Anyone got any idea are replacement led diodes available for the catvision on the superb I have noticed that one of mine has given up the ghost

Edited 3 March, 201313 yr by dohertyjj

I bet these are just regular LED-s that sit inside that. Probably if you want to get them from dealer, you need to get it with all the plastic part also . So just dismantle it, look for LED, go to nearby electronics shop and just buy new one. Also while doing it, you could write a DIY guide for else (I think there is no DIY for this).

If they are cheap do both ...also having had both red and white cat vision leds ...I prefer the white, it seems to be less distracting

might have a look at them at the weekend not so sure about the white though I would have thought that it would have been more distracting than the red and I must say I like the red will let ye know how it goes but if anyone knows of any pitfalls please let me know I dont want to have to end up super gluing all back together

Have got white in the new Superb...and it's far less distracting than the red

The best colour would be green as it's most relaxing for the eyes at night. That's why all classic car dashboards are green at night.

Red is a colour that increases alertness and we as humans react to red light faster than any other colour, that's why traffic lights' red means stop and brake lights are red too - we react faster to red than any other colour, it's been proven scientifically. However, the reason for Superb 1's red cat vision is due to the experience on submarines... it is much easier for the eyes to switch from hours upon hours of exposure to red light to daylight/bright light (sub surfacing during daylight hours). So in the context of cars having a green dash, red low level ambient light, and white headlights (xenon) is probably the best all round light package at night. I know people have preferences, but but for me this works quite well. I honestly cannot stand the red dashboards of BMW's, and not too keen on the blue variety from VW either, it borders on UV spectrum and I struggle to focus on them at night. But there are always marketing boffins behind the scenes who will push a new design through because it's a novelty or is deemed to be sporty or whatever even though it causes night time driving fatigue.

I'd probably just fit regular reds, or, given they are cheap enough, see if you can experiment with green, and if not good switch back to red.

For some interesting facts about night vision and colours take a look at the following link:

http://stlplaces.com/night_vision_red_myth/

It is quite dry but factual and informative.

My wife has a Suzuki with all red dash illumination and she thinks it is much better than the normal white or green. I find it less pleasent than the illumination in my Superb. So it is also something that can be very personal and subjective.

I suspect my car has two red led's because of price and marketing as I cannot see how the red colour helps my night vision when my HID's are providing a bright white light. If the red colour was so good then why are the LED's in the door handles not red as well. Perhaps if they are not too difficult to get to then I will take a look and see if I can swap mine for some white LED's.

I can see me experimenting with a rainbow of colours if they are readily available from maplins but I would agree with those who don't like orange lights, had a peugeot and hated the orange dash lighting also the red lighting on the vw golf door switches looks as if its shouting at you but seen the Volvo r design which has blue dash lighting and its class. At the end of the day it probably doesn't matter what colour the dash lights are after a while you get fed up looking at them anyway.

P.S from time to time my dot matrix display changes from orange to red and changes from miles to kms dont like that colour either but as there is 226000miles on the car i'm to lazy to investigate why this is happening and after you switch the car off and on again it returns to normal - anyone else seen this

pulled the light out tonight a simple little job it turns out that the led is assembled in a plastic holder and soldered in place simple enough to remove and comes out of the holder handy enough but the tails on it are about 1 inch in length so it might not be that simple to get a replacement from an electronic shop plus when you remove the right led the left one goes out as they are on a circuit. Its amazing how much you miss them when the are both out. My first thought at this stage is to just get a red one and replace just the one cause the less soldering done on a circuit board the better but things do change

Share some pics about this also.

will do later tonight