Planet 9

UPDATE 2006-2008 Cayman LED Spars with Radiator Guards

The following five (5) orders shipped on Thursday, 3/15/12:

1) 368 Pennsylvania
2) 369 California
3) 370 Australia
4) 377 Georgia
5) 379 California

Things are looking good for five more orders tomorrow!

Thanks again,

Joe

please ship six orders today

can´t wait one day more, please do it, please

pleeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaassssssssee

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2008 Cayman S / Speed Yellow

Please, forgive my English, I'm Austrian.
I also will forgive you your bad german

sorry my mistake, five orders are enough, i meant my order is #385 but my order is #382

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2008 Cayman S / Speed Yellow

Please, forgive my English, I'm Austrian.
I also will forgive you your bad german

Here is my order number: 33129-536-12275. When will it ship?

Damn,

my spars are trapped over the weekend in the customs office. Cant wait to buy them out on monday morning.

Ok Guys, got my Spars a little while ago and wanted to chime in with the ACTUAL deal on these things. I have a 2011 Mercedes ML350 with the LED DRL's so i can offer some real world comparison. Both cars have 6000K Xenon headlights.

1) The spars can IN NO WAY SHAPE OR FORM be called DRL's. this has been discussed her before, so i will keep it brief. You cannot even see the reflection of the LEDs in the car in front of you. Disappointing to me as I like to view them from time to time in the tailgate of a black or dark colored truck. The mercedes in comparison can blind you. I literally find myself wondering if they are on. The Mercedes are brighter than the headlights, period.

2) These are more aesthetic. You will not be seen. I compare the brightness of these against the OEM mercedes DRLs as using tail lamps bulbs or running lamps as headlights. It is THAT big a difference. These are for looks mainly, and I believe Joe achieved it perfectly.

The LED's are kind of a nice touch, but next to a new porsche, audi, mercedes with TRUE LED DRL's, it is almost embarrassing, to be honest. It is like wearing a fake rolex watch (in my opinion).
However, if you take these at face value for what they are (NOT DRL's, but rather a super nice upgrade from the OEM foglights/surrounds), you will be super happy.

Sorry, I just thought I should be clear for those of you contemplating or waiting for your set. Don't expect to be seen for blocks, but rather expect to have a better looking P-car.

I plan to have some side by side pics soon and some through the windshield of each vehicle for reference. Ill try and get some of reflection in a store window or vehicle as well.

My 2 cents.

i beg to differ... these LED's are BRIGHT. i drove behind my buddy in the daytime and he confirmed he can see the led's in his rearview mirror and they are definately bright and noticeable...

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06 Carrara White S - SRP 4.1 / FVD Exhaust / Techart Springs / 19" Carrera Classics

OK, there are 667 posts in this thread, so I won't go back over every one, but I don't recall Joe ever promoting these as DRLs (but I stand to be corrected.) I think he has said they can be wired as DRLs--i.e. lights that are on full time, without the need for the headlights to be on.
I'm sure there's a legal definition of DRL, but these lights qualify as daytime running lights when wired to be on all the time, as they are on during the day, they are lights, and they indicate a running car.
I have seen them reflected in the cars in front of me quite often, even dirty cars. I've said many times above that they are not as bright as the lights on Audis, Mercs, Lexus, etc. But they sure are cool, and people notice them. That can't be bad?

I know he never promoted them to be drls I was just saying people should not expect them to be near as bright. And you CAN see them, just not nearly as well as oem led lights on other cars. Like I said, great product, underlit in my opinion. Again, I have a car with real LEDs to compare to.

UPDATE 2006-2008 Cayman LED Spars with Radiator Guards

The following five (5) orders shipped on Friday, 3/16/12:

1) 380 Florida
2) 381 Texas
3) 382 Austria
4) 383 Indiana
5) 384 California

Thank you and have a great weekend!

Joe

Hello Abmabmabm,

Thanks again for your order! I did want to clear up a detail or two. My product is manufactured with "real LEDs". And as drPhilGandini said, I never marketed these as DRL's and don't think not matching DRL light output levels is a bad thing.

One of my early prototypes utilized LEDs in a reflector assembly behind a lens. To my taste, the results were a disaster. They lacked the organic OE look that I believe I achieved with my final design. In my opinion, making a direct comparison to any other car than a 2006-2008 Cayman is a comparison out of context and pretty much a moot exercise.

Also, please take a look at the McClaren's taillight here: 2011 McLaren MP4-12C picture: 319127 - Top Speed

They are not comparable to anything else on the road today yet they are a very valid design expression and effective too!

