Agreed!

It would certainly be a worthwhile mod - need to make the white part dirctional?

Agreed!

It would certainly be a worthwhile mod - need to make the white part dirctional?

Well if the Superskoda LED in my boot is anything to go by it pushes out enough light that the bottom part of the lens (that will stay white) won't have to have directional lenses like the Golf's. OR you just make it a 50/50 ratio red/white.

Might stick my boot light in there and see how it looks?

Might stick my boot light in there and see how it looks?

Were you a Guinea Pig in your previous life?! But that is about what I had in mind to do myself as well.

I'll give it a go later...

OR you just make it a 50/50 ratio red/white.

Translucent paint?

Haflords sell clear red film designed to "repair" broken rear lenses-a neatly trimmed piece -preferably inside the clear lens would do the trick.

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_753067_langId_-1_categoryId_255230

Golf Mk 1V puddle lights are perfect - I fitted them to my MG TF and are an absolute godsend.

Yeti use W5W - same as my old Fabia Elegance Mk1.

This is original lights from Fabia and Yeti - all I replaced with same LED light from Superskoda:

Two Red ligts on right side are from my Fabia front doors, left red one is from Yeti door.

White one is from Yeti's boot (same also in Fabia boot).

I have scan it after replacement with VCDS many times - no any fault.

Cut a small bit off the bottom of a red and a white light and swop and glue.

tom

Cut a small bit off the bottom of a red and a white light and swop and glue.

tom

Or in half and you have one for each door

Well if the Superskoda LED in my boot is anything to go by it pushes out enough light that the bottom part of the lens (that will stay white) won't have to have directional lenses like the Golf's.

Could it be that the directional lenses are there in order to keep the thing legal ie not showing a white light to the rear?

I could also suggest that red illumination is supposed to be better for preserving night vision, so by that theory you should be able to see a bit better outside of the range of illumination of a red door light. But:

1) the red light theory is disputed - Google it if you fancy wading through both sides of the argument;

2) you'll be stepping out of a car which is illuminated inside buy a white interior light, so your night vision will be shot anyway.

(TBH I don't find I have a problem seeing where I'm going when I step out of the car. But maybe that's just me.)

The cheapest option by far is the following (link repeated from before):

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/140624636617

They take about a month to arrive but are a doddle to fit and are much brighter. I have now ordered a few more - a couple for my door 'puddle' lights (I am 99.9% sure that the fitments are not CANBUS) and another for the Roomster's boot light which is similarly as pathetic as that on the Yeti.

One bonus (apart from being cheap - presently 88 pence each delivered) is that if you leave the boot open for any length of time, that the fitments don't get too hot. We go to a lot of dog agility events in the summer and need to leave the boot open to save cooking the Staffie. The original lights can get very hot before they turn off after about 20 minutes. The LEDs run much cooler.

The cheapest option by far is the following (link repeated from before):

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/140624636617

They take about a month to arrive but are a doddle to fit and are much brighter. I have now ordered a few more - a couple for my door 'puddle' lights (I am 99.9% sure that the fitments are not CANBUS) and another for the Roomster's boot light which is similarly as pathetic as that on the Yeti.

One bonus (apart from being cheap - presently 88 pence each delivered) is that if you leave the boot open for any length of time, that the fitments don't get too hot. We go to a lot of dog agility events in the summer and need to leave the boot open to save cooking the Staffie. The original lights can get very hot before they turn off after about 20 minutes. The LEDs run much cooler.

I got some-- all I need is a car now!

There are two reasons the boot light turns off after 10 minutes.

1. It saves the battery.

2. It stops the bulb overheating.

The cheapest option by far is the following (link repeated from before):

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/140624636617

They take about a month to arrive but are a doddle to fit and are much brighter.

They are much whiter, being LEDs, but sadly not much brighter. They give 80 lumens as opposed to the 50 lumens of the standard 501 (W5W) tungsten bulb. So an improvement of just over 50%. Whereas what's needed is an improvement of a few hundred per cent.

And I'm not merely quoting figures - I do have one of these LED boot lights.

What I'd like to know, for comparison, is the output in lumens of the expensive boot light replacement from Superskoda - or at least the model and number of the LEDs inside it, so that it can be calculated. Anyone?

I just got these bulbs for the boot and the lights above the dash

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/300615418667#ht_2961wt_1219

Direct swap and improve the light in the boot a lot but not as much as i would like but still they are an improvement and also the pure white light looks a lot better than the yellow dim glow from the original bulbs that just made the car look horrible.

EDIT - duplicated post deleted

Edited 12 February, 201214 yr by speedsport

They are much whiter, being LEDs, but sadly not much brighter. They give 80 lumens as opposed to the 50 lumens of the standard 501 (W5W) tungsten bulb. So an improvement of just over 50%. Whereas what's needed is an improvement of a few hundred per cent.

And I'm not merely quoting figures - I do have one of these LED boot lights.

What I'd like to know, for comparison, is the output in lumens of the expensive boot light replacement from Superskoda - or at least the model and number of the LEDs inside it, so that it can be calculated. Anyone?

I agree. I have fitted one of these cheap 4x CREE ones too, but whilst certainly whiter, they are only marginally brighter. The other problem is that when turned off (boot closed), the led unit still flickers dimly, so it must still be passing some power. I'm concerned that this may be a drain on the battery when the car is parked, so I've reverted to the standard 5w bulbs. It's rather looking as though the rather expensive full replacement units from SuperSkoda may be the answer, I also want to know if those units have any power drain when off, what current they draw when on, and more importantly how long the Superskoda units are likely to last. If their life isn't great, periodic replacement at £25ish a time isn't attractive!

I note that the standard boot light housing has a small diode or something incorporated in it, and I wonder what this is actually doing. Perhaps someone with knowledge of electronics can explain.

