Headlight comparison stock vs others

[trapshot68]

I went to buy some GE Ultra Vision bulbs and learned that GE has discontinued making bulbs. So I guess we'll have to see if someone takes over or if that option is now over. Just thought it might be worthwhile to toss in this thread.

Something I haven't seen discussed is the issues with having brighter lights in the more reflective spectrum and snow driving. If they don't melt the snow off the lenses - it doesn't matter how good the projector is - it scatters light everywhere. Combined with the extra brightness it makes for some really difficult vision in snow. This isn't just an issue for aftermarket HID or LED bulbs, but that type of headlight in general. If it's a lot brighter than OEM - which many are - snow is likely to be a problem even with great projector housings.

I removed my XD with Phillips setup last week again for about the 3rd time. They're great in the summer if aimed correctly once the bulbs burn in and dim down. I just left them on as my DRLs for a long time and once they got dimmer they were great and not obnoxious for other drivers. But the snow situation was just unusable each winter, so I'd pull em back out. I didn't have the same issue with my RX350 HID headlights or my last IS headlights. The IS had headlight washers. But the RX doesn't. There's probably more to it than just that, but if you're on the fence and live in snow country - HIDs in OEM projectors is not a good combo for winter.

Do folks with full HID retrofits or aftermarket housings with proper HID projectors have the same issues?

Funny, I was just reading the latest stuff on that Tacoma forum thread about bulbs, LEDs, etc, and it appears GE Europe at least became Tungsram.

With the GE Lighting sale closed, Tungsram is ready to take on the world - News - Tungsram

And they have a Nighthawk line on Amazon for sale: Amazon.com: Tungsram H11-55NHX/BP2 Nighthawk Xenon Automotive Bulb, 2-pack: Automotive

 

[Jetboy]

Funny, I was just reading the latest stuff on that Tacoma forum thread about bulbs, LEDs, etc, and it appears GE Europe at least became Tungsram.

With the GE Lighting sale closed, Tungsram is ready to take on the world - News - Tungsram

And they have a Nighthawk line on Amazon for sale: Amazon.com: Tungsram H11-55NHX/BP2 Nighthawk Xenon Automotive Bulb, 2-pack: Automotive

I'm curious if those are the same thing as the old GE +130. Might be worth giving a shot. Price is pretty reasonable.

Edit: Looks like they're identical to the GE nighthawk Xenons. But maybe tunsgram has the +130 option too? I'll see what I can find. Edit 2; after looking at the Tungsram catalog it appears the H11 XMU (+130) bulb did not carry over to Tungsram, so it's probably dead.

 

[SpeedyKevin]

I'm curious if those are the same thing as the old GE +130. Might be worth giving a shot. Price is pretty reasonable.

Edit: Looks like they're identical to the GE nighthawk Xenons. But maybe tunsgram has the +130 option too? I'll see what I can find.

EDIT: oops I meant +120s. Haven't seen the 130s in the states yet. A few folks have bought them overseas via Ebay

Walmart is now carrying the Tungsram +130s. Pretty much same packaging but different label

Tungsram H11 Nighthawk Xenon Halogen Bulb, 2-pack - Walmart.com - Walmart.com

 

[NW.OH.T4R]

I went to buy some GE Ultra Vision bulbs and learned that GE has discontinued making bulbs. So I guess we'll have to see if someone takes over or if that option is now over. Just thought it might be worthwhile to toss in this thread.

Something I haven't seen discussed is the issues with having brighter lights in the more reflective spectrum and snow driving. If they don't melt the snow off the lenses - it doesn't matter how good the projector is - it scatters light everywhere. Combined with the extra brightness it makes for some really difficult vision in snow. This isn't just an issue for aftermarket HID or LED bulbs, but that type of headlight in general. If it's a lot brighter than OEM - which many are - snow is likely to be a problem even with great projector housings.

I removed my XD with Phillips setup last week again for about the 3rd time. They're great in the summer if aimed correctly once the bulbs burn in and dim down. I just left them on as my DRLs for a long time and once they got dimmer they were great and not obnoxious for other drivers. But the snow situation was just unusable each winter, so I'd pull em back out. I didn't have the same issue with my RX350 HID headlights or my last IS headlights. The IS had headlight washers. But the RX doesn't. There's probably more to it than just that, but if you're on the fence and live in snow country - HIDs in OEM projectors is not a good combo for winter.

Do folks with full HID retrofits or aftermarket housings with proper HID projectors have the same issues?

