3rd Gen HID vs LED vs Halogen H11 projector headlights

I have tried a lot of different options for my fogs, even LEDs and honestly this is what I go back to (in the H11 version). There have been times when there's poor visibility at night when I kick my low beams off entirely and these cut through glare like nothing else while still putting out a good bit of light. These are quality lights IMHO and agree easy on the eyes.

 

Came across a new jdm astar on Amazon that claims to be 1:1 design as a halogen. They didn't show the side profile though. I'm not sure how wide the bulb is or if that makes a difference.
JDM ASTAR 12000 Lumens Extremely Bright 1:1 Design H11 H8 H16 All-in-One LED Headlight Bulbs/Fog Lights/DRL, Xenon White

JDM ASTAR High Performance 1:1 Design H16 White Light Output Up to 100% More Downroad Visibility LED Fog Light Bulbs

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07SPVK7LQ/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_i_8YmNDb5QJ0EQS

Lol and yes the suspense is killing me as well.

 

Many products make this claim, and many have the dimensions correct in the axis shown, but it is really getting the width narrow enough to improve focus where most fall short. I do not know how wide those are. As typical, the lumen count is way overstated.

 

A neat way to visualize the focus “problem” crash talks about... take a C or D cell maglight flashlight and rotate the barrel from fine point focus to wide beam on a wall at 30 feet.

You can see the light get much more intense at fine point. And less intense as you focus the beam wider.

Now imagine this at the micro scale with our halogens and engineered headlight housings. A micro-adjustment in the filament position makes a huge difference in what you see at a distance.

 

crashnburn80: I cannot thank you enough. Thanks to your work, I purchased a 2019 TRD Pro since the weak headlights was holding me back but I ordered the recommended bulbs the day I purchased the truck. This site is fantastic for newbies like me. Thank you to all who contributed.

 

Welcome to TW! Which bulbs did you go with?

 

I went with the Philips H9 Standard Halogen with the harnesses on Amazon.. I also bought the GE Nighthawks for the fog lights without knowing my truck's fog lights are LED. So i returned them. The Philips H9's worked great and I really appreciate all your efforts.

 

And I got lucky that mine were made in Germany.

 

Ive got the fogs covered too. The Pro fogs are nice, but there are much better options out there. Checkout the comparison charts in the thread below. Fortunately people will pay top dollar for Pro fogs, so selling them can cover the cost of an upgrade. Current recommended fogs are the Rigid SAE D-Series selective yellow, or the white KC G4. However Rigid is currently launching much higher output models that will fit in the stock location, with a mounting kit. I should have them any day for testing.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-led-sae-j583-fog-pod-fog-light-review.554813/

 

@crashnburn80 For something with a more blue tinted light what would be a good bulb. Longevity would be awesome. Just read this whole thread before posting

 

Thank you crashnburn80 I'll look into that upgrade. The Rigid LEDs look pretty, but they really are not that bright.

 

Previous reply was to an earlier post. 'Best' and 'white' are really opposing traits for halogens. The GE bulbs are whiter than stock and have the best H11 performance, but they are not 'white'. Most people that say 'white' are expecting around 5000k, which just isn't practical with a halogen. The more blue you add to the bulb to get the color temp up, the more the output is reduced. I try to focus my testing on real performance bulbs and not cosmetic ones. The whitest performance bulb I've tested is the Osram Laser +150 at 3600k. It has the most blue coverage and because of it, the output isn't as good as some other options. Sylvania Silverstar from your local autocrats store will offer higher color temps, in the low 4000k range, but also much less performance. The GE +130 Megalight offers a good balance of 3500k while offering excellent performance, though it is slightly outperformed by the slightly warmer GE Xenon +120, and even warmer Philips H9. Hellas performance 2.0 H9s are also an option for whiter at about 3500k, as covered in post #1578. Look at the comparison vs stock in the last photo in that post to get an idea if the color temp change is sufficient.

LEDs are certainly much whiter, but they don't project well. I'm betting the Hikari's will do a bit better than stock at distance but are not going to match a performance halogen option at projection distance. Some people are more concerned with cosmetics over performance and that could be an option. If the rain holds off this evening, I'll have distance projection data tonight.

