior headlight assembly. Using your comparison the standard RC headlights are like the 90's Civics with $20 HIDs and the RC F headlights are like the $200,00 luxury car headlights. Yet the cheaper lights are better.... Okay. I don't need a chart to tell me what my eyes do. I drive at night every night and in the country.
As for being worth the swap, I don't think so. But not because of performance. Because the standard lights work good enough. It's not worth the several grand for the improvement (and yes, it is an improvement).
To the guy with the charts... I bet you also believe the magazine 1/4 mile times for cars too. Yup, Lexus made a significantly more expensive, yet inferior headlight assembly. Using your comparison the standard RC headlights are like the 90's Civics with $20 HIDs and the RC F headlights are like the $200,00 luxury car headlights. Yet the cheaper lights are better.... Okay. I don't need a chart to tell me what my eyes do. I drive at night every night and in the country.
As for being worth the swap, I don't think so. But not because of performance. Because the standard lights work good enough. It's not worth the several grand for the improvement (and yes, it is an improvement).
you can do it yourself for free, that doesn't mean they are properly aimed within the requirements of the law.
personally I would rather pay the $25 and know they are within spec, than to blind oncoming traffic because of my own ignorance.
If still under warranty, the Lexus dealership should be able to do it at no charge.
Originally Posted by mjeds
if you think the LEDs on your Lexus are not correctly aimed, take the vehicle to an Inspection Station and have them verified, in CA the CHP will test and correct for a $25 fee.
If still under warranty, the Lexus dealership should be able to do it at no charge.
wasn't aware they could do it within State Law specs.. I know the Chevy dealer I used for my previous 2 vehicles told me while they could aim them, they did not have the proper equipment to do it within State Spec, and recommended the CHP inspection station.
You must be a graduate of an honorable PhD degree from Google University!!! With that anyone can look up stuff up and be an expert.
Question:. Do you actually own an RCF with the TRIPLE BEAM LEDs you are criticizing about? Or ALL OF YOUR INFORMATION ARE FROM GOOGLE UNIVERSITY?
You still have NOT ANSWERED MY QUESTIONS FROM MY PRIOR POST WHICH IS REPEATED BELOW AS SOME FOLKS TEND TO HAVE SHORT ATTENTION SPANS:
_____________________________
So I'm really wondering if you are that good? Better than all those "lighting engineers" at Lexus and Toyota HQ? Who do you work for? Yourself? ( Not to say that self employment is not good. Many GREAT MINDS quit their"JOBS" AND WORK FOR THEMSELVES AND BECAME GREAT COMPANIES WE ALL KNOW. But for many who tried only few are successful).
So unless you have concrete credentials to back up your claims, please don't knock on our triple beam LEDs. What degrees do you have? From which school? What design awards have you won? What professional association are you a member of? Have you won any "lighting" competitions? Even for a NON ENGINEER like myself, I can tell the difference when I can see further with this light versus some other lights.
The tests you referred to will need some additional third party validation. Too many other variables at play. For example miss aimed head lights at the factory.
______________________
Originally Posted by E46CT
Yeah that's not how headlights work. A layperson will automatically think that foreground illumination=efficacy. Absolutely not. Otherwise every ricer in their 90s Honda Civics with $20 HID ebay kits will outperform $200,000 luxury cars due to the massive foreground they put out. LED headlights are still in their infancy, and as with HIDs, need time to mature where they're on par. Heat management, duty cycle/durability, and control systems and sub systems are still getting better every generation. The current standout for LED headlights is Koito BI-LED out of the Prius V. The same manufacturer as your Lexus Tri-beam LED (I told you I'm up to date with my light knowledge right?). The reason why the same manufacturer can create a high performing LED on a family car and a poor performing unit on a much more expensive car (such as your RC) is one reason: size. Your RC headlights look great, but the application itself calls for a small size. The Prius has a huge goofy looking headlight, but can better manage a large projection unit with excellent heat management. A Lexus must be reliable and you can't push that much juice through your tri-LED and expect it to last long given the heat management capability of such a small unit.
So is the tri-LED nice? Absolutely. Is it high performing? I'm afraid not.
My intent for pointing this out in my OP is to not get anyones hopes up for wanting to swap out.
Usually people who invested in something (say a car) are more inclined to believe theirs is the best, despite evidence to the contrary.
Not me. I have a 3IS with the bi-LED option, but I'm the first to admit it does not compare to my RX350 bi-xenon projector swap I did in my CT200h (a 10 year old technology)
Enough personal comments folks. I guess my 'agree to disagree' note above wasn't explicit enough. If you continue you'll be asked to exit from the thread or the thread will be closed.
I have no personal knowledge of this subject, and this is from another model but I found it an informative post when I read it a couple of months back in the 4RX forum where someone was looking at swapping from the single LED to optional triple LED lights
Originally Posted by MConte05
First post here, but I'll introduce myself. I am an optical design engineer for Diode Dynamics, and spend most of my time designing LED projector systems. Looking into an RX350 for my wife, and decided I should do some emperical testing to see if the Triple Beam stuff was worth the option. I had the dealer I'm working with grab a standard RX and one with the Triple Beam. Brought my lux-meter that I use at work to measure the light output at the same location and a few test points on a darkened wall about 50' away to see if there was a noticeable improvement or not over the standard RX headlights.
