Finding the best LED tail light bulbs! 1157 LED tail light bulbs Sylvania 

Just saw this video. A general rule for LED bulbs is use a colored bulb behind a colored lens, such as red led behind red lens. That's what emergency equipment installers do. It give you the best output of brightness/intensity. Keep up the good work.

Seriously dude, thank you so much for spending your money to find out what works best. You the real mvp!

My oem "Made in Japan" 1157 and 1156 bulbs are still kicking after 30 years in the Supra. Great quality bulbs back then.

I sometimes use UL rated aluminum tape as reflectors. It’s my secret tip. They can withstand high temps and reflects light perfectly

The lens will filter all light except red spectrum, so you lose brightness with a white bulb. Also white will look pink

A lot of LED manufacturers suggest using red lights with red lenses. Because the white tends to look more pinkish because of the brighter white color. But thank you for showing the differences in quality LEDs to cheap LEDs

Thanks for this video. I bought the Sylvania 1157r to swap out the all the stop light and running lights on the rear end of my car (2018 Hyundai) The fast response of the brake light and how Sylvania handled the lower light output is what sold me.

Thank you that saves me money the cheap stock bulb performs the best.

Put aluminum tape in the housings.

My old RV has 3 tail lights on each side and I tried the cheap amazon LEDs and had the problem with the difference in brightness from running light to stop light not being very different. I'm glad I found your video. Thanks!

I don't know if it's already been mentioned in one of the comments, but all the Sylvania LEDs were noticeably quicker to light than the incandescent. That's a big plus for a brake light. The other LEDs were not as quick as the Sylvanias (to my eyes), but were still quicker to light than the incandescent. And I agree that you want the brightness of the brake lights to be discernably different from the regular running lights. Great video! Glad I came across while search Amazon for LEDs. It's made a huge difference in what I'll buy.

I had the EXACT same problem with choosing LED bulbs from the auto shop and getting disappointing results from the best brands. I'm glad I got to your video!

I had the exact same problem with a pair of led globes i bought on ebay. No difference between brake & tail lights. Dangerous for night time driving. Went back to standard globes. Thanks for the great advice, results are awesome. I'll try again. Cheers.

Solid review. Im currently bulb shopping for my 2018 f-150. I had no idea they even made red l.e.d. bulbs for brake lights and this was a real eye opener for me. I definitely agree with your overall choice. Good work 👍✋👍✋

Finally!! Your the video I've been looking for! An actual in the lens housing comparison of LEDS.Thank you for your time and money spent.

People like you make life easier. Thank you 👍

I'm very impressed with your effort. Thank you!

Well done. Thanks for using the scientific process and being thorough. This was very helpful.

Thanks for making this video . I was searching for a while to get more info on switching to a led and the brightness difference , and didn't find much . Your video showed things I hadn't even thought about . You saved me money , I think I might try those amber 1157 led Sylvania bulbs

This is exactly the type of video I was looking for. That change between tail light and brake light makes all the difference. That will make or break that mod for me.

Thank you for the time effort and money spent.

I swapped back to my OEM units as certain led elements started to flicker as they started to fail. Just something to keep an eye out after awhile. Some vehicles will want a resistor if the lighting system is sensitive to voltages. It's been a couple years now, and perhaps the ones on the market are better hopefully. I've also been waiting to replace my interior lighting to LED just in case I have one of those "DOH!" moments of leaving them on all night. Which is why I have chosen not to do a review as of yet on my own personal channel. But great to see someone else providing their insights and product introduction to the various 1157's. Thank you. :) Cheers

Found this while researching switching my 62 to LED.... this made me decide to stay with normal 1157s... even the reds don't look better than the left side in the video to me. Thanks for posting this.

That's what I was looking for. simple comparison, get to the point and very helpful. these videos need to be supported. Thank you for the video and for your time.

Thank you for a great comparison, your time and expense is much appreciated.

Man thank you... The ones I got from a well known online LED supplier did not have significant difference in brightness either and I almost got rear ended by an elderly woman with a lead foot. I just ordered mine.. Thanks for putting your cash into figuring this out for the rest of us. ..A grateful FB owner.

Thank you so much for posting this test of the different 1157 LED bulbs...I wasn't sure what to purchase until I saw your video. Sorry you spent all that money to do this test but it paid off in the end. And I'm sure you made a lot of people happy at your expense, saving them time and money and you may have saved someone from buying the ones your friend purchased, because I don't believe they are very safe either!! Now I'm going to get me the Sylvania 1157 Red bulbs. God bless you for sharing this...

