HYDE161
Go Kart Champion
By now I’ve been through two aftermarket HID / Xenon kits for my fog lights where ballasts or bulbs burned out after a short while. I’ve gone back and forth to several halogen bulbs and even tried some cheap ebay LED bulbs which didn’t even light up. I wanted to convert my fog lights to LED and I’ve had great success with deAutoKey’s other CREE LED bulbs options for interior and exterior lighting. Recently, they released their 1800 lumen CREE LED headlight / fog light kit.
Product Description:
Our CREE LED headlight & fog light kits are somewhat similar in terms of the look but very different from HID / Xenon kits. Our CREE LED headlight & fog lights kits provide a less intense, but BRIGHT light output. This helps get rid of the glare commonly seen with HID / Xenon bulbs. Our CREE LED kits work great in headlights (high or low beam), fog lights, and cornering lights. Our CREE LED kits work best with halogen reflector housings and not projector housings. For projector housings we suggest visiting our HID / Xenon kits.
-Unlike HID Bulbs, our CREE LED bulbs do not have a warm up time and will provide the 6,000k bright light output as soon as they are turned on.
-Our CREE LED bulbs can be handled during installation unlike HID / Xenon bulbs which cannot be touched during install.
-Our Ballasts come with (2) 3M double sided tape for easy installation.
-Our CREE LED kits are error free in many cars but an additional plug & play resistors may be required for certain applications.
Hardware Specs:
-Light Temperature: 6000k
-Ballasts (black) are 15% smaller than slim digital HID Ballasts
-Fan and metal heat sink to keep the LED bulbs running cool
-Input (mA): 2200 ± 500
-Voltage: 12V-24V DC
-Lumens: 3600 Lumens (1800 Lumen per bulb)
-Waterproof fan connectors (IP65)
These have been tested and found to be error free in many Volkswagen and Audi models, however, electronics can differ and these may cause a dashboard bulb out error in some applications. If it does, we suggest purchasing our plug and play resistor kit to fully prevent a dashboard bulb out error. Our resistor kit is an easy direct plug and play installation, simply mount the metal resistor to any metal surface in your engine bay or behind your bumper as they will get hot can melt plastics or other wiring if exposed. Our resistor kits can be purchased using the drop down menu below. We also offer CANBUS box adapters that are easier to install and will not get hot. The CANBUS box adapters are also an easy direct plug and play installation. *Please note once seal is broken there is no returning these CREE LED kits. We offer a 2 year warranty on these LED Kits and will replace any defects.
These are available in the following bulb models in 6,000K:
-H4
-H7
-H8
-H11
-9005
-9006
Unboxing:
Standard packaging, box and foam but once you pull these CREE LED bulbs out and handle them you realize how heavy and rock solid they are. The wiring looks really clean and is sturdy. The heat sinks built into the CREE LED bulbs are really nice and they even have small cooling fans behind them which fulfill my tech-nerd-excitement over this kit. The CREE LED chips have a large surface area and look clean. The ballasts are my favorite part though; slim digital black metal ballasts with double sided tape and really nice wiring. The last piece of the kit was the plug and play resistor kit with orange heat sinks and wire loom to protect the wires and fully prevent a dashboard bulb out error. In the MK6 GTI, these will prevent the error codes from typical LED bulbs using less wattage than what the OEM system is used to seeing with halogen bulbs.
Installation:
Installation is extremely straightforward for anyone who has swapped bulbs or installed aftermarket HID / Xenon kits. For the purpose of this review I decided to remove my front bumper to show how I mounted the ballasts and resistors while keeping the wiring clean (I also had to fix some bumper to fender gaps as well).
Overall Feedback:
The hardware is very impressive, looks much better build than other kits I have seen. The light is bright but not annoying like HID / Xenon, it projects clean white light that matches the headlights and the CREE LED city lights I have installed as well. What’s funny is that this kit is advertised at 6,000K but I feel it perfectly matches the OEM HID / Xenon headlights 4,300K light output. It’s literally a perfect match. In terms of durability, I’ve been running these for a while now and even though I don’t have them on every day, I run them at least 1-3 days per week. As far as condensation or water leaks, I have not had any condensation build up or moisture leaks, the seal is perfect unlike the crappy HID / Xenon kits. This bulb twists right into place and creates a great seal from the back of the fog light housing. I’ll be paying extra attention to see if any of the bulbs or ballasts burn out over time. Overall, a very high quality kit for the price of a problematic HID / Xenon kit.
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I guess I'll start saving.