The standard ones are some of the best on the market. Kioto Bi-LED units that I consider the gold standard right now for OEMs. I've reverse engineered the exact same projector for future products, and evaluated a bunch of others. So I was curious to see how much better the premium is. So when you measure light output, the quick and dirty way is to get the lux reading, basically the light intensity per a unit of area. I measured the standard RX and got the following:
Hotspot (brightest area at the center of the beam) = 350 lux
40* off angle, aka your width = 20 lux (very impressive)
20* off angle, aka picking up objects on the side of the road = 50 lux
Then went and got the car with the triple beam headlights. Results were surprising:
Hotspot = 230 lux
40* off angle = 12 lux (most of it ambient lighting)
20* off angle = 25 lux
So all in all, the standard Bi-LED units are actually fantastic, and the only reason to upgrade to the triple beam is for the styling choice. You'll actually lose output and overall beam width compared to the standard.
Hope this is useful info for anyone in the future!
Not a comparison of LED to xenon, but just a data point to not be sold on options always being better without expert testing.. either way.
"The beams are bright at night" doesn't back up your claim. Not even sure what the "lights up where the fog lights go" even means. I have over 15 years in light modding experience, including four full projector conversion/retfrofits using full OE/German/BMW/Lexus high-end equipment. No generic junk. I go full money big names when it comes to headlight conversions. (Just to give you an idea of my background)
Anyway, if you'd like to look at the science...
Distance rating for Lexus RC projector: 103/51m (left/right)
Distance rating for Lexus RC triple-LED: 66/33m (left/right)
The triple beam LED highbeams are also not as good.
Lexus Triple Beam LED Rated: Poor
Source: IIHS
LOL, I actually believe you since you have some OEM data here to back your claim up. Although I'm sure both cars have bright light and there are no issues with either in terms of lighting the road up. Of course most of the people who chimed in on your comment happen to also be biased since they are RCF owners. I dont have the triple beams on my RC350 but love the way the triple beams look...with or without the lights on lol. Still I wont be getting them now since I read the conversion is so complicated and not worth it.
On a side note when I lowered my car, to compensate, I had to raise the lighting but didn't really measure how much when I did it. Long story short, they are way too high and I light up the entire block wherever I am...its crazy how far and wide they go. Additionally while driving with a friend of mine (RCF owner), my head lights are certainly brighter than his but its probably more due more to the angle in my case. Maybe when I lower them again at the dealer, I will do a comparison with him. Still nice to read some good info on the same.
"The beams are bright at night" doesn't back up your claim. Not even sure what the "lights up where the fog lights go" even means. I have over 15 years in light modding experience, including four full projector conversion/retfrofits using full OE/German/BMW/Lexus high-end equipment. No generic junk. I go full money big names when it comes to headlight conversions. (Just to give you an idea of my background)
Anyway, if you'd like to look at the science...
Distance rating for Lexus RC projector: 103/51m (left/right)
Distance rating for Lexus RC triple-LED: 66/33m (left/right)
The triple beam LED highbeams are also not as good.
Lexus Triple Beam LED Rated: Poor
Source: IIHS
Just for your guidance, first of all, the distance/side appear erroneous as in driving on the right (US and Europe except GB) the preferential side floodlit is the right of the road and not the left to avoid to bother the driver in the other side. Secondly, and suppose is the same in US, the French regulation states that the minimum distance for high beam is 100m and for low beam is 30m, both without hampering others road users. I don't believe that LEXUS could import a model which is not in conformity with the local regulations.In France and other European country,the RC are equipped of origin with three leds headlights.
Regarding the Xenon lights, the regulation state that it is necessary that the car be equipped with automatic level control and headlight washer.
Well said!!!! I learn something new everyday as a nonengineer.
So my question to E46CT :. Any rebuttals? Since you had stated you had lots of experience in this "lighting" field. Can you shed some MORE light? I'm here to learn.
Originally Posted by Pacific13
Just for your guidance, first of all, the distance/side appear erroneous as in driving on the right (US and Europe except GB) the preferential side floodlit is the right of the road and not the left to avoid to bother the driver in the other side. Secondly, and suppose is the same in US, the French regulation states that the minimum distance for high beam is 100m and for low beam is 30m, both without hampering others road users. I don't believe that LEXUS could import a model which is not in conformity with the local regulations.In France and other European country,the RC are equipped of origin with three leds headlights.
Regarding the Xenon lights, the regulation state that it is necessary that the car be equipped with automatic level control and headlight washer.
Hello friends. Sorry, if I do not write correctly, I'm from Ukraine)
I bought the USA Lexus RC 200T F, at Copart, after the damage. The seller said that everything will be fine, but the damage is strong) I try to repair the car, it's very cool). I have a question. I had headlights with two lenses, older ones. Is it possible to install new headlamps, with three crystals? Very beautiful? What is needed for this? Replace only the headlights or need to change many parts? What parts need to be replaced? I want to buy the front of the car, which is damaged from behind. Maybe I will succeed? Thank you!
i wanted to convert my IS to triple beam leds, which is cheaper for me and plug and play but i don’t think it’s worth it either... so for the RC with extra stuff i just wouldn’t do it
[QUOTE = jmull3r; 10051386] Я хотел преобразовать свой IS в тройной лучей, который дешевле для меня и подключи и играй, но я не думаю, что это того стоит ... так что для RC с дополнительными вещами я просто хотел бы Не делай этого [/ QUOTE]
Did you do it? Or have not you done it yet? I do not know what spare parts to buy. I really like the new headlights.
03-28-17, 03:41 PM
