The Ultimate Headlight Upgrade vs Philips LED headlights

This thread was very poorly tested and poorly documented, I should have done better. But there isn't exactly a manual on this stuff, even though most LED companies still don't get it right. There are so many mistakes I made in this thread as a learning process it is of questionable value. The headlight comparison reading being high beam, facepalm. The weakness of LED is focus, and what beam pattern has focus? It is the low beam, which would have shown drastically larger performance differences favoring halogens in the low beam. Anyway...

See this later post comparing these Philips LEDs along with the latest generation of Philips LEDs compared to a stock halogen bulb. LED product performance is poor and not advised. LEDs offer reduced focus and increased glare. In a dual filament application especially, halogens remain superior LED. I'd highly recommend the latest Philips Racing Vision GT200s, See updated +200 review in post #3169.

 

Thank you for the images, I take it those are low beam shots with the cutoff. I know most of your efforts center on getting the most light. My truck lives an almost entirely urban life with abundant street lights, but I run my headlights all the time. My primary focus is on getting the longest lasting bulb, but one that does light the foreground and does not blind oncoming drivers.

I notice that the Philips Racing Vision GT200 seem to only be available as an H4, not in the 9003 designation. I understand they are mostly interchangeable, but I don't understand the differences. It seems most 9003 say they also fit H4, but most H4 don't say they also fit 9003. What is the real world difference between them?

 

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/bulbs/bulb_types/bulb_types.html

From Dan Sterns bulb spec sheet, there are some minor lumen output differences between H4 and 9003/HB2 spec bulbs. Practically speaking, not noticable differences in performance between the two.

If you're looking for maximum bulb life, Philips racingvision +200 bulb is rated for 400hrs, versus 200-250hrs for other high focus rated bulbs. That would be a good compromise between improved performance and lifespan.

 

Correct, those are low beam shots. The images are not perfect, I was trying to capture the light distribution differences.

Halogens will be better performing. The Philips LEDs do a reasonable job of mitigating glare. They are pretty bulky which increases the foreground light. The bulky size is far more forgiving for foreground in an reflector vs projector though. The Morimoto 2stroke 3.0s do a better job of replicating a halogen, but I’ve not tried their H4 product and don’t know how well they do in accurately capping the glare like Philips does. The Morimotos also use fans, whereas the Philips are passively cooled. Both Philips tested nearly the same in output intensity, with Ge1 coming in about 2% higher in peak intensity than Gen2. Gen1 is also just slightly thinner which provides better focus, causing better intensity values. I’d still recommend a good halogen over these products. Bulb changes every couple years is a small inconvenience for superior headlights.

A 9003 can be an H4, but not all H4s can be a 9003. This is because the H4 has slightly higher max output spec than a 9003. So if the bulb is at the upper end of the spec (like a performance bulb would be) it exceeds the 9003 spec and cannot be labeled 9003. However a 9003 can fall within the H4 output spec window and be labeled an 9003 or H4. That’s a little simplistic, there are some tolerance differences as well that are stricter for a 9003, but that’s the general idea.

 

Thank you. I went with the Philips H4 bulbs as they show one of the better life spans. Realistically, the actual life on LED H4 bulbs without fans is more theoretical that known. I have owned my pickup since 34 miles on the odometer and it now is just over 65,000 miles (over 21 years.) The right headlight low beam is the first bulb to fail. I will be replacing both stock 9003 bulbs. I can only hope for a similar long life. One thing about being a city dweller is that the only way I know a headlight is working is the foreground light (the stuff too close to do anything about) or the wall lighting as I pull toward my garage or into work parking spot.

I wanted the Hella 9003LL bulb. It does show as being a bit less light, and a bit warmer light, but claimed a life over 1000 hours. I could not find it quickly available. It seems my local auto parts stores are useless as they want WAY more for a name brand bulb and have few options (and none of the better ones.)

 

Having used my new Philips halogen bulbs for a few weeks I do have one disappointing observation for urban usage. These lights cast quite a bit less low front light. At parking lot speeds the near view leaves me feeling a little blind close in compared to the OEM bulbs. It is harder to spot painted lines, exact curb location ('cause I do NOT want to scuff my rims), and ninja pedestrians (often easiest to see by their moving legs.)