[break1205]

The halogens on the 10th gen civic are actually underwhelming, my toyota matrix probably has brighter ones. I'm looking to switch them out for LED(low beams). It seems pretty simple, just plug and play right? The problem is my car is under a 4 year lease, if its just a simple plug and play is there anyway the dealer would realized I've tampered with the car? The civic uses the H8 socket so any after market bulbs that are H8 should be fine I assume. Do you guys have any recommendations as to any good LED headlights you guys are currently using? As well as any dashcams recommendations?

 

[4Tires]

Someone installed a RDX dashcam, looks pretty small and inconspicuous. http://www.10thcivicforum.com/forum/11-exterior-interior/12913-2016-civic-ex-photos-minor-stuff.html#post138913

 

[Dallasjhawk]

The halogens on the 10th gen civic are actually underwhelming, my toyota matrix probably has brighter ones. I'm looking to switch them out for LED(low beams). It seems pretty simple, just plug and play right? The problem is my car is under a 4 year lease, if its just a simple plug and play is there anyway the dealer would realized I've tampered with the car? The civic uses the H8 socket so any after market bulbs that are H8 should be fine I assume. Do you guys have any recommendations as to any good LED headlights you guys are currently using? As well as any dashcams recommendations?

Leds are plug and play, if you are worried the dealer will say something, change back to regular bulbs when you take it in. It takes less than 5 minutes to swap out. I went HID's and since I have to take mine in this week, I will be putting the Halogens back in too.

As for dashcams, I use the Cobra CDR840, regular $169, its $89 on Amazon right now. https://www.amazon.com/Cobra-Electronics-CDR-840-Drive/dp/B00K7ZN0UA I love it. Gives GPS coordinates, has a G Sensor, date and time stamp, and when you use their software, show speed and maps too. here is a vid of the quality, it films 1080p, make sure your YouTube settings display it in 1080 to get best pic.

Cobra has a new 2 way cam if you want to spend $ and get front and rear view. Or on Kinja users rated the Black Box G1W-C as their favorite http://deals.kinja.com/your-favorite-dash-cam-is-the-black-box-g1w-c-1761511545

 

[break1205]

Thanks for the dashcam recommendation Also gonna go with LEDs over HID.

 

[Dallasjhawk]

Thanks for the dashcam recommendation Also gonna go with LEDs over HID.

Ill be honest, I had LEDs the first week I owned the car and while they look good and match the LED DRLs, they put out a crappy beam down the road. The are bright to look at, they just dont illuminate as far as even the regular halogen bulbs. And once I drove in the rain with them, I was done, you couldnt see anything. They beam was actually brighter to the side of the car pointing towards the curbs than they were directly ahead. I drive a lot in the dark in the morning so having a good field of vision from my headlights is more important to me than maybe it is to others. to each his own

 

[break1205]

Ill be honest, I had LEDs the first week I owned the car and while they look good and match the LED DRLs, they put out a crappy beam down the road. The are bright to look at, they just dont illuminate as far as even the regular halogen bulbs. And once I drove in the rain with them, I was done, you couldnt see anything. They beam was actually brighter to the side of the car pointing towards the curbs than they were directly ahead. I drive a lot in the dark in the morning so having a good field of vision from my headlights is more important to me than maybe it is to others. to each his own

Are HID harder to install? First time messing with headlights. Need to find a good tutorial

 

[Dallasjhawk]

Are HID harder to install? First time messing with headlights. Need to find a good tutorial

I bought the Morimoto HID kit with Canbus hookup, it comes with a relay set up too. The canbus is plug and play. You have ballasts though that need mounting. Im taking mine to a local shop that does lighting to have them mounted. Ive seen people just use zip ties though to tie them to the front cross member. The relay system involves running wires from the battery to the lights so it doesnt add an additional load to the headlight circuit. Either way works, and my kit came with instructions on how to install both. I can upload a pic tonight of the instructions so you can see. There are good videos on how to do it, this is from an Accord, but the Civic is the same bulbs and install. Ive done it on both. Hope this helps out

 

[break1205]

Thanks for the awesome info! For the canbus ballast, it would be harder to conceal when I bring it in for an oil change since its mounted.

 

[JS2000]

After driving my Civic Touring for 2 weeks with LED's I have to say that the HID's on my S2000 provide better coverage down road. The LED's are the perfect colour, but they seem to lack the coverage of HID's IMO, almost patchy looking on the road in comparison with HID's. The LED's look good, and they may be better than Halogens, but a well built HID system just seems to have better coverage. The LED's probably have less current draw, hence some benefit in that regard on the electrical system. The Civic LED's will work fine for my purposes, they are probably as good as you can get in terms of LEDs

 

[Dallasjhawk]

Thanks for the awesome info! For the canbus ballast, it would be harder to conceal when I bring it in for an oil change since its mounted.

This is true, but it really depends on your dealer and service adviser. You hear horror stories about some not wanting to warranty stuff. Ive bought and serviced a few cars at my local Honda dealer, but im going to remove them for my first visit and ask my service adviser when I get there what they think about me adding HIDs.

 

[4Tires]

I always thought LEDs were better than HIDs for some reason, but that's why I'm on forums. To learn more every day and go for a quality HID system instead.

 

[JS2000]

I always thought LEDs were better than HIDs for some reason, but that's why I'm on forums. To learn more every day and go for a quality HID system instead.

There must be some advantage, probably in the fact they have fewer parts, maybe a longer rated life ? , lower current draw on the electrical system, etc. The colour is spot-on, just not sure the LED's get as good coverage as a proper set of factory HID's.

Now just adding a set of aftermarket HID's won't necessarily get you a better lighting system due to scatter that occurs. If you add HIDs to a fixture designed for halogens you can get scattering of the light in all directions compared to a purpose built projector fixture that is factory designed for HID's, or some of the custom made aftermarket projector mods.


When I first got my Touring Civic with LED's I thought they were pretty decent, but the factory HID system on my S2000 seems to work better in terms of outward coverage.

 

[B20Vtec]

LEDs for headlights come with built in fans now to keep temps down, use much less power than HIDs and can have the same output. Fewer parts is another big thing, and longer lifespan as well.

 

[Smith]

Increased vents should be part of it too, just curious as to how those vents are placed. Hopefully down the road that won't contribute to condensation.

 

[lessonstar]

LED usually is Plug and Play type, easy to install.The develop road of car light is Halogen,HID,LED.Now my car use LED headlights.LED has longer life and beautiful cool white light.