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H11 LED Fog Lights vs. Halogen Yellow Bulbs (Comparason Pics)

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Accessories and Modifications' started by SDM44, Feb 19, 2010.

  1. deltron3030

    deltron3030 New Member

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    how dare you show your car in those pics! jk. awesome comparison, and thanks....

    One thing to consider is the comparison is ultimately biased by color temperature. warmer temps tend to have more "usable light" and with fogs, its even more true (6000k bulbs in the rain don't illuminate nearly as well as an equivilent sub-6000k light source). so comparing a cool color to a warm color (despite bulb type) isn't the most fair comparison. its still a useful post for anyone looking into either of these bulb types, so thanks again!
     
  2. Flying White Dutchman

    Flying White Dutchman Senior Member

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    nice pictures
    can you tell what your paid for these leds?

    also do you know what the used energy is?
     
  3. SDM44

    SDM44 SeƱor Member

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    I got these bulbs back in 2005 or 2006, when they first started coming out (got them free direct from the US distributor, since my Audi used that same bulb size at the time). So after using them in my Audi for a couple of years, then in my BMW for another couple of years, they still work fine today if I put them into my car. I haven't noticed any loss in 'power' produced by the bulbs, but it's not like I would have over the years. I would say driving at night time in the past, I would use the foglights about 30%-40% of the time (mostly when it was raining so other cars could see me.... you'd be surprised how close other cars get to me when I don't have any "color" lit up in the front, like no orange lights or reflectors since I either disabled them or removed them).

    The bulbs themselves are just colored glass, and looking at them now I don't see any fading or burn spots on the glass. I also have a set of 9005 Nokya yellow bulbs, but I won't use them in the high beams since they they'll make my headlight housing look yellow. But when testing them out, they're pretty bright at night.




    I got those LEDs for $16 shipped back in February. Don't know if they're any cheaper now, but they were selling for around $30/pair.

    I haven't tested the energy consumption on them. Haven't had time lately to do any of that, but I'll get to them and test them out since I just have them sitting in my garage cabinet.
     
  4. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Thanks SDM!
     
  5. Dark_matter_doesn't

    Dark_matter_doesn't Prius Tinkerer

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    There's a big problem with these LED-based H11 "bulbs" - the optics in the fog light housing assume a "point" source, the filament in the standard H11 bulb. Though the filament really isn't a point source, it's a LOT closer than these LED devices.

    Putting a distributed light source like these will lead to a poor light beam pattern and overall lower apparent brightness in the standard fog light housing.
     
  6. macmaster05

    macmaster05 Senor Member

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    I've read through this thread but still haven't found the answer I'm looking for - I want very very yellow fog lamps like the ones that come stock on the old Lexus IS 300, shown here:

    http://image.motortrend.com/f/8275061+w750/112_0208_10z+2001_lexus_is_300+foglight_wheel_view.jpg

    Now based on this picture it seems like the lens is actually tinted yellow. Do I need to tint my fog lamp covers yellow to achieve the same bright, modded look? Then, what non-HID bulb is compatible with the Prius fog lamp housing?

    I always loved the Lexus IS 300 fog lamps because yellow is the color fog lamps should be for the best results and they just looked so cool, as if they were modified but instead actually came that way. I would love to do this to my Prius too. Thanks.
     
  7. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Same. Lemme know if you find a reasonable solution.
     
  8. AkustaVirtaa

    AkustaVirtaa SƃĀ¤hkƃĀ¶istƃĀ¤jƃĀ¤

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    In Finland we have to keep lights on all the time (by law), so I did buy these led bulbs from the first post to keep fog lights on all time and save fuel. I did order them from Hong Kong.
    Problem is that these bulbs arenā€™t very high quality and mines shuts down after two weeks using. Do any have clue where I get higher quality and bright led H11 bulbs? I donā€™t want to change bulbs after every two weeks :(.
    Now I have H11 bulbs from superbrightleds, but they are not so bright. Other cars blinking me their lights and I have to scare about police too.
    Do I have to solder my own bulbs?
    My Prius is with regular halogen driving lights and all 2010 Prius have fog lights in Finland.
     
  9. ucsmfu

    ucsmfu Senior Member

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    if you intall hid fog lights, does it consume the battery faster ?
     
  10. Valencia

    Valencia New Member

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    If there are any shrimp around you will see their eyes glow pink from the LED headlamp and be able to use the freedom of your hands to skim up some of the fresh shrimp you are seeing.While these are all good clean fun using an LED Headlamp, there are many major uses to free ones hands up while getting direct light to a certain spot.
     
