3rd Gen HID vs LED vs Halogen H11 projector headlights

I have some female connectors inbound from overseas. Quoted as arriving in April so don’t hold your breath. I’ll order some un-modified H9’s and test in the minivan and see how I like them then post back here and maybe make a new thread if I think this is a decent plan.

 

Tag me in it when you do

 

So based on the teasers so far, the Morimotos must either be an outlier beyond expectations or below expectations.

I can’t wager much of a guess beyond that. It seems like a re-test wouldn’t be needed if they were in the range of expectations.

One possibility could be that they chose to chase big foreground light to compete with alpha Rex on the race to the bottom. Equally possible is that they took a close look at Toyota’s product and bested it with some cool engineering.

No matter what it sounds like it won’t be a boring reveal. Perhaps now is a good time to sell off my headlights while the price is still high?

 

The left and right assemblies have dissimilar patterns on the units I have, which caught me a bit off guard. Spending time with the driver side lamp now.

 

Morimoto XB headlights v2.0



Background
Morimoto originally released their Tacoma XB headlights in summer of 2019. The performance was good but not great, an H9 swap got close to the Morimoto output intensity for low beam, and the high beam was a significant downgrade from stock. See the complete review here. Then Toyota released OEM LEDs for the 2020 model year and handily beat out Morimoto's product in both high and low beam performance.

In late November 2020 Morimoto launched their v2.0 lights, claiming they improved output by switching to a triple projector low beam, and twin bi-projectors for high beam when the v1.0 product used dedicated dual low beam projectors and a single dedicated high beam projector. They also claimed 'increased foreground light', which isn't a good thing in a headlight.

The foreground light comments were concerning. A quality headlight would not emphasize foreground light since it is more harmful than helpful, even though some illegitimate lights from the competition are almost entirely foreground light. Fortunately in the case of Morimoto, the increase was very subtle and not harmful.

Morimoto passenger side low beam.


The light below the main pattern is the increased foreground light. That was not present in v1.0. As you can see it isn't overpowering at all and should not negatively affect visibility due to an over abundance of foreground light. They didn't screw it up like their competition.

However, this passenger side assembly is flawed. IIRC the center projector is responsible for the increased foreground light, but it is also providing glare above the cut off aimed directly at oncoming drivers. That definitely should not be there and is either poor manufacturing or poor design. (Shown 1/3rd from left above the cut off). The uplight is also only present on the passenger side light and is a subtle direct line upward int he center of the pattern. Really not a very useful uplight.

Compare to the OEM LED uplight.


The Morimotos passenger side light also has an upward swing on he passenger side cut off. This can be useful to illuminate signs on the right and is an acceptable pattern. But the driver side light does not. It also doesn't have the uplight or the light above the cut off.

Morimoto Driver side


Morimoto claimed they just added an additional low beam projector to the XBs to increase the performance, so one would expect that going from 2 low beam projectors to 3 would return a 50% performance increase. But that isn't the whole story.

Philips H9 vs Morimoto XB v2.0



The Morimoto XB v1.0 beat out the Philips H9 mod, but just barely. Not the case for v2.0, it isn't even close.

So how does v2.0's low beam compare to v1.0?


Nearly a 54% increase in output. The power consumption is way up on the v2.0s. While the v1.0 units consume 1.46A, and the OEM units consume 2.34A, the v2.0 Morimotos consume 2.93A which is double that of the original Morimotos units.


So how does the low beam output compare against the top performing OEM LED assemblies?


The Morimoto v2.0 units come out on top by a significant margin, nearly 43% higher output intensity over the outstanding OEM LED units, while also having a better color temperature. Impressive. One thing that should be considered is that the hard projector cut off with lack of uplight can make it difficult to see beyond the low beam projection with the Morimotos. The softer reflector cut off of the OEM assemblies paired with far better up light will provide a much more natural driving experience, so that the headlight illumination doesn't seem so black and white, where you cannot see anything beyond the Morimoto cut offs.

The high beam was a major weakness of the v1.0 Morimotos, so how does the new v2.0 units compare?

This is the Morimoto v1.0 high beam.


Here is the v2.0 high beam


V2.0's high beam pattern isn't nearly as tall but it is a lot wider. It also focuses the majority of light just above the cut off, which should be more usable in most situations. The pattern is not as good as the OEM LEDs, but a significant improvement over the v1.0 Morimotos.

OEM LED high beam only right (halogen left)


Stock vs Morimoto v2.0


Morimoto v1.0 vs v2.0


OEM LED high beam vs Morimoto v2.0


Other interesting notes

The breathers are very large and square. Ideally anything dealing with pressure equalization should be round to prevent failure at the corners. Likely not an issue, but round would have been better.

So don't adjust more than 3 times horizontally or vertically, or you'll break your expensive headlights.


