Lexus LED headlights

The hotel that I work for had a guest check in with a new Lexus LS600hL which gave me the opportunity to go down to the garage and play around with a $100K led flashlight that just happens to be a car!!!!
Well first impression is just amazing, with 3 leds behind 3 aspherical lenses per side, blasting out a rediculas amount of lumens, just stunning! And it makes the front of the car look mean, with six white eyes staring down the road!
Unfortunatly, I dont know what kind of leds are being used for the main beams, just cant see through those lenses(but I was tempted to see if I could crack one open to take a look), but if I were to guess, I would say Ostars. Very white tint, just a bit the cool side, with plenty of throw from the lenses. Just below the bank of three, there are some side marker/illuminators, a pair to be exact, that you can just see pointing straight down, and you can actually see those, and they appear to be either Seoul or Luxeon emitters(just could not get a clear shot of them with the camera), providing a flood of light to the corners of the front end.
OK, I took a few shots with my cell phone so here you go.



Not the best shots but better than nothing.
In the last shot, the beam shot, the collumn to the right is approx. 40 feet away and the one behind is approx. 55 feet away. No HID warm up time, flick the switch and instant white light, ahh the beauty of leds!!!
I wanted to get the car pointed against a wall to get a better beam shot but I did not have a chance. The hotel should be getting one of their own for house car duties before the end of the year so when it comes in, I will get some proper beam shots on the road and up against a wall. All this amazing technology in this car, 5.0L V8 coupled with hybrid technology, 8 speed auto tranny, auto park feature, an alarm to alert you if you begin to dose behind the wheel, and all I can see are the headlights!!!

I always thought these were HIDs can someone confirm they are real LED's, you should taken out 1 LED and port it to a maglite :naughty:

greenstuffs said:

I always thought these were HIDs can someone confirm they are real LED's

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yep they're LEDs http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=Lexus+LS600hL+led&btnG=Google+Search&meta=

You are the MAN!!! Hahaha, I'd love to find some flashaholic dork screwing with my car's headlights and taking pictures! (No, really, I would.) Thanks for sharing...... interesting post.

are the LED low beams not considered head lamps? or do they consider each three-LED bank as one lamp? I am referring to this rule:

Maximum Number of Lamps

24405. (a) Not more than four lamps of the following types showing to the front of a vehicle may be lighted at any one time:
(1) Headlamps.
(2) Auxiliary driving or passing lamps.
(3) Fog lamps.
(4) Warning lamps.
(5) Spot lamps.
(6) Gaseous discharge lamps specified in Section 25258.
(b) For the purpose of this section each pair of a dual headlamp system shall be considered as one lamp.
(c) Subdivision (a) does not apply to any authorized emergency vehicle.

Amended Ch. 234, Stats. 1976. Effective January 1, 1977.

270winchester said:

are the LED low beams not considered head lamps? or do they consider each three-LED bank as one lamp? I am referring to this rule:

Maximum Number of Lamps

24405. (a) Not more than four lamps of the following types showing to the front of a vehicle may be lighted at any one time:
(1) Headlamps.
(2) Auxiliary driving or passing lamps.
(3) Fog lamps.
(4) Warning lamps.
(5) Spot lamps.
(6) Gaseous discharge lamps specified in Section 25258.
(b) For the purpose of this section each pair of a dual headlamp system shall be considered as one lamp.
(c) Subdivision (a) does not apply to any authorized emergency vehicle.

Amended Ch. 234, Stats. 1976. Effective January 1, 1977.

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Interesting question, don't know if I can answer but they are the headlamps and not DRL's, the high beams are incadesent, and I would think that each bank of three is considered 1 headlamp though I could be wrong but this car seems to blow that rule out of the water if you consider all the lights on the front. You have the 6 leds for the headlights, 2 side markers that can be seen from the front, and 2 fog lamps (if they are on) bringing the total to 10 sources of light, and that is not including the 4 (2 per side) corner illuminators, don't know if I should include them in the count because they are not aided by a lens or reflector.
That rule may have been or may need to be updated because it seems there are a number of new, production vehicles that break a few of those rules !

greenstuffs said:

I always thought these were HIDs can someone confirm they are real LED's, you should taken out 1 LED and port it to a maglite :naughty:

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Bunk3r-Thanks for the Google link.

