Stock OEM vs HID vs LED headlights

[rwo Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close rwo]

Thanks for the great comparison Tim, top job!

I understand the legalities of aftermarket hid, but just curious if anyone knows if aftermarket led lights are also illegal when retrofitted without levelling/washers?

[Tin175 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Tin175]

Thanks for the great comparison Tim, top job!

I understand the legalities of aftermarket hid, but just curious if anyone knows if aftermarket led lights are also illegal when retrofitted without levelling/washers?

Based on the light pattern coming out of the LED bulbs I had you wouldn't need to level them or have washers. It wasn't throwing much light up and forward and light output was lower.

[Tin175 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Tin175]

4300K Halogen Bulbs

Phillips bulbs arrived. 4300K and claimed 100% extra light output. (doubt it)



OEM stock bulb on the right. Cooler but not too much. Output about the same but maybe a bit more even.



On the road I prefer the more natural looking color of the Phillips bulbs. The OEM were just a bit too warm. Not too much difference here, maybe a bit better on the sides. Road still very visible.



HID on Left, OEM on the right. Comparing the two pictures I would say the Phillips bulbs are better than the HID. More penetration and better spread.




While it is definitely not 100% increase in light output (maybe 10%). The color and coverage is improved. I'll stick with these for now and see how they go.

[JJT Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close JJT]

Anyone know why Toyota say Headlight protectors Available for GX and GXL models only? Not VX or Kakadu?

[AussieAndy Find all posts View Profile Close AussieAndy]

Because headlight protectors render the headlight washers useless, and make the vehicle illegal. They will fit though, so its up to you. I had headlight protectors on my 2010 Corolla Levin ZR, which had the factory hid lights. Keep the lights clean and you won't have an issue.

[mjrandom Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close mjrandom]

The Philips bulbs look good. Thanks for fronting the research.

[Steve M Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve M]

I've had the phillips in all 3 prados. First upgrade I generally do. They certainly were more noticeable in the two older 95's I had not so much in the 120. Maybe the 120 has better reflectors to start with over the 95's but still better then standard.[IMG][/IMG]everything looks yellow compared to light bar lol.... Cheers Steve

[RanJ Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close RanJ]

Here's a rather longish post I made on a commodore forum about HIDs... Might show a bit of insight for some people here.

Remember... As your kelvins go up your VISIBLE light output drops.

I also do a lot of highway driving... and I'm in two minds about HIDs in hi beam reflectors. In regards to your cheap eBay kits, jaycar and supercheap auto kits. They're simple answer. No.
I'll use some google images to help explain why... The problem with cheaper bulbs apart from response time is the "Focal point". When you insert the halogen H7 (as example) into the reflector housing, the parabola(curve) of the housing is designed to reflect the light from a source (filament in the bulb) located 25mm from the base of the reflector. When you compare the two bulbs side by side, you will see that the section where the arc is formed in the HID is actually further from the base than the halogen. It only needs to be 1mm or 2mm out to cause poor spread and glare. Hopefully this helps...


You can see how the light source is further forward in the housing and throws shit everywhere!... including having your non-cutoff section thrown into the opposite lane instead of the left hand side of the road. This is the biggest problem with low beam HIDs.

Enter Philips HID kits. You will pay through the nose for these puppies... Average is about $300-$500 on eBay. But, the difference is outstanding. First off, they have a much quicker response time, a matter of seconds. Still not quick enough for my liking but much more rapid. Furthermore, they also have the same focal points as the halogen bulb they are replacing. In the case of eBay kits, they have one HID bulb and simply change the base to suit. In the instance of Philips, they have different length bulbs dependant upon application. It's why they don't make a H3 HID kit anymore... can't make a bulb that short and previous model had fitment issues because it was too long. I've also found them to be much brighter as a rule of thumb... Here is a photo of one of my customers an Audi TT. When he brought the car to me, it was fitted with eBay specials 55w HIDs. He wasn't happy with the light output and wanted my help. After much brow beating I convinced him to lower the wattage but increase the quality with Philips HIDs.

