Static review: White wall & lux comparison: LED, H11 LL, H11+100, H9

First, lumens at the bulb is not the same as lumens OTF (out the front), which is what translates to the candela used for FMVSS photometry judgements.

More importantly, the H11 filament is more compact than the MTG2 luminous die area. Based on some estimations (i.e. don't quote my numbers as fact), the luminous area of ONE MTG2 is about 40mm^2, and the luminous area of an H11 bulb is about 15mm^2. So the math says an H11 produces about 93lm/mm^2, compared to the MTG2's 45lm/mm^2.

The smaller, more concentrated "point source" of the halogen bulb filament (compared to the relatively large LED die) is what makes the halogen bulb have the correct beam pattern and higher candela. The lamp is specifically designed around not only the position of the filament, but its shape as well. While the LED bulb manufacturer can place the center of the LED unit at the same position as the halogen filament, the LED cannot duplicate the shape and luminous efficacy of the halogen.

I understand and agree.

What are your thoughts on the kits designed with Cree XM-L2 emitters? Much tighter luminous area as the die appears to be about 4mm^2, with up to 1054 theoretical lumens per.

http://www.cree.com/LED-Components-and-Modules/Products/XLamp/Discrete-Directional/XLamp-XML2
https://www.amazon.com/dp/ (commissions earned)
 
This is all way over my head but great that you are sharing it. What would you recommend as a straight replacement bulb for a daily driver Mazda5? I would like better lighting down the road.

Sent from my SGH-i917 using Tapatalk
 
This is all way over my head but great that you are sharing it. What would you recommend as a straight replacement bulb for a daily driver Mazda5? I would like better lighting down the road.

Sent from my SGH-i917 using Tapatalk

A lot have great success with HID drop-ins. I run H9s right now, its $20 but you need to mod the bulb or order wiring harness adapters. I might go the HID route down the road. Let me know if you need help, HID sets are pretty easy to install.
 
I ended up ordering some Philips Xtreme Vision H11 55W bulbs after doing some research. I hope these will provide a better down road beam. I really don't want to modify anything or install HID's.
 
Got a set of Morimoto HIDs + relay from TRS. Went with 4300K, holy s*** they're bright. Better than the H9s and LED sets by far. The Morimoto components had excellent build quality, definitely worth the extra cash. No flicker at all.
 
Got a set of Morimoto HIDs + relay from TRS. Went with 4300K, holy s*** they're bright. Better than the H9s and LED sets by far. The Morimoto components had excellent build quality, definitely worth the extra cash. No flicker at all.

Crazy right? brighter than anything ive ever driven including BMWs, jaguars, Minis, Toyotas, etc. with HIDs. I am considering adjusting the headlights so they point a little bit lower. I installed the fogs... pretty much a waste unless I can figure out how to turn them on without having to turn on the headlights.

Where did you mount the passenger side ballast?
 
Crazy right? brighter than anything ive ever driven including BMWs, jaguars, Minis, Toyotas, etc. with HIDs. I am considering adjusting the headlights so they point a little bit lower. I installed the fogs... pretty much a waste unless I can figure out how to turn them on without having to turn on the headlights.

Where did you mount the passenger side ballast?

Not as bright as the Audi or Acura LEDs but pretty damn impressive. I don't have fogs, they're so useless for how much they cost. I wish there was a set of Sylvania ZEVO Fog DRLs in our size.

I double back taped the ballast on top of one of the reservoirs, I think it was the washer fluid one.
 
I'd love to see some beamshots of the morimotos and the H9 you were running previously (make sure to use the same camera settings, or I'll b!tch about it, lol).

Regarding the fogs, I think I've said this a couple times in threads about lights here, you guys need to start listening, lol. Fog lights are not good for lighting the road at night, "real" fog lights are designed to put light on the road lines/edges, low and "under" the layer of fog (your headlights, especially high beams would create glare if you just try to "power" through the fog) . In normal night driving, they are nearly useless, by design - no matter what bulbs you put in them. And many of the lights that come OEM aren't even real fog lights, but are just as bad at providing light.

TL;DR - Fog lights won't give you light at night no matter how much you spend on bulbs/HID kits for them. They are appearance items 95%of the time, and only useful in fog conditions as far as actual function goes.
 