This is a great video. Thanks. I was looking for this

Thanks for buying all these bulbs. They’re so expensive for what they are. You’re awesome

Dude! Awesome video - great comparison and incredibly helpful when trying to select the proper bulb for a given reflector.

Thank you.I bought 1156 for my lawntractor headlights,and even as many leds that are on them,it's a whiter light,just not bright enough.The yellow light coming from the standard bulb goes about 4 ft, further.I'll look at the Sylvania options.

Thanks for the info, I’ll pick those up for my Supra.

Helped me a whole bunch! Thank you! Got a 1965 Galaxie and a 1963 Fairlane Ranch wagon that will be getting LED upgrades.

That was amazing, thank you for this post.

Thanks for the vid. I have to agree with you with wanting a big difference between brake and running lights

A man of practical science. I salute you!

I'll go with the red Sylvania you have recommended. Thanks.

Good info. Thank you. Merry Christmas!

Go to 3:14. That is the absolute best part when someone off camera says "I can't find it" when referring to the brake pedal. So cute. Thanks for making this video, very helpful.

This is so dope, thanks for doing such a detailed and comprehensive breakdown of each bulb - taking one for the rest of us!

You always match the bulb color to the lens color, it's how they're designed. Awesome video and thanks for making this! Always difficult when buying LED bulbs that aren't 194's

Thanks for the video, LED blub are hard to choose since they are so many of them out there.

White led are composite rgb chips, while red is just red. So you get more intensity with just red. Also as mentioned earlier the tail light housing acts as a filter letting only red go through

Thanks for the video & test you a true legend 🙏🏽

Thanks man ! Great video I was trying to explain this to someone now I have a video to just make him watch

You're correct. The parking lights should standout when braking IMO. I was also surprised that the red bulbs were btighter than the white leds.

Good video, I agree with your decision for the red sylvanias. Did you notice when the l.e.d. were side by side with the incandescent bulbs, the reaction time was marginally quicker for brake response?

I got red LEDs a few years back and they were supper dim. This blew my mind at the end.

Just bought some Sylvania's for my Toyota Starlet Glanza yesterday without doing research and i'm glad of the results because i ordered them all RED and AMBER. I'll have to change the reverse/license plate lights later on. Thanks a lot for the video!

Dude, youve answered many questions for me! Great video!

Very helpful video, thank you for posting.

Really wish I had seen this vid before purchasing new LEDs for my '13 Corolla. I'm not sure now if the bulbs I ordered will have the same lighting issues as the first two tests. There was a lot of thought and planning (and money) was put into this video. Glad you found the right bulb in the end.

Another thanks for the post- I was having the exact same problem on a trailer I built. Showed exactly what the problem was, and the fixes. BTW, here in 2021, the bulbs you recommend are not on Amazon anymore- just the design from Sylvania that didn't work for your Supra. All of the links go to that model. But seeing what the issue was, and the great explanation was very helpful.

Outstanding video, your the best Thanks for making this video I have the same problem with 1157 led witch one to buy

Thank you sir, this info helps me a lot. Nothing better than side by side comparison.

Thank you for making this video. This really helps on choosing led bulbs for my car!

I also bought a very similar LED bulb for my front turning lights. I took it out as I noticed that there is little difference between when I use the turning signals. Took them out and replaced them with a more expensive but amazing LED bulbs from VLED.

Most excellent video! Two thumbs up. I think I'll stay with the good 'ol incandescent.

Thanks for making this, always wondered, but you did the legwork!! Okay, so I keep most of my yodas stock ish, but when the next taillight bulb goes out, I’ll invest in these. 30 years old and I’ve only replaced 1 bulb in the rear! Uhh, taillight housing.

I've got a 1974 Jensen Healey that is sorely lacking in the illumination department. You just helped me nail down the brake and marker light choices...next up...finding the best choice for 7" round LED headlights !!

I’m glad you did this too. Thanks

I like the red one to. Thank for doing all the work, I have been trying to decide which LED for my tail lights on my MX5 MK3 NC.

Thank you for doing this type of testing !