  11. syscon

    syscon Member

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    Where did you get those 30-SMD LED H11 bulbs, do you remember?
     
  12. xliderider

    xliderider Senior Member

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    The highest power/brightest LEDs now are the CREE 5 watt LED lights. Do a search on eBay for them in the H11 fitment. They are all from China. I've even seen one H11 that has 4 CREE 5 watt LEDs arranged around the base, and one mounted on top with a "lens" for a total of 25w total per light.

    I have some H11 CREE LED lights in my foglights, but they have 4 SMD LEDs mounted around the sides and a CREE 5w LED with a lens on top. Total output is 7w per light. It is bright, but I wish I had gone with the 25w 5 CREE LED light instead.
     
  13. kumatae

    kumatae Member

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    I recommend that you buy couple of sets of those LEDs cause they'll slowly start to fall in to the lamp housing. Good thing is that other LEDs will work fine, just the fallen ones won't work. I bought them pretty cheap on ebay. Got few pairs just incase for the wife's Prius. We're in So Cal where the weather is mild so can't speak on how durable these are. Since we never see fog, I only got them just for looks.
     
  14. xliderider

    xliderider Senior Member

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    They don't fall off, they are SMD or Surface Mounted Devices, which means they are soldered onto the pcb board they are on.
     
  15. syscon

    syscon Member

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  16. xliderider

    xliderider Senior Member

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    No, those are 20w with 4 5w Cree LEDs. These are the ones I saw with 4 5w CREE LEDs in the base and one on top for a total of 25w:

    2X CREE Q5 25W SMD LED Car FogLight Fog Head Driving Daytime Running Light Bulb | eBay

    It can also be obtained with a "projector" type glass lens on top. Be sure to specify it when you order it in the comments section.
     
  17. kumatae

    kumatae Member

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    [​IMG]

    Had these bulbs for 15,000 miles and were on 90% of the time. Didn't want to get down and pull the bulb out but you get the idea... They do fall off.
     
  18. oldensign

    oldensign Junior Member

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    I have purchased many SMD (surface mount device) LED (light-emitting diode) taillights in red for my 2005 and 2006 Prii. Although brighter than the original weak, dim taillights the lifespan was miserable. I check all lights once a month and never found a taillight that hadn't failed after a few months. Generally, one or two of the SMDs would go bad followed by complete failure of the entire lamp within 6 months. I always carried "real" taillight lamps in the glove compartment. Granted, I bought these all on eBay - so maybe better LED lamps can be had.

    SO ..... how has the lifespan of the LED foglights been? Both of my cars have HID headlights (thus, no daytime running lights [DRLs]) and the stock foglights are just pitiful. I need them not for fog, but to illuminate parts of the road near the car (i.e., right shoulder) not well illuminated by the headlights.

    I have an HID foglight kit, but I've never installed it. Do people have problems with heat damaging plastic when using these HID foglight kits? Now that the basic warranty and extended warranties have expired, I can start getting into the Prius without Toyota escaping its obligations (again) by ascribing every problem and failure of parts that are in no way connected with the foglights to the foglights.
     
  19. JayLn

    JayLn Active Member

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    Where did you buy this halogen "2500K 80W"?
     
  20. xliderider

    xliderider Senior Member

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    These are 65w H9 bulbs: H9 Nokya Hyper Yellow Headlight Fog Light Bulb S1 NOK7625 Halogen Bulb | eBay

    You can modify them to fit in the H11 plug and foglight mounting (link in my signature below on how to do the modifications to the bulb base); however, I would not recommend doing it. The foglights are small confined plastic housings with bad heat dissipation, you can feel how hot they get with the oem 55w H11 bulbs. Furthermore, the oem type reflector foglights don't have any physical cutoffs, even with 55w H11 halogens, they have a lot of glare or stray light going high into driver's eyes and signs, etc. You can see how much glare the oem foglights put out by doing this simple test: At night, pull up to a wall about 30 feet in front of you, then turn your foglights on and off. Observe the area on the wall above the cutoff of the lowbeam headlights. You will see that the foglights illuminate the area above the lowbeam cutoffs when they are on, that is glare. Foglights are supposed to light up the ground in front of the vehicle and keep a low pattern so light isn't scattered back into the driver's eyes by the fog. The H9 bulbs will put out about 50% more light than the H11 halogens, even more annoying/dangerous glare will be produced.

    If you want bright foglights, get a pair of these: For Sale - 2010-2015 Prius HID Projector Fog Lights (BOLT ON FINALLY!) $135 | PriusChat they are high quality and they have really good cutoffs. They have metal housings, so they can handle the extra heat of HIDs and high wattage bulbs.