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I fitted 65w Osram H9s for a more useless light ;)

Note: I do NOT leave them on for giggles and they do NOT cause glare – I can stare right into them. I only turn them on when I truly need fogs (going less than 15 mph-ish) them since the factory HIDs are bright enough for road use. The H9 empowered fogs do light up the corners and the immediate area in front more-better. The surface area where the fog beam pattern lights up is useless at any noticeable speed. This space cannot be lite with the low beam, even with HIDs set to the lowest setting. Fills a mostly useless void, that is until you get caught in the mountains and can't see more than a few feet in front of you (eek)



Good to hear the positive comments on the Morimoto. Sounds like a good kit and really not that expensive considering what you get.
 
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That is the exact correct use for fog lights, (I think you worded it better than I did) - low speed, low visibility. In that case, bulb swaps could get you more light, but it would still only be useful for the same low speed, low visibility conditions. Outside of those conditions, fog lights have no real function and are basically an appearance mod.

Also possibly confusing from my previous post: my reference to glare in this case actually wasn't referring to glare to oncoming drivers, but instead referring to glare to the driver of the car in question. Shining bright lights into dense fog (or snow) will only make things worse by blinding the driver with glare and without allowing the driver any real additional downroad visibility. So the proper solution for situations like that is to slow down (key point) and turn on fog lights that allow you to see the road immediately in front of the car, because that's all you can see.
 
I'd love to see some beamshots of the morimotos and the H9 you were running previously (make sure to use the same camera settings, or I'll b!tch about it, lol).

Regarding the fogs, I think I've said this a couple times in threads about lights here, you guys need to start listening, lol. Fog lights are not good for lighting the road at night, "real" fog lights are designed to put light on the road lines/edges, low and "under" the layer of fog (your headlights, especially high beams would create glare if you just try to "power" through the fog) . In normal night driving, they are nearly useless, by design - no matter what bulbs you put in them. And many of the lights that come OEM aren't even real fog lights, but are just as bad at providing light.

TL;DR - Fog lights won't give you light at night no matter how much you spend on bulbs/HID kits for them. They are appearance items 95%of the time, and only useful in fog conditions as far as actual function goes.

I'll try, but its been freezing at night.

Daniel stern words it best and backs it up. In this care TL; DO Read! Wait, is at you Sac?!

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/lights/fog_lamps/fog_lamps.html

They are useless, but the plastic blank plates annoy me so much.
 
The plastic blanks were one of the reasons why i retrofitted the oem fogs. Ive found that fog lights are most effective when you can turn them on independently of the headlights. Otherwise the glare created by the headlights cancels out the benefits of the fog lights. Wish it would be easier to turn them on independently on the second gen cars.
 
The plastic blanks were one of the reasons why i retrofitted the oem fogs. Ive found that fog lights are most effective when you can turn them on independently of the headlights. Otherwise the glare created by the headlights cancels out the benefits of the fog lights. Wish it would be easier to turn them on independently on the second gen cars.

Can the light stalk be replaced with the one in the sport trim and hard wire independent fog switch? Am curious about this type of mod.

With HID being so "in" these days, other than the fact of being able to see in the distance, when adjusting aim, what is the actual distance for OE versus the cree or morimoto setups. Not trying to blind myself or other drivers. Recently have been doing more night driving and looking for alternatives. Any ideas on shelf life as well? Ie, ballast life.
 
Will the 1st gen indie fog light mod not work on 2nd gen cars? If not, that kinda sucks! I have had HID in mine since right after i bought it, roughly four years. I am still on my original bulbs, ballasts, and relay harness. TRS is the only way to fly people, i cant repeat that enough.
 
Love this thread! Thanks, sac02, for and accurate testing and comprehensive info. I would still like to see an HID kit compared to the halogens.

I had a DDM 3500k kit in some projector fogs on my Golf and am very satisfied. Being that the 5 will be the wife/kids daily driver and the low beams are in question, I can justify splurging on the TRS kit. Do we need H11A's or B's? No CanBUS or anti-flicker needed, right? I'm still going to hold out until I can dig for more info on whether 55w is too much light with this kit.

Anyone have luck with high-quality LED bulbs for high-beam use?
 
Anyone have luck with high-quality LED bulbs for high-beam use?

LEDs still don't have nearly the luminous point intensity of a filament, and that's what's going to contribute in large part to the "punch" of the beam. I very much doubt there's one out there that can outperform a 9011/HIR1 bulb placed in our stock main beam reflectors. It's very easy to modify one (even easier than the H9/H11 modification), the wattage is identical to stock, and they will put out in the neighborhood of 2400-2500 lumens each. The color temperature is slightly higher than the 9005 bulbs, but subtlely so.

The beam pattern is very nice and they really carve through the night. You have to be very careful with them but they are amazing on a country road.

Ruby
2013 Mazda 5 Sport 6mt
 
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