Interior Exterior
Q:
Rotary dial telephone, I'm telling you.
That rotary dial telephone look...looks good on a Toyota!
Not a Lotus! It makes the Lotus look really cheap...what else are they going to think of? Put an MR2 badge instead of an Elise one on the car?
A:
800 bucks is a lot, I think they look cool when lit, it is a Elise love it or hate it most people do not under stand it. We do so good for us I will most likly change my oil pan first thing this spring and hold of on the lights till I see them inperson
Tony
A:
No. They look like four a$$es.
Like most things they look much better in person and are very cool at night
A:
The LED tail light conversions for the 2005 Elises are starting to arrive in the UK. I think they mentioned about 93 pounds per lamp.
The hold up is providing a "contolled impedance within the lighting circuit when installing these lights to avoid a radio interferance(sic) issue."
There is also a supply issue as all the current lights are going to the production line. I got the feeling the supplies will ease up this month.
It is still a bolt in installation and the lenses will fit the current car. The wiring harness fits the existing harness in the car.
Michael
A:
Am I the only one that thinks the 06 tail light look like a$$!? (at least during the day)
They look even worst at $815
Neil
I'm with you. I'm seeing LED's on cars around town and I dont like the way they look. The more I see, the more I dont like them. I'm actually glad I dont have them.
A:
I have them and love them
A:
Am I the only one that thinks the 06 tail light look like a$$!? (at least during the day)
They look even worst at $815
Neil
I don't mind them one way or another, but I actually like the C-shaped illumination pattern on my '05. They're kind of different. Many many cars and many sports cars have round lights, but the C-shaped illumination is unique. Just MHY ...
A:
I think the 06 lights look like a$$. I am not a fan of LED tails anyway.
-Whit
A:
I don't really like the look but they are way safer and are more effective at getting the attention of the driver behind you.
I think the look will grow on me.
DOT absolutley should require them for stop lamps on all cars due to the decreased stopping distances that they generate.
A:
DOT absolutley should require them for stop lamps on all cars due to the decreased stopping distances that they generate.
I'd like to see the results of a study on that topic. Note that all US Elise have LED brake lights already - center or center + sides. LEDs reach max brightness faster than conventional...but conventional are still visible before hitting their maximum.
A:
I'd like to see the results of a study on that topic. Note that all US Elise have LED brake lights already - center or center + sides. LEDs reach max brightness faster than conventional...but conventional are still visible before hitting their maximum.
Well, my understanding is that the 'study' that determined that the center-mounted brake lights were beneficial was based on a single experiment with something like 150 taxi cabs in Washington DC. Not what one would call a through examination of the issue. . .
A:
Well, my understanding is that the 'study' that determined that the center-mounted brake lights were beneficial was based on a single experiment with something like 150 taxi cabs in Washington DC. Not what one would call a through examination of the issue. . .
Yes, and they were all actually high mounted (on the rear "package shelf"), not on the trunk lid 2" above the regular stoplights, and could be seen by the second car back through the windshield and back window of the car following the cab.
Now, in the world of SUVs, one can rarely see the CHMSL through the vehicle in front of you. And, it does no good for the car immediately in front of you...you can see their regular stop lights just fine.
A:
The LED tail light conversions for the 2005 Elises are starting to arrive in the UK. I think they mentioned about 93 pounds per lamp.
Wow, that's heavy. That'll add 372 lbs to the car.
A:
I'd like to see the results of a study on that topic. Note that all US Elise have LED brake lights already - center or center + sides. LEDs reach max brightness faster than conventional...but conventional are still visible before hitting their maximum.
IIRC, it was Volvo in 1998 (I only remember since I was hanging out on the Swedishbricks mailing list back then). They "improved" the high-mounted stop lamp by switching it to LED due to the illumination time. I don't recall all the details, but specifically recall Volvo stating that faster illumination resulted in faster driver reaction, thereby decreasing stopping distances several feet.
I recall Volvo publicly announcing their results but don't recall seeing the full study.
