Car lighting – a very elaborate hobby

Those who are serious about the game accept that the lights on their cars are no longer original and are willing to spend from 3 to over 10 million VND.

In the era of constantly developing technology, the lighting system on cars has changed from halogen bulbs to HID (also known as xenon), then LED and even laser. In addition, car manufacturers have also integrated smart features such as automatic lights on in low light conditions, automatic high beams or lights that follow the steering angle.

However, such modern technology often appears on high-end cars or in some mid-range cars, so the need to upgrade lights for popular car models is becoming more attractive than ever.

With the need to improve the lighting system as well as beautify the car, many people seek car lighting services.

Those who do not want to affect the car's original light set can choose the complete light set products, usually originating from China, designed specifically for many popular car models. The advantage of these light sets is that they are plug & play, have a variety of designs and can be easily removed to return to the original. The disadvantage is that the light quality is lower than that of the customized light products.

There are currently countless options for car lighting, in which the two main technologies are HID and LED. Normally, most cars are upgraded by owners using traditional halogen bulbs. The disadvantages of this type of light are high temperature, consuming a lot of energy while the light intensity is low.

The original halogen bulb on the car has a capacity of 55 Watt, giving a light output of about 20 lumens/Watt. Meanwhile, the xenon bulb installed in the car mostly has a capacity of 35 Watt and the high-end type can give a light output of up to nearly 100 lumens/Watt. LED bulbs usually have a capacity of 25 Watt and a light output of about 150 lumens/Watt.

HID bulbs combined with a system using a lens (projector) are the most popular choice for car light modifiers because they are both reasonably priced and provide good lighting. If the car is only equipped with a reflector, the reflector must be cut to install a projector, which requires high technical skills from the worker. If you want to install an HID bulb directly into a conventional reflector, you need to use the right type of bulb, otherwise it will cause glare to oncoming vehicles. However, the light gathering ability when using a reflector is not as good as when using a projector.

Audi Q5 copy projector, Philips D3S bulb and Audi car ballast are some of the options with reasonable price/performance.

The projector type that players often choose comes from Audi Q5, Acura TL or Lexus RX350. Due to the good quality of the bulb and the limited number of Audi Q5s that can take advantage of the lamp, there is now a copy type with a much cheaper price.

According to Mr. Vu Quang Chien, director of Ledtech company, the Audi Q5 copy projector has a quality almost equivalent to the genuine one but the price is only one-third. Combining this projector with high-quality Philips HID bulbs and ballasts from Audi cars will bring good lighting performance, high durability with a reasonable price. In addition, car owners can also choose other good ballasts such as Denso or Matsushita, or cheap ones such as Aozoom with lower quality.

LED lighting systems require more complex technology than HID lights. To maximize the capabilities of LED lights, it is necessary to use a separate type of reflector and lens. In Vietnam, most cars with LED lights only use LED bulbs installed directly into conventional reflectors or projectors, so they do not have the best light quality. Moreover, LED bulbs emit a lot of heat at the base, so a good heat sink is needed for durability. Car LED lights are often used for daytime running lights and taillights.

One of the reasons why some consumers still choose to install LED bulbs in the original headlight reflectors is because the speed of reaching maximum brightness of this type of light is quite fast, almost instantaneous, while HID bulbs with good ballasts take up to 12 seconds.

Compare HID, LED and halogen bulb upgrade packages. Photo: Xenondepot.

HID and LED bulbs produce whiter light than halogen bulbs, with color temperatures ranging from 4,300 k to 6,500 k. New German cars from Mercedes, Audi or BMW often use lights with a color temperature of 5,500 k. Fog lights should use yellow lights with a color temperature of about 3,000 k to have good grip in bad weather conditions.

Thanks to the lighting benefits that HID or LED lights bring and the increasing skills of light technicians in Vietnam, many cars have had "eye surgery". At car tuning workshops in Hanoi, there are always customers coming in and out every day to upgrade the lighting for their cars.

Even German cars like BMWs, which used to be a barrier to tuning due to the easy error messages on the dashboard when installing non-genuine lights, can now be handled.

According to VNE