3rd Gen HID vs LED vs Halogen H11 projector headlights

GE/Tungsram Megalight +130 bulb life

Under GE the specs on bulb life were difficult to find as I don't believe GE published the specs on the product page. Somewhere I found the life spec of 150 hours. However, Tungsram does publish the spec, and it is listed as Tc 250 hours. Product page here. Why the difference? Bulb life has 2 specs B3 and Tc, B3 is the life where 3% of the bulbs have failed and Tc is where 63.2% of the bulbs have failed. Typically on product packaging, you see the Tc spec and that is the spec typically used when discussing bulb life. The spec I had previously found must have been the B3 spec, but in terms of comparing product life to other brands I should have been using the Tc spec.

 

When researching halogens for low beams a while back prior to purchase, I too remember seeing a low life for the GE Megalight Ultra +130 H11, for some reason 145 hours comes to mind. I did find it surprising to see the life listed as 250 hours under the Tungsram brand. In any case, I have been running mine for about 10 months now in my low beams with no failures, however I don't do a lot of night driving. I figure I will easily get another year out of them, when they go out I have a spare pair as well as some Phillips H9's which I have modified for low beams, but keep as backups for either low or high beams. Regarding the unavailability of the GE Nighthawk Xenon +120, I always considered the GE/Tungsram Megalight Ultra +130 H11's #1 when considering performance AND price, the Ultra's were significantly cheaper when I bought them with a discount code, and your test results for the two were so close I'm pretty sure the human eye couldn't tell the difference.

Your last two reviews are just excellent. Disappointing results on the new Phillips LEDs, but look at it this way, you likely saved a lot of people from making a poor purchase decision, and your work is much appreciated.

*** UPDATE ***
I found two old GE Automotive lighting catalogs, attached. One has the GE Megalight Ultra +130 H11 listed (53110XNU), the other lists the GE Nighthawk Xenon +120 H11 (H11-55NHX).

* GE Megalight Ultra +130 H11 (53110XNU), Rated Life = 250 hours Tc (same as the new Tungsram branded rating)
* GE Nighthawk Xenon +120 H11 (H11-55NHX) Rated Life = 125 hours Tc
Tc = 63.2% of tested lamps have ended their lives.

The significantly shorter life for the Nighthawk Xenon +120 with similar performance to the Megalight Ultra +130 may explain why GE discontinued the Nighthawk Xenon+120 and Tungsram doesn’t make it.

Link to the Tunstram Automotive Lighting online Catalog:
https://catalog.tungsram.com/lamp/automotive

 

Back of the envelope, say 60w consumption over 250 hours would be 15 kwh of energy at say 15 cents per kwh would be $2.50? Do I have the math right there? So for $10 we could probably get a 250h burndown test on 4 leading halogen bulbs?

Crash, if we chipped in a few $'s do you think you might be able to run a test in your garage for this?

It might be ideal to know when the 95% threshold on output is reached rather than when bulb failure is near.

Granted these would all be N of 1 so we might want 2 or 3 bulbs and average them so maybe 2-3x on cost? Still doesn't seem prohibitive unless my math is wrong.

Or perhaps someone has done something like this?

 

I might have rounded up at some point in my head on the B3 spec, it was some time ago. Agreed on the factoring price, the performance difference is small and and the cost difference is signifiant between the +120 vs +130, and the Tc specs are definitely in favor of the +130 by those numbers.

I haven’t seen these for sale yet in H11, but Tungsram now has the Megalight Ultra +150s in their catalog for H11:
https://catalog.tungsram.com/lamp/a...amps/f=megalight-ultra-150/p=93116877/?r=emea

 

I have no idea where I got 145 hours from, maybe another bulb, maybe just memory lapse thinking it was the +130.
Yes I saw those +150s, searched around and found none online for sale. Interestingly the lumens ratings are the same for the H11 +150, +130, and even the +90, 1350 lumens. So the claimed increases in forward distance must be due to pattern of the light spread/hot spot, perhaps filament size, design , position, or other changes? I wouldn’t think changes such as those would end up with the same lumens ratings however. Perhaps the lumens ratings are just a nominal design value and the bulbs are tested and graded into +150, +130, etc. grades much like microprocessors are tested and then rated for speed.

 

All legal H11 bulbs will have about the same lumen rating, as that is the legal spec +/- 15%. To make the light source more performant, the light source (the filament) is made smaller to increase focus which leads to a higher concentration of light in the beam pattern increasing the intensity and extending the distance projection. And this is fundamentally why LEDs are challenged in performance when replacing a halogen. Here is a short article from Philips explaining how this works here.