Best regards,

Joe

Joe, I agree, the look is great, but the light output is poor compared to oem manufacturers' led drls. I also agree it makes the car look a million times better and that's why they are still on the car. And by "real LEDs" I was suggesting oem of course. I only compared your LEDs to oem Mercedes LEDs because that is what I have to work with. I thought the forum woul like to know the real world comparison. Some have mentioned they feel they are not as bright. It is true. Whether that is good or bad I up to the enthusiast. Joe, don't get me wrong, this is a killer product. It makes a great car even better. I for one am extremely thankful you brought them to market. Thanks again.

Not too shabby! I went with the easy install; took about 30 minutes.
PS- I do love the look!

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chas

2006 CS Midnight Blue, Bi-Xenon, SportDesign Wheels, Heated Seats, Automatic Climate, Sport Shift

So it seems I'm the only one that had a warning light show up with the LED Spars. After a couple of chats with Joe, I just added a resistor and it seems to have solved the problem. I also did a Philips Xenon HID (6000k) install to really complete the look. Here are a few pics:

Lights ON!


Exaggerated Pic..


Only LED Spars ON.




Outside.


Thanks again to Joe for making this happen!

Cheers
-Mike

I, too, bought some 6000K HIDs to match the LEDs and they are great!
I was looking at the Audi R15 LeMans car ( the last of the open cockpit racers they built) and the car has these very cool LEDs that started the whole Audi curved DRL highlight thing. The y look very much like our spar lights. I will post a picture tomorrow so you know what I'm talking about.

Here is another Red Cayman. While not driving lights, they are fairly bright.

LED_Cayman | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Did my install today. I love the look! I had a minor fitment issue on both sides (photo below). Maybe somebody can offer a suggestion if it's something I did wrong.

I also vacuumed at least a cup of leaves that were packed way back into the lowest tier of my radiator. I really couldn't believe that much junk had worked its way in.

Versus the bi-xenons, the spars are a bit bluer in color, but I don't mind it. Also, as previous posters have stated, they do turn on at a dimmer setting for a few seconds after you lock the car, and in other circumstances. (Maybe this is a continuity check for a blown bulb by the ECU). Whatever it is, I think it actually looks cool.

Pardon the photos...I was too lazy for a real camera so I went iPhone on it.

Comparison Shot


Finished Product


LEDs vs. Bi-Xenons


Fitment Issue (Both Sides)


Vacuumed Leaves

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2006 Cayman S
[Speed Yellow - Sport Chrono - 19" Wheels - Bi-Xenon - Agency Power Exhaust w/ Black Chrome Tips - DREAM1 - Sebro Slotted Rotors - RSS Stainless Brake Lines - Pagid RS4-2-1 Dark Blue Pads - ATE Type 200 Fluid - Interior LEDs - LED Light Spars - VentureShield]

Installed mine over the weekend. Pretty happy with them. Like the look of the spars over the body colored things even with the LEDs off. Yes the LEDs are a slightly different color than the Xenons. I would characterize the LEDs as whiter. But, it is what it is. I think they look best turned on by themselves.

Drove home tonight and the light output was perfectly fine with the LEDs on and Xenons on. Dont know how much dimmer the LEDs are compared to the bulbs, but the Xenons are so good on the Cayman it doesnt even matter.

The tech article was very helpful in doing the install. I had one snap tab on one spar at the top of the spar that wouldnt snap in. The snap tab was bent down too far to snap straight and into the snap hole on the car. I just used my heat gun to warm the tab a bit and bend it up and that solved it.

I get the same very faint illumination of the LEDs after turning the car off. Lasts about 10 seconds. No big deal.

To me the grill covers are as much a part of this mod as the lights themselves. I spent as much time getting my zip ties to lock down the bottoms of the grills just right as I did everything else, but I was seeking perfection.

Some have mentioned removing the LED spars is difficult, but I think I could probably get mine off with some wrestling and return to stock. Not much to re-installing the stock spars and bulbs. 10 minute job on each side at the most, once you get the LED spars off.

Anyone swapped out the fog bulbs on the OEM spars with whiter "xenon-looking" bulbs??? Might want to get a pair of replacement bulbs just in case I ever go back to stock. I hate the amber light emitted from the OEM bulbs.

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06 Cayman S | 88 911 Turbo | 86 944 Turbo (Past Life)

As promised, here's a photo of the Audi R15 LeMans racing car headlights. This was the first time Audi used LED running lights. Although spaced closer together, they are almost identical to our spar LEDs.



PS, buffalosoldier: the spars are not properly seated where you show the fitment issue. Although the instructions say insert the outside edge in first (I think I recall correctly) you can actually insert the inside end in first to ensure proper seating of the tabs, then flex the spar to insert the outside end in without much problem.

On the track with the new spars...
Pic 1 and 3 they are on, Pic 2 they are off right before the GT2 RS sucked my headlights out going by (with a female driver no less) ;>

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