Floor Mats and LED Interior lights in the U.S.?

[nickruocco]

1994 Lotus Esprit S4:

First I am looking for a supplier of black floor mats that say "Esprit" or "Lotus" on them. I would like to get them in the US for shipping reasons but I would consider other options if the mats look right.

I have talked to Jeff at JAE parts in the US, he says he could have some made up that have the Lotus Logo on them but he does not have any pictures. anyone have any of this style? says he has sold a boat load of them.

Secondly, I am looking for a supplier of LED lights in the US for the interior lights. As well as any information on what bulbs are needed.

thanks so much!

-Nick

[Jonathan]

Jono's top LED tip - take the old bulbs out. break the glass and keep the metal ends.

Buy some strip board and 100 white LEDs from eBay and a few 100 ohm resistors and make your own bulbs.

A lot of the LED ones for sale are engineered to fail - why ? Becuase they conduct WAY over the recomended current.

I found a lot of mine after 2 years (approx 200 hrs constant use) failed. When I opened them up I found the resistors are way too low and the LEDs are drawing 3-4 times their maximum current.

Sure the lights are bright but they are killing themselves.

I love LED lights, got loads of them but I always have a little look inside them - again I bought a few push button LED coaster lights for use under the car. All fitted with 7ohm resistors - I replaced them with 47 ohms (I think ~ 50) and they glow just as bright but are draining 1/4 of the current and hence are within their parameters.

Beware of these LED lights made by 1/2 assed rip off electronic engineers they can cost like $10 a shot and they're useless !!

Edited October 30, 2007 by Jonathan

[chandrab]

Nick...I have some floor mats with the Lotus logo on them...I got them from JAE, but I think they were genuine Lotus items. Extremely, extremly nice embroidary work on the Lotus logo...matter of fact so nice that I only use these mats when I have passengers...the rest of the time it's the ratty matts for me. You'll be very happy with them.

The only thing I was unhappy about (and surprised at) was the price....$200 for the pair (I've seen them as low at on ebay for $85).

The beige was a little too light for my car so I am having them redyed to match...but I'll try to get some pictures for you.

-Chandra

91SE

1994 Lotus Esprit S4:

First I am looking for a supplier of black floor mats that say "Esprit" or "Lotus" on them. I would like to get them in the US for shipping reasons but I would consider other options if the mats look right.

I have talked to Jeff at JAE parts in the US, he says he could have some made up that have the Lotus Logo on them but he does not have any pictures. anyone have any of this style? says he has sold a boat load of them.

Secondly, I am looking for a supplier of LED lights in the US for the interior lights. As well as any information on what bulbs are needed.

thanks so much!

-Nick

[nickruocco]

Chandra,

That sounds really great, I would love to see some pictures sometime.

JS sportscar has some they can ship me that are black that say esprit for 71.74 Pounds or $147. so i guess i will be deciding between these two different mats.

thanks for the help

[nickruocco]

Jono's top LED tip - take the old bulbs out. break the glass and keep the metal ends.

Buy some strip board and 100 white LEDs from eBay and a few 100 ohm resistors and make your own bulbs.

although it would be fun to make them up myself, i would need more help with the resistors and things like that. one day i will try that. thanks Jonathan!

does anyone know how i can match up the bulbs in the car for LEDs? like a website or something?

[gwilhelm]

Hi Nick,

Have you tried SuperbrightLEDs.com I haven't used them....

Be aware when you use LEDs for turn signals you may experience problems...

from the website:

Turn signal issues with LED bulbs

LED brake/tail lamps will not flash with thermal flasher units due to their extremely low current draw. These installations will require an electronic flasher unit, available in our car bulb shopping category (for some vehicles) or at your auto parts store. Try to find flashers designed to work with LED bulbs, they will say "LED compatible". Often HEAVY DUTY flashers will also work with LED bulbs.

We offer some LED Flashers in our Tail/Brake Turn Signal Bulb category but we do not know which one (if any) will fit your vehicle. You will have to compare the pin-out of your flasher with the pin-outs of the flashers we offer, to see if we have a match, BEFORE you order one. Sorry but we do not have a flasher application list or the expertise to tell you which of our flashers will fit your vehicle.

Another fix is the installation of Load Resistors which are wired across (in parallel with) the turn signal bulbs to simulate the load of a standard filament bulb. We also have these available in our car bulb shopping category

Edited November 1, 2007 by GregWO

[Jonathan]

Formula is pretty easy.

You need a diode tester on a multimeter or someting to measure the volt drop across the LED - ALL the colours are different so you need to measure them for each type.

Supply is about 13.6v - LEDs should be in series or series-parallel as much as possible, otherwise one LED tends to current hog.

So if you have 4x LEDs in a row and they all drop 1.5v each you take 13.6v suply - minus 4x 1.5 (6).

Then you need to know the current requirment (this will be with the LED data sheet - they usually draw about 15-20mA for white)

So 13.6v - 6v = 7.6v (apply ohms law) V=IR so 7.6v / 0.02amps (for example) = 380 ohms

Remember LEDs need a striking voltage above 1.something so dont put too many in series !

