What LED's did you get that were not bright enough?
I have LED's from
LED Lights, Bulbs & Accessories - SUPER BRIGHT LEDS in my car and the bulb replacements that have a single 3watt LED in each tail light of my car that draws 1 watt as a running light and 3 watts as a brake light, the red LED behind a red lens is brighter and crisper then an 5/25 watt incandescent bulb.
when comparing LED's compare lumins, not watts, I have a few bulb replacements that are large clusters of LED's and they draw a lot of power without much light output.