Minor, but the final fit/finish isn't up to OEM. The projectors do not seat against their bezels and I can see wiring inside the headlight assembly. You'd never notice this standing back from the truck, but for the price I would expect a better polished product. This lack of attention to detail would never fly for an OEM grade product.


The Morimoto v2.0s are not perfect, they do have flaws in inadequate uplight, stray glare, finish quality and potentially breather longevity, but they are by far the highest output intensity plug and play Tacoma lights on the market tested yet.

 

I'll have to update my graphs now. 40w for an LED, that's getting close to halogen power draw. Impressive. And less expensive than Toyota's option. I wonder if maybe someone should send you a 2nd pair so you can see if the problems were isolated?

 

@crashnburn80 - first off, thank you very much! I'll say what others have said, I was like a kid waiting for Christmas on that one. Your work on this thread and all the others is more than impressive and very much appreciated.

Given the review - I think I am going to go for the 2020 OEM LEDs (assuming I can get my hands on them). However, I have some questions and my apologies as I think I have seen the answers back deep in the thread somewhere, but now I cannot find them. Can you go from an older 3rd Gen (2017) to the 2020 OEM LEDs plug and play or do you need a harness? If you do need a harness, are they out there and how to purchase? or are there DIY instructions?

Again, thank you very much and apologies if these are known answers.

 

You need a harness to use OEM LED on a 3rd gen truck which came with halogen headlights.

There is a thread for one very good quality option but it is locked as Mike was slightly unresponsive on a couple of occasions.

The second most popular choice requires very minor modification to switch power and ground on the low beams.

@Puppypunter and I have discussed making a version of the harness with a tap for grill lights. He is tinkering with that. I may build something down the road. Neither of us is quite ready yet to offer something for sale.

Mike’s harness is the best option. See this thread for recent customers who have purchased from him. See this thread for DIY options.

 

Many thanks, very appreciated!

 

well, i think that settles it for me. ty @crashnburn80

 

yup they seem like quality control issues and the stock ones are still the best

 

actually, i meant despite the qc issues on the passenger side assembly, these are still the highest output led headlights with significant improvements on last gen.

it is weird how the beam pattern of the unit tested here doesn't really match any of the ones i've seen from HF, TRS, Extreme Terrain, etc.. Just poking through youtube videos, really seems like there is something wrong with that passenger side assembly. is that also the one you used to compare the highbeams? interested to see what the replacement process will be like to get a passenger side unit without manufacturing flaws

 

@crashnburn80 would you be interested in reviewing 4Runner replacement headlights at all? Some folks on the forums have started back-fitting the new LED units into the older 5th gens. Might be able to convince someone to drop ship to you along the way.

 

I know this is completely irrelevant for performance but it bothers me that the morimotos have a different housing shape than oem. Looks aftermarket and ruins the body lines IMHO. I'm sure it was partially a design choice and partially for patent purposes though.

EDIT: maybe I'm just conditioned to the stock shape, I'm sure if I didn't have meso filler plates these would look more normal to me

 

I think it’s obvious after Crash’s review that H9 is the obvious upgrade. Thank you, @crashnburn80, for saving me $1,300.

 

Man these write-ups are awesome. I do appreciate all the work involved.
Ive been very satisfied with my h9 low beams and a pair of ss3 pro pods in 4000k wired to come on with my high beams. Everything is a nice warm color temp and will thaw themselves out. Then throw in some selective yellow ss3 fogs and your golden. I think this is the best setup for us 3rd gens. Especially if you live in a colder climate with snow.

 

Well, with both lights on the output would be greater and the defect/design flaw less noticeable in pictures/videos due to more light. I posted it from my laptop and later looked at it on my phone, and it is far less noticeable on a phone than it is with a larger screen. The cut off of that projector seemed aligned with the pattern, so it doesn't appear to be a projector alignment issue. The stray light line falls inline with the trajectory of the V-shaped foreground light feature on that projector.

I've got these up next, which I plan to test with the best halogens and LEDs vs stock, but not exhaustive testing like for 3rd Gen Tacoma. What will be interesting to see is how the side entry projector design affects the output with a blade style LED.

The H9 swap is impossible to beat for cost effectiveness and increased output, though more is possible with LED assemblies at a significant premium.

If you are in a cold climate or regularly drive in snow, H9s all the way. Just be sure the SS3 fogs are either Pro or Max to combat icing, as the Sports will freeze over.

 

Ooooh, I do like the bike, Crash!

 

Finding good bikes right now is impossible. I had to have that shipped from a bike shop in Iowa to near Seattle using Bike Flights as the West Coast was sold out and Specialized wasn't going to get new inventory till mid-late summer at best. The bike weights nothing compared to what I was riding before, being full carbon. I'm definitely digging it.

 

Maybe I missed this in the review of the Morimoto V2 headlights. It seems like the 2 low beam projectors aren't aligned the same (or even close for that matter) and that creates the difference in beam pattern between the left and right headlight. So possibly just some questionable quality control in the set you got?