The truth about projector retrofits

Yeah, there's plug-and-play LED and HID bulbs, but we all know that the ultimate upgrade is the HID projector retrofit, right?

So, how good exactly is a HID projector retrofit?

Before we answer this question, we must first examine this chart.

We'll be looking specifically at points 11, 12, and 14, which form the hotspot. These points outline a region. This region roughly contains the highest-intensity light in the entire beam pattern. The more luminous intensity recorded at points 11, 12, and 14, the better we can see down the road...which...is the name of the game, right?

So, without further ado, let's see how a $120 Morimoto Mini H1 7.0 projector stacks up against a bunch of common headlamps, mainly from the last 10-20 years:







All raw data is available for inspection here.

At this point you're probably asking yourself: "well, the projector retrofits look great in pictures, and they are super bright from behind the wheel!" Well, yes, they are, but they're bright in the wrong location.

They're super bright at 4 degrees downward from the height of the lamps. If we assume that our headlamps are 36 inches off the ground (basically a F-150 or similar would have lamps that high), then that means our projector retrofit is flooding the area ~0 to 40 feet ahead of the vehicle with light (simple trig with a right triangle, 36 inch height, and 4 degree angle).

Note how none of the OEM or OEM-replica lamps flood the foreground with light--they all keep a cap on how much light is directed 4 degrees below the horizontal--and they all beat the Morimoto Mini H1 7.0 in terms of how much light is projected in the hotspot.

Foreground light is comforting, but ultimately useless. An abundance of foreground light misleads our eyes. And an abundance of foreground light can ultimately glare other drivers.

I mean, just think about it! 30 MPH is 44 feet/second. What good is seeing the area 0-40 feet ahead of you at 30 MPH? You'll already have covered it in 1 second. Human reaction time is 1.5+ seconds...so you need to see what's 100+ feet ahead, not what's merely 40 feet ahead.

So, with this, I hope that I've helped at least one person "see the light!" Ha!

Ultimately, be very careful about choosing your "upgrades," and in most cases, using new OEM lamps to replace old ones will be a lot better than attempting a projector retrofit, despite what pictures and videos might tell us. If you're going to buy a new headlamp for a projector retrofit, you might as well just buy a new OEM headlamp and forget about the projector retrofit, as this will usually yield better performance!

Remember: our eyes are easily misled, but the numbers don't lie .

 

And that is why I don't have my fogs turned on all the dang time and is one of my personal pet peeves seeing that seemingly a greater than a majority of other drivers use theirs without understanding the correct application of them. More information on that specifically here.

 

All that data aside, old eyes need more light and the best days work I did was to install HID Retrofits. The crap what was my original OEM dim lighting was really bad. so, all the data being put forth above does not reflect my reality.

 

Cherry picked data?

The goal was to prove HID is worse than halogen.

The data includes 21 samples. Only two are HID. One of those is an OEM HID (but 13 years old!) and the other is a Chinese aftermarket version that was designed for easy retrofitting (at the cost of potentially better light output)

Look how well the 13 year old OEM HID did.

Where are all the other popular OEM projectors everyone uses in retrofits??

RX350, S2k, etc. Not to mention the available mods that increase output even further such as clear lens or just using a high end Philips bulb.

I've never been impressed by any halogen lights, but my RX350 with clear lens and night breaker bulbs is pretty nice.

 

The OP here is on some kind of agenda I suspect. All postings only in regards to lights (seems to be shitting on trs/morimotos) and has also registered on several other forums in the last 20 days

Or just really passionate about night time driving.

 

Why did you use mini H1 projector? D2s are what are used for our upgrades. I've had OEM, retros and now the OEM led headlights and the retros produce the best light by far for driving at night. Halogen OEM lights scatter WAY too much light. HIDs have a nice wide pattern and we have leveling adjusters that are not taken into consideration by your "data".

 

Have to agree with @Stig on this. It's well known that the Morimoto Mini is not the shining star of projector retrofits, and I dont see what ballasts or bulbs were used.

I did a retrofit on my 2003 Tundra years ago and prior to the retro I could hardly see. I'm sure there were cars with better lights at the time, but first gen tundras might as well have candles on the bumper. My DS2 and 55 watt ballasts are very good, and with proper aim they throw light far without blinding people.

I have a 2005 GTI, which has comparable lights to the VW Jetta on the chart, it's an absolute joke to suggest that the GTI lights are better than my retrofits in any way.

 

Projectors matter....