Tail Light Upgrade- Hard To Decide!

[juniinc]

Hey guys, it's about time for me to upgrade my tail-lights. But, as usual it's a headache.

just having a difficult time to decide which 1 I should go with. I kinda like the crystal look of LED's but the other hand kinda wanna stay old school(stock). So these r what I came down to- What do u-fellas think? Any input would be well appreciated!

What I have now is this 550

first choice would be this

second

my last choice would be of course

Edited May 29, 2008 by juniinc

[Bristol]

Yeah, I keep kicking around the idea of changing my tail lights too. That's probably my next mod. I like the LED ones you put as first, but it depends a bit on the color of your car. What color is your car? Personally I like those same LED lights but with the clear/chrome look. Looks awesome on a silver Boxster. But you can't seem to get that light in the US right now.

The last option would look good if you hard a guards red car. Otherwise I'd still stick with the first choice.

As for your second choice... it really looks cool and would look amazing on a black car. Where did you find that? I assume it's a home-made paint job. Still I wouldn't touch those lights with a 10 foot pole. They'd be completely illegal in California and probably Washington too. They'd just be an invitation for getting pulled over and harassed. Plus they wouldn't be too safe. I bet they'd increase the chance of you getting rear-ended and if you did, the person who hit you might be able to weasel out of trouble because of the illegal tail lights. Just some food for thought, ultimately you choose the risk you're willing to accept.

[juniinc]

Bristol thanks for ur input!

I agree majority of it. yes third one would only look good maybe on a red car & also reminds me too much of Honda JDM 's cheap euro version.

on this pix it looks like u got an eye ball hanging on ur tail-lol

for the black ones they r professionally coated w/ nite shade-special translucent lens paint so they still come on as red.

Yeah, I keep kicking around the idea of changing my tail lights too. That's probably my next mod. I like the LED ones you put as first, but it depends a bit on the color of your car. What color is your car? Personally I like those same LED lights but with the clear/chrome look. Looks awesome on a silver Boxster. But you can't seem to get that light in the US right now.

The last option would look good if you hard a guards red car. Otherwise I'd still stick with the first choice.

As for your second choice... it really looks cool and would look amazing on a black car. Where did you find that? I assume it's a home-made paint job. Still I wouldn't touch those lights with a 10 foot pole. They'd be completely illegal in California and probably Washington too. They'd just be an invitation for getting pulled over and harassed. Plus they wouldn't be too safe. I bet they'd increase the chance of you getting rear-ended and if you did, the person who hit you might be able to weasel out of trouble because of the illegal tail lights. Just some food for thought, ultimately you choose the risk you're willing to accept.

Edited December 4, 2007 by juniinc

[Alan 01 Boxster S]

Go for the LEDs and let us see how it turns out. Also let us know who you purchase them from. I've seen them on eBay.

Alan

Bristol thanks for ur input!

I agree majority of it. yes third one would only look good maybe on a red car & also reminds me too much of Honda JDM 's cheap euro version.

on this pix it looks like u got on eye ball hanging on ur tail-lol

for the black ones they r professionally coated w/ nite shade-special translucent lens paint so they still come on as red.

Yeah, I keep kicking around the idea of changing my tail lights too. That's probably my next mod. I like the LED ones you put as first, but it depends a bit on the color of your car. What color is your car? Personally I like those same LED lights but with the clear/chrome look. Looks awesome on a silver Boxster. But you can't seem to get that light in the US right now.

The last option would look good if you hard a guards red car. Otherwise I'd still stick with the first choice.

As for your second choice... it really looks cool and would look amazing on a black car. Where did you find that? I assume it's a home-made paint job. Still I wouldn't touch those lights with a 10 foot pole. They'd be completely illegal in California and probably Washington too. They'd just be an invitation for getting pulled over and harassed. Plus they wouldn't be too safe. I bet they'd increase the chance of you getting rear-ended and if you did, the person who hit you might be able to weasel out of trouble because of the illegal tail lights. Just some food for thought, ultimately you choose the risk you're willing to accept.

[blinkwatt]

At the 1st poster,

Are those the 550 taillights on your car currently?

[juniinc]

Yes, blinkwatt. They would be 550 edition tail lights but all red euro version.

At the 1st poster,

Are those the 550 taillights on your car currently?

Edited December 3, 2007 by juniinc

[jmatta]

The LED lights look like total rice as far as I'm concerned. When I changed out my ambers, I went with these OEM types.

[juniinc]

Go for the LEDs and let us see how it turns out. Also let us know who you purchase them from. I've seen them on eBay.

Alan

Bristol thanks for ur input!

I agree majority of it. yes third one would only look good maybe on a red car & also reminds me too much of Honda JDM 's cheap euro version.

on this pix it looks like u got on eye ball hanging on ur tail-lol

for the black ones they r professionally coated w/ nite shade-special translucent lens paint so they still come on as red.

Yeah, I keep kicking around the idea of changing my tail lights too. That's probably my next mod. I like the LED ones you put as first, but it depends a bit on the color of your car. What color is your car? Personally I like those same LED lights but with the clear/chrome look. Looks awesome on a silver Boxster. But you can't seem to get that light in the US right now.

The last option would look good if you hard a guards red car. Otherwise I'd still stick with the first choice.

As for your second choice... it really looks cool and would look amazing on a black car. Where did you find that? I assume it's a home-made paint job. Still I wouldn't touch those lights with a 10 foot pole. They'd be completely illegal in California and probably Washington too. They'd just be an invitation for getting pulled over and harassed. Plus they wouldn't be too safe. I bet they'd increase the chance of you getting rear-ended and if you did, the person who hit you might be able to weasel out of trouble because of the illegal tail lights. Just some food for thought, ultimately you choose the risk you're willing to accept.