Are you referencing driving while it’s actively snowing or just snow covered areas? Hasn’t snowed this year, but when it does I can try to provide this answer.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Jetboy]

Are you referencing driving while it’s actively snowing or just snow covered areas? Hasn’t snowed this year, but when it does I can try to provide this answer.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Driving while it's snowing. Particularly in the very heavy snowfall periods when it's also kinda warm out. We see that fairly frequently in Utah. Somewhere further north it might be -5* and snowing - the snow won't stick to the headlights. But when it's 28* and snowing heavily - it gets pretty bad pretty fast sometimes between the snow buildup on the lights causing the light to scatter and the brighter and more reflective light from the HIDs.

 

[NW.OH.T4R]

Driving while it's snowing. Particularly in the very heavy snowfall periods when it's also kinda warm out. We see that fairly frequently in Utah. Somewhere further north it might be -5* and snowing - the snow won't stick to the headlights. But when it's 28* and snowing heavily - it gets pretty bad pretty fast sometimes between the snow buildup on the lights causing the light to scatter and the brighter and more reflective light from the HIDs.

Got it. We see a fair amount of lake effect snow, so I should be able to get an assessment of this assuming it snows sometime this year unlike last year.

 

[rageandlove]

Just noticed that there is a new version of the Morimoto 2Stroke LED - v 3.0.

Morimoto 2Stroke 3.0 LED Light Review and Test - Nothing Else Like It - YouTube

Couple of interesting things.

1) The LEDs now come far closer to approximating the width of the filament in a halogen bulb. The distance between emitters is 2.0 mm thick, which is ~1 mm thinner than previous best-in-class, and getting pretty close to the ~1.5 mm that filaments are in halogens.

That will go a long way to addressing the complaints about beam pattern that have been brought up in this thread on other LED bulbs. Need a test to see how much.

2) The cooling uses the air in the housing, not behind the light, to manage temperature, so you will now get the benefit of the heat from the light helping to melt snow etc. on the light in the same way as a halogen.

3) There's some interesting design around adjusting the light at install time too.

Cool engineering. Hoping to see some tests on how it does at addressing beam patter.

 

[mynameistory]

Just noticed that there is a new version of the Morimoto 2Stroke LED - v 3.0.

Morimoto 2Stroke 3.0 LED Light Review and Test - Nothing Else Like It - YouTube

Couple of interesting things.

1) The LEDs now come far closer to approximating the width of the filament in a halogen bulb. The distance between emitters is 2.0 mm thick, which is ~1 mm thinner than previous best-in-class, and getting pretty close to the ~1.5 mm that filaments are in halogens.

That will go a long way to addressing the complaints about beam pattern that have been brought up in this thread on other LED bulbs. Need a test to see how much.

2) The cooling uses the air in the housing, not behind the light, to manage temperature, so you will now get the benefit of the heat from the light helping to melt snow etc. on the light in the same way as a halogen.

3) There's some interesting design around adjusting the light at install time too.

Cool engineering. Hoping to see some tests on how it does at addressing beam patter.

Yep this one will be interesting to see. The new Osram black chips allow for a very thin blade between emitter faces. I'm a little wary of them saying they will able to warm headlight housings with any significance- convection will require a lot more heat than radiant infrared light from incandescent bulbs to accomplish the same snow melting capabilities.

 

[rageandlove]

Yep this one will be interesting to see. The new Osram black chips allow for a very thin blade between emitter faces. I'm a little wary of them saying they will able to warm headlight housings with any significance- convection will require a lot more heat than radiant infrared light from incandescent bulbs to accomplish the same snow melting capabilities.

Yeah, I had the same thought about the warming in that it might be a 'marketing story' more than reality.

Also, I can't tell if they would actually be a solution for high beams, even if you bought one of those DLR setups that deals with the signal.

 

[mynameistory]

Yeah, I had the same thought about the warming in that it might be a 'marketing story' more than reality.

Also, I can't tell if they would actually be a solution for high beams, even if you bought one of those DLR setups that deals with the signal.

I think I saw that these will only perform DRL duty with reduced voltage input. Our trucks use PWM (pulse width modulation) so it probably won't work.

 

[supratt]

Amazing work OP! I commend all your work to put this together. Give this guy some bonus points!

 

[SlickTRD]

Just noticed that there is a new version of the Morimoto 2Stroke LED - v 3.0.

Morimoto 2Stroke 3.0 LED Light Review and Test - Nothing Else Like It - YouTube

Couple of interesting things.

