3rd Gen HID vs LED vs Halogen H11 projector headlights

So i took notice of the physical differences between the two, the ones that other members had before Alpharex's official release and the ones after.

While both are poor quality, there are differences. Before they only had 3 LED drivers per side, now they have 4 LED drivers. There were much more obvious gaps in the light pattern before. The light output was warmer. Start up dance used to only be in white. And the sequential signal now extends to the full DRL.

I ask, because I thought someone was going to send one of their Nova/Luxx series to test, to "officially" put them in their place. Harder to prove too others they are trash, if there is no scientific data and numbers to show their abysmal performance.

 

Seems like we are just going to have to trust opinion of this guy who tested the light who knows way more than I do and has machines to test them.

 

Yes, I believe in Crash's work. His data was what made me pull the trigger on my OEM LED headlights, literally.

But I have been seeing a lot of Alpharex's headlights pop up recently. I have nothing to reference to, when trying to explain their mediocre performance.

 

I totally understand. And when dropping that amount of money they better be good.

 

A cautionary tale...

so several weeks ago I ordered from Walmart online a set of Tungsram Xenon Nighthawks, pulled my OEM bulbs and installed the Nighthawks. My wife and I went for a short drive and decided that while they were better than the OEM it wasn’t a drastic change. We drove for about 10-15 minutes, that part becomes important to this story in a bit.
I’ve been hesitant to do the H-9 lights because of a concern of excess heat over a long time. I pulled the trigger several days ago and today 2 Phillips made in Germany H-9’s arrived. I did the needed snip to the plug and the tab as well, I think that they turned out great. See pics...

So this is where things get interesting, I pull the Nighthawk from the passenger side and see that glare cap is pretty much destroyed. I can’t believe it because they were in use for a total of 15 minutes tops. It doesn’t seem that anything has dropped into the housing as far as I can tell. The other bulb appears fine.
I’d advise that if you’re running these please pull and check them. I don’t know if this is from overheating or it’s just a defective bulb. I thought that by staying with the H-11 I was being prudent, now I’m not so sure.
I put a H-9 in one side and an OEM H-11 in the other side and am waiting for dark to arrive to see how things look.
I can’t see myself buying another Tungsram product after this incident, maybe very isolated but I’m not taking the chance on them.
As I said above if you’re using these you probably want to pull them and have a look.
I’ve already left a review on Walmart with a picture of the bulb. I was very careful to not touch the bulb in any way during the install and the packaging was intact and sealed when I received them.

 

Those are speed flakes from working so good

 

Bwaaaahahaha, heat transmission from re entry into the atmosphere!

 

I was unaware you could even get them on Amazon. The only place I’ve seen them in quite some time is Walmart

these are the ones you got?
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Tungsram-H11-Nighthawk-Xenon-Halogen-Bulb-2-pack/313412664

good catch!!! I’m going to go check mine now

 

Damn, sorry, yes on Walmart online. Will do an edit, I did leave the feedback correctly.
yes, those are the ones that I got.

 

They updated the design to 4 low beam emitters + 1 emitter high beam? The one I have seen was 3 low beam emitters + 1 high beam. Interesting. Fair point on the data, though my time is limited and I try to spend it finding the best products rather than proving the worst. I don't recall anyone saying they were going to send them my way. I'd take a look if someone did, but am already behind on getting the Morimotos done, plus some 4runner assembly testing, plus some upcoming products and a few other side projects.

I've summed up a few posts regarding their products in post #176 here. (See content in the quotes)

Strange. Mine definitely have some burn off of the glare cap after years of testing with them, but nothing like the major flaking of the glare cap shown in your photos.

 

Yea, the thing that has me scratching my head is they were only used for 10-15 minutes. I did drive around a bit with the
H-9’s tonight and they’re definitely better. Any idea on the lifespan on the H-9 running them this way? I figure that if I stay this route I’ll replace them annually.

 

Philips lists them at 400hrs. Based on my personal pre-Covid driving that would be about 2 years.

 

Still on my first pair, over a year now. LOL at the Pre COVID driving reference.

 

Thank you Sir.

 

Used to commute 30-45 min each way to the office. Now I work from home and drive my kid 2 blocks to daycare. Bulbs would last me nearly forever under current conditions.

 

Yeah I figured as much. I got my truck in August 2019. Installed H9s a month later. Still going strong and no signs of light degradation. I have already have backups of the H9s prepped for replacement in the glove box. Can't beat the price for the increase in lighting performance and ease of replacement. Commuting to work and home I just broke 8000 miles on it.

 

Hey @crashnburn80 did you ever compare the H9s to the OEM LED?

 

Yep. Linked in post #3 comparing OEM LEDs. OEM LED has superior high and low beam and is the best performing option, though an H9 swap gets huge gains for minimal cost.

 

Same thing happend to me with the bosch gigalight 120 after a week of use (which is said to be identical to the ge). I then peeled the cap with a napkin as much as I could before reinstalling it and hoped that the residue did not damaged the projector. I have used a lot of high performance bulbs from philips and osram and never had this issue.
Has anyone tested the new hikari 2021 acme leds? Are they the successor to the hikari ultra?

 

Yes, the Alpharex LUXX series now have 4 LED emitters. Perfect time too, just saw that Meso took apart one to mod. It still has only one LED emitter for the high beam.


So
VLAND version is 3 LED emitters
Alpharex LUXX is 4 LED emitters
OEM LED is 5 LED emitters