3rd Gen HID vs LED vs Halogen H11 projector headlights

I just got the GTR Ultra 2 LEDs. The design of these LEDs is just awful, I believe they are the largest LED I have tested yet, as they are literally approaching 2x the size of Hikari. It is pretty clear the designers of this product have no understanding of headlight optics. This design is going to completely blow out very high amounts of foreground light while significantly limiting distance light, which is the exact opposite of what you want in a headlight. However many are initially deceived by high amounts of foreground light in replacement LEDs as people intrinsically favor foreground light, which is why you see so many driving around with their fogs on unnecessarily, but this isn't how a headlight is supposed to work. Foreground light reduces distance vision, and reducing distance light at the same time causes you to be able to outrun your headlights, which really defeats the point. There is a lot more to lighting science than just making it brighter.

Also note that GTR is Headlight Revolution's own brand. Headlight Revolution constantly rates GTR as "best" over all other brands making it look like it is somehow an independent test. They are just claiming themselves as the winner, but not making that clear to the consumer by using a different misleading brand name. Then selling a bunch of product based on recommending their own product based on their 'tests' in youtube videos. Those tricky LED sales guys...

It will also be interesting to test and compare the data, HR/GTR claims better performance than Diode Dynamics and Morimoto. The Morimotos are not a great design, but Diode Dynamics have paid attention to focus and attempted to build smaller LEDs for improved focus, however they are still not as small as Hikari. I bet HR/GTR raw output is higher, but in a distance test the most critical component is focus and it would initially appear the HR/GTR are among the worst focused in this thread based on their size. The Hikari design is vastly superior for focus. But the data will tell...

Putting drop in LEDs in your fogs just causes blinding glare to everyone, it is dangerous and illegal. The correct way to upgrade your fogs is with an SAE assembly with optics designed for LEDs, nearly all of them for a Tacoma are documented here. They will be far higher performing that what you are running now with appropriate cut offs to not blind others and actually work well in the conditions they were designed for. I'd recommend the SS3s linked at the top.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-led-sae-j583-fog-pod-fog-light-review.554813/

 

Responded via PM.

 

Because that's impossible with current LED given their physical limitations. If someone is telling you they are, you're being lied to.

Furthermore Headlight Revolutions is full of shit. Everything they say trying to sell you lighting is bullshit.

 

I read the first post in this thread. Not interested in installing HIDs. Way too much to read for me.

 

clearly you did not.

 

I eventually ended up taking these out. Once I get enough posts, I'll list them for sale. The squirrel-finders drove me and other drivers crazy. Went back to H9 halogen, think a RX350 retrofit will be my best option. Shame, such great bulbs and a ton of output. Wish our stock projectors were up to par.

 

Looking for the TL/DR version(kinda)...

I have spent weeks browsing these forums, and I haven't even made a dent in it. I purchased a 2019 TRD Sport in cement last week and it came with LED fog lights which emit a nice white light that is close to the DRLs. Personally I don't like the yellowish (3000-3500) light emitted by the factory halogens and would like something closer to the white, 6000-6500 range.

I considered LEDs however after reading through some of this thread it seems the LED lights aren't going to be the solution, and halogens are going to have a difficult time reaching the color temperature I am after. Are HID's going to be the solution here? Recommendations?


Thanks for the wealth of knowledge you all have already provided.

 

You can get an HID retrofit or the Morimoto or Toyota OEM LED headlights. Depends how much you want to spend and what you looking for. IMHO from what I've researched, HID Retro (particularly RX350 projectors) > Toyota OEM LED's > Morimoto XB.

 

Halogens will not effectively produce the color temp you seek. The Hikari Ultra LEDs are the best performing LEDs tested yet, and what I would recommend for your desired color temp range. HIDs do produce significantly more glare to oncoming drivers, they have the added complexity of external ballasts and the bulbs tend to 'bounce' in the Tacoma 3rd Gen projector over bumps leading many to be unsatisfied with the performance.

 

@crashnburn80 How do you think the h9 performance will be affected for those that will be using vftnuer to bump up the alternator output to the mid 14s for AGM compatability?

 

Halogen output increases exponentially to the power of 3.4 with voltage increase. I used 13.8v in my testing as it was the voltage measured at the headlight connector. The Tacoma voltage seems to fluctuate between 13.6-14.1v depending on the battery state and electrical load while driving (13.8v happens to be right in the middle as an average). So using a .5v boost off of 13.8v average would mean: (14.3v/13.8v)^3.4=1.1286 In other words your looking at a 12.8% increase in output on average over the numbers reported in this thread. It is also worth noting the gain is not free, higher voltage does reduce bulb life. I run a +0.5v voltage booster on my truck to support my AGM.

 

Thanks sir. Been a while since I have been on this thread and wasn't sure if it was covered, plus the voltage upgrade for us 3g is pretty new. I figured that shorter life span was given. The H9 was one of the first upgrades I did thanks to you when I picked up the truck almost a year ago. Wasn't sure how much of an increase it would be. 12ish % increase is an added bonus.

 

So the consensus: GE +130 is the best performing headlight bulb?

Anyone gotta link to purchase GE +130 bulbs?
And i take it also fits in 2015 4Runner?

 

Philips H9 swap performs best. If you wanted to stay with H11 the GE Xenon +120 are best followed very closely by the GE Megalight +130. The +130s are a little whiter than the +120s. All the data to compare is in post #2.

Note GE labeling is changing to use the parent company name, Tungsram.

