[DeTomaso] Group IV Taillight recommendation/ BRIGHTNESS.

[pantera3641 at azballistics.com]

I have purchased and tried numerous LED bulbs that are direct replacements for the 1157 and 1156 regular filament bulbs that the car is equipped with.  Some were 24 LEDs, and some were 36 LEDs per bulb.   In my opinion they were not as bright as the regular bulbs.  This is because our tail lamps are designed to reflect off the chrome finish of the interior of the bucket while LEDs  project straight out.  You can get LEDs that will reflect other than straight out but they do not provide enough light to reflect off the bucket interior chrome.

In my case I have the low profile Amerisport rear wing which has a third taillight  of LEDs and is quite visible.

Others have put a third taillight just below the roof line in the rear.

The other reason LEDs do not appear as bright on the Pantera as they do on modern cars is due either to the thickness of the red lens, and/or the lenses are not designed for use with LED bulbs.

To increase the brightness of my filament bulbs, I removed the lenses and lined the interior of the taillight bucket with chrome vinyl and the increase in brightness is not substantial, but it is better.

Ron Scott
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Dickruzzindesign at aol.com 
  To: detomaso at realbig.com 
  Sent: Sunday, July 02, 2006 6:09 AM
  Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Group IV Taillight recommendation/ BRIGHTNESS.


  There was some discussion a while back about LED and other new technologies 
  to improve the brightness of tailamps in Panteras.

  I feel increasingly that this is a real safety issue as modern cars with 
  larger tailamps have defined an expectation for lighting that is not fulfilled by 
  older ones.

  A Mangusta or Pantera is enough of a distraction on the road to other drivers 
  without   considering the handicap of small tail and brake lamps. I do not 
  want to be rear-ended.

  I think the addition of one or two LED high level stop lamps would be a real 
  improvement, but upgrading the brightness of the tail and stop lamps, I feel 
  is a must as well.

  Has anyone done that successfully?

  The parabolas of lamps of all kinds are designed around the lamp filament to 
  meet required standards of brightness. That means that halogen conversions 
  probably have the best chance for lighting the entire lamp as the original bulb 
  does. I see now that some LED lamps claim to do that.

  I would like to see this group arrive at a recommendation based on the 
  experiences of the members.

  Dick Ruzzin
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