LED Turns?

[Mazda3X2]

I have tried searching through the forums and the manual but end up still a little confused.

I want to order some LED turn signal bulbs for the front and rear of my 08.5 Mazdaspeed 3. The manual points out different bulbs front and rear.
Fronts ―(#1157NA)
Rears WY21W (―)

Can anyone please help me out with this? Which bulb should I be looking under for LED? The 1157 type series? The 3157 wedge type?

I was thiinking of getting the "Spider" type or "Matrix".

Thanks.

[bubba1983]

to my understanding ull need an 1157 for the front, and a 7440 for the rear...

[whiteomega]

^^ Yup; Myk has a webpage set up that tells you all the bulb models for every light on the car..

www.cdnautoworks.com

You'll also need a load equalizer per side of the car if you use LED turn signals..

(strictly speaking, you don't *actually* need one...though your turn signal will be flashing really, really, really fast if you forgo it..)

[06Touring3]

is there a benefit to using en LED rather than regular bulb? I've been thinking about doing this also

[JPAV8S4U]

is there a benefit to using en LED rather than regular bulb? I've been thinking about doing this also

LED's Will last much longer.

[06Touring3]

i guess i should have been a lil more specific....other than longer life....is there any visual benefit to having LEDs (i.e. brighter etc)?

[Walrus]

Leds cause the turn signals to appear more defined on/off/on/off instead of fading on/off/on/off as the filament heats up/cools off. I don't know how else to describe it?

[Mazda3X2]

Thanks for the replies

This should get me started, now I just have to pick the bulbs and find some load equalizers.

[dentinger]

i guess i should have been a lil more specific....other than longer life....is there any visual benefit to having LEDs (i.e. brighter etc)?

i have LED turn signals front and rear.
other than lasting ALOT longer, i find that they flash brighter, and they flash ON/OFF immediately.
where as you can see a filament bulb fade on/off

also, i remember a infiniti advertisment from a while about about the G35 and the use of LED brakes lights.
something along the lines of if your going 60mphs, the brakes lights come on faster, and give you more time to react. i think it ended being like, 60 more feet of reaction time or something like that.

btw, i also have LED reverse and brake lights.

[whiteomega]

there's also the asthetic component; i have chrome-dipped bulbs in my '06 sport GT to make the tail lights look a little more consistent; there is no more orange tint to the turn signals...the problem with chrome dipped is that in the sunlight they're not that bright and therefore hard to see. I'm going to be replacing them with LEDs in the future, methinks.

[Blue_Jinnee]

Leds cause the turn signals to appear more defined on/off/on/off instead of fading on/off/on/off as the filament heats up/cools off. I don't know how else to describe it?

Hahahaha .. pretty clear !!!

[Woodman316]

LED Turn signal lights won't work for me. I purchased LED brake light assembles and the turn signal reflector housing has raised chrome bums that look like a bunch of orange dots when flashing, it looks really sharp. I guess the LCD turn signals shine straight back losing the effect for the reflector.

[Noisy Crow]

LED Turn signal lights won't work for me. I purchased LED brake light assembles and the turn signal reflector housing has raised chrome bums that look like a bunch of orange dots when flashing, it looks really sharp. I guess the LCD turn signals shine straight back losing the effect for the reflector.

??????????

[Woodman316]

I knew it, hard to explain. OK try again My turn signals are normal bulbs that shine in all directions reflecting off the reflector bums making a very sharp look. LCD shine mostly in one direction making my aftermarket lights less attractive.

[loosecannon]

I knew it, hard to explain. OK try again My turn signals are normal bulbs that shine in all directions reflecting off the reflector bums making a very sharp look. LCD shine mostly in one direction making my aftermarket lights less attractive.

What?!?!

[Noisy Crow]

Do you mean "LEDs shine in one direction"? Depends entirely on the device. LED towers typically have an array of emitters around the outside shining radially with a few on the top shining axially. Which results in nice coverage. I have LED towers in my turn signals and they look great and fill out the lense nicely. On rear ones you can't even see the individual emitters, just orange filling the lense. On the front you can see the individual emitters, but only close up.