1) The LEDs now come far closer to approximating the width of the filament in a halogen bulb. The distance between emitters is 2.0 mm thick, which is ~1 mm thinner than previous best-in-class, and getting pretty close to the ~1.5 mm that filaments are in halogens.

That will go a long way to addressing the complaints about beam pattern that have been brought up in this thread on other LED bulbs. Need a test to see how much.

2) The cooling uses the air in the housing, not behind the light, to manage temperature, so you will now get the benefit of the heat from the light helping to melt snow etc. on the light in the same way as a halogen.

3) There's some interesting design around adjusting the light at install time too.

Cool engineering. Hoping to see some tests on how it does at addressing beam patter.

Lightwerkz ig page already did comparison test between halogen, 2stroke 3.0, 2stroke 2.0, GTR Ultra 2, and Supernova V4 on reflectors, Taco projectors and 4R projectors - the 3.0 performed best on the reflectors and taco projectors. For the 4R projectors the GTR Ultra 2 performed best follow by the SV4 then the 3.0. They concluded the performance of the 3.0 is due to the way the taco have traditional rear bulb projectors whereas the 4R are sideway projectors.

 

[mynameistory]

Lightwerkz ig page already did comparison test between halogen, 2stroke 3.0, 2stroke 2.0, GTR Ultra 2, and Supernova V4 on reflectors, Taco projectors and 4R projectors - the 3.0 performed best on the reflectors and taco projectors. For the 4R projectors the GTR Ultra 2 performed best follow by the SV4 then the 3.0. They concluded the performance of the 3.0 is due to the way the taco have traditional rear bulb projectors whereas the 4R are sideway projectors.

Dang, you'd think that a company who sells LED bulbs could get better testing equipment than an incandescent lux meter, measured from ten feet away.

The fact that LED bulbs perform differently depending on the housing they're in is a red flag. Halogen bulbs are held to a much higher standard of conformity.

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[Ed_C]

Dang, you'd think that a company who sells LED bulbs could get better testing equipment than an incandescent lux meter, measured from ten feet away.

25-30 feet away...I've been to that shop many times

 

[rageandlove]

OK, I'm going to double-down on finding someone to make a harness to fit the 2021 TRD Pro LED light setup ... the Tacoma guys have been putting those in with good results.

 

[?????]

Major point of contention is whether or not the gentleman at LIGHTWERKZ is using the LED measuring device. I recently discovered through a man in the trade that the readings will not be accurate if using a HALOGEN model.

 

[SlickTRD]

Major point of contention is whether or not the gentleman at LIGHTWERKZ is using the LED measuring device. I recently discovered through a man in the trade that the readings will not be accurate if using a HALOGEN model.

you could ask lightwerkz through their ig page instead of pondering here on a forum.

 

[?????]

you could ask lightwerkz through their ig page instead of pondering here on a forum.

I did at the same time after I posted here. I'll keep you guys posted if I get a reply

 

[mynameistory]

I did at the same time after I posted here. I'll keep you guys posted if I get a reply

Looks to be an Extech LT300. I don't think this one accurately measures the spectrum that LEDs operate in. I understand it's a comparitive measurement in this case but shifting from halogen to LED will not have a proper control subject. From what I understand they actually under-represent true output from LED. Still, a measurement of maximum intensity does not tell the whole story.

25-30 feet away...I've been to that shop many times

Better, but still not ideal. Drop-in LED bulbs can be brighter than halogen, but it's well known that their dimensional limitations contribute to lack of focus and a downward shift in hotspot placement. This is what causes nearly every hack LED bulb to have reduced distance projection.

Thirty feet at 65 miles an hour is covered in about a third of a second. This is why correct distribution and distance projection for your headlights is critical. You need your headlights to reach hundreds of feet out.

 

[?????]

Looks to be an Extech LT300. I don't think this one accurately measures the spectrum that LEDs operate in. I understand it's a comparitive measurement in this case but shifting from halogen to LED will not have a proper control subject. From what I understand they actually under-represent true output from LED. Still, a measurement of maximum intensity does not tell the whole story.



Better, but still not ideal. Drop-in LED bulbs can be brighter than halogen, but it's well known that their dimensional limitations contribute to lack of focus and a downward shift in hotspot placement. This is what causes nearly every hack LED bulb to have reduced distance projection.

Thirty feet at 65 miles an hour is covered in about a third of a second. This is why correct distribution and distance projection for your headlights is critical. You need your headlights to reach hundreds of feet out.

Correct.

Still awaiting on a response from Lightwerkz and Crashburn80 showed me what the different module for LED measuring is recently so I'm hoping they reply accordingly.