The other day I took out the dome light to see what kind of bulbs it needed and went to autozone to see if they had any LED replacement bulbs or anything better than this dull standard bulb. They didn't have anything

I realized that LED replacements just make the interior lighting worse because its lighting area is fixed and does not displace the amount of light we need to brighten up the interior when you have them on.

Well I was looking on ebay and found some 168 bulbs by PIAA. They are the Xtreme White Wedge 5w H.I.D" Super Bulb Series. I finally got them in and wow they are white. I haven't viewed them at night yet because it's not dark outside yet but these things really brightened everything up noticeably so far.

But I want a little more lighting. I noticed that the bulb housing in the dome lights are just black. That basically is hurting the lighting. So I took some aluminum foil and placed it in the housing to see if it made a difference. Not to my surprise, it did. White light was nicely displaced. So I am trying to decide on if I should just paint the inside of the housing chrome or just get some aluminum tape and tape the insides. What do ya'll think?

But ya, the purpose of this post is that...if you want better lighting out of your dome, get these bulbs. They are great and well worth the ~$20.

 

Might have to look into those bulbs.
I thought about foil, but was afraid it might focus too much heat on the lens if the lights were left on for extended periods. It's on my list of things to mess with during the winter when the car's put up.

 

Ya, true. But i don't think it would get that though.

Another thing I thought about that is making the interior lighting very dull is the discoloration of the lense. Mine is slightly amber/brown. Just looks a bit old. Is this how all of them are even brand new? Because if so, then I might try to find some lens polish or something that will make it sparkling clear.

 

I was planning on just running LED's.

 

LED's would make it very bright but they would just brighten up the area directly below where they would be placed. Get an LED and face it towards a wall. You will see what I mean.

Now that it is dark, I went outside to see the results of the lights at nighttime. The lights are only slightly brighter but definitely white. I think once I put in some chrome or aluminum in the bulb housing it will make everything brighter. The lack of brightness I think is due to the design of the dome and also the way the bulbs have to be made in order to get that "white" look. Once I can get some aluminum or paint in the bulb housing, I will post my results.

However, I love the look they give. Nice and modern. Not that amber dull look. It really makes a black interior look nice.

 

Do the lights you speak of come in red?

The only problem I have is when driving at night and your passenger turns on the map or dome light and blinds you.

I find red light is easier for our eyes to adjust to.

 

http://www.lck-led.com/p460/1Pair-T1...duct_info.html

they make LED's like those with and inverted cone to produce a wider angle of light dispersion

 

found a set on ebay for $16.95 shipped, hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

 

No. The 168 bulbs by PIAA come in Xtreme White (white), Super Plasma (blue), and Plasma Ion (yellow). I find that these xtreme white bulbs don't blind me. I'm not sure, but the only thing I have to compare it too is moonlight. It is a nice glow throughout the car so it doesn't really blind you.

Yeah, I've seen those but I just couldn't find anyone who has experience with them. I wanted to use LED's but I can't find any pictures of the lighting area on these before buying a set.

Of the PIAA's?

I took the car out tonight and it turns out that the lighting gets brighter when the engine is on. I didn't think this would have an effect on the difference in lighting. So when I posted earlier about these new bulbs being slightly brighter, well that is only when the car is off. When on, these bulbs really light up the whole interior and not just the HVAC controls. This might be the most fun mod I have done to my car. It is cheap (in price not quality), easy to instal, and makes a huge difference to your interior lighting.

 

If you have time, could you please post some pics of the lighting at night? I would really like to see the difference, i was thinking about doing something like this.

 

ya sure man. I gotta borrow a friends camera because all I got is a phone for a camera.

 

so I just tried to get pics with my phone and it doesn't turn out to great. I need something that can get alot of exposure. I'll post good pics when I borrow my girlfriends camera.

 

This is great. Drove the car tonight, first time in a while, and was thinking about getting more light in the interior.
Thanks for the ideas.

 

Cool. The yellow interior light has always bothered on any cars. Can't wait to see the pics. I've changed out to brighter bulbs in my other cars, but haven't been able to get around to the FD.

 

Awesome. Ya this all started with me having problems with the interior lights shutting off when the doors were closed and I really noticed how shitty the yellow looks and how poorly they illuminated the interior. With these bulbs I can pretty much see the rear bins except for the area directly behind the seats.

For more interior lighting I got this idea from this guy in Houston. He installed those LED strips that you can find in a computer store underneath the dash so when the doors are open the floor where your feet are is illuminated. I thought that what an awesome idea. I am unsure of what color I am going to go with, white or red. I think red would be cool because it goes with the car. But white would just be more useful, clean (luxurious), and not as tacky.

Ya anything that can make the FD look more modern is a good investment. These white lights do that well. I have my gf's camera but need the cord to upload pics. I am busy tonight so I will get em up tomorrow.

Update. I think that the lighting gets brighter when the engine is on because I have a small odyssey battery relocated to my rear bin. Also, I have driven around more and noticed that these don't really add to road blindness. The only way I could see these causing that problem would be if you look directly into it while you are driving. Like I said earlier, these give off a white light and a blue tint which makes it more light a bright glow instead of a shine.

I want to replace as many lights with white lights to have this look throughout. So that means...glovebox light and rear cargo light are next. If I do the underdash LED lighting that would really be nice as well. I am waiting on getting a response to my inquiry in the "Brighter Gauge Cluster" thread so I can know what size I need to look for to replace the HVAC and Cluster lights.

 

Nice. I'd like to see the pics of the footwell lighting. I've been thinking about doing that, too, but I have sooo many other things I need to get done mechanically lol!

 

I think I am just going to get the lighting for the footwell from superbrightleds.com when I get the LED's for my cluster and hvac.

I'll guess I am going to have to wire wire them to the dome lights. Is there another place closer that I could tap into for the footwell lights to turn on when the dome lights are? Do ya'll think it would be better for them to be on when doors are open only or whenever dome lights are on so I can turn on the dome as well as the footwell on without having the door opened.

 

Here are some pics of the lights
The first pic is a shot of the lights with the doors open and the second pic is a shot of the lights when the car is on.
The last pic is just a pic of to show how clearly you can view something.

 

so I guess no one likes the pictures?

 

I changed my doom lights with peanut white bulbs ( I think) for $5.

 

I digg 'em. Looks much better in white.

I'd try to connect the footwells to the dome light. If you're using the dome light you're probably needing a lot of light inside and the footwell leds can help. Plus, if your door is open, you're triggering the dome light too, so it makes sense to keep them connected.

 

u must of been hammered when you took the pic since its all blurry lol

on the other note, great info

 

I used 360' pure white LED then put aluminum foil tape int he housing to reflect more light, it is supre bright and alot brighter then stock.

 

Nah, it was like 28 degrees when I took them so I was really cold in my pajamas. The car was also shaking because I just started it in the cold.

Ya I was having trouble getting the aluminum foil to work so I'm just gonna get some aluminum tape.

Oh ya, does everyone like my interior? haha. I think I'm gonna change all the stock lighting to red.

 

Try a little film of silicone caulk on the back of the foil.

Azcamel,
Those LEDs might be an option. No heat and you wouldn't have to worry about heat buld up. You have a link of where you got them?