A couple of things - first up, I *think* the second set of bulbs you tested are "handed" LED bulbs. One pin goes through a voltage regulator, giving dim light for sidelights, the other pin goes straight to the LED array and has no voltage regulator. If you look at the test footage at 5:30, one bulb is brighter than the other. The dimmer bulb gets brighter when the brake is pressed, while the other bulb stays the same. If you had rotated the brighter bulb 180 degrees and tried again, you might have found they work better. You might want to re-test them? I could be dead wrong, but I've had LED brake bulbs do this for me, and it confusilated me for a while. The other thing is - the white bulbs probably are brighter (or equally bright) but your tail light glass is red. It filters out everything except red light. The rest of the light energy is wasted as heat within the plastic (they'll get a fraction of a degree hotter) when the light goes through the red coloured plastic. This happens with incandescent bulbs as well as LED's. Red LED's only emit wavelengths of light in the red portion of the visible electromagnetic spectrum, which will mostly pass through the red plastic without being wasted as heat. Third - if you've got a paper laminator, cut out circular pieces of aluminium foil with a hole in the middle just big enough to get the bulb through, then laminate them. Cut them out, but be careful to make sure there's no aluminium exposed at the edges (which could cause a short). The whole thing should be covered in lamination plastic. Put them on the bulbs, then put the bulbs in the sockets. Hey presto, reflectors for cheap. I did it for some trailer lights and it improved the light output by about 25%.

Very helpful video. Thanks a lot for this interesting test!

You totally helped me with this. I was on the fence about those sylvania ones. One question. Why did the third set have a brightness difference from the inside to outside bulbs?

Just subscribed and liked. Thank you brother for sharing !

Many thanks. Definitely the best testing I've seen.

Well done buddy, very informative video. Was having the same issue as your mate with not enough difference between normal rear running lights and brake lights, when pedal was pressed. Will look at these bulbs myself now. Cheers from down-under!

Thanks for all the good info

This was a long review, but yet so helpful! Thanks a ton

Good video. I had the same trial and error fun upgrading my BMW with LED's. Now I'm on to find some LED headlight bulbs.

Thanks for testing out the various led’s! I was concerned on the brightness difference when brake light came on and obviously only one worked in your experiment

Thank you so much for making this video!!!!

Tony, thank you for your enlightening research. Well done my friend! Comparing the incandescent beside the various LED you tested, I was disappointed as well. Honestly, with the best Sylvania Red vs the standard OEM incandescent, I did not see enough difference in brightness to justify the extra expense. But again thank you for your great work!...well done and very objective!

What a great product review, one of the best on you-who tube and I love my power probe also!!

Thank you for this video. It was awesome and I agree with you 100%. I have a 1988 Toyota Corolla GTS and it has the same design in the back and I was wondering what to get. Now I know.

Great review, thanks!

What a great video! Thank you so much.

I like them for the visual as much as the brightness, probably more

good test- think I stay with incandercent bulb for now

Thank you for making this evaluation. It has helped me find the bulb that will work the best for my car.

I think I will check these out for my travel trailer.

Thanks for the testing rear light bulbs.

Fantastic video. You set up the tests beautifully! Great job, PMM!!! Product specifcations and quality DO matter. God bless!

Your video is very good and helpful. Thank you for the effort to help others decide on what L.E.D.s to choose as a replacement of incandescent bulbs. 🙂

I wonder how the red rear facing super bright would do in later model reflective tail lights and all the bulbs in reflective tail lights for that matter

Great work! you are really amazing...thank you, thank you and thank you!

Thank you so so much for the videos

Thanks so much for your research. I chose the white LED one.

Wow. I went down this rabbit hole about 10 years ago with my Datsun 240z, and then a few years back again for my Nissan 300ZX. LED bulbs have come a long way in ten years. Another difficult task was to find an amber front turn LED bulb that was equivalent to the incandescent. I did find them, but, like you, went through several bulbs in the process. But the end result, especially in the decrease of amperage load on the system, is well worth it.Thanks for sharing!

This is the best led comparison ive seen!

Great experiment! With your last test between the red vs white I think the white could have won if you didn't spray the housing on the right chrome/silver.

Thank you so much for the video!

Good job man.

Thanks for sharing with us

Nice video man. I agree with your hypothesis in terms of the different between idle and break light! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Thanks for spending money and time to make this. Also, thank you in the comments that clarified some details. In Canada the Sylvania bulbs are $50 plus 13% tax. LED has some benefits but it’s not worth 20x the price for me.

very useful. thanks!

Great video! I have an 01 lincoln Town car and others have had to put load resistors in for the blinkers in the tail lights. How do your blinkers or flashers work with those? I like the red BTW. Thanks