My Dome & Trunk LED review (SuperBrightLeds) - 56k beware
 

Originally posted at the Toronto Fit Club Forum, but thought some people here might find it useful as well.

I wanted to get interior LED lighting for two reasons:
1) I use my car for work and often leave a door or the trunk open for extended periods of time. I worry about running down the battery sometimes.
2) A few times I have not noticed that my doors have not closed completely (and the light stays on). Again I worry about the battery.

Poked around the web and picked SuperBrightLeds.com because they have very detailed information, competitive pricing, cheap shipping to Canada, and the majority of reviews are favourable.

I ordered:

*** Note: I have an '07 (GD3) Fit. These should also fit the '08 cars. I do not know if they fit '09+ (GE8) cars. ***

Dome light: 3022-WWHP4 (warm white). This bulb contains 4 high power SMD LEDs, is buck driven (constant brightness between 8~30v), has a 120° beam, and is available in warm white, blue, red, and amber.

Trunk light: WLED-WWHP6-D (warm white). This bulb contains 6 high power SMD LEDs, has a 120° beam, and is available in warm white or cool white. The website just says 12v, but in fact it is equipped with an AMC7150 buck driver so it should be good from 6~36v.

Flashlight bulb: PR2-1WHP. This bulb a single 1 Watt Cree XRE LED, has a 110° beam, and is buck driven (6~30v).

I actually ordered two each of the truck and dome lights because my mom has a Fit as well.

They arrived in a little under two weeks (shipped to Canada). Each bulb was sealed in an anti-static bag. They were all bubble-wrapped and shipped in a USPS flat rate box.

http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/6218/ledpack.jpg

Flashlight bulb:

http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/6356/bulbinc.jpghttp://img682.imageshack.us/img682/6837/bulbled.jpg
Old bulb: 5W LED bulb: 1W Flashlight batteries will now last 5x longer.

Incandescent:
http://img695.imageshack.us/img695/9053/flshinc.jpg

LED:
http://img130.imageshack.us/img130/7637/flshled.jpg

(Both images shot at ISO 200, 1/30s, f/2.5 on a Canon 10D w/ 50mm f/1.4)

Trunk bulb:

http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/5042/wedginc.jpghttps://img36.imageshack.us/img36/9407/wedgled.jpg
Old bulb: 5W LED bulb: 1.8W

Installation:
http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/5074/trunkmf.jpg

Incandescent:
http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/3005/trnkinc.jpg

LED:
http://img534.imageshack.us/img534/391/trnkled.jpg

(Both images shot at ISO 400, 1/8s, f/1.4 on a Canon 10D w/ 50mm f/1.4)

LED is waaaaaaaaay brighter.

Dome bulb:

https://img94.imageshack.us/img94/3950/festinc.jpghttps://img534.imageshack.us/img534/3038/festled.jpg
Old bulb: 8W LED bulb: 0.8W

Installation:
http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/4497/mapwt.jpg

Incandescent:
http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/8070/map1inc.jpg

LED:
http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/4152/map1led.jpg

Incandescent:
http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/939/map2inc.jpg

LED:
http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/7113/map2led.jpg

Incandescent:
http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/3748/map3inc.jpg

LED:
http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/5471/map3led.jpg

(All images shot at ISO 400, 1/8s, f/1.4 on a Canon 10D w/ 50mm f/1.4)

LED is slightly brighter, and ever so slightly more yellow.

Is your white balance off?

His white balance looks fine to me. Keep in mind he's using "warm white" colored LEDs to replace his bulbs. Not everyone likes the cold bluish-white color that normal white LEDs output. I put a couple of these same superbrightleds.com warm white LEDs in a lexus rx330, and it looks just like his pictures show incandescent bulb colored but much brighter =).

btw, super sharp pictures JCLW, what lens did you use to take the macro-like shots of the bulbs?

Sweet pictures, man. Does anyone have pictures of the cool white?

if you don't mind me asking, how much did each of those cost?

it gives a price on the website if you click the links.

Do the dome light replacements act differently when the light fades off?

Thanks, but I cheated. Canon CCD scanner (5600F). It will focus on objects at least 1/2" deep and works really well for close-ups. I didn't clean the platen so that's why there is dust and cat hair in the images :o. And that's nothing near full resolution.

Yes, prices in the links + $5 shipping to Canada.

My dome light (GD3) doesn't fade. Do the newer (GE8) dome lights fade? Since the LEDs are buck driven they would probably not fade. Definitely not linearly.

Since I don't have my GE yet (still on order), I don't remember from my test drives if the light fades or switches off.

I ordered the same LED replacements as the OP for my 2009 GE8. They fit fine.

Warm White WLED-WWHP6-D for the trunk is slightly whiter than stock and a noticeably brighter.

Warm White 3022-WWHP4 for the dome light is slightly whiiter than stock and only a bit brighter. The gradual dimming and the two brightness levels work also.

I also got a pair of the WLED-x5 Natural White WLED-NW5 0.95 wide angle, as a replacement for the 194 bulbs for the rear license plate. They are slightly toward the cool bluish-white compared to stock. The way the bulb is mounted is contacts toward the front of the car. The light shines in all directions of the bulb so some is wasted going upward. If there were a single-sided LED (one direction) replacement, it might be more effective. I'm not sure that the WLED-xHP6-D would fit because the license plate bulb cover may not be big enough.

Seeing that you have one, you could always try it out and tell us :D.

The trunk light sounds like it might be worthwhile, but if the dome light is only a little brighter, why bother? Are there bulbs available to replace those in the map lights?

EDIT: The Map and Dome lights are the same bulb. Now the only thing to find out is if the LED version fits, although I'm optimistic. Maybe three "bit" brighter lights is better than three "okay" lights? :)

<shakes fist at Honda Canada>:mad: No map lights in ours. I miss them from my EP3.

The reason I switched to LED besides the "cool" factor is because I don't like the feeling I am draining the battery when I am working on the inside of the car and leave the doors and hatch open. The stock battery looks very wimpy.

I bought both in the cool white, and they are really bright. One of the best mods you can do to the interior, I can actually see stuff with the lights on now.

If you get the cool white bulbs they are much brighter than the factory lights.

That looks really good!

Is the installation of all these LED's plug and play? No modifications needed?

Yes, just unplug the old bulbs and plug in the new LED bulbs.

No need for wiring, adaptors, or two sided tape.

Thanks for the reply :D

I will definitely be doing this to my car.

I just bought my car almost two weeks ago and have already put these bulbs in. I ordered three Warm White 3022-WWHP4 for the dome and map lights and one Warm White WLED-WWHP6-D for the trunk. The total was $32.80 + $4.39 to ship here. They sent the tiny package via First Class mail. It too less than a week to arrive.

While I had the covers off, I did RogersFit's mod of joining the map lights to the dome light. Now I have three lights that come on with the door instead of just one. (And it takes one third of the power to run all three LED's than it does to use one incandescent.) Improved Interior Lighting for the 2009 Fit

The only appreciable difference between GD and GE instructions that I can make is that when pulling out the diffuser for the trunk light, the GE is meant to be popped out from the front edge of the lens (which points towards the driver) as opposed to the rear end like your GD photo. The wire comes from the direction of the tail light on mine.

If you have a GE and want three times the light, do this mod and then join the dome and map lights. It takes some careful balancing and hoping that you won't drop solder on the upholstery, but it was worth it. I love it!