3rd Gen HID vs LED vs Halogen H11 projector headlights

the highs are already h9

 

I just wanted to show you guys how much shorter the glare cap is on the Philips +100’s vs. the GE/Tungsram series. Upper arrow is bottom of the silver glare cap. Bottom arrow is the bottom of the blue band.

I’m no expert, but anecdotally speaking, I do think this gives you a much wider beam pattern than the GE/Tungsram bulbs. The difference in blocked light is huge.

 

Funny, your comment about the decrease in intensity made me check when I installed my H9's...at this point it's almost 18 months. I don't think you notice them getting dimmer because of how much better they are in the first place compared to stock. I guess I should look into replacing mine by now too.

 

I can’t wait for the Gen2 Morimoto review!!

 

I apologize if this has been asked already. I've been digging through this thread and can't find an answer. Is there a decent bulb replacement option for non LED factory fogs? I have a 2020 TRD OR. I don't drive in the fog a lot but this time a year at least once a week I could use a better fog light.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-led-sae-j583-fog-pod-fog-light-review.554813/#post-18077658

 

So you're saying an LED conversion is the only viable option?

 

Perhaps follow up discussion would be best in the fog thread?

There are various options for bulbs.

 

If you have the halogen fogs, your options are pretty limited as to different bulbs that improve your current fog lights. And please don't fall for the marketing BS that says drop in LED bulbs will do it. If you replace them with one of the recommended LED pods in the thread linked above, you can dramatically improve the amount of usable light on the ground without bothering oncoming drivers.

 

My Phillips H9's just arrived from RockAuto and all 4 were the German sourced bulbs. I guess I got lucky. Going to install them now and see how they look once the sun goes down.

Edit: install was easier than I expected. Usually the way these things go it's more difficult than its supposed to be. Pleasant surprise.

 

Thank you for the research. I decided to go with the GE Nighthawk H11. The link you have at beginning takes you to the GE Nighthawk H1. I will return these and get the correct H11.

 

The H9's are awesome. Such an easy and 'worth it' upgrade.

 

Haven't been on this thread in a while. Boy did I miss alot and spent over an hour just skimming lol.
I've gone from the +130's to the H9's, to the Hikari "eyes of megatron" (on sale so I said what the hell let's try them). I'm liking the Hikari's but I don't like that you can rotate them. I dont like having to guess if they are clocked correctly. I will run them till they are dead. Unless I can get my hands on the OEM LED's at a discounted price I will most likely go back to the H9's. Cheap and bright lol.

 

Thanks for the insight! Nice to hear personal experience of someone who has tried the top 3 recommendations.
I am also hoping to find some OEM LED headlights. In the meantime running the Tungsram (formerly GE) Xenons and enjoy them, but worried how long they will last.

 

Wow, just over 5 bucks each on Rock auto, if you dont mind me asking, what was the total for all 4 with shipping? Thanks!

 

$28.22 for all 4 after shipping.

 

great price, thank you!

 

Currently running XD 4300k HID bulbs, love the output hate the color. From what I’m seeing on this thread Philips is the way to go. Will be looking for some 6000k, anyone know where I can find them for a decent price?

 

Note that you have a 2020 which has the low performing H16 fogs. There are no bulb upgrades for H16 as the bulb is low in output and no companies bother making a performance bulb in that base. 16-19 TRD 3rd Gens had the high performing H11 fogs, same bulb as the headlights. There there are bulb upgrade options like those listed in the thread, the Tungsram Nighthawk Xenon +120. So you could look to swap your assemblies for some used TRD H11 ones from the marketplace section as people often sell them for cheap. However, the higher performing option is to go with an SAE LED assembly as mentioned, like the Diode Dynamics SS3s. You can get far greater output in a more ideal selective yellow using the SS3s.

4300k is the natural HID color, and the best performing option for HID. Going to high color temps reduces output in HID. If you are running these in OEM headlights, note that Philips doesn't make any H11 HID bulbs. Some brands rebase a Philips HID capsule onto an H11 base to sell at a premium for best output (like XD). I haven't seen any Philips HID capsules that are 6000k, I believe their whitest is their WhiteVision 5000k line. So there will not be any rebased 6000k Philips bulbs (and if you see some they are most likely fake), and I haven't seen anyone offer the WhiteVisions as a rebased H11 either. If you want quality legitimate HID capsule options, you really need to do a retrofit to a proper HID platform like D2S. Then you could run Osram's Cool Blue 6000k if that was the direction you wanted to go. But 6000k is a pretty poor output color.

Also note that running HIDs in halogen projectors causes excessive blinding uplight, the projector is designed to have a halogen level light source and allow a portion of light above the horizon. You'll notice this as boxes above the cut off when you pull up to a wall. However because HID is so much brighter, and those uplight are not designed for the vastly brighter light source, they allow too much light above the horizon, making it blinding for oncoming drivers. If wanting to go HID, a proper retrofit is the way to go using a legitimate HID platform such as D2S and preferably OEM grade projectors like that from the RX350.

 

@crashnburn80 , any updates regarding the Gen2 XB headlights? I've got some stimulus money burning a hole in my pocket lmfao!