3rd Gen HID vs LED vs Halogen H11 projector headlights

$5 says Crash's recommendations remain the same...

 

Nokya 75w H11s

@replica9000 sent me some Nokya bulbs for testing. One of the more interesting bulbs not included in this thread so far was the Nokya 75w H11. Interesting because Philips H9 is just shy of 75w, but in H11 form the Nokya is basic plug and play with no needing to trim plastic tabs or difficulty mounting in the bulb socket.



When comparing the filament windings for the Nokya 75w H11 (left) vs the Philips H9 (right), the Philips bulb has tighter filament coil winding, which enhances focus and leads to higher intensity output.


Comparing Nokya 75w H11 (left) vs GE Megalight +130 (right)


The Nokya bulbs larger coils pay a price in focus intensity as indicated by the lux numbers.


The Nokyas draw 76.2w, which is slightly higher than the Philips H9.


Nokya 75w H11 (left) vs Philips H9 (right)


Nokya 75w H11 vs Philips H9


Results are a bit disappointing. I was hoping Nokya would basically create a glare capped H9 with an H11 plug, but that isn't the case. The larger filament coil windings of the higher wattage H11 negatively affect focus and output intensity compared to other performance options. The Nokya 75w H11 bulbs are still a great improvement over stock, with almost +50% output intensity improvement compared to the stock Osram bulbs but the Philips H9 swap is 40%+ higher in output intensity over the Nokyas and cheaper. Being an H11, the Nokyas do have a glare cap which will reduce uplight/glare over the uncapped Philips H9, as the Philips bulbs fall just outside legal uplight levels. Nokya does not publish any lifespan specs that I am aware of, but I would also expect the heavier coil H11 filament to last longer than the finer filament of the Philips H9.

 

Nokya H9 testing

@replica9000 also sent me some Nokya H9s. While the prospect of their 75w H11 was intriguing it seemed doubtful that Nokya's H9 would outperform the Philips H9.



Nokya H9 left vs Philips H9 right


Nokya H9 power draw, 74.4w.


Philips H9 power draw, 75.1w.


Nokya H9 output vs Philips H9


The Philips bulbs draw more power, have better focus and produce higher output intensity with slighting whiter light than the Nokya H9s, while also being cheaper. It is also worth noting that the Nokya H9 metal collar tabs are more challenging to mount in the 3rd Gen low beam socket than the Philips H9s.

 

HIDs are not recommended. The halogen projectors are designed to have uplight for overhead street signs, designed based on halogen output. By putting drastically higher output HIDs in the halogen projector, that uplight is massively magnified as significant glare to oncoming drivers. If you look at the original post the rebased Philips bulbs by Xenon Depot are significantly higher in output than their house brand bulbs that are supposed to be copies of the Philips product, which they advertise as about 'equivalent' (they are not). However, their ballasts were inconsistent in output and slightly overdriven, possibly to make up for the lower output house bulbs. There are no legitimate makers of HID products for halogen based lights. If you really want HID the appropriate thing to do is a full HID D2S projector retrofit to run proper D2S HID capsules from real lighting manufactures, and OEM grade ballasts that will actually meet their output spec.

While the projector headlights have an internal light shield to minimize uplight, open reflector fogs do not. Putting HIDs in the fogs is the most egregious, asinine and dangerous lighting mods possible. The horrific amounts of glare to oncoming drivers is exceptionally dangerous and illegal. Unlike a reflector headlight, there is no glare cap in the lighting assembly, meaning oncoming drivers are in direct view of an uncovered ultra high output HID bulb. Under no circumstance should an HID be run in the fogs. If you want the highest output SAE fogs on the market, check out Diode Dynamics SS3.

While the HID vs LED experiment was interesting to put an end to the focus and performance debate, HIDs are not a product that should be run in a halogen assembly. They should only be run in an HID assembly with the appropriate optics and cut offs. As such I have no intention of further testing any halogen replacement HID products.

 

10-4

 

How are these bulbs?

HIKARI Ultra LED Headlight Bulbs Conversion Kit -H7, Prime LED 12000lm 6500K Cool White

 

Couldn't of said it better myself. I've seen some people run hids in fogs and a handful in reflective housings. Horrible. Ima dealer for auxbeam lighting and ive had many people want headlight bulbs in fogs..i steer them away constantly from that because of the glare and also having fans on the back. More prone to debris getting in them. Auxbeam sells pretty solid fog light bulb leds that product a solid cut off line. Loving all the knowledge from this forum. Been following for a month straight so far!

 

I'm probably going to replace my LEDs for winter with some halogens for heat purposes. Do you have any good recommendations for something with a good output that is as white as possible? I know you previously mentioned that the blue coating kind of lowers output, but I may be ok with that if it is negligible.

 

H7 or H11? The H11 Hikari Ultras are the only recommended LEDs for the 3rd Gen projector. They are covered in post #3.

I'd check out the Hella H9 Performance 2.0 bulbs, linked in post #2. They have a very light blue coating to raise the color temp but minimally affect the output. While it seems whiter coming from a stock halogen, it will likely still look very halogen coming from LED. If wanting to go slightly whiter, you might consider something like a Silverstar H9 which specs a 4000k color temp. Silverstar's are known for being whiter, but taking a performance penalty over stock and not typically a product I would recommend. However, running an H9 will still be significantly brighter than H11s.

 

Thanks for the info. I'll look into them. I like the look of the white, plus they show deer a lot better than halogen bulbs, I find. Which is important when commuting 90 minutes a day.

 

Anyone come across an online retailer that has the GE +130 H11s in stock?

 

Thanks, I read the reviews it looks like the GE 130 Ultra is the best but they are unavailable anywhere.

 

PowerBulbs is out of stock. But here are some:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/193553243494

 

GE Xenon +120 are the best H11 so far, but those are also currently unavailable, +130s are 2nd best. Will be interesting to see how the new Philips Pro +150 compare, launching early next month. But if looking for best overall performance the Philips H9 swap will provide the highest intensity output with fuller pattern intensity.

 

Why are all these Bulbs sold out? Is it like toilet Paper during Covid?

 

LOL. I suspect it is related to the branding change from GE -> Tungsram, but that is just speculation.

 

I went from oem osram to Philips H9 with adapter from Amazon, I could tell big difference the other night when I went for a drive. Much happier an very affordable.

 

They’re sold out because of all of us Tacoma H11 lighting geeks.

 

Not just Tacomas. I've seen @crashnburn80 and this thread referenced in several other places across the net.

 

Off topic for a bit, just received four Philips 9011/HIR1 bulbs from rock auto for the wife's Sienna . Interesting that these bulbs are made in Korea, not Germany. It was mentioned earlier in this thread that the new Osram 9011 bulbs are made in Korea also. The Philips bulb has a hazy film around on the glass just where the filament is. I thought it was dirty and tried to clean it with alcohol swab but it wouldn't go away, checked the other bulbs and same thing too.