The one shown is 2 parallel banks of 4 in series with 100ohm resistors in place - each rank draws 15mA - you can up the current but they dont get any brighter (used a light meter to confirm this) plus they start to go purple/blue as they are getting too hot.

The original set had 25ohm resistors and one of the LEDs blew - becuase they are in series they all go out when 1 fries.

This way they should last for ever - PLUS if you get a dodgy one, you can easily replace it for a lot less !

I was pretty annoyed really as both the old LEDs cost me

[nickruocco]

Hi Nick,

Have you tried SuperbrightLEDs.com I haven't used them....

Be aware when you use LEDs for turn signals you may experience problems...

from the website:

Hey Greg, thanks for the website, i have just placed an order to replace all of my lights to LEDs except for the rear wing lights. those they do not carry or make.

im hoping the flashers will work without the new electronic LED flasher box. they said some work and some dont. i think because it is an older car we might not have problems, but i will let you all know.

[gwilhelm]

Glad to help!!! pics too... Probably gonna convert my Esprit over too... added to the LONG list...

[esprithk]

I agree with Jonathan.

many of these LEDs are from China

profit is not good, and there are copycats everything

they cut down quality (change components) to sell cheaper..

beware..either buy only "well known brands" or make your own

[nickruocco]

I agree with Jonathan.

many of these LEDs are from China

profit is not good, and there are copycats everything

they cut down quality (change components) to sell cheaper..

beware..either buy only "well known brands" or make your own

I ordered from Superbrightleds.com because there were many different bulb types and i dont think i could make all of them. maybe the festoons would be a good idea but i will check out the components when i get them ( prob monday ) and take pictures before and after and see what kind of quality they might be.

[gwilhelm]

What isn't made in China?

[nickruocco]

Glad to help!!! pics too... Probably gonna convert my Esprit over too... added to the LONG list...

tonight I replaced:

-running side lights

-rear brake lights (4)

-turn indicators

-reverse lights

-door lights

-interior ceiling lights

-number plate lights

-front and rear bonnet lights.

overkill i know, but its been fun...

I bought a few extra colors for the interior lights and changed the main light inside to red to match the car color. Looks really neat when it is dark out. For the reading lights which I never turn on, I changed to black lights haha. Looks so crazy inside when i am driving around with a white shirt on. Could not get a good picture though....

For the turn indicator lights I have to change the "LED Flasher Unit" in the binnacle. With the low current draw of the LED turn indicators, they do not work with ALL turn indicator LED lights installed. Although with only the two rear turn indicators LED, the turn signal goes twice as fast indicating there is a bulb out...

I figured out the pin drop on the flasher unit after i took off the binnacle tonight and matched it to one of these: <a href="http://www.superbrightleds.com/flashers.htm" target="_blank">http://www.superbrightleds.com/flashers.htm</a>

its the CF13GL-02 european model (have not tested yet)

as for the reflector i have attached a picture of the brake lights fully on. in the picture the left is two red 24 LED 1157 brake lights from Superbrightleds.com and on the right are the original filament lights.

The LEDs do look a bit dimmer, but i think my camera made the difference look greater between the two.

Got this from the LED site i ordered from:

Which Color LEDs should I use ?

For best results the LED color should be the same as the lens color. As an example: a red lens will filter out all but the red portion of the light so if the light is all red, none or very little light will be blocked by the lens. The light from a White LED contains very little light in the red portion of the visible spectrum so most of the light would be filtered out by a red lens.

now i am working on the fog lamps and trying to make all the guage lights a deep red as well...

-Nick

Edited November 7, 2007 by nickruocco

[esprithk]

What isn't made in China?

the obvious answer = LOTUS ESPRIT

[Jonathan]

LEDs are very directional - the way lights on the car work is they flood the chamber with light and it reflects off the internals - what you have with LED is a spot effect. You want ones that are multi angle so they shine all over the place, the current ones don't shine any light backwards so thats why youre getting the 'spot' effect.

TBH I thought they were worthless on things like brakes / reverse switch becuase of their cost and brightness. Interior, yes becuase of the current saving and the nice light, outside = waste of money if you ask me.

On a red filter you should really use the same colour LED (ie red for red) but remember red light isn't as visable as white (yellow/green) light (too far towards invisible part of the spectrum) so you need more LEDs to get the same brightness - this is why I would suggest making them yourself.

[ragingfool35]

I ordered and installed the 24 LED 1157s on my truck about 3 years ago (from superbrightleds.com)

they are fine for night, but are not daylight visible (you would have to be looking at them to really notice

the brakes were on as opposed to normal filament bulbs)

i will not risk getting rear-ended in the Esprit!

[nickruocco]

I ordered and installed the 24 LED 1157s on my truck about 3 years ago (from superbrightleds.com)

they are fine for night, but are not daylight visible (you would have to be looking at them to really notice

the brakes were on as opposed to normal filament bulbs)

i will not risk getting rear-ended in the Esprit!

thanks for that info, i think i am going to switch them out because of that. the flashers are bright as hell, aswell as the reverse lights. so i will keep them.

thanks again