The LS has had HID's now for some time as an option, actually on the 07' and newer, I think they are standard. In one aspect the new led lamps loose a feature that the HID's have and that is the ability of them to turn when the cars wheel is turned, it is only 15 degrees of motion but when going through the twisties of a dark road that small bit of motion is very helpfull.
Oh yea, I was quite tempted to crack into one to see the "modding abilities" of these lamps, but I decided to keep my paws out of there, for now!

legally the fog lights can only be lit with the low beams, when one switches on the high beams many cars shut off the fog lamps(it's not legal to use fog lamps with the high, or as the VC calls it, "driving beam")

scott.cr said:

You are the MAN!!! Hahaha, I'd love to find some flashaholic dork screwing with my car's headlights and taking pictures! (No, really, I would.) Thanks for sharing...... interesting post.

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Thanks Scott, the sad part is that the people that will buy this car will most likely have no clue whatsoever as to the technologies inside the car.

270winchester said:

legally the fog lights can only be lit with the low beams, when one switches on the high beams many cars shut off the fog lamps(it's not legal to use fog lamps with the high, or as the VC calls it, "driving beam")

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That is correct, the fog lights of any car (at least in the US, and they were wired by the factory and not a Pepboys add-on) will turn off when the highbeam is activated.

so my guess is that they have great lawyers that will argue each bank constitute at "one lamp" with 45 pages of legal language based on wattage, beam pattern, etc, to make the car adher to the law such that at any given time only four "lamps" are on at the same time. you can have as many lights on you car as your want but only four of them can be on at once.

thanks very much for the pics BTW :thumbsup:

not a Pepboys add-on)...

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That fog light not being on when the high beams are on doesn't really make sense to me. What would it matter? If you're using your high beams, there shouldn't be anyone in front of you, so what's the harm if you want as much light as possible?

havand said:

That fog light not being on when the high beams are on doesn't really make sense to me. What would it matter? If you're using your high beams, there shouldn't be anyone in front of you, so what's the harm if you want as much light as possible?

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I have wondered about that as well and also who implemented that rule (D.O.T. ?? :thinking and does that apply to cars outside the US as well? Well, maybe they just realize how many people drive with their highbeams on and do not know it! I used to be a doorman at the hotel I work for and it always amazed me how many people drove in with their highbeams on.
"Yes madam, the blue light on your dash means that your highbeams are on." !!!

I have mine all wired directly to the battery, and switched independently of each other. I don't think that the highway laws should apply to a vehicle when it's used off-highway. I've been driving over on some unlit back roads in eastern Washington at night, and even with ALL of my lights on, it doesn't seem like enough.

I've also driven with only my fog lights (and running lights) on to conserve power and reduce light pollution, which is illegal in my area. After dusk, the main headlights must be on at all times. There's so much light in most places that one could get away with no forward illumination most of the time.

Very interesting information, thanks for sharing.

havand said:

That fog light not being on when the high beams are on doesn't really make sense to me. What would it matter? If you're using your high beams, there shouldn't be anyone in front of you, so what's the harm if you want as much light as possible?

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Amen, with my fogs on the edges of the roads are lit up immediately in front of me making it easier to see if that deer really is going to commit suicide. The high beams are putting the light farther down the road and don't help with the last minute jumpers.

electromage said:

...There's so much light in most places that one could get away with no forward illumination most of the time.

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I understand that in Belgium this has been a problem, that every road in the country is well lit and people drive around at night not noticing that their lights are off.

270winchester said:

are the LED low beams not considered head lamps? or do they consider each three-LED bank as one lamp? I am referring to this rule:

Maximum Number of Lamps

24405. (a) Not more than four lamps of the following types showing to the front of a vehicle may be lighted at any one time:
(1) Headlamps.
(2) Auxiliary driving or passing lamps.
(3) Fog lamps.
(4) Warning lamps.
(5) Spot lamps.
(6) Gaseous discharge lamps specified in Section 25258.
(b) For the purpose of this section each pair of a dual headlamp system shall be considered as one lamp.
(c) Subdivision (a) does not apply to any authorized emergency vehicle.

Amended Ch. 234, Stats. 1976. Effective January 1, 1977.

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To clarify the meaning:
(1) Headlamps. What is a headlamp to you? We all generally refer to the headlamp as the entire assembly. Doesn't matter how many bulbs are used, as long as the function (low beam) is contained in the assembly. Ever see the Q45? It has 7 projector lenses inside each headlamp assembly.