Headlight bulb options not LED.

It's really bad when you are on an interstate when it's raining at night. The reflection of headlights and tail lights in front of you seems to "drown out" or "wash out" the headlights. Feels somewhat unsafe but I think repacement with a brighter bulb would do the trick. I really do hope the higher trim levels do have better headlights though.

 

i'm a big stickler about headlight performance. The taco leaves some to be desired. Best headlights i have owned are BMW xenon. That being said, even my wife's 2017 CX5 rates well on IIHS headlight performance, looks fantastic at all times EXCEPT when roads are wet. I have yet to have headlights function well on wet roads.

 

Good to know. Up to this point I took headlights for granted. My wifes Volvo had great lights but I had to replace them every six months or so. That thing ate bulbs!

 

I owned two Volvo's, unfortunately i couldn't find one in my price range with the self leveling xenon's... they are nice as well. Now that IIHS is testing headlights, they will not award top safety pick + if the headlights rate poor. Expect to see a drastic improvement to headlights over the next two years.

 

surprisingly the Corolla had the best headlights I've ever had. When I first drove the Tacoma at night I was like, damn I miss the Corolla lights, it's a 2015.

come to think of it the Corolla had a few features I miss too; like the keyless handle entry on the passenger side. Taco only has driver side.

 

Its such a simple feature that you don't really think about..... until you get a new vehicle that doesn't have it. If i could change two things about the tacoma - headlights and the damn passenger handle lol

 

The higher the color temperature, the worse it is going to look on wet roads. Which is ironic that everyone wants super white/blue headlights when they they actually perform worse in trade for a trendy cosmetic look.

 

Now after reading and watching the vids I am totally confused...
I am looking for a direct replacement of the OEM with a better bulb version without any harnesses, cutting, soldering, drilling, etc. Just remove the OEM low beam bulbs and replace with something better.
Just to make sure, out tacos 16-17 have H11 type right?

 

Yes you have an H11 bulb. If you do not want to convert to a harness of HID, see my original post earlier for stock wattage bulb replacements.

 

But you can use H9

 

Which one is better as in choices for easy install, power and light output, H9 or H11?

 

Try this.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/just-did-an-h9-swap.512302/

 

The H9 has a 65w filament optimized for maximum luminance and flux at the expense of shorter lifespan. The H11 has a 55w filament optimized for long life at the expense of lower luminance and flux.
H9 has no glare cap, and with the slightly higher wattage, and filiment design for maximum light, its a significant upgrade, around 2000 lumens, vs ~1200 lumens of a H11. But it's also got a 50% reduction in life expectancy.

As for brands, its a crap-shoot these days, all money seens to go on marketing and not quality. But I've usually had good luck with sylvania & phillips.

Oh, there is a very slight difference in the mounting of H9 & H11, but usually they are interchangeable on most light housings.

EDIT
And I totally agree and commend you on keeping regular bulbs in there, having done a lot of conversations to HID and LED over the years, I get totally pissed off with the dangerous assholes with shit conversations on OEM lights. If you want more light, run auxiliary lights and make sure they are wired to only be triggered when BOTH highbeam and aux light swichs are on

 

Good recap, but the H9 has a significantly shorter lifespan than 50% of the H11. Sylvania/Osram and Philips are solid choices.

 

Thanks for the correction, I always thought it was 1/2, but can't remember where I got that from.

 

Keep in mind these headlights have projectors. They have a physical shield which creates a cut off. changing to HID in a projector like the tacoma yields NO additional glare/stray light outside of the intended projector path. It merely makes the light brighter.

@Dacon, adding a kit like the one suggested (Xenon Depot) is literally plug and play. No cutting of factory wires, no need for an HID harness some vendors offer. It is so simple in fact, if a bulb goes out (like any other headlight will at some point in its life) I keep the original bulbs in the glove box. It is two plugs to revert to stock configuration to continue with your trip. Adding this extra plug GREATLY increases safety and visibility with an EASY 1 minute revert to stock.

 

Completely agree. The XD install couldn't be simpler.

 

That's not actually true. The shield in any headlight and also the shape of the reflector is all very dependant on the location and intensity of the bulb. Most HID and all LED actually change the location of where the bulb is brightest, and will usually change the projected location. There are too many variables to say exactly how much this is changed and it's all very dependant on each vehicle. But more often than not you'll be fucking with oncoming traffic.

 

How are HID in cold weather ? As in Canada, minus 20 c/-4 f