The ultimate headlight upgrade H4 (not LED or HID)

Congrats on your upgrade, that's sure to help you and oncoming drivers see better.

Osram Super Bright 100/90 remain the best choice for those of us with upgraded harnesses. Curious why you limited yourself to stock wattage bulbs?

 

2 reasons mainly, color temp and low beam performance. It's also possible that I misunderstood OPs comparisons and chose the wrong one lol. So let me know if my understandings are correct or not.

I do prefer a pure white or even a slight blue tinge to the light. Especially after running HIDs for over a decade. And looking at OP's comparisons, the difference in LUX was minimal while the difference in color temp seemed larger, with the Philips being the whiter choice. I also do the vast majority of my night driving in low beam conditions, and OP mentioned the Philips being the best low beam performance (though that may be only when referring to stock wattage bulbs as I see now). I do have LED light bars and ditch light pods for when I don't need to worry about oncoming drivers.

I suppose I could also purchase the 100/90 and compare myself, then I have a backup for when these burn out.

 

I think you misunderstood.

Philips Racing Vision +200 bulbs (3575K) are ~9% whiter than Osram Super Bright 100/90 (3277K).
Philips Racing Vision +150 bulbs (3598K) are ~10% whiter than Osram Super Bright 100/90 (3277K).
Notably, Philips Racing Vision +150 bulbs are (~3%) brighter (1572lux) than Philips Racing Vision +200 bulbs (1530lux).

Philips Racing Vision WERE the best performing STOCK WATTAGE bulbs, UNTIL the new DSL +250 bulbs arrived, providing 1590lux that's
~1% brighter than Philips Racing Vision +150 bulbs
~4% brighter than Philips Racing Vision +200 bulbs
DSL +250 bulbs (3387K) color is, however, ~6% more yellow than both Philips Racing Vision bulbs.

For those of us who have upgraded harnesses, Osram Super Bright 100/90 still provide low-beam performance (1732lux) that's...
~9% better than DSL +250 bulbs' (1590lux)
~10% better than Philips Racing Vision +150 bulbs' (1572lux)
~13% better than Philips Racing Vision +200 bulbs' (1530lux)

 

These might be up your alley. They are high wattage and will provide the higher color temp that you like but the performance won't be as good as the Super Bright 100/90 due to the blue coating.

$23 OSRAM H4 12V COOL BLUE BOOST 5000K HYPERBLUE bulbs 62193CBB-HCB duobox (2 units)

https://www.amazon.com/OSRAM-BOOST-...=&hvlocphy=9193066&hvtargid=pla-2281435177898

 

HIDs in halogen reflectors should definitely be avoided, despite whatever the seller advertised they are in no way compatible as you noticed. The GT200s did have the best stock wattage practical low beam, the Racing Vision +150 was just barely slightly better but also 1/2 the bulb life. The SuperBrights still have the best overall low beam with the harness on 2nd Gen. However, they will be a much more traditional halogen color temp, so if higher color temp is important to you and you don't mind the compromise on high beam you may have made the best choice for your preferences.

Seems tempting, but a 5000k color temp coating will be very dark and really kill output while also causing the bulb to run very hot and greatly reduce the already short high wattage bulb life. You'd be better off with one of the higher color temp leading performance bulbs like the GT200s or the latest Osram +200s or +220s. Those quality stock wattage bulbs will outperform the high wattage cool blue boost while also providing much longer bulb life.

 

Right, so I'm basically leaving 13% LUX on the table in exchange for a whiter light. That's kinda what I figured, and an acceptable trade off for me.

Ok awesome. Thanks for clearing that up. And yeah I've been converted after this.
So what is special about the Super Bright's that requires the upgraded harness? Is it just that they have a higher draw (wattage) that is too much for the OEM wiring?

 

Yes. They have a 26% higher amp draw (6.3A vs stock bulbs' 5A). The upgraded harness also provides the bulbs access to the electrical system's full power potential with zero voltage drops likely to be present in the stock wiring.

 

The Superbrights high power draw on the OEM wiring causes significant voltage drop due to inadequate gauge for the purpose. Halogens are exponentially affected by voltage change, to ^3.4, meaning small changes in voltage have big impacts on output. The harness’s massive 12awg wiring directly to the battery ensures they receive their fully needed power to unleash their max potential.

The 100/90w power draw and heat associated also risks melting the plastic connectors on the OEM wiring harness. The HD harness uses ceramic connectors so heat is an non-issue.

 

Personally. I’m a “look” guy. My whole front end lights is the average LED color with corner/DRL/grill lights besides my headlights with the upgrade and diode. I’ve been using these Cool Blue 100/90 bulbs in summer when I barely use em and super bright in winter when they’re on basically anytime I drive.

Light is definitely noticeably cut along with light spread. They do a fine job but night and day comparison in brightness. Did a comparison with the 100/90 super brights a bit ago. Picture does more justice to the cool blue than deserved though as me and Crash talked about afterwards. Here

That been said. My next chance, I’m going to dabble around the GT200/+200/+220. See if I can find a middle ground.

Still. Super Brights are the winners. Period. Perfect combo with the upgrade almost 4 years later.

 

Would be interesting to do a measured comparison between bulbs, as output pics are always visually skewed when one color temp is so much higher than the other.

 

Exactly. I’ve always wondered how these literally measured up against the others.

 

Incredibly comprehensive analysis.
Bravo!