HIDs are the most effective way to get whiter light that projects over distance, but there are still large drawbacks. Often the bulbs 'bounce' in the 3rd Gen headlight, which annoys many. And the headlight assembly isn't intended for HIDs, so the uplight allowed for halogen gets drastically amplified by running HIDs making it not the kindest to oncoming drivers, even though it is running a projector (because it is a halogen projector, not an HID projector). Sourcing quality parts is a bit of a challenge, since by nature no OEM grade brand makes kits to run in halogen assemblies. And then you also need to deal with external ballasts.

So you really need to weigh what is most important to you. The best current option for much whiter with good projection is the Morimoto XB replacement headlights, as they are designed from the ground up for LEDs so they project correctly. They are also $1250.

 

@crashnburn80 thank you again. I’m really shooting for the “white/blue” look without going HID and needing lots of extra wiring/ballasts hanging around. I’ll for sure check out what you Have mentioned.

 

If you want white/blue halogens are not going to cut it for you. Hikari's will likely be the best option I have tried. Rain seems to be holding off, so I should have the data in a while.

 

Has anyone tested them over a length of time? Did you need CANbus adapters?

 

Lots of guys have run the Hikari's. While the optical design is better than many, I do not place that faith in their build quality. They feel cheap. The Tacomas do not use CANbus, so no adapter required.

 

What do you feel is a better quality led that won’t break the bank.. i know I will most likely sacrifice light quality and distance

 

Cheap doesn’t necessarily mean they will fail soon, but Diode Dynamics units feel far better built, and they are made in the USA vs China. However the Diode Dynamic ones are much larger, so they don’t project as well. I wouldn’t advocate reducing projection performance under stock.

 

Hikari Ultra "Eyes of Megatron" H11/H9 LEDs
Amazon link here.



The name and advertising admittedly sounds questionable on these LEDs. The advertising is full of way overpromised performance, as is typical many off brand LEDs, with claims like "12,000 lumens!" and "270% brighter!". The product info page reads like a bad Chinese translation. However these are the thinnest drop in LEDs I have tested. And that is important because the thinner the distance between LED emitter faces, the better the focus (which is a weak point for LEDs). And better focus leads to better performance.



Still not quiet as thin as the OEM halogen, but closer.



An interesting trait on these LEDs is how they use more girth/mass under the LED emitters, and keep the design thinner over the emitters. Below the light source is not utilized much in a low beam pattern, and in the projector all that light is blocked out by the internal light shield. So by optimizing the top of the LED unit to be thinner, they have optimized the light distribution for better low beam output.

These are actively cooled (aka fan powered). Some designs that are a bit more cleaver like Diode Dynamics work with convection to have fans blow upward over heat sinks to carry heat away more efficiently, though at the expense of added bulk. These use the traditional rear facing fan. The fans are noisy. Likely not an issue with the truck running, but I am pretty sure you'll notice them with the truck off.

So how do they perform?

Better than I expected. 42' distance test shot against the Philips H9.

Philips H9 vs Hikari LED at 42'


Looking at the output measurements, the Hikari numbers look impressive for an LED.



The halogens maintain a bit of a better recognizable hotspot than the Hikari's, and the halogen peak beam intensity is up near the cut off, vs the Hikari where it is a little lower. The peak beam intensity should be up near the cut off to carry the projection as far as possible. But over all very impressive performance for an LED.

Compared to stock these are a significant upgrade, a bit over 50% greater lux at 42'.

Stock 42' vs Hikari 42'


This of course begs the question, how do they do in the high beam? Here are short range (18') pattern shots using the Hikari's in the high beam with the low beams turned off.

Stock Philips H9 vs Hikari LED high beam.


The LED pattern is a bit more filled out than the halogen that has a hotter area lower in the beam. But that isn't unintentional. The lower hotter spot in the halogen high beam is to project the beam maximum forward distance for down road distance vision while also giving a wider area illumination. The LED pattern has lost this defined hotspot trait and is more of a uniform light spread. I did some 42' distance testing for high beam, and the Hikari's put down better peak numbers by roughly 20%. However it wasn't easy to tell exactly where that was relative in the beam and I suspect it is higher, for example a 20% increase in light aimed up 5 degrees isn't going to be beneficial to help you see further down the road. Brighter yes, but you also want that brighter applied to where you need it to go for it to be true effective. Unfortunately it began to rain so I packed up my gear to bring it inside.

 

TRS has talked about making wiring adapters to install the 2020 OEM LED headlights, but they also sell the Morimoto LED lights so there may not be much incentive. Saw this today.