3rd Gen HID vs LED vs Halogen H11 projector headlights

Welcome to the forum.

There is a very clear warning in the link you posted.

These products do not have ECE approval. This means they must not be used on public roads in any exterior application. Use on public roads leads to cancellation of operating license and loss of insurance coverage. Several countries do not allow sale and use of these products. Please contact your local distributor for information on the availability in your country.

That rings alarm bells in my head.

Phillips H9 halogens are the way to go.

 

The warning is for socialist countries that also require drivers to use a selected size and brand of tires. That warning is not intended for the US market.

I posted the link because it has all the info on the bulbs. BTW these bulbs are made in Italy and not China. For $100. they appear to be a good value.

 

Welcome! For fogs your should look at a complete replacement assembly designed around the LED light source and labeled as SAE J583 street legal. They will have a far better light pattern and can have higher intensity without glare, unlike drop in LEDs in a reflector. Drop in replacement LEDs are not legal in the US. See this thread for all the foglight options:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-led-sae-j583-fog-pod-fog-light-review.554813/

 

Thanks for the input. I for one could care less about BS laws. In some states it's illegal to increase your tire size more than one step up. Also some degree of tint is illegal. Loud exhaust is also illegal. Chipping your ECU is illegal, and lots of other things are illegal.

I'm only giving my opinion of a set of bulbs that worked well for me. Unless you've tried these bulbs, your opinion is of little value.

 

Laws *usually* keep me from being blinded by an oncoming driver on 2-lane blacktop at 1am. Not always, unfortunately.

 

I realize you are new. I have a lot of LEDs, I've probably run more lights and definitely have more measured light data than anyone on this forum. I agree opinions are of little value and facts are where it is at. Which is why I deal in facts.

Osram H11 in TRD fogs:


Osram H11 in TRD fog. As typical, poor beam pattern in a reflector with poor cut offs


Placing my hand well above the cut off line, there should be no light here...


Rigids SAE J583 selective yellow fogs. Higher output with sharp cut offs.


The Osram drop in LEDs are not legal and cause excessive glare. The Rigid SAE J583 fogs are higher intensity and have no glare and are street legal. This isn't socialism legal vs illegal, this is a product that is designed from the ground up to have the correct beam pattern vs one that is not.

 

Sounds like you couldn't care less about the other drivers you blind with the glare from improperly fitted LED's in a housing designed for halogens.

As crash mentioned above, science and facts trump unfounded opinions.

 

I really hate following the pesky law for murder, defrauding people out of money and stealing. Damn BS socialist laws

 

ok boomer.

 

@crashnburn80, Just a quick advocation for the devil: @SRBenjamin did say that he installed those bulbs in his low beams, so he's probably correct in all his statements that there's no glare, and they aren't much brighter.

The H9 bulb in any housing on our truck other than the high beam is also illegal. If one were to put that bulb in our fog light, it would probably be worse than an LED in terms of glare. If we're going to crap on someone's parade based on legal disclaimers, let's not recommend an illegal alternative.

 

Man, my bad!

I read fogs and went with fogs. Apologies @SRBenjamin for the confusion! However you definitely do not want to run the Osram led fog bulbs in the headlights! They put out less than the raw legal minimum for an H11 headlight bulb, and that paired with the poor projection performance is going to make for a very unsafe short sighted light. Which is why they are labeled as fogs. I believe there is even a warning on the package that the bulb is inadequate for headlight use.

 

So seems like the consensus is for those that want the higher temp (white lights) in a projector housing. The winner is the hikari's?

 

If you value color over throw of light then yes

 

Really? Please point provide a link that shows using a H9 bulb in the low beam position is illegal.

Bet you can't do it.

 

H9s in low beams are not inherently illegal. Some years RAV4 uses a 9005 high beam bulb for the low. The Tacoma uplight is configured for a lower output H11, so the uplight with an H9 will exceed legal spec in a FVMSS test as tested by at least one source.

 

I'm not a vehicle equipment enforcement officer (I leave that silliness to State Patrol) but I have to assume that using a bulb that is not designed for the housing is not legal.

That, and as Crash just said, which I have posted pics of, the H9 glare exceeds legal limits. Go back a few pages to get more details on my thoughts about that, though.

 

If the laws are indeed bullshit as you claim then maybe, but laws regarding vehicle lighting are absolutely not in that category. Like most laws, they are designed to make things safer for the everyone - for the common good. If you think that you have a better, safer solution, then, by all means contact your local representative and see if they're interested in your cause. My guess is probably not. And, unfortunately, unless you have decades of experience in lighting, lighting engineering or even the hands on experience of Crashburn on this site, you likely don't even know how to evaluate the light that you are looking at. Our brains have funny ways of perceiving what our eyes are sending.

 

Comin’ in hard and fast.