 

Good article.

 

Well, Looks like I'm buying some new bulbs.... After this review... are you planning on reviewing any of the common "fashionable" hidden bumper light bars ?

 

Finally made the switch to the Phillips H9 over the ge +130. Wife has a new set of ge +130 in her 4runner will wait for those to start fading before I switch them out

 

Is there a table of contents for this thread? Trying to find whether he's tested the oem led housings from the 2020 models but the search criteria I keep using shows hundreds of results.

 

he has prelim testing on OEM LED and it’s thumbs up. I’ll dig up a link to the post for you. Should be within the last 10 pages.

 

I haven’t yet consolidated it into one post but see: Here, here and here. The OEM LED headlights have the best performing low beam and high beam.

 

I had already had the 3000K lights ordered so I got them today and put them in. Those were for SURE the wrong lights. Mine are noticeably yellow and not purple haha. Didn’t take pictures but any yellow hid picture will tell you what they look like.

anyway the right one (or I guess...one of them) is noticeably whiter than the other. Not significantly and not crazy, but enough that I noticed (but was also really paying attention to it). I don’t use my headlights much at all in the Tacoma, the fogs are bright enough with street lights around here. Not to mention, most people just drive around with DRLs if you’re lucky in the winters and forget headlights are a thing. Or high beams.

BUT I will probably be returning or doing a FB marketplace sale for these. I like them and liked how they lit the road but, if it’s bad for other drivers, doesn’t make it worthwhile. Looks like there are some yellow hella H11s I’ll probably try out first.

 

while I don’t disagree with anything you’ve done, I still don’t like the LEDs. not for functionality, I test drive a ranger with LED stock lamps and they were sweet. And they look awesome. But if a bulb goes out (yes I know they don’t nearly as much) it’s like a 500 dollar repair, limited to where you can source parts from (it’s a whole head lamp at that point!). Given how good H9s and other H11s can do in the projector housing, no thanks from me

guess I’m just saying, it’s a trade off in theory. If it’s a lease, yeah makes sense though for sure.

also. We recognize Columbus Day as a holiday in RI. By that I mean I have tomorrow off and may have had a beer or two. Yeungling Flight is actually pretty good!!!!!

 

Have you gotten your hands on a RX350 retrofit? I’m trying to decide between factory LED headlights or RX350 retrofits. I believe the RX350 retrofit will have better low beams and with quad high beams, I’m pretty sure there will be no comparison. However, there sure is a lot more failure points with the retrofit!

 

LED headlamps will probably outlast your ownership of the vehicle under normal conditions. Halogens will probably last 100 to 600 hours depending on their performance. Add a couple zeros to those numbers for LEDs.

+1 for the day off. It's 06:30, I got to sleep in.

 

yeah I’ve only read a few reviews of LED light housings going dead. Either it’s a defect and they’ll be going out left and right, and be recalled, or you’ll likely never have an issue. Just me being crazy I guess.

 

Typically the LEDs will be covered under warranty since they are an entire housing and not just the bulb. I would have 0 worries going LED over halogen. The H9s and H11s don't come close to a proper LED or HID setup.

 

There's a guy driving around my city lately with green headlights. Not slightly green tinted, like dark green like a street light. I imagine they're as bad as no light at all.

 

I'd have to look at the Toyota warranty. To be fair, some of the stuff I've seen is aftermarket LED setups too, where there isn't warranty support. Or at least, not to the level of Toyota. With how long people keep these trucks (15+ years) it wouldn't surprise me if we see 10+ year old trucks start to have minor issues, but if there was going to be a recall level problem it would have been found by now I would think.

This was what I was sent instead of 3000k Yellow lights a few weeks ago Some pretty groovy purple stuff. When I'm driving it's typically near dusk, and there are street lights through my entire drive to/from work/dog park. Once I get into the main roads, my philosophy is: fog lights are to be seen, headlights are to see. I usually run with just my fogs, it's plenty of light w/ the overhead street lights in my town. Why you'd get green ones....interesting. I'd ask, maybe they think it's better for the snow or rain for some reason though? I know yellow (and some people say blue as well) lights do better when it's snowing around here. That's why I went with yellow. Even my yellow lights I'd be weary about going into inspection with them, even if they weren't an illegal chinese HID ballast chucked into a halogen housing.