22w LED H11 Headlight Bulb (from AutomationLED) Review

[Chewie4299]

So I've always liked the light put out by HIDs ever since I owned my 2003 Evo VIII which had them from the factory. I never liked the idea of fitting them aftermarket because I believe in ensuring my headlights are as FUNCTIONAL as possible. With an assembly engineered for halogen bulbs that has been fitted with an HID bulb aftermarket one may get more light output but the beam pattern will not be optimal. The cutoff may LOOK perfect but there will be bright spots and dim spots where you'd usually have even lighting AND you risk putting further stress on yourself as the driver and others' eyes due to this.

I liked the idea of the retrofit kits from TRS but had seen mixed reviews on them. Basically the reason I hesitated was that I'd never baked headlights before to take them apart so I was a little apprehensive. I also wanted to paint much of the chrome black if I did it but I'm a terrible painter and don't trust myself to do it.

When I saw these new 22w H11 bulbs sold by AutomationLED I was intrigued. They seemed like the best of both worlds. So I bought them at a price of about $112 shipped due to the current 15% off promo.

I installed them on Friday evening. The install was EXTREMELY simple and straightforward. The only problem I ran into was that the piece the factory harness plugs into has 3M double sided tape on the back to attach nearby the headlight but on one of them half the backing was removed already which left only half the adhesive functional and on the other the entire backing was removed so the tape was useless.

AutomationLED Sale Thread: http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27891

Review Thread by @sabSquishy : http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31403

Here's some pics:

Stock

IMG_20130329_195227 by Chewie4299, on Flickr


IMG_20130329_195252 by Chewie4299, on Flickr

LED on Left/Stock on Right

IMG_20130329_200012 by Chewie4299, on Flickr


IMG_20130329_200020 by Chewie4299, on Flickr

Both LED

IMG_20130329_200519 by Chewie4299, on Flickr


IMG_20130329_200530 by Chewie4299, on Flickr


So these things look great and the light is the perfect color. I was REALLY excited once I turned them on and was hoping that they performed well on the road.

Yesterday I drove two hours to a meet in RI and than had the opportunity to drive 2 hours home in the dark.

Notice the cutoff? The halogens have some light above them while the LEDs do not. This actually has made it harder to see highway signage at any real distance at night since the headlights are putting no light that high.

Also, there is significantly more light on the road right in front of the car now where it is not needed and less forward and to the left/right in 'deerland'. The combination of these two factors leads to it being quite difficult to see off to the sides on dark roads when you cannot use your highs because you aren't quite alone.

My final opinion is that these lights will look great for show purposes and, with properly engineered projectors meant to work with them, could probably be exceptional alternatives to HIDs but they just don't perform with the stock housings.

I'd honestly return them if I had that option but I don't so I'll probably plug them in for certain occasions but I think I'll be utilizing the stock bulbs for most of my driving.

[Yruyur]

Good honest review. Could always make crazy reverse lights out of them.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

[Chewie4299]

Originally Posted by Yruyur

Good honest review. Could always make crazy reverse lights out of them.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

Haha... I think the LAST think I wanna do is blind folks that are looking in my direction when I'm backing up.

[eurominican]

Thank you for the honest review.

[_hollywood]

I figured this would be the result, i put led reverse lights in my truck last year, they " appear" brighter but they just dont throw the light as far as i need, led technology is improving just not where it needs to be yet, unless the housing is designed for it....

[Chewie4299]

Originally Posted by _hollywood

I figured this would be the result, i put led reverse lights in my truck last year, they " appear" brighter but they just dont throw the light as far as i need, led technology is improving just not where it needs to be yet, unless the housing is designed for it....

LED tech is pretty advanced. They just need special projectors since they emit light differently and are a different shape than other bulbs.

[SkAsphalt]

LEDs are not meant to go in traditional headlights. Real LEDheadlights are designed very differently. Not shocked by your findings, sorry to hear you spent that much money tho.

[sid325]

I have the same set of LED headlight bulbs. I'm going to try them in my fogs. Thoughts?

[cdo221]

Originally Posted by Chewie4299

So these things look great and the light is the perfect color. I was REALLY excited once I turned them on and was hoping that they performed well on the road.

Thanks for the review, it's too bad that these don't fit the housing better. Can you comment on the color temperature of the bulb? Are they really 4300k? They look a bit blue in the pictures, is it closer to 6000k?

[ThugNasty]

Make reverse lights out of them and smoke it

[Chewie4299]

Originally Posted by cdo221

Thanks for the review, it's too bad that these don't fit the housing better. Can you comment on the color temperature of the bulb? Are they really 4300k? They look a bit blue in the pictures, is it closer to 6000k?

They're a crisp white. No blue.