Led headlights!!

How are the high beams compared to a quality halogen high beam? My wife's Subaru STi comes with factory LED headlights, which are very nice and bright. They still use halogens for the high beams though.

 

I had a set of Evitek h4 LED's on my bike and the beam cutoff was awful. I just put them in my 1st gen and we will see how they do tonight.

LED Headlight Bulbs for Cars Motorcycles- Hi/Lo Beam H4 9003- Plug n Play, 40W 6500K Pure White OSRAM Chip LED Bulbs

https://www.amazon.com/Evitek-Headl...UTF8&qid=1477672273&sr=8-1&keywords=Evitek+h4

Very high build quality, Chinese made, way cheaper than the Philips, but they also have the shielding necessary to prevent the beam scatter normally associated with LED bulbs in halogen housing.

 

That shielding isn't effective.

 

I ran aftermarket LEDs for about a year in my stock reflector housings. Never once got flashed and wasn't blinding anyone the way HIDs will if not properly retrofitted.

Pros:
They looked cool
Low beam performance was decent

Cons:
Expensive
High beam performance was abysmal
In the year I had them, I had two bulb failures

My verdict:
Save your money. Either get some decent halogen bulbs or splurge on a proper retrofit kit with HIDs

 

I have PIAA bulbs . Very bright

 

Plus 2 Hella fogs and 2 Hella OR lights

 

Better than the ones I used. Biggest issue is "light" as in "can I see". The whiter light makes it much easier to see down the road. Although the light seems to scatter a bit, it's much better than any halogen light I used. If you run the fog lights at the same time as the high beams, you're in really good shape. I hate losing the immediate front area when the fog cut out on high beam use. So, doing the fog mod would take care of that. I mostly drive with low/fog on in the Sierra's as I get better coverage for me. I do know what you're saying because my wife's BMW has halogen high beams, Xenon lows and fogs, and Xenon for "flash to pass". I'd like all LED's!

 

I suggest reading this thread:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/why-leds-should-not-be-run-in-halogen-reflectors.454371/

Note the Opt7 LEDs in the thread are drastically brighter than Philips according to the respective specs.

 

Crash...80,
I've read your test and I do agree partially. I've tried several different brands of LED's and Halogen bulbs. I will say that Halogen bulbs give the distinct character you say/show in your post, but the light output is poor by my standards. However, not ALL LED's are the same. I tried 3 different brands "claiming" to be good. Yes, they were good but didn't come close to having a "cutoff" as needed like Halogen bulbs do in these fixtures. Light was great, but not for high beam use in my opinion. I then tried my current Phillips and those are "light years" beyond the other LED's I tried. Excellent cutoff (the other brands had NONE), no "flashing" (if adjusted right) from on coming cars and the high beam is far superior to any Halogen I tried or previous LED's. I do wish the high beam could not be slightly scattered, but using the fogs help immensely to cure closer objects. They do have excellent distance though. The best thing would be to have low/hi on at the same time.

I don't plan on doing more light changes as the Phillips seem to cure my needs. I did do a lot more research (even on this forum) from others that have used them prior to my purchasing them. So far, so good. If they poop out I'll be sure to post, but for now, I'm good. I know this is a sticky subject and is viewed only as educational and not a slam on anyone.

 

I agree as Philips is the only respectable brand that claims to have solved the cut off problem. And their passive state cooling is light years beyond the fans so many others use. If going LED they are the only one I would recommend.

However cut offs and cooling are only part of the equation. I linked the thread above to show not the cut offs in this case, but the difference of the LED directional light source in the halogen reflector not getting the fully saturated beam pattern compared to the omnidirectional halogen light source. Those Opt7 LEDs are rated at 7000 lumens. The Philips are rated at 2500 lumens. The Philips are definitely the best LED route in a stock housing, but it isn't without some trade offs.