The ultimate headlight upgrade H4 (not LED or HID)

I had the Ultimate Headlight Upgrade in my 2014 for at least 5 years. When I sold it this past spring, the headlight lenses, reflectors and housings were absolutely perfect. Why was that? First, I kept the lenses ceramic coated so they didn't succumb to oxidation. Second, they were OEM, not aftermarket junk. When will people learn that there is a reason OEM is more expensive? Buy once, cry once. Or in my case, never cry.

 

I guess people will learn when they're told? Or by experience? I've had a tendency to assume the manufacturers would use the cheapest possible option they can get away with... a lot of other people probably have the same assumption. I didn't shy away from OEM because of price, I just assumed an aftermarket could be better.

 

Having spent almost 40 years in manufacturing, I can tell you with absolute certainty that (low) cost is indeed a very high priority for OEMs. That said, they also have to meet government regulatory standards, internal quality standards, warranty cost limitations, etc. Aftermarket manufacturers have to meet standards that are lower - in fact for some manufacturers, they are far lower. For these and many more reasons, OEM parts cost more to manufacture and almost always cost more buy.

Sure, OEMs are not perfect and in some cases poor designs or manufacturing screw ups cause problems. Compare apples to apples quality though and OEMs are light years ahead of the aftermarket.

 

SMH There is a Search in this forum that can search threads....

 

I ran it for 5 years in my truck before selling, zero signs of wear. OEM quality and performance is vastly superior to any aftermarket light. Early 2nd Gens did have defective headlights where the DRL melted, but Toyota replaced them for free to customers that brought them in with a redesigned OEM unit that didn’t have the problem. Details covered in the original post. That free replacement has now expired. OEM units should easily last 10+ years (depending on the environment) a simple maintenance coating of UV protectant would make a difference in long term hazing in harsh environments. Aftermarket headlights lack precision optics for proper output, adequate sealing for long term moisture resistance and lack adequate UV protection to prevent hazing. Often times they are not even aimable to spec. In every measurable way they are subpar and should be avoided.

 

Osram Nightbreaker +200 H4

These latest +200 bulbs from Osram were released after Philips previously came out with their GT200 +200 bulbs. A common shortcoming in these products is the high beam filament is coated in a performance robbing blue coating. Interestingly on the Osram' Nightbreaker +200s, the blue coating is slightly lighter around the high beam filament than the rest of the bulb, to reduce high beam performance loss. I put the bulb on a white sheet of paper to make this trait more visible. Unfortunately I don't have the Philips GT200s on hand to compare. Interestingly these +200 bulbs are also rated at 400 hours, just like the Philips GT200s, making them very much a competing product in terms of performance claims and bulb life. Osram Nightbreaker +200 specs here.



Ironically Osram goes out of their way to market the chrome bulb cap, but in an 9003/H4 application you will typically have a glare cap inside the assembly that covers the end of the bulb, so it won't be seen.

The Osram +200 capsule size is smaller than the stock Osram bulbs.


Output is noticeably brighter and whiter than stock.


Low beam power draw is at 70.2w.


The Nightbreaker +200s are good for ~49% improvement over stock, while also providing 300k+ whiter output.


Comparing the Philips GT200s to the newcomer Osram Nightbreaker +200


Philips edges out Osram by about 5.9% peak intensity, while also being just over 75k whiter. Interestingly the Philips is 69w vs the Osram's 70.2 based on my measurements. It would initially appear here that the win goes to Philips. However, Philips did not do the lighter shading above the high beam filament like Osram did on their Nightbreaker +200. I did not measure high beam performance but while Philips low beam outperforms Osram's based on my measurements, I would expect Osram's high beam to slightly outperform Philips high beam based on the coating color. Not the best picture for comparison, but Philips GT200s shown below.


Both products perform very well and are a great upgrade over stock with impressive bulb life for a performance bulb.

With the Philips Racing Vision GT200 +200 the bulbs performed at about the same level as the Philips Racing Vision +150 bulbs, but the newer bulbs had significantly better life. It would appear some brands are adjusting their plus rating up by moving the baseline down, maybe to LL bulbs. I don’t have the Osram Nightbreaker +150 H4 performance measurement on file, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the same trend existed and performance was similar to their +200, just with improved life like Philips.

 

I still vote we petition for HIR coated H4 bulbs…


But my truck running the harness with the gt200s has been great. When they burn out 100w are next

 

Wouldn’t be street legal, but would be awesome for sure. Unfortunately with the rise of LED I think few would be willing to invest in off road performance halogens.

 

Long overdue:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-morimoto-xb-hybrid-12-15-led-headlight-review.735867/

 

That crimped-on base of the Osram +200 makes it look cheaply made, especially next to the stock bulb. And the smaller bulb means less gas volume, I wonder how that might affect performance and/or bulb life.

As always, thanks for putting these tests and comparisons together. This is awesome information.

+1 vote for HIRs too -- they may not be strictly street legal but the filament location and bulb design make them a pretty darn good upgrade alternative IMESHO. I ran a set in my STi for many years, many miles, and many 2-hour long second shift commutes home at midnight, and they never skipped a beat.

 

One additional idea here. A link to the battery charging voltage / diode thread and/or a thread on AGM batteries in general? Along with the harness options already linked in the shopping list section. Since that content already exists, a few extra cross links might help people find it.

One final admission. My 2002 Tundra has headlight DRL. I didn’t understand how it worked until last night when we-reading the first posts where you explain it. I wasn’t previously aware that it uses the high beam filament but at low voltage. That is an interesting and clever design since these H4 bulbs should burn out the low beams first.

My plan is to take the DRL signal out and move it to the side signal marker via switchback. The circuit design may be simplified now that I know this. Perhaps @Puppypunter and I can come up with an easy solution to trigger a relay only off the low voltage signal. Does anyone know what voltage it is? I could measure it myself but don’t currently have access to the truck. I’ll see if Google helps me.

 

With the harness installed rpm does not drop when you switch on the headlights, even going to high beam, I only noticed it yesterday

It just stays the same

 

What ceramic coating did you use? I just purchased new OEM housings.

 

My go to coating these days is Carpro CQuartz UK 3.0.

 

If anyone is looking to do a restore / BHLM I have set for sale since upgrading:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/fs-used-‘13-‘15-oem-headlights-new-oem-grill-insert.740180/
I'll include a set of new (never fired) OSRAM 100/90W bulbs with sale.

 

PO installed a retrofit Depo headlight hid /halo system. I upgraded today to this system. So very happy with the outcome. Quality harness cannot recommend enough.

now to aim the lights tonight.

thank you to the OP for all this great information.

 

What bulb do I want for best low beams with upgrade? No more hypers so switching to osram 100/ 90 as of now.

 

How do you compare it to your previous retrofit set up?

 

hes lists the bulbs on first page

 

Though the retrofit was fine (aesthetically) and produced light, I feel this solution produces more usable light, and with fewer parts to fail (two relays, two fuses, two halogen bulbs vs two HID bulbs, two Igniters, two computers, the halo system etc.)

I am less worried about aesthetics (60 yrs old) than I am things working (ALL the time) and easier to trouble shoot plus fewer spares to carry (two bulbs, two fuses, two relays). when I am overlanding/off-roading CO/UT mountain passes/MOAB the vibration, dust, terrain variables I think would/could wreak havoc on sensitive igniters, and computers. sucks to be out on the trail and lose headlights due to computer failure plus the expense difference of the replacement parts