Originally Posted by LoneRanger
I've no doubt there are after market options for LED or HID's but just how good are they, in general? Is there a particular brand name after market that is high quality and equivalent in function to factory equipped OEM setups?
LED retrofit bulbs on the market range anywhere from complete disasters to acceptable.
HID retrofit bulbs/kits are federally illegal and not recommended at all. An HID kit cannot ever work well in a halogen headlamp.
https://isearch.nhtsa.gov/files/deetz.ztv.html
Sticking with the OEM setup but with upgraded halogen bulbs is usually the best.
Originally Posted by Skippy722
If they're glaring, so we're the factory 9005 and upgraded 9011 halogen bulbs since they have identical beam patterns. Then again, mine are also in projectors. Plus the SL1's have been proven time and time again to work great in reflector or projector headlights, producing identical beam patterns in almost all factory halogens, just with a whiter light.
SL1's have not been proven to perform well in all housings, and even the guy who created them (Paul McCain) has admitted this. See the discussion below: Paul has made modifications to some SL1's, but is still trying to figure things out with the guy who found that the SL1's have a poor beam pattern in many lamps. Not exactly confidence-inspiring for the guy selling supposed "upgrades" to be discussing product improvement ideas with a forum poster, and definitely not "proven time and time again to work great."
https://www.hidplanet.com/forums/fo...e-bad-and-the-ugly?p=1462441#post1462441
Originally Posted by Panos
I am exremely satisfied with the Philips Xtreme Ultinon Gen 2 H4 bulbs I have installed half a year ago in my car reflector headlights.Was quite pricey but the beam pattern and lumens output is superb.Have used HID kit in the same headlights and it was a dissaster.Huge glare,bad beam pattern,everything wrong.
The Philips H4's aren't bad, as they actually work acceptably in some headlamps (not all). However, judging glare with your eyes alone is very, very difficult if not impossible.
Glare is not the result of any and all light found above the horizontal with respect to the headlamps. Yes, an oncoming driver's eyes are above the horizontal with regard to the headlamps on cars. But everyone's eyes is contained in a 3" by 1" "box." The main cause of glare is light being projected directly into this 3" by 1" area.
People like to compare "wall-shots" of beam patterns, and people like to think that if a LED bulb's beam pattern matches that of a halogen bulb's beam pattern, then there can't be glare. That's deeply flawed. First, people don't know where to look on the garage wall for that (small) box that represent's an oncoming driver's eyes. Second, even if you can find that exact area, can you tell whether the glare thresholds of 1000 candela and 700 candela have been exceeded?
The reasoning is below:
https://www.facebook.com/AutomotiveLEDResearch/posts/597766327324783