3rd Gen HID vs LED vs Halogen H11 projector headlights

Shout out to @crashnburn80 for this great work. I’m running his recommended low beams and it’s a huge difference for little $. Thank you Sir!

 

WHEW! That's a lot of reading! Just thought I would add a couple cents into this. Though I am no a pro, I am a lighting junkie. All 4 vehicles I own have retrofits.

In my 2nd gen I ran (past-tense as I now have an RX350 EU retrofit, clear lens, Osram NB Lasers and Hella Gen 3 ballasts) Philips Racing Vision H4 and that is a huge improvement for stock voltage! In the foglights I have GE Megalight Ultra +130. Those bulbs work great in the fogs. Very good output and very wide pattern without swapping out the housing. I was going to do the "ultimate headlight upgrade" 2nd gen style but I found some great deals on components for a retrofit so I didn't feel the need to do the upgrade. I was very happy with the previous halogen setup as it was though!

The second part to this is concerning anyone considering using HID's in their factory projectors on the 3rd gen. Make sure to use a quality bulb with a UV coating. Something I have not seen mentioned in this thread is ensuring the HID bulb has a UV Coating (i.e. XD Philips rebased bulbs or NHK bulbs). This is VERY important! If you have a low quality bulb, it probably doesn't have a UV coating. Why this matters is over time the bulb will "burn" the bowl of the projector. It is NOT from added heat output, it is essentially giving your projector a very intense sun burn due to the lack of a UV coating! An HID bulb has a very high amount of UV output that causes this. I have had this happen many years ago on my 2nd gen xB, I noticed my output was degrading and found that the bowl was burned (dark spots in the bowl and some bowl coating flaking off) from the cheapo HIDs I was running. Also something that will significantly accelerate this damage (as well as lower bulb life) is if you run a 55w ballast instead of a 35w ballast.

I don't understand some of the logic of many members going with LED on this thread either, unless it is strictly due to style for cheaper that HID. I am not trying to bash anyone's decision. Just looking at "quality" LED bulb prices vs HID setups not being far off but with significantly higher performance from an HID setup. If it is the startup time people are worried about, then find a salvage yard and get a pair of Hella Gen 3 ballasts from an Audi A4 or A6, usually about $10ea in my area. They have a lightning fast startup, weather proof and are probably the most reliable out there. You don't have to get the the uber expensive Philips rebased bulbs, though they are very good. NHK has a UV coating and are $40 or less, good quality for the price (I have them in my subaru retrofit, H1). Then a harness is generally around $30. This setup is reliable, long lasting and BRIGHT!!!!

That's my 2 cents on this. I have read most of the posts in this thread and it is amazing how much info there is!! I have learned a lot!! Thank you very much @crashnburn80 for all of your lighting knowledge, insight, time and funds spent!

 

@crashnburn80 appreciate all the hard work you're doing on lighting!

Unbiased and accurate info isn't always easy to get on TW

 

Perhaps I missed it - is there a comparison of the 2020 OEM LED headlights compared to the anything else for low/high?

 

Welcome! Not yet. TRS has posted the Morimotos have higher peak intensity but I still need to get my hands on the OEM units. I had an offer to send one, I’ll have to follow back up on it.

 

Was not expecting such a fast response from the OP! Thanks for your work already.

 

Maybe, but historically, they've also been brighter in areas where they shouldn't be, so brighter needs to be defined with far more precision than they do on their website. Too many ill and uninformed people think that brighter is always better when it's clearly not.

 

The only problem is that even if they did list detailed information, many people don't read past 2 or 3 sentences and mainly look at the highlighted information that their advertising team found as attention grabbing. Sadly it's just the natural progression of society. Everyone is looking for the fastest answer or the answer they want to see, not necessarily the most accurate.

I agree, I and many others that are in this specific thread (and crash's other lighting threads) would love detailed information like you talking about. Which may be available through TRS or Morimoto. However until independent testing like crash is doing, it is difficult to see or know if all variables are the same or if they took Toyota's specs and then compared them to Morimotos in a different environment and test equipment.

I have to say, this (and crash's other lighting threads) is probably the most informative lighting information put into understandable (for common the common folk like me) language that I have seen. I consider myself fairly informed when it comes to lighting, but you guys are on another level that is driving my inner nerd! Even when compared to HIDPlanet there is probably as much info that is easier to navigate and read in this thread as there is on HIDP.

 

@crashnburn80 Thoughts?

https://m.audew.com/Audew-H11-H8-H9-LED-Headlight-Bulbs-360-60W-6000K-Cool-White-10000LM-Bright-Conversion-Kits-with-50000-Hours-Lifespan-p-187409.html

 

Those bulbs don't even come close to the filament placement in a halogen bulb. You don't have to go any further than see that to know that they're crap. That filament in a GE or Phillips H11 has to be within .2-.3mm of spec for it to work as designed.

 

Design is different. Seen a couple YouTube videos also. Looks interesting

 

As @Sasquatchian pointed out, the design does not replicate a halogen filament. While it might first seem that the '360 degree' style LED bulb would work similar, the emitters end up being spaced way too far off center, which causes very poor focus. The best type of drop in LED bulb replacement is the opposing LED emitters on a thin blade design, and making the distance between emitter faces as small as possible (making the blade as thin as possible) will help improve focus. The emitters do need to be sized appropriately to also replicate a halogen filament.

There are lots of garbage youtube videos out there that may look convincing, but most videos supporting/selling/reviewing these types of products are deceiving. And it is pretty easy to make a misleading video, many reviewers I think don't even realize they are doing so. Diode Dynamics produces some that do a reasonable job of explaining how replacement LEDs work in headlights, though they do typically paint a best case scenario and leave out some info but overall for LED marketing videos they are some of the better ones.

 

So so something like this @crashnburn80 https://auxito.com/products/dd-y13-...MIxLKs39715gIVBb7ACh1scgnzEAQYASABEgIFvPD_BwE

 

Better design than the first one, but the emitters still look too large. Look at the comparison to the halogen bulb, the emitters should be the same size as the halogen filament. The ones used are far larger, which will lead to poor focus and poor projection. While touting a thin design, the board actually looks rather thick, especially with the emitters sticking out so far off the surface. Look at the actual product photos, not the marketing renderings. Compared to the Hikaris which have a thicker body, the emitters are significantly recessed in the body of the Hikraris. So while that design may appear thinner at first glance, the critical distance between emitter faces I bet is better on the Hikari, and the Hikaris use smaller emitters that are better designed to replicate a halogen filament, both of which will lead to better performance for the Hikaris.

 

got ya

 

So I decided to go with the Auxbeam F16s. I didn't get a chance to do a side by side comparison but I'm satisfied with them so far. I plan puting them in as the high beams also.

 

https://www.auxbeam.com/f-16-series-cree-led-headlight-bulbs

Those are a very poorly designed product. The emitters do not replicate a halogen filament and they are a very wide design, both of which is going to result in poor focus meaning increases in foreground light and loss of distance projection.

 

What would you say are the best designed LEDs? FWIW..

 

The best performing that I have tested are the Hikaris. Doesn't mean the build quality is the best though. You can see my tests with them below.

Hikari Ultra "Eyes of Megatron" H11/H9 LEDs
See the original review in post #1608 here.