Neons Vs. LED's......

[DaViper]

So I had a big metal trunk in my car's trunk and I hit the brakes hard and the trunk cracked my $40 36" neon tube for my car's trunk......I am now thinking about using a 40" led rod in the trunk. Do you think the LED rod is a better choice than a 36" neon tube? I hear that LED's are brighter and more durable than neons, however I have no experience with LED's. Can anybody give me a recommendation?

Thanks!
-DaViper

 

[Sir Nuke]

what you have heard is right....go with the LED's...

 

[DaViper]

Do you think a 36" LED tube will be bright enough to light my whole trunk nicely if I mount it to the cargo cover in the p5? I found a nice 40" one on ebay, but the biggest that will fit is 36"...oh well the search continues....

Thanks!
-DaViper

 

[srtchick]

IMO neon lights or LED's are (rice)

 

[DaViper]

IMO neon lights or LED's are (rice)

To each his own......I want to be able to see in my trunk at night, since the trunk light sucks, and I'd rather the light be blue to match my paint color than white if I'm going to spend money on it. I also though neons would be ricey until I put them under my dash, and I really love them now. EVERYONE who has gotten into my car at night has complimented on the neons. I don't like underbody, but I think neons can be quite tasteful when properly installed on the interior. In case you haven't noticed, most luxury cars have nice white floorlights, these are just like them, only they're colored nicely to my car's color.

-DaViper

 

[srtchick]

yeah i mean they are OK if used right (4got to add that)

 

[Protege5Gurly]

LEDs have a more direct glow -- neons dispurse much better -- go with neons

Pe@ce

 

[p5sundevil]

yah what gurly said, tyhe LED, even the wide angle led's will have a more directional light pattern, this is apparent in my dome light as I have the maps lights replaced with LED wedges and the boon is still stock, even though the boon is a very yellow light compared to the leds it fills more of the cabin with light by far. This is the same in LED tubes, the acrylic tube around the LEDs helps disperse the light better but honestly to have the light really fill the cargo area you will need a neon, hell I have a 9" blue streetglo optix in my cargo area and it lights the whole thing up like crazy, i mean bright, and thats from a 9" one, i also have them under my seats and everyone loves thoes also.

next up is my blue led cupholder mod taken from the scion, should be done this weekend.

 

[DaViper]

Ok cool, I'll go with another 36" neon, thanks!

-DaViper

 

[GreenPic]

neons take forever and a day to warm up b4 they turn on... leds dont, once u hit the switch they're on...

i hate waiting for my neons to come on... takes like 10 min, tho they're a year old...

 

[DaViper]

Actually, all the neons I've ever put in my car turn on just as fast as the led's do. They turn on instantly, and this also enables them to acurately flash to my sub when they're set in pulse mode. Maybe you bought some really cheap neons that aren't intended for show use in cars...

-DaViper

neons take forever and a day to warm up b4 they turn on... leds dont, once u hit the switch they're on...

i hate waiting for my neons to come on... takes like 10 min, tho they're a year old...

 

[GreenPic]

probly true...

so whats a good brand of neon lights then?

 

[DaViper]

I don't know...I just bought the cheapest ones I could find on ebay and they work great, so maybe just dont buy the home-light neons from home-depot?

-DaViper

probly true...

so whats a good brand of neon lights then?

 

[GreenPic]

huh? home-light neons from home-depot? okay...

i used smaller neons for the foot wells infront of the passenger and driver seats. they are small 12"ers. they take a long time to light up for some reason...

thought they were a good brand, had all the fancy stuff on it and they were made pretty well. even had the lil power transformer away from the tube so you could mount em in small places.

 

[Jspec]

definately neons, I have leds under my car and they aren't bright enough

 

[p5sundevil]

name brands for neons? not really, maybe streetglo, their optix line is really nice, eurolite seems to make good stuff since they are basically a lighting only company....

just make sure what you buy has an acrylic tube around the neon for safety and durability and see if it actually says what they are rated for lifetime hours. most dont unfortunately.

 

[tttP5]

yah what gurly said, tyhe LED, even the wide angle led's will have a more directional light pattern, this is apparent in my dome light as I have the maps lights replaced with LED wedges and the boon is still stock, even though the boon is a very yellow light compared to the leds it fills more of the cabin with light by far. This is the same in LED tubes, the acrylic tube around the LEDs helps disperse the light better but honestly to have the light really fill the cargo area you will need a neon, hell I have a 9" blue streetglo optix in my cargo area and it lights the whole thing up like crazy, i mean bright, and thats from a 9" one, i also have them under my seats and everyone loves thoes also.

next up is my blue led cupholder mod taken from the scion, should be done this weekend.

that would look cool. post some pics when you are done with the scion mod.

i hate ppl when they keep saying this that they don't like or can't accept are RICE. have you noticed the limited range of colors that america gets for its cars! its ppl like you guys that keep saying things are RICE and cannot accept new trends or a different style in turn it just shows how conservative ppl here are. look at all the colours for cars they have elsewhere in the world! man they even have a candy red colour for their hatchback echo! the had a silverpink echo in asia. i could keep going on and on...... but you get the point.

 

[pr5owner]

not for a trunk, i would not go with LED's, LED = outside of car = durability, for the inside go with neon since its not directional

 

[Golani]

Is the actual tube visible in your setup or just the light? If it isn't you might want to look into using multiple CCFL. For something like $3 per 12" tube from certain suppliers and with the same intensity as neon or LED tubes the price is goddamn right. They're intended for computer case mod use but can easily be put into cars instead.