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Headlight projector comparison questions.


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So some of you may know I was hit by a fuckbag retard who thought red lights don't apply to him, in March. GEICO, being the cheap asses they were used an aftermarket headlight on the passenger's side. Aside from one lens being clean and another not, the beam patterns were wildly different. I replaced the drivers side with a headlight of the same brand (Keystone?) I finally got around to tearing in to them (literally doing that now) to compare the two, maybe swap lenses over or see if I can do an hid retro on the aftermarket ones.

 

One of the first questions Ive been asking myself for weeks now is is there any clarity difference in the lens itself? I've been on everything for Acurazine forums to the Z forums, nobody has a specific thread comparing aftermarket (not the General Tso eBay variety, they are obviously crap) but OE replacement like Depo.

 

Clearly my headlights aren't Depo brand but it's a brand thats available for other 5TH Gen Legacy users and maybe the quality won't be that bad and it will serve somebody at some point.

 

First thing is first.

I haven't removed the headlight from the car yet, but looking in to the lens, right away the shield on the Keystone lamp and the OE lamp are drastically different.

 

This is the Keystone lamp, looks like it has two fingers coming out, like a Starwars imperial destroyer.

c17851716539ef105aed275597f25696.jpg

 

This is the factory lens. The shield looks like a small window.

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No apparent differences in lens clarity though.

 

This is view of the Keystone lamp from behind the bulb holder.

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OEM view from behind the bulb holder.

f0a79d1b8e1026211dd672693c9c1ff0.jpg

Keystone scatter shield.

ceeb42be45126d52250bdb73c4350668.jpg

OEM scatter shield.

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Keystone replector bowl.

27512cacdf4c9a0062f70e8684105f1c.jpg

OEM reflector bowl.

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This isn't very scientific but it illustrates a point. This is the cut off for the Keystone lamp. It has a very HID type cut off that steps down. The squirrel finders are clearly visible.

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This is the OEM lamp. Different cut off. Centered hotspots, no step but good output none the less.

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So I'm kind of undecided here as far as output and quality. Although different, it didn't seem to be a huge difference in quality. I'm going to play with bulb alignment and see what that does to light output. Someone want to lend a fresh pair of eyes, find something I'm not seeing?

 

 

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Get these: https://www.theretrofitsource.com/all-products/black-series.html?carDisplay=2011+Subaru+Legacy&preselect=&preselect_restrict=1

 

I swapped them out when i blacked out my housings. They make for an awesome sharp light cutoff. You'll also want to fill in the "squirrel finders" while you have them torn apart. Read through the headlight blackout thread, there are a ton of helpful photos on how to go about that.

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So I had some Morimoto bulbs hanging around the house and thought I'd play around with it some. Interesting conclusions I came to.

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Notice the white ground lead on the bulb is parallel to the tab at the base of the bulb?

 

Notice the position of the tab on the lamps?

018a7b11515535249bf15d2a5ffdbf3a.jpg

 

When the bulb is inserted in the holder, the ground wire appears to be blocking half of the reflector bowl. Notice in this picture, the hotspot is in the middle of the box, below the cutoff. (Picture taken at ISO 100 1/250 SPEED WB 6500)

7a9580dbb48a76cbb9a46a89bb291b53.jpg

e6a41f548f3bde5aba16a8f2f1a49b11.jpg

 

With a little snip

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Now in the bulb holder, the negative is at 12 o'clock.

Result (same ISO 100 1/250 6500)

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Fairly dramatic result. Hotspot is well at the cutoff and the bowl appears to be fully illuminated.

Tab at 7 oclock

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Tab at 6 o'clock

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7

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6

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What about the LED?

Same concept. Tab at 6 o'clock puts the diodes at 9-3. Focused, wide flat consistent illumination.

b9f7c7294b1dd880fb1739d4c28c030d.jpg

 

Tab at 7 o'clock, diodes at 7-2.

Shit focus, scattered output, patchy illumination. Fabulously terrible.

bcd44b552bf22bf2d76aa8c8a6c35571.jpg

 

 

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Get these: https://www.theretrofitsource.com/all-products/black-series.html?carDisplay=2011+Subaru+Legacy&preselect=&preselect_restrict=1

 

I swapped them out when i blacked out my housings. They make for an awesome sharp light cutoff. You'll also want to fill in the "squirrel finders" while you have them torn apart. Read through the headlight blackout thread, there are a ton of helpful photos on how to go about that.

 

Did you do JUST the lens? I was eyeballing the retroquick set up as well that has the clear lenses included. Did you use the stock bowls? Aftermarket? Full retro?

 

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Did you do JUST the lens? I was eyeballing the retroquick set up as well that has the clear lenses included. Did you use the stock bowls? Aftermarket? Full retro?

 

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yup, I did just the lens. kinda wish I would have ponied up for the hid kit when I did it.

 

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I really want to stick with LEDs. The ones I'm using now have shit output but I had thought about using clear lenses with LEDs and see how that worked.

 

My roads are poopy and on my last foray through the Adirondacks, the roads claimed a bulb. LEDs are just more reliable.

 

I'll probably end up putting hids in there anyway lol

 

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Ok so the LEDs came out. I should have gone with the XenonDepot ones but the problem is, you can't adjust those for the correct output. With the factory lamps, I've concluded that HID is the only alternative to crap halogens. So the HID Morimoto bulbs are back in. They'll suffice for the time being until a full retro.

 

Aftermarket lamps. LED low beam only

d2b0978f1566b6cf0beb38800823d60a.jpg

Low beam and LED fog light

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Low beam+ LED High beam

6700786be5c333b1854f7dcfab707bb7.jpg

Morimoto HID low only

4918bb4072553a687167bcf577c6f7c0.jpg

Morimoto low and LED fog

47a7874d8f83ffa905ee94d93eef1aa0.jpg

Morimoto low and LED High

2c73c697fd23642ad944c31ec769319a.jpg

 

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You try rotating the bulbs like I did? See if that helps?

 

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helps what? the clear lenses with halogen lamps are fantastic. they're brighter and you get the awesome blue/purple cutoff that is super sharp.

 

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helps what? the clear lenses with halogen lamps are fantastic. they're brighter and you get the awesome blue/purple cutoff that is super sharp.

 

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Helps with the focus of them. I've played with both factory and aftermarket, LED and HID and having the tab in the bottom position has made a huge difference in output and focus.

 

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Looking into a garage full of stuff probably isn't the best way to judge light output - looks like a ton of glare from the HIDs - looks like much too much unfocused light up close to the car, as well.

 

Which LEDs were you using? I am waiting for someone to try the lights where the LEDs are in a narrow array that more closely approximates a filament bulb - curious if the OEM optics are able to handle that better than other aftermarket LED/HID bulbs.

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Looking into a garage full of stuff probably isn't the best way to judge light output - looks like a ton of glare from the HIDs - looks like much too much unfocused light up close to the car, as well.

 

Which LEDs were you using? I am waiting for someone to try the lights where the LEDs are in a narrow array that more closely approximates a filament bulb - curious if the OEM optics are able to handle that better than other aftermarket LED/HID bulbs.

XenonDepot Is one you should try. I had a lot of success with them. Well made bulbs. They're in my 17 Civic, I had them in my 17 Ridgeline too. Made to optimize light in the same pattern as halogen.

 

Yes, the light scatter sucks. That's why I'm going to do the retrofit. As far as the crap in the garage, I was focused more on light intensity than beam pattern. I know hid in halogen projectors was going to suck, we all know it. I was curious as to the differences in intensity and light quality between aftermarket and factory lenses.

 

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