[Thomcat]

Why screw around swapping exterior bulbs for LEDs for no added functionality? To reduce maintenance costs?....dozens of family vehicles and never had to replace a reverse lamp and maybe half a dozen tail and marker lights. Stock incadescents put out more than enough light for the reverse camera at night. Dash bulbs are a different matter.....always a PITA to replace, but no longer they now are all stock LEDs.

Headlamps? LEDs/HID conversion not cost effective in the 16+ which can take Sylvania 9005 zXe xenons with the same color and brightness as HIDs with no ballasts or fans to fail. The cost and easy 5 minute replacement (10 with a beer break) make a yearly replacement cost effective for their easy plug and play functionality.

But, the addition of LEDs for DRL/fogs in LS/LT lines are a definite improvement because they provide both appearance and functionality. When hooked up directly to an ign-on power source they operate at full brightness as stock Impala LTZ/Premiere's DRLs during the day and its missing fog lamps at night. Even provide added functionality over the LTZ/Premier's stock DRLs which dim the LEDs when the headlamps are lighted making them useless as fogs at night. Actually work well as fogs when at full brightness putting out twice the light of the optional LED fogs (with half the LEDs) on my Silverado, and even side lighting in turns!

 

[Thomcat]

I think it's pretty understandable why LTZ owners want led reverse bulbs and led license plate bulbs. It's for consistency. The DRLs are 6000K, the HIDs are 6000K, the puddle lights are 6000K. Chevy just went cheap with the backend so I'm making it match the rest of the exterior lights as it should. It's a thing that just drives some people crazy who like consistency. Lol.


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Ever consider that the reason the rear backup lights remain incandescent is because the identical backup camera is used on all LS/LT/LTZ lines and it is color balanced for best viewing with the stock incandescent lighting ?

 

[Thomcat]

The 9012 bulb would be a better upgrade. Any tinted bulb will reduce output as it filters out all light but the color of the filter on the lens giving worse output. Also I must say the zXe bulbs are no where close to that of an HID bulb.

The wattage, lumen output, color temperature of Sylvania zXe 9005s and 9012s are identical ........so why the hell would someone want to booger their 16+ headlamps sockets to fit an older model bulb? And their hotter burning proprietary xenon gas mixture in a projector lens will match the HIDs. And as an owner of two other GM vehicles with stock HID projector headlamps, the zXe retrofits are only close to the whiteness but are an easy match for brightness, distance and side vision.

 

[Thomcat]

More likely reason is that GM can save at least $3 per bulb on a light that is sparingly used. I switched to all LED in my tail lights to help compensate for the dark tint with a brighter bulb.

No more likely the wiring harnesses, driver chips and sockets are different to accommodate the two different voltage buses for incandescent and LED rather than slapping in a kludge replacement LED with internal components to accommodate the different voltage bus. Rest assured future will contain more stock LEDs because they are cheaper to integrate into the total vehicle (after present buyers pay for the tech) and a lot more profitable to replace the assemblies rather than a bulb.

And I miss the logic of having to go with a brighter bulb because one blackens the lens to look "cool". And just what steps did you take to compensate for darkening the passive reflective prismatic elements within the two red lenses to SAE standards which are there specifically for night safety? Hope either your State doesn't have yearly safety inspections or Helen Keller is the inspector. Also, if some moron rear ends you at night and does serious damage, count on the insurance companies attributing partial blame to blacking out these lenses.

 

[Thomcat]

LED's have no impact on the camera and the color of the screen.

Talking night vision in an unlit environment when the camera reverts to black and white, and accuracy of colors affect levels of black, and perceived resolution.