3rd Gen HID vs LED vs Halogen H11 projector headlights

I know the Philips H9 65w actually operate at about 75w, what are the Osrams H4 operating wattage?

 

Correct. They are no longer offered. I'm down to one set in my truck and one spare set on the shelf. They're quite nice.

 

The 3rd Gen OEM LEDs come in at 1636 lux for comparison, which is a fair amount higher than the Philips H9 swap and higher than any 2nd Gen stock wattage bulb upgrade without additional wiring or voltage mods.

I just copy/pasted these charts comparing bulb peak intensity from the different Gen threads, hence the scale is set to something reasonable for each individual Gen, but not the best for comparing to scale between Gens. It is also worth noting that the 2nd Gen numbers do not reflect the HD wiring harness and voltage booster upgrades, which push those numbers up ~22% higher than shown.

The 85/80w Hyper and Hyper All Season were very exotic bulbs and are no longer made and supplies have long since been wiped out. I ran the Hypers in my truck, they were phenomenal. If you are looking for the best plug and play stock wattage performance bulbs, I'd suggest the Philips Racing Vision +200. The output is nearly identical to the Racing Vision +150 on that chart, but the new bulbs have double the life. Racing Vision +200 review here. However, the Racing Vision bulbs have a blue coating over the high beam filament, meaning high beam performance will be less than stock. The best low beam stock wattage performance bulb without reducing high beam performance is the GE/Tungsram Xenon +120. The IPF Fatboy IIs are good performers and do not require a harness, but very expensive and getting hard to find.

Amp draw at 13.8v. To get wattage, multiply Amps x Voltage

So for the stock Osram 9003 bulbs: 5A x 13.8v = 69w based on my numbers.

 

I hand typed these into a quick sheet to make this while stuck on work zooms. Would be cool to have power draw as the width of a 3d bar, I could dig into that. Obviously not the full picture of headlight performance but it's rather eye opening to see 3rd gen and 2nd gen on the same graph. Also could be cool to factor in the benefits of a harness upgrade as a stackable extension to the bar length.

 

Nice! Gotta love some good data tables and plots! I like the Lux/Amp. I originally had plotted the amp draw on the same graph like that, but the scale doesn't suit the low numbers well. Adding an Y2 axis on the right with a separate scale could fix the issue to give more readable numbers. But I just took the easy way out and plotted them separately.

 

Where would the hikaris fit in that chart of possible?

 

Sorry, i meant for the Osrams 85/80w bulbs. (I see with your chart the math says they're about 86w). I know reflectors are more efficient than projectors, but I was noticing the top bulbs for 2nd gen also happen to be higher wattage than the Philips H9 for 3rd gen. I don't think I've seen any higher wattage H9s though. (I also realize higher wattage isn't always better)

 

@crashnburn80 I hunted but only saw Hikari lux at 42' which isn't fair to compare to 18' I assume If you can dig that up I can plug them in (and any other legit contenders for 3rd gen).

I know output intensity at 18' isn't the entire story but it's a decent apples-to-apples comparison metric and what most of us base our initial decision on.

 

The 18' testing does not return the most accurate results for LEDs as shorter range tests that conceal focus issues, which is why I primarily share the 42' test data for LEDs. The better focused the LED, the less this is a problem but for bulkier high power and poor focus LED designs, it can make the numbers look a lot better than they actually are.

I have the 42' test for Hikaris at 224 lux vs 144 lux stock, so by those numbers they are 55.5% higher intensity than stock. Compared to the stock bulbs at 18', that should be about 623x1.555 = 968 lux. Actual measured was 1005.8 lux. Obviously not the whole story as the halogens do a better job with placing the hot sport at the top of the beam whereas the LEDs it dips depending on the width of the LED. The Hirkaris are the thinnest LED I have tested yet and the only one I would recommend thus far. I am looking forward to trying out the new Morimotos 3.0s though which are significantly thinner.

 

I did hunt for higher wattage H9s and tested some that claimed to be. But surprise, the products were misleading or flat out lying. Claims of an 'off road only' 70w H9 actually pulled less power and had less output than the Philips H9s. Technically it was about 70w, but the marketing is misleading in making you believe they are higher power than a stock bulb when they aren't. Or +100 H9s that turned out to be nothing more than a cheap basic H9 bulb in fancy packaging. There were many such products tested in this thread, with results posted but rather than litter the thread with a bunch of garbage products, I've kept post #2 to only cover quality products from legitimate lighting manufactures.

 

Looks like the Morimoto 2stroke 3.0s are due in on Monday.

 

Updated graph w Hikari

 

OEM LED for the win! Will be curious to see how they stack up against the Gen2 version of the Morimoto XB headlights.

 

It’s really Gen 2 Tacoma FTW. With 2015’s as a bit of a holy grail. So many awesome bulb choices and a 4.0. I wish I could go back in time and pull my head out of my arse.

 

OT but, any recs for HB4 / 9003 lamps (2002 Tundra)?

 

Reflectors are more performant than projectors and large reflectors are more performant than smaller ones. The 2nd Gen has some ridiculously large reflectors, I'd be surprised if you ever see a modern truck with lights that large again. Projectors give more styling freedom to automotive designers allowing them to make vehicles look more modern with much smaller headlight assemblies. Most people test driving vehicles are not doing so at night to evaluate the headlight performance. The H4 platform is extremely common in Europe where it has been in place since 1971, it has the highest aftermarket performance support out of any bulb platform. And not surprising all the top bulb manufactures are also in Europe, which of course they seem to cater to the common European H4 platform.

Just be glad Toyota used an H11 for a low beam which does still have some good performance options, and not an H13/9008 like most American makes which has next to nothing for aftermarket performance support.

 

The 9003 bulb recommendations are the same as the 2nd Gen H4. The bulbs are interchangeable, just a 9003 designation has some tighter tolerances on specifications that some H4 (European spec) bulbs will not meet. However, many high efficiency performance bulbs are listed under both designations as they are able to meet the specifications for both, but often carry the H4 packaging label. But any high wattage bulb will be an H4 designation.

 

This is an amazing thread and I thank the OP for the info he has provided. However, I am super confused. I thought this thread said that H11 bulbs were plug n play and H9 bulbs had to be modified. Given that, I purchased the Tungsram H11 Nighthawk H11 bulbs only to find H9 bulbs under my hood. Did they change the bulbs coming from the factory? I have a 2021 non LED. Someone please set me straight as I'm all mixed up.

 

you might be looking at the high beams, which are H9 stock

 

Yep, as mentioned above you are removing the high beam bulb. It is actually fairly easy to get them mixed up under the hood, the low beam is further toward the fender.