Edited 12 February, 201214 yr by speedsport

I took the bulb out of the boot light and wired a pair of these (but white)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Universal-DRL-Daytime-Running-Bright-Blue-LED-Front-Lights-Fits-All-Motorcycles-/180809699104?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item2a19190f20

and fitted them either side of the opening.

Basicly ,I've got a POV spec Furby(MK1) - so I know that to find things in boot at night ,I need a TORCH. :wonder: ( as we used to do when I first started driving )

SOZ - guys - couldn't resist .

Edited 12 February, 201214 yr by VWD

I agree. I have fitted one of these cheap 4x CREE ones too, but whilst certainly whiter, they are only marginally brighter. The other problem is that when turned off (boot closed), the led unit still flickers dimly, so it must still be passing some power. I'm concerned that this may be a drain on the battery when the car is parked, so I've reverted to the standard 5w bulbs. It's rather looking as though the rather expensive full replacement units from SuperSkoda may be the answer, I also want to know if those units have any power drain when off, what current they draw when on, and more importantly how long the Superskoda units are likely to last. If their life isn't great, periodic replacement at £25ish a time isn't attractive!

I note that the standard boot light housing has a small diode or something incorporated in it, and I wonder what this is actually doing. Perhaps someone with knowledge of electronics can explain.

Can I ask does the led go out eventually--like by the next morning or does it continue to glow at the same level

The first situation could be caused by a capacitance in the bulb/circuit which will slowly discharge. This could be fixed, if you were bothered, via a resistor to earth to discharge the capacitance

If it continues to glow there may be an induced current caused by the design of the switching system/ wiring

In either case the amount the led is drawing will be minute--don't forget they are much more efficient than an incandescent bulb and these small amounts of electricity, as in the second situation, will still be there with the conventional bulb, but the current involved will be way below that required to cause an incandescent bub to glow and should not cause any problems with battery drain. There will be absolutely no battery drain if it is a capacitance problem

Edited 12 February, 201214 yr by yetiscot

I can only recommend the LED for the trunk from superskoda.

Have replaced mine in my Roomster. And it is really bright white compared to the standard W5W lights.

If you only need 1, then buy 2. 1 for you self and 1 for your friend. It is cheaper.

http://www.superskoda.com/Skoda/OCTAVIA-II/Octavia-II-MEGA-powered-LED-dome-light-for-your-trunk

On the package it says the unit is the same for Fabia, Octavia, Roomster and Yeti. And other from VAG group cars.

Hmm, I have forgot the package at my friend. On the package, there is a label that says what cars it fits on.

But the unit was the same for his Octavia II and my Roomster.

Edited 12 February, 201214 yr by Togo

Can I ask does the led go out eventually--like by the next morning or does it continue to glow at the same level

The first situation could be caused by a capacitance in the bulb/circuit which will slowly discharge. This could be fixed, if you were bothered, via a resistor to earth to discharge the capacitance

If it continues to glow there may be an induced current caused by the design of the switching system/ wiring

In either case the amount the led is drawing will be minute--don't forget they are much more efficient than an incandescent bulb and these small amounts of electricity, as in the second situation, will still be there with the conventional bulb, but the current involved will be way below that required to cause an incandescent bub to glow and should not cause any problems with battery drain. There will be absolutely no battery drain if it is a capacitance problem

Hmmm, fair point. I realise that the drain is tiny compared with an incandescent bulb, I was just concerned that there's some leakage to earth there. I don't know if it stops flickering eventually. I'll stick the LED bulb back in after I get the car back from getting the heated seat sorted tomorrow, though I suspect more likely it'll be Tuesday.

Are SuperSkoda's LED boot (sorry, trunk)& door red LED lights canbus 'safe'? I know neither original unit is canbus detected, but one of the reasons I wanted to change to LED is to reduce the load when leaving boot/doors open. If canbus 'safe' (even when they don't need to be) then presumably they'll have a resistor built in & draw the same current as an incandescent bulb. It's not a major factor in my decision, but I am curious!

Why do SuperSkoda supply a complete plugin unit rather than just an LED luminaire for fitting in the existing lamp unit? Same goes for the LED dome lights they are developing for either side of the rear seats. I'm guessing they are modifying or cloning the OEM versions, so there is substantial additional cost compared with just inserting an LED into the existing lamp. I can only assume that there's some extra electronics in their version.

Edited 12 February, 201214 yr by speedsport

Hmmm, fair point. I realise that the drain is tiny compared with an incandescent bulb, I was just concerned that there's some leakage to earth there. I don't know if it stops flickering eventually. I'll stick the LED bulb back in after I get the car back from getting the heated seat sorted tomorrow, though I suspect more likely it'll be Tuesday.

Are SuperSkoda's LED boot (sorry, trunk)& door red LED lights canbus 'safe'? I know neither original unit is canbus detected, but one of the reasons I wanted to change to LED is to reduce the load when leaving boot/doors open. If canbus 'safe' (even when they don't need to be) then presumably they'll have a resistor built in & draw the same current as an incandescent bulb. It's not a major factor in my decision, but I am curious!

Why do SuperSkoda supply a complete plugin unit rather than just an LED luminaire for fitting in the existing lamp unit? Same goes for the LED dome lights they are developing for either side of the rear seats. I'm guessing they are modifying or cloning the OEM versions, so there is substantial additional cost compared with just inserting an LED into the existing lamp. I can only assume that there's some extra electronics in their version.

I have the SuperSkoda unit and can confirm when the tailgate is closed the LED lamp goes out completely imediately.

I have the SuperSkoda unit and can confirm when the tailgate is closed the LED lamp goes out completely imediately.

And so does my 88 pence Ebay / Hong Kong version - I've just checked :p