KKMpunkrock2011

iTrader: (5)

ccws are anywhere from 35.xx% to 45.xx% cheaper, just fyi, I never knew forgelines were THAT expensive, for a new set anyways.

David Hayes

iTrader: (6)

Yes, most certainly less expensive. I looked at what I paid and it is significantly less than what they go for now days but the Forgelines do cost more.

theorie

iTrader: (31)

hey david. it looks like Pettit Racing is a fan of your audi-style front combo lamps.



I just got this email from them:

I like it on the newer-style front combos (like yours), but, imo, BOTH of pettits looks retarded with the usdm front-combos.

David Hayes

iTrader: (6)

Yes, just got the email from them also. Voted for the crazy looking Option A

I'm one ahead of them though. Just came back from Orlando and my new stealth LED project is a go Think it will be a bit better looking and more OEM like.

Look closely at the Pettit design though - here it is on a red car:



How insane is that? It has built in turn signals and a Mazda emblem in the intercooler section.

muibubbles

iTrader: (36)

wow. this is extremely interesting! i may have to steal this idea......... i wanna figure out how to route more air to my rad... hmm!

David Hayes

iTrader: (6)

I did this to get fresh air to the turbo but the body shop also added a vent to the engine bay as well. What you see will attach to another piece that runs under my engine shroud and goes directly to the turbo. It's a two piece clam shell design with the top half affixed to the engine shroud and the bottom half affixed to the turbo itself. The idea is to only draw in air from the outside, not the engine bay. Don't have a pic of the new turbo "ram air" pieces yet but they are looking pretty cool.

Here a two shots of the current state of the bumper piece:

From the top


From the bottom looking up with the mesh installed


Don't worry about the huge RX-7 painted on the intercooler. We felt that looked pretty bad so we've moved on to another similar but better idea.

David Hayes

iTrader: (6)

More pics of the work in progress:

More work fine tuning the headlight shrouds.

I thought they looked good but the shop wanted to make them perfect. It's free to me so why not?

Two shots of the bumper work. It's hard to tell what has been done but the shop extended the intercooler and oil cooler insets all the way back so there is no gap. Did this to maximize the airflow to keep temps low.




Sneak peak of the work in progress for the new front design.

David Hayes

iTrader: (6)

A few shots of the stealth LED front end project:

evot23

iTrader: (17)

nice!!

KKMpunkrock2011

iTrader: (5)

have you put theorie's tails in yet? I would like to see how they look on a black car.

GoodfellaFD3S

iTrader: (213)

Things are coming along nicely, fresh air is something you can never have enough of

May I propose 'APON OUT?!' for your intercooler lettering ?

David Hayes

iTrader: (6)

Posted two videos of the installed lights in the GB section:

Here are two videos I took today of the lights installed on my car. The first is of the lights installed on both sides of the car. I had one of the body shop guys pulse the brakes so you can see all the lights:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnrRVF2XSZA


The second is a comparison of the LED conversion compared to my old taillights with standard LED bulbs in them:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCizIV_MsS0

David Hayes

iTrader: (6)

Too funny!

I've done a lot of sealing up and venting on the front end in addition to adding a radiator shroud and a 3,000 CFM fan so we shall see if it helps the temp issues. If it doesn't not really sure what else to try outside of shooting the car and calling it a day.

theorie

iTrader: (31)

david your new led combos look SICKKKKK

ahhhhh yeah that's not really my cup of tea. looks like they are trying to bring in the styling from the mazda furai... and we're talking about two completely different styles of cars here. some styles just weren't meant to be mixed imo.



I SECOND THE MOTION.

ptrhahn

iTrader: (9)

Yeah, I'm not sure about that one either. Looks more than a little forced.

David Hayes

iTrader: (6)

On the Furai it looks fantastic and I would buy that car in a heartbeat. On the FD though, not well thought out if you ask me. Totally different lines as Tom points out.

