I compared them yesterday when I installed it, my DIY ones are definitely brighter than the MARS ones lol. And plus, I can choose whatever LED i want and whatever resistor I want to use to reduce/increase the brightness At the moment, I'm using 12000MCD LED's, and when braking, they are 100% brightness, but when it's parkers, it's probably about 80% or so? I also converted my centre brake light on my boot