You can get the Philips and Xenon bulbs from Amazon. The +130s are available from PowerBulbs with free shipping, no tax and a 20% off code on their site. They package products much better than amazon.
https://www.powerbulbs.com/us/product/tungsram-megalight-ultra-h11-twin

Yes, 4runner headlights are the same bulb type.

 

Good link, thanks. I bought my GE (now Tungsram as you said) Megalights +130 off Amazon previously, I don't see them there now under either brand. The GE Xenon's in H11 I found here are pricey $45.99 a pair:

GE Lighting 69865 H11 55NHX/BP2 Nighthawk Xenon Halogen Replacement Bulb, 2-Pack

https://www.amazon.com/Lighting-H11...1&keywords=GE+Xenon+H11&qid=1590862076&sr=8-2

With the 20% discount at Powerbulbs, I just bought these for $33.97 shipped, for a backup to the ones I have in my low beam projectors (or maybe to use in the fog lights I am installing in my SR soon if I decide to put in the Philips H9's I bought for my low beams):
https://www.powerbulbs.com/us/product/tungsram-megalight-ultra-h11-twin

Based on your previous reviews of both the GE Megalight +130 were pretty close to the GE Xenon 120, and my experience with them is good. Since both brands of high performance bulbs have a fairly short life span, I think the Tungsram Megalight +130's are a far better value at those price points.

 

Headlight Revolution GTR Ultra 2



Headlight Revolution constantly rates GTR products as some of the best performing LED lights. They claim that they "have optimized the position of the LEDs so that once locked into the headlight, they are directly in-line with what the optics of the projector or reflector was designed for". They do lock in place and are not 'adjustable', which is a plus.

To put that statement to the test about the optics, the critical width for focus is 1.42mm. This is the target objective.


GTR Ultra 2


Just wow. 3.3x larger than the halogen, this is the worst width of any LED tested in this thread (save the joke of testing BeamTech) while also being the most expensive. Recall that wider off spec widths lead to poor focus and reduced distance projection while shifting the light pattern from distance light to foreground light.

While width is a challenge for all LED manufactures (though GTR is so far the worst) most are able to get the height and length of the LED emitters similar to the halogen filament. GTR botched it again here. The emitters should be no more than 1.42mm high, but they are still significantly larger, which will further cause poor focus.



Halogen vs GTR 2 LED emitter vs halogen filament of stock H11


So all the science says these will perform poorly, but what does the actual data say? These things are really damn bright.

GTR 2 LED vs Philips H9 at 18'


GTR 2 LED vs Philips H9 at 18'

One of the best tools of poor performing LED products is short range distance test readings. It conceals the loss of focus and poor distance performance of poorly designed products that blow out high amounts of foreground light while losing distance projection.

42' Distance test, GTR 2 vs Philips H9


GTR 2 vs Philips H9 at 42'


So a Philips H9 swap is 32% brighter at 42'. But numbers alone are exceptionally misleading. While the halogen hot spots are up near the cut off for maximum distance projection as a proper functioning headlight should work, the GTR bulbs peak output are an abysmal 12" below the cut off. Meaning a significant shift to foreground light and loosing distance projection. The blow out in foreground light will look impressive initially, but this is counter to seeing distance, which is the entire point of a headlight. It should also be noted the GE +130 bulbs handily outperform these overpriced LEDs while being a plug and play solution, and not even being the best halogen compared to the Xenon +120s. These are significantly brighter than a stock bulb, but the light is in the wrong place which does more harm than good.

GTR peak lux location, which should be near the cut off. This is awful.


Headlight Revolution says: "We challenge you to find an alternative that produces the same amount of output with the same small footprint that the Ultra 2 has."

Umm, ok. If set on LED then Hikari Ultras handily beats the GTR product while offering vastly superior focus, placing the hot spot up where it is supposed to be near the beam cut off while offering higher peak intensity output and drastically better optical design.



Headlight Revolution claims the GTR 2s are 41.5w, measured stable output:


That is 37w stable output rounding up, so the power consumption falls short of the spec by my measurements. (W=A x V)

This product is poorly designed by those that do not appear to understand headlight optics, not untypical of generic LED headlight companies. It has the worst optical design of all products in this thread. Prioritizing output over focus is a novice mistake that exploits itself to marketing videos and misleading advertising demonstrating how much brighter the product is, without noting how much worse it performs in real world environments. In a reflector assembly the oversized LED will also cause far worse glare than those that do a better job of mimicking a halogen filament. Unfortunately blowing out your headlight pattern with crazy high amounts of foreground light looks impressive from the driver seat, even though that is the last thing you want from a headlight performance standpoint. Hikari Ultra, Sylvania and Diode Dynamics all did far superior jobs at correct hot spot locations and far better focus for an LED headlight.

It is also worth noting, all those 'independent test' videos Headlight Revolution does that proclaim GTR as the winner... are proclaiming themselves as the winner. Headlight Revolution and GTR are the same company, the brand labeling is just changed for their products so the consumer wouldn't be aware they are recommending people buy their own products in the 'independent reviews'.

 

Gah what a long (good, but long!) thread.

If I have Mike's harness for LED conversion from halogen to LED, what is everyone's consensus on the best, brightest low/high LEDs?

 

Are you referring to the Headlight Services harness?

Best performing replacement LEDs are the Hikari Ultras, covered in post #3 with the other LED reviews. I need to better organize that post to make it more clear those are the recommended product for replacement LEDs.

 

Yeah I just bought 2 pairs of Hikari Ultra LEDS.

The harness is for converting (later) to MoriMoto or another Aftermarket LED headlights.