As for my new LED combos, I bit the bullet and ordered the LEDs that Audi uses and then upped the lumens on them. Audi uses 30 lumens per led and mine are 50 lumens (they are actually 75 lumen units but I am under driving them a bit). Per our previous conversation and if the info I have is correct about lumens and mcds (millicandelas), a 2,800 mcd LED is a little over 1 lumen so for each LED I have in the turn signal combo light, it equals to 50 2,800 mcd LEDs, all things being equal (viewing angle, - and my LEDs have a 180 degree viewing angle - drive current, etc.). So for each turn signal, I have 10 50 lumen LEDS which is the equivalent of 500 2,800 mcd LEDs.

theorie

iTrader: (31)

soooo you're gonna be able to use them as EFFING HEAD LIGHTS. why'd you even bother making the dual-hid pop ups? you'll never need them with the led driving lights. haha

t-von

iTrader: (8)

David it's about time you converted the led to single units. They look more Audi like that way. I like your fabricators approach with the stiff wire thing. Because I have the Mazdaspeed bumper, I had to take a different approach.

David Hayes

iTrader: (6)

If I could Tom I would most definitely. LEDs by far are better for lighting. They make much more light versus heat than HID or halogens and they are wafer thin, taking up less space. You could really do some funky designs with LED instead of being constrained by the size of a projector housing.

Check out this pic of the new Audi R8 LED headlamp assembly:



Audi uses 14 LEDs in its low beam assembly and three projector lenses to focus the light. They then use two high beams with 4 LEDs in each array. If I am correct, they use the Phillips Luxeon LEDs which average about 100 lumens per LED. So for the low beams, they have around 1,400 lumens. And for what it is worth, the Audi lights are 6,000K

I actually looked into doing this on the headlights via another technology but couldn't be confident I could figure out how to focus the beam via the projector lens assembly.

What I have done on the turn signal lights is only about 1/2 the brightness needed for a headlight and it would be marginal at best.

Yes, I liked the LED side emitting strips but they just weren't OEM enough for me so I was obsessing over them. Luis (body shop guy) used the wire to ensure spacing is correct but he will then mount the entire LED assembly on a metal plate so it can be used as a heat sink. He's thinking of offering this retrofit to others so the added benefit of having the LEDs mounted to metal as one assembly is others could take this an easily insert it in their turn signal assemblies. Personally I would rather have mine be a "one off" but he has spent so much time working on mine and not charging me for the effort I can't begrudge him making money off of me. If he does decide to sell them, I'll try to get him to do these as a GB.

RotorMotor

iTrader: (5)

Yeah and on top of that dont forget the fogs . Ah screw it, rip it all out and just put a 1000w metal halide street light coming off the front of the car... that will light up the road even better

David Hayes

iTrader: (6)

How about one big light strip of laser beam lighting across the front? Now that is a thought!

You know the fogs are off the car right? And I think you guys will be surprised the LEDs will not be as bright as you think they will be. With the new LEDs they should be bright enough to be seen during the day which is what I want aka the Audi DRLs. Although I am using more lumens than Audi, they use a reflector system for their LEDs thus increasing the brightness of them. So my guess is as the end of the day I will have the same brightness as them.

David Hayes

iTrader: (6)

Two shots of the new LED combos:





Luis, the body shop guy who owns No Limits in Orlando is wiring the lights to "dim" at night. In this way they can be used as DRLs during the day and then as accent lights at night.

Spy shot of the turbo "ram air" box in process:



We need to have the radiator hoses relocated but that will happen this week.

t-von

iTrader: (8)

Leds look nice David. Where is the ram air comming from? It's hard to see in the pic.

David Hayes

iTrader: (6)

See posts #3378 and #3379 for pics. The air will come from outside via slots cut into the bumper above the intercooler.

sharingan 19

iTrader: (16)

This is James (blk FC), we met @ the shop in Jacksonville right before you took this beast down south.

So THIS is what you were talking about! Just WOW! Now I feel compelled to go back and read this whole thread....there goes the rest of my week....