 

Be sure to catch the latest update below, which I haven’t yet copied back to the OP. (OP is regularly updated with latest data).

 

Just the Philips Racing Vision +200 and properly adjusting the lights was an immediate upgrade. I'm excited to add a harness sometime this summer, maybe with the TRD Pro lights. Excellent post.

Ha! Just scrolled up to see the update. Oh well, when the Phillips need to be replaced, I'll try the DSLs.

 

So out of curiosity I bought these to try... Figured they couldn't be that bad, right?... Damn, you weren't kidding lol. I was actually kinda shocked how dim they were. Drastically lower output than the GT200s, despite being 100/90w.

I happen to have a half-decent LUX meter and grabbed some measurements. At 1m away I was getting ~11,000 LUX on the Cool Blue Boosts and ~26,000 LUX on the GT200s. I also bought some Super Brights and was getting about 34,000 LUX @ 1m with those. So assuming that the underlying bulb/filaments are similar between the Super Bright and the Cool Blue Boost (wattage is the same), the blue coating on the Cool Blue's seems to be reducing the output by about 68%!

Also, the Cool Blue Boost reflect fully blue in the housing. The light they produce is a nice LED white, but if you look at the front of the truck it looks like you stuck blue christmas light bulbs in there. Looked completely ridiculous IMO. I probably will never use them.

If any fellow Canadian's are looking for the Super Bright's, Bulb America (when they have stock) was the best deal between the bulbs and shipping prices with no additional charges when they arrive (I ordered before Trump's tariff fuckery, not sure if that changes things). As far I could find, there is no place in Canada to purchase these bulbs. Could only find them on Amazon.ca but they were $46 per bulb. Bulb America cost $57CAD all in for 2 bulbs. If you are getting the Headlight Services harness, adding the bulbs to that order is probably the better option even though the bulbs are a bit more expensive than Bulb America.

 

Good info! 1m is pretty short but definitely highlights how much light spectrum is filtered out to get to that high color temp resulting in output loss. Thanks for sharing.

 

has anyone changed their turn signals to LED and did you need to put the DD relay module to/did it fix hyper flash?

I’m looking at amber LED 3157 and 4157 regular Sylvanias around $15/pair,

but given the stock respective non LED bulbs advertise 28w draw, I am scared my 08 may be designed with bulb out detection into the truck and therefore cause hyper flash if I only slap 1W draw LED signals in there. That could necessitate the DD relay module which would hopefully fix that.

after working on modern cars that have been coming with full LED for a while now and for the most part never needing their lights messed with at all, I am jealous.

this last road trip I had a bulb out and sat at a gas station with my hood open investigating my wiring, fuses, connections, and looks-good (but actually went bad) regular bulbs; if I switch to LED that would probably start becoming a thing of the past.

I am looking at the regular Sylvania ones because:
1. They are cheaper than DD and readily available
2. Even if they are slightly less bright, I don’t see the need for a bazillion lumen turn signal (unlike a reverse bulb where that would be beneficial)



the DD module if required sounds way better than spending more on a worse “solution” like crap hot resistors.

 

First this has nothing to do with headlights.

Second, you are creating your own problems. Yes a pnp LED is going to cause hyper flash and you'll need to deal with it. Swapping the flasher relay is better than failure prone hot resisters. A quality 3157 or 4157 incandescent bulb will likely last 7-10 years, possibly longer than that cheap pnp LED you are looking to install, without needing flasher mods. Lifespan isn't an issue if you change them when you acquire the vehicle. The housing reflectors are designed for an omni-directional incandescent light source. An LED 'bulb' will not replicate the incandescent bulb it is intended to replace. Overall performance will be lower while you are then trying to mod the electrical system with less than OEM quality components to try an make your less than OEM quality LED pnp lights work that will perform at less than OEM quality standards. Lots of effort to downgrade your lights.

Note that when buying incandescent 3157 or 4157 bulbs they are available in 'A' or 'NA' designation. 'A' means amber coated glass, aka a painted glass capsule. 'NA' (Natural Amber) means that the glass is amber glass. Amber glass produces a much more amber colored light, while 'A' produces a lighter light and the coating/paint tends to burn off over time producing less amber light. NA is the ideal bulb purchase.

 

Got my set of DSL 250's in last week and finally had a chance to put them in yesterday, tested them out last night and WOW these are incredible. Was running Osram Night Breaker 220's previously and while those are really great bulbs the DSL's blow them out out of the water. The DSL's are slightly warmer which is a personal preference thing (I like warm tints and high CRI) but where the difference really comes in is the performance of the high beams. These are the real deal. They're more expensive than the Night Breakers or the Racing Visions but IMO 100% worth every penny.

If anyone out there is looking to run stock wattage bulbs in stock projectors and still maintain that high beam performance you won't be disappointed. Also, DS is a really good dude and I was more than happy to support what he's doing.

Big thanks to @crashnburn80 for all the info and hard work you've put in - as a flashlight nerd I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed these lighting threads. These are probably the best upgrades I've done to my Tacoma and it's very much appreciated.

 

I picked up the same. Night breaker 220 and the gt200 and very pleased with both. The cool blue, while may match some LED set ups, is just too blue and lose sooo much light... and they die fast. It’s like OP called this!

Gt200 are very solid. So far out of all the sets I’ve racked up now (thanks @crashnburn80 lol) these are my favorite. If I need a blast of light though, still going with the Osram super brights.

But. Here I am. Still pondering the DSL 250s…