I searched but couldn't find much info. Has anyone switched the 99 spec tails to a brighter LED bulbs? What size bulbs are they?

TY

 

There is a detailed thread on this: https://www.rx7club.com/interior-ext...thread-834741/

The 99 spec taillights use the same bulbs as the stock lights. You need for each side (2) 1157s for the brake/stop lights and (2) 1156s for the turn signals. You also need a hyper flash resistor for the turn signals, if you haven't modified your CPU #2, or the turn signals will blink too fast.

Here are my recommendations. For your brake/stop lights, use these: 1157: MORIMOTO X-VF

https://www.theretrofitsource.com/11...157?quantity=1

Order them in "red", as you need to match the lens color. You don't need the hyper flash option for these, but you do for the turn signals. They come (2) to a pack, so you need (2) packs for a total of (4) bulbs.

For your turn signals, use these: 1156: MORIMOTO X-VF

https://www.theretrofitsource.com/11...156?quantity=1

They come (2) to a pack, so you only need (1) pack. Order these in "amber" as your LEDs need to match the lens color. You also need to order the optional resistors. It appears they come (2) to a pack, and you only need one per side.

 

Awesome! Does this make them stand out a lot more?

 

Yes, they should be brighter than the incandescent bulbs Mazda used.

 

Any chance you know if this works for pre 99 lights too?

 

It should. Many people do a DIY on pre-99 lights to give it the 99 spec look, so I don't see why the LED conversion couldn't also be done.

 

Yes the bulbs are the same for the pre 99 spec units.

 

Can you post up some before and after shots of the LEDs if you go that route?
I am curious to see how it looks. In my experience the LED does not spread the light as well as the incandecent bulb, and thus not creating the same uniform color as the original look.

 

So 4 bulbs for the brake lights (2 each side), what about the center brake light?

 

LED technology of today has come a long way from the days of LED bulbs that have a very narrow light angle pattern. The LEDs I recommended are designed to disperse light in a 360-degree pattern as well as throw light forward. While I haven't used these bulbs myself, I have other Morimoto LEDs installed and am confident they will work.



You need a total of three bulbs on each side, one (amber) 1156 for the turn signal, and two (red) 1157 for the brakes. The center brake light is more difficult as the bulbs are inserted up into the assembly, meaning the light comes out of the side of the bulbs. So, you need a bulb that "fires" mostly from the side. The other issue is the length of the housing for each bulb is not very deep, so you get limited in your selection based on these two criteria. This is why I rebuilt my center brake section with my own strip of LED chips of my own design:

https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generati...cover-1088258/

I've also rebuilt my 99 spec units to use LED chip technology:

Here is a link to the DIY on the taillight conversion:

https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generati...cation-955336/

But back to your question about LED bulbs for the center brake light. These look promising, with two caveats:

https://www.theretrofitsource.com/92...2-B?quantity=1

They are 921/T15: PROFILE PEAK 2.0 LEDs and have some nice side "throw." They may work. The two potential issues I see are:

1) They only come in white, which will reduce quite a bit their output through a red lens. They do output a stated 800 lumens per bulb, and with the three bulbs you will use, that's a total of 2,400 lumens. So, assuming you will lose 2/3 or so of the output because of the red lens issue - read up on LED light spectrums if this confuses you - you still will have 800 lumens making it through the lens, and this will be plenty bright. For comparison, the center brake section I built is rated at around 800 lumens as I have it set and this is much brighter than stock.

2) The length of the bulbs may be an issue. As I've stated, you only have a limited amount of vertical height in which to insert the bulbs. While the length of the bulbs is not published, they look like they might just fit, but don't hold me to that. You could try them and see. If they are too long, you could get creative with securing the LED and base into place. Maybe some rubber tape? You'll see what I mean when you insert the LED bulb and its base into the assembly.

Hope this helps and post up pics.