3rd Gen HID vs LED vs Halogen H11 projector headlights

Sweet baby Jesus these H9s are bright.

 

And they don't break the bank.

But still, they don't have the cool factor that leds have.

 

Love my high and low beam leds from SlimDepot such a big difference from the old factory bulbs.

 

I think it's a psychology thing. People "see" LED headlights on the road on other vehicles, and they look "cool", that is to say, they look good, they look cool, and the color temperature is pleasing. The thing is, and what's been reinforced here and other places is that the actual light output is inferior (not deficient necessarily) to well designed halogen projectors. I believe it boils down to aesthetics vs practicality and function.

 

To me. It's not about what is pretty. My point is if I can buy a base model Corolla for less than 20k and it has factory led headlights and tail lights then why can't a 36k or plus Toyota have that.

 

Because the demand for the truck is there regardless of the LED option being standard.

 

That is very true.

 

The emitters on those are quite large as you’ve shown in your picture, much larger than the filament they are supposed to replicate. Meaning they will lack focus which is going to give you more foreground light and less distance projection.

 

I can appreciate that. But in person there has been a noticeable difference when driving at night compared to the old lights. I’ve found that personally I’ve been able to see more easily and clearer. This is just me with the these lights. I know it’s a hot topic and everyone is different.

 

You are correct with your observation that everyone is different. There are those who choose to believe scientifically proven facts, and those who choose not to. Good luck with your logic and your scientifically proven inferior led bulbs.

 

Does this sound familiar?

"My Mind Is Made Up. Don’t Confuse Me With the Facts"

 

The issue is that people are very poor in the ability to judge light. People will intrinsically favor foreground light, because there is much higher light intensity immediately in-front of you which tends to make people feel like they can see more and feel safer, and it initially looks more impressive. But that isn't how a headlight is supposed to work, you don't want to increase foreground light, you want to maximize your distance light. This doesn't give the immediate 'wow' factor people often have when installing a replacement LED into a halogen assembly, because distance light is not as immediately noticeable/impactful as high amounts of foreground light. But the results are clear when driving somewhere dark outside of an urban environment where headlights are actually needed to illuminate distance at speed.

Headlights with lack of focus cause you to over drive your headlights at speed, meaning the reduced distance illumination will not give you adequate stopping/maneuvering time by the time they illuminate an obstacle to your reaction time and the trucks ability to stop and or maneuver. Driver reaction time is said to be about 1.5 seconds, or 2.3 seconds for braking according to a quick google search. At 60mph you are covering about 88ft per second. Meaning from the time you spot an object in your lights you will cover 132-202ft before inputing feedback into the trucks controls to avoid it. Quick google search says the Tacoma does 60-0 in 143ft. Meaning you are going to cover about a football field or more between your lights illuminating an obstacle and your ability to stop. So you want to extend that light projection farther to allow your self more time, not reduce it in favor of foreground light. As shown numerous times throughout this thread, LEDs with larger emitters don't project distance because they lack focus, so while you may have more light, you don't have it in the correct spot that matters. And what that has done is shorten that window to react to avoid an obstacle making you less safe, while at the same time providing high foreground light which makes you feel more safe.

 

Crash - you saved me the trouble, as I have been outside doing stuff today, but my initial reaction, and this is coming from a long time photographer who is schooled in looking at, creating and examining light, is that too many people simply don't know what to look for and are fooled by over-illuminated foreground in much the same way as an a/b audio comparison will always favor the higher decibel example.

In addition, you can see just by simple observation how poorly designed many lighting systems are. A lot of lights actually put a significant amount of light that falls just in front of the vehicle (think many BMWs of the last fifteen years) where, due to the optical phenomenon of parallax, the driver can never see. It would be better to design a light that redirects that unused foreground light to areas where it actually does some good. It also illustrates that there's far more to good lighting than just slapping in a poorly designed and thought out and hoping for the best. Parallax also accounts for why so many drivers stop about ten feet from the limit line coming to a stop.

 

Been driving with the h9's in my low beams for about a month. Light output is so much better than the stock output. I dont think this pic does the lights justice.

 

That looks pretty good - I have a question - do the lowbeams stay on when the high beams are activated? Going to H9s in my lows once the H9 Extention wiring shows up.
Anyone have the pic of the Extention wiring modification? Tried to find it in the tread buy 125 pages to go thru I gave up and the search engine was on no help

 

Yes, the low beams DO stay on when you activate the high beams. You do NOT have to buy the harness. Trimming the H9 bulb is free, easy, and only takes a couple minutes. There's photos of the minor mod to the H9 bulb somewhere in the thread, but I forget where. If you hold up a H11 and a H9 and look carefully you'll see the difference.

Edit: Here's a link that may help. (post number 2117) I didn't use a dremel. I used a pair of needle nosed pliers to bend the metal tab (which isn't absolutely necessary, just seemed easier to me), and small wire cutters to trim the socket (which IS necessary).

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...ctor-headlights.589465/page-106#post-22165288

 

I went with the extensions so I could just throw in a H9 without having to modify it once the extension was in-place. I can then just carry 1 spare bulb and it will fit in both high and low without modification - for the $10 I thought is was worth the ease.

 

That works too.

 

Maybe THIS will be usefull for you as well:
3rd Gen HID vs LED vs Halogen H11 projector headlights

 

It is
Thank You