A:
Fugly. The LEDs remind of big trucks or Nissan Altimas. yuck. I love my '05 lights.
A:
I don't really like the look but they are way safer and are more effective at getting the attention of the driver behind you.
I think the look will grow on me.
DOT absolutley should require them for stop lamps on all cars due to the decreased stopping distances that they generate.
I don't quite believe the hype...
The human eye/mind is "optimized" to "see" motion. The sudden change from off to on is not motion, but a change. A standard light bulb changing from off to on, is (relatively) gradual and is detected and processed somewhat faster by the mind as "movement".
Now, in a test where you are anticipating and watching for the sudden change, the LED might come out on top, but for normal driving it actually probably requires more time to process that it's changed, then the milliseconds that it comes on quicker. The result is that I believe that response time of the following driver is actually reduced with the LEDs.
Since this subject has come up several times on various forums, I have been making a conscious effort to see if I notice LEDs or bulbs any faster. I haven't really noticed any improvements. It's especially interesting for cars (like the Elise) that have an LED CHMSL and regular bulbs for brake lights. They all appear to come on at the same time - maybe the LED in instant sooner, but my reaction isn't any faster.
I've also noticed that LED turn signals in adjoining lanes are somewhat less noticeable to me than regular old flashing light bulbs. Again, the same thing - change instead of "movement". I notice the bulb turn signals in my peripheral vision sooner than I notice the LED turn signals...
A:
I don't quite believe the hype...
The human eye/mind is "optimized" to "see" motion. The sudden change from off to on is not motion, but a change. A standard light bulb changing from off to on, is (relatively) gradual and is detected and processed somewhat faster by the mind as "movement".
..
While it may be true that the optical system is "optimized" to "see" motion," there are several levels of issues that would need to be considered when trying to work out whether there would be a faster reaction time (RT) to an LED or standard light bulb. First, is a variant of Bloch's law (which relates illumination intensity to reaction time). I don't have the graphs here at home, but once one calculates the differential illumination reaching the eyes of the observer, one could presumably calculate the differential RT.
The second level is that when driving, the object (i.e., the lights of the car in front of you) are NOT hitting a fixed part of the visual field [unless the object, your car, and your head position, and eyes are all stationary]. Thus, there is continuous movement of the images hitting the visual receptors, and so the edge detectors mentioned in your post will indeed likely pick up the illumination too.
Whether it makes a difference in the real world behavior of drivers may also have to do with the "orienting response" that comes from unexpected stimuli. (Relative novelty of the LED's probably will have an influence, but as with the center brake lights, will have a diminishing effect as they have become more prevalent.)
A:
The quick reaction from LEDs is not marketing or hype, its reality. They are indeed more efficient and illuminate noticeably quicker than bulbs. In addition, the color they create is much more pure than a traditional incandescent.
As for the 06+ lamps, they are okay.. I am not a big fan of them, they look fairly average.
A:
If you look at a car that has an LED third brake light and incandesant side brake lights you can see the middle light come on sooner when the brakes are applied. Modern cars also need to be more efficient with their electricity with all of the electronics to run and mpg concerns. This will also delay the 48 volt electrical systems that supposedly are coming. What a pain that will be for those that have older cars.
A:
Although the LEDs surely come on faster than the standard incandescent lights, the question is whether the human operator will respond more quickly to the LED lamps. The only study I could find on the topic (based on a small simulator experiment -- Sivak et al, Ergonomics, 1994) found that LED and neon brake lamps yielded a 166 millisecond advantage to the standard incandescent lights. Not too shabby, but these were controlled conditions when the subjects' only task was to react as soon as the lights went on. As they generally say, your experience in the real world may be different....
Interestingly, there is another study (Luoma et al., Ergonomics, 1997) that showed an advantage of about 100 milliseconds for the yellow turn signals with red brake lights vs. red-only turn/brake signals, when it comes to reacting to turn signals (the difference between the European spec and USA versions). So, the best arrangement would appear to be the European spec LEDs with red for brake and yellow for turn signals.