3rd Gen HID vs LED vs Halogen H11 projector headlights

man, I'm an idiot. Thanks, that was it.

 

You're not the first one to post that in here, so don't feel too bad. Let us know your impressions once you are able to take it out on some dark (non-urban) roads at night. Those Nighthawk Xenons are nice.

 

Any chance you’ll be able to test them in the high beam position as well?

 

Are the projectors sealed in the housing? Will the 3.0 fan pushing warm air forward actually help our housing stay warm for winter driving?

 

Will do!

Unfortunately I believe so. I’ll include thermal testing, I’m sure the design will help some but the projector is going to keep it from being very effective I suspect.

 

I've been interested in them with my morimoto hid kit acting up a bit. Probably won't be near as bright though.

 

Almost certainly not. However you won’t have the illegal levels of blinding glare to oncoming drivers either. They look very promising, I look forward to trying them out.

 

At least they're not shoved into a reflector housing. I look forward to your results.

 

I upgraded to the Tungsram H11 Nighthawk bulbs. The beam cutoff is much more defined and I can see it a ways down the road. The light cast left to right appears more defined as well. The stock bulbs just seem to fade away quickly, and coming from HID lights in my last truck, almost seem like they're off. I can so so far say the Nighthawks are a noticeable upgrade. I must admit, I do wish the light was whiter and crisper (which is why a lot of folks like to throw in LED bulbs). But for functionality/safety/efficiency, these bulbs are definitely the real deal. Out of curiosity, anyone know of a bulb that performs similarly to the Nighthawks but has a whiter (perhaps bluer) color cast? Thanks again to OP for all his work.

 

I think the issue is that to get that white-blue look, the bulb has to be coated which blocks a part of the white-light spectrum... decreasing output. I think your best bet would be to look at the reviews on the first page and find the halogen bulb with the highest colour temperature that also has the highest output. I have the Hikari LED's in mine and they're good. Not great, but good. I'm eager to see what the new Morimoto LED bulbs do in regards to performance/output.

 

Just swapped in regular Napa H9 bulbs today. Made in Korea. Light is much brighter compared to Sylvania basic H11 but I am still not fully satisfied with H9(it might just be the OEM housings).

I swapped out Cougar motor(Amazon) H11 LEDs. IMO the brightness of the LED matches the H9. LED lights up evenly across but it does not throw very far. I prefer the LED cut off. H9 has a bright spot just right of the center line. Rest of the spread is acceptable just wish the light was more evenly distributed especially to the sides of the car.

I estimate these bulbs will last me just about a year give or take. Next option will either be a quality 35w 4300k HID or a performance H11.

my H9 did fluctuate alittle at first. Probably the car adjusting to the higher wattage bulb.

 

edit - yes, projectors have limitations

no

yes

by that do you mean washed out and scattered? yes

no (unless in a properly designed retrofit, then yes)

yes

no

 

The H9 is far brighter, your eyes are being deceived by higher color temp foreground light. Headlight are supposed to have a bright spot, aka the hot spot, that is how lights project distance. If a light lacks the hot spot you end up with a short range flood light.

I would recommend the Philips H9 bulbs as the highest performing replacement light option as covered in post #2. Tungsram performance H11s are outstanding, but if you want more light to the outer edges of the beam, it will be better suited for an H9. If that doesn't cut it and you also favor higher color temp light, the OEM LED headlights are the way to go. I'll be trying out the Gen2 Morimotos as well shortly.

 

These showed up today. Along with some other lighting candy.

 

Yes! Can't wait to see the results

 

Those look pretty thin, thinnest I’ve seen from pictures...should be more on the right track.

 

Confirmed accuracy of 2.0mm emitter face to emitter face width. Remarkably thin, far superior to the Hikaris 2.64mm width.

 

You sir need to start a Youtube channel. No one is doing the in depth testing like you do and I'm sure even more companies would bombard you with products lol

 

I've had that request many times, but videos are so much more work! And with rare exception so much of the lighting videos on youtube are garbage. But it would certainly open it up to a much larger audience.