Philips 35W bulb on the left and eBay 55W bulb on the right. Massive difference.


Now for those of you who INSIST on using the cheap shit, there is a bit of a work around for the focal point issue. It's not perfect, but it can achieve better results. By packing the HID with washers, you can decrease how far the bulb gets inserted into the housing. Use solid plastic/metal rings, not rubber as it compresses unevenly and will cause inequality between the two sides.

Heres one...

Note the red ring...

Commercially available spacer...


Heres how it works...


Now in case anyone is interested, I happen to have a pair of prototype 75W Philips ballasts at home. I use 6000K 35W bulbs on them. By boosting the input voltage and current into a HID bulb you will increase light output but changes it colour. So by using the 6000K I get the COLOUR of a 4300K bulb. When I use 4300K bulbs, I get roughly the COLOUR of a Halogen 3000K bulb. But #### me, they are bright! Also take about 20 seconds to warm up! lol

At the end of the day, HID retrofits are illegal, they can be a problem on the road, rarely are they converted correctly and hence the light output is not what people were hoping for. The biggest downfall is ALWAYS that focal point issue. Correct that, and you can probably get away with it. All of our cars have or have had HIDs with a lot of effort put into setting them up correctly. The only vehicle I have removed them from is our Prado which only has a H4 reflector and because of the height of the vehicle I couldn't prevent glare to other drivers I could certainly reduce it, but I'd still get flashed occasionally which tells me, I was upsetting a lot of people that just couldn't be bothered giving a flash. Mind you, on our Prado it has some fancy OSRAM Nightbreaker bulbs in the H4s. High beam with flick of a few extra switches will bring on 240Watts of LEDs, 220Watts of HID Spotlights... oh and the H4 high beam filament, but that tends to get left behind.

I am by no means an expert on HID bulbs, but I like to think I know more than the average guy, so if anyone has any questions, ask away and I'll do my best.

[Roof Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Roof]

Good write up!
It comes down to you get what you pay for
I also tried a cheaper eBay HID kit and will agree that the light output was not really 'that' much better than standard globes. When I fitted a Xray vision HID kit to my low beams (6000K) the difference was significant, so that's why I'm still using them
If I had my time again, I'd spend a little extra and buy the 4300K Phillips HID kit for low beams.

[KarlCaudwell Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close KarlCaudwell]

Thanks for all that... I'm just in the process of looking into this and pretty much settled on the Narva 100 plus or Phillips.
Can anyone point me in the direction of the lnk to the 'How To' replace the globes

[JoshF Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close JoshF]

Thanks for the great comparison Tim, top job!

I understand the legalities of aftermarket hid, but just curious if anyone knows if aftermarket led lights are also illegal when retrofitted without levelling/washers?

From what I have read with relation to Queensland only (haven't checked other states) no you cannot use LED or HID as aftermarket replacements because

 There is no headlight self-levelling device
 There is no self-cleaning function fitted
 The design of the headlamp reflector is probably not compatible with the bulb (not focussed correctly)

http://www.tmr.qld.gov.au/~/media/Sa...ifications.pdf

Page 7

[RanJ Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close RanJ]

From what I have read with relation to Queensland only (haven't checked other states) no you cannot use LED or HID as aftermarket replacements because

 There is no headlight self-levelling device
 There is no self-cleaning function fitted
 The design of the headlamp reflector is probably not compatible with the bulb (not focussed correctly)

http://www.tmr.qld.gov.au/~/media/Sa...ifications.pdf

Page 7

That's actually a nationwide ADR.

[krypto Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close krypto]

I've been using the Phillips HID in my Prado for several years and very happy. Get less glare/complaints than my other car which comes standard with HIDs

[JoshF Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close JoshF]

That's actually a nationwide ADR.

even better then, knowing each state can choose a path I only look locally for specific information