Woo - LED instrumentation! (new car)

NightShift · #1 04-17-2003, 11:42 PM

I just picked up my 2003 Accord today! Awesome car! And the LED instrumentation is very...wow! I love the progressive illumination: it lights up dimly when you open the door, brightens when you put the key in, then full brightness when you turn the key/start it. The effect is awesome. Once night fell, I was blown away even more - the instrumentation is unbelievably white/clear/crisp/bright - I love it. It also has an amber LED courtesy light that stays on when the parking lights are on. It shines down onto the shifer and heated seat buttons [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/naughty.gif[/img]

Some pics I put up: Click

Saaby · #2 04-18-2003, 12:35 AM

Nice!

Chris M. · #3 04-18-2003, 05:54 AM

Are you sure the backlighting is LED? It looks far too even to be lit from multiple point sources. Looks more like electroluminescent to me - EL can emit a perfectly even, pure crisp white light (or blue, orange, green....) and can be bright while consuming an extremely low amount of power.

LEDs are probably illuminating the pointers and all indicator lamps, but it would surprise me if they`d used white LEDs to illuminate the dials. The other advantage of EL panels is that they`re perfectly flat so the whole assembly doesn`t need to take up so much space, unlike traditional backlit units using filament lamps.

Looks good though, whatever`s in there.

[img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

IlluminatingBikr · #4 04-18-2003, 05:53 PM

NightShift,

Way cool! How do you like the car?

NightShift · #5 04-18-2003, 06:57 PM

Chris, I'm pretty positive it's all LED. I've read this in articles online:

"The excellent, clear analog instrumentation is also all new, with large faces and LED illumination, another feature previously found only in higher-priced cars."

Whatever it is, it looks great.

Illuminatingbikr: I'm lovin it. I went from driving a 1985 car to this one...I think thats speaks for itself. Just wish the weather would warm up already and the clouds would go away. I also got the leather interior which is awesomeness.

Bob Snow · #6 04-29-2003, 08:45 AM

I saw one at the Auto show in NYC. It looks like electroluminescent, not LED. Don't beleive everything you read in the automotive press. They get things wrong all the time, and the clincher is that the article says "previously found only in higher-priced cars." Lexus and other higher priced cars use electroluminescent gauges.

They look great by the way. As does the whole package. An amazing deal at around $25,000. The manual transmission version is a six speed and comes with 17" wheels and a heavily bolstered sport seat for the driver in perforated leather!

Willmore · #7 04-29-2003, 11:25 AM

BMW uses LED.

Xrunner · #8 04-29-2003, 05:47 PM

Nice, thanks for the pics. How do you like the Accord overall so far? Any other cool light related features?

-Mike

Penguin · #9 05-03-2003, 01:56 PM

OOoo, NICE [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] did you get the manual tranny? Gauges look GREAT!

CanadianGuy · #10 05-03-2003, 06:21 PM

Hey, I think Cadillac had a computer generated (fake) dash cluster a few years back that you can switch from analog to digital. The analog setting looked real, but it was all done with lights (or EL?). It appeared to float...Forget what year I read about that.

V8TOYTRUCK · #11 05-05-2003, 10:26 AM

Protect that black paint with some coats of Zaino polish! I have 14 coats on my truck and very very few swirls. With 14 coats I don't have to wax for a very long time.

iddibhai · #12 05-05-2003, 01:50 PM

14 coats?!

NightShift · #13 05-08-2003, 10:47 PM

V8, haven't waxed it yet...after the rain is over with I will.

Xrunner, light related features...well theres the speedo, and I think I mentioned the light above the sifter which is an amber LED that shines down when the parking lights are on. I got the OEM spoiler and the LED brake light is really bright, so that exceeded my expectations (I saw one on a newer honda civic and it was all dim and LEDs burned out). My next upgrade is most likely something with the lighting. I am going to do some blue neon for the floor lights since it doesn't have any, and maybe an HID kit in the summer. I would consider retrofitting all the interior lights to LED but they are white and bright enough.

Other than that I love that car. I haven't got on it hard yet (break in), but from what i've experienced it will getcha movin damn fast. The interior is really nice. The car is a pain in the butt to maintain and keep looking new - that's the price I pay for a black car, but it is worth it when it's clean.

I wan't to know what this electroluminescent lighting looks like on the back of the guage cluster. Anyone happen to have any images?