LPSISRL wrote:Thanks for the clarification. I'm curious if you can get a better focus by adjusting them. Can you only adjust them with the headlights out?
Adjusting them isn't easy because you'd have to be able to reach into the headlight and rotate the bulb. This can only be done after the heat sink is screwed off and the bulb's base is loosened (via Allen screw) so the bulb's body can rotate within it. I had a hard time doing so even with the headlight out of the car and on my kitchen table. I basically had my jump starter powering the bulb so I could see the pattern as I tried to adjust it in my kitchen. Aside from the tight clearance inside the headlight, the bulb gets hot quickly and will get too hot to comfortably handle. Also, it's hard to optimize a headlight pattern when the headlight is not in the car with the proper distance to the wall. I basically ended up doing a quick test to see what the patterns looked like when I rotated the bulb as I was installing the kit. I saw that when the LED emitters were facing the sides, it looked to have the tightest pattern. That's why I left them like that. It's possible that there is a better angle for optimal reflection or at least better fine-tuning, but I don't think they can reflect a focused hotspot of light like halogens can, at least in these headlights. I've seen a very similar LED bulb installed in a Toyota truck with almost the identical pattern as the halogens. The owner was talking about how awesome it was as a drop-in. Basically, the headlight reflectors are all a bit different so they end up reflecting LED bulbs in different patterns. Like I said, it's possible that it can be improved, but fine-tuning would be a lot of work.
I'll take some wall photos tonight and upload them so you have a sense of what to expect. They basically look circular in a jagged pattern up close. With distance, it spreads out sort of like a massive shotgun blast of light. While it's not a great output, it's not useless. For urban driving, they work fine and seem to get more attention when flashed. Road signs and reflectors certainly seem to jump out when the light hits them. On dark, unlit roads in the countryside, it does augment the low beams, but the light isn't focused far down on the road like halogen high beams. It more of a wider blast of less-concentrated light. It's still better than my old LED kit though and for the price, worth it.
Lastly, I should note that because the LED kit is on clearance, there are no returns or refunds accepted by TRS. I just wanted to warn you of that in case you missed that. They only cover DOA (Dead On Arrival).