Edited December 4, 2007 by juniinc

[juniinc]

Uhm interesting ! since I respect every1's opinion but u r not the only one stating that "rice"comment -I heard it from a few.

The LED lights look like total rice as far as I'm concerned. When I changed out my ambers, I went with these OEM types.

Edited December 4, 2007 by juniinc

[litg8r2001]

Uhm interesting ! since I respect every1's opinion but u r not the only one stating that "rice"comment -I heard it from a few.

The LED lights look like total rice as far as I'm concerned. When I changed out my ambers, I went with these OEM types.

Juniinc,

Where can you find the black-coated taillights (your choice #2)?

[juniinc]

I know they do look cool on a blk 986.

U can rarely find em on Ebay for about $250,,,,, It took me a few days for me to decide & went through hundreds of photos.

I'm going to go with my 2ND choice. LED's remind me of too much of rice burners. I'm gonna get my pair form caffeinstrip(if i can contact him), just plain 97 amber tails. Then I'll make em all blk- it is usually done by spray painting(special translucent paint) then few coats of clear.

Uhm interesting ! since I respect every1's opinion but u r not the only one stating that "rice"comment -I heard it from a few.

The LED lights look like total rice as far as I'm concerned. When I changed out my ambers, I went with these OEM types.

Juniinc,

Where can you find the black-coated taillights (your choice #2)?

[coffeesucker]

Personally I like the second ones.

Where did you find those?

Might have to try a set. X-mas is coming up and I haven't bought myself anything yet :)

BTW juniinc check your PM's

[juniinc]

I got ur PM ,,,thanks!

Personally I like the second ones.

Where did you find those?

Might have to try a set. X-mas is coming up and I haven't bought myself anything yet :)

BTW juniinc check your PM's

[JP-"S"]

I got ur PM ,,,thanks!

Personally I like the second ones.

Where did you find those?

Might have to try a set. X-mas is coming up and I haven't bought myself anything yet :)

BTW juniinc check your PM's

FYI... I still have my stock tail lights when I switched to the clear ones if you are interested.

[juniinc]

I need em!

I got ur PM ,,,thanks!

Personally I like the second ones.

Where did you find those?

Might have to try a set. X-mas is coming up and I haven't bought myself anything yet :)

BTW juniinc check your PM's

FYI... I still have my stock tail lights when I switched to the clear ones if you are interested.

[juniinc]

Since coffeesucker & litq asked about those black tail lights. Why not post a few pix-I thought.

Recently I was debating to upgrade my head lights but they were a little too spendy! plus I 've already spent some time modifying it to xenon.

So I deambered my clear wanna be headlights,,,since I haven't gotten the tails yet. LOL

Oh boi this stuff is hard to get I must have called 20 diff local stores.

before

after

pretty glossy,don't u think?

they r about done I think

[Tool Pants]

2 versions of black tinted tail lights on a non metalic black car.

[Bristol]

2 versions of black tinted tail lights on a non metalic black car.

I don't want too seem too anal, but I thought I'd comment on the black tail lights again... I had looked into this before and checked the California code on tail light regulations. They require that your tail light have a red reflective portion that can be seen at night by another car's headlights from 300 feet away. The tail lights on the left that Tool Pants showed a picture of would not pass code, but the tail lights on the right would be okay. Covering the amber is no problem as long as it still shines through amber when you signal. I would check your local state regulations. Again, I would worry less about harassment by the police and more about liability in an accident though. If rear-ended, this may shift some fault from the person who hit you to you. Even though the lights still shine through red, the light level is lower than standard. If this is found to have contributed to the accident, well then you're screwed.

As for the Nightshades spray... I could not find that stuff anywhere around where I lived or on the Internet. I wanted to paint over the amber on my headlights like Juniinc did. I ended up bying some model shop smoked tint spray for plastic models. This was relatively easy to find at a local hobby shop. I still haven't painted my lights yet though, just been working on other things. However, others have reported good results with this stuff - similar or the same as Nightshades.

Edited December 7, 2007 by Bristol

[Tool Pants]

Neither of those lights are technically legal because the do not have DOT on them, with or without the tint. They are euro amber lights that were tinted in Germany.

Henry had a bunch of lights and we tried them on Aileen's black Boxster a few years ago. To make the bulbs brighter Henry came up with the idea of replacing the single filament bulbs with dual filament bulbs.

Another test picture.

[juniinc]

nice photos to compare TP. I guess technology has developed over the past few years.

If u want to make the bulbs brighter consider using these LED's PPL-

Direct replacement for 7506

Yes nite shades r hard to find, not many ppl even knows about it. hey Bristol if u r in the US ,let me know ur zip. I can tell u where to buy in your local area.

Edited December 7, 2007 by juniinc

[kabel]

I bought the lights you have listed last (option racing via ebay). Quite happy with them.

The reason for replacing:

The Install:

Parking Light on:

[juniinc]

I got my tail lights in-thanks to JP-S.

finished product

Edited December 12, 2007 by juniinc

[JP-"S"]

I got my tail lights in-thanks to JP-S.

finished product

beforeafter

Glad I could help. Sorry for not having much time the other day I was at lunch with 2 customers. Car looks great!

[juniinc]

thanks JP, its all good

yeah I agree , she is looking sharp!

I got my tail lights in-thanks to JP-S.

finished product

beforeafter

Glad I could help. Sorry for not having much time the other day I was at lunch with 2 customers. Car looks great!

[juniinc]

BLACK WIDOW

Edited May 29, 2008 by juniinc