Realistic lifespan of GE Ultra +130s

I have seen a few posts of owners boasting about the 150hr lifespan of these bulbs. Are these just blanket statements or are you guys actually getting more hours out of these bulbs? They seem to be the most popular recommendation for a correct upgrade.

 

I wouldn’t call 150hrs boasting, that is relatively short, but that is the price of a performance halogen. I run 200hr H4s and they last about a year, so I’d expect 150hr bulbs to last approximately 9 months based on my usage. Doing things like not running your headlights in the daytime will help extend the usable lifespan. Note the GE Xenon +120 H11s are a bit higher in output than the +130. The Philips H9 mod will have loner life but be closer to stock in color and require trimming of the plastic tabs on the bulb base. See post #2 in the 3rd Gen headlight thread:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...11-projector-headlights.589465/#post-19689309

 

Thanks for your reply, Crash. I have read a lot of your posts. I made the switch to the 130s last week and love the upgraded light and I'm not sure I can go back to the stock H11s. Its too bad the lifespan is so short, I can see why LEDs are attractive to a lot of people, but Im glad my setup isn't blinding other drivers.

 

You won’t blind other drivers with LEDs in projectors. The issue is that small assemblies like projectors are extremely sensitive to light source size changes, smaller light sources significantly enhance performance (GEs) and larger reduces it (LEDs). You’ll get better life out of doing the Philips H9 mod compared to the GEs, 250hrs vs 150 IIRC, though they will be stock like in color compared to the whiter GEs. Unfortunately that is just how halogen technology works, brighter and more efficient equates to shorter life, and lower output bulbs give longer life.

Performance vs life is a spectrum. There are many points along the spectrum to have better bulbs than stock without going all in for performance and completely sacrificing life. The Philips Xtreme Vision +100 for example will offer improved performance and still offer 400hrs of life. However the Philips +100 bulbs will not come close to matching the performance of the GEs. My personal preference is to have the best performing lights possible even if that means changing bulbs more often for halogens.

 

How are the H9's as far as being bothersome to oncoming drivers?

 

I did not measure the increase in uplight from the various bulb options, so I don’t have a usual data backed answer. But in appearance the uplight increase from the GEs to the Philips H9s seemed reasonably comparable, with a little more going to the Philips. Id bet uplight increase Tracked similar to overall output increase, so you can reference the charts in the thread for a relative gauge.

 

10-4. Thanks