I’d like to see this become a solid resource for 100 owners. Please feel free to post your own findings (regardless of series or model). The more details the better.
Test truck specs: 1998 100 Series with Depo clears from @ranma21
Current bulbs, H7 Philips Crystalvision. Performance is good. Especially considering how bad my HLs were prior (reflectors were shot).
Tested: Nokya Hyper Arctic Yellow H7 for high-beams and Hikari Ultra LED conversion H7 for low-beams.
I’ve used both Nokya and Hikari products in the past with good results but not these specific bulbs.
Regarding the Nokya’s, I’ve used their yellow Halogens for fogs in a few cars and liked the performance.
One thing worth noting, the yellow bulb doesn’t really reflect off the Depo housing to give a yellow color when the lights are off. In this case, I am happy they don’t. Some may want the yellow to come through in the reflectors.
I’ve used the Hikari LEDs when testing various options in my 70-Series.
The LED blades are the same; but the bulb drivers are the adaptive component for different plugs.
I found the Hikari blades to be very crisp with superior cutoff and output compared to halogen bulbs. However the bulb-drivers weren’t stable on a 24V system. SI am not running them in my 70 currently.
So what’s the go on these bulbs with the Depo housing?
Intial impressions are good. Right now my focus is on the LED replacement. Not much “testing” to be had with halogen bulbs in halogen housing.
Temperature of the LED is cool white which is great for the clear conditions of everyday use. It can be bad for conditions with high particulate.
Hikari low beam (temperature is cooler in person):
Philips Crystalvision low beam:
Hikari and Nokya Hi/Lo combo:
Philips Crystalvision Hi/Lo combo:
Hikari LED -vs- Philips halogen cutoff and spread (Philips left /Hikari right):
Fine tuning isn’t done. I’m going to play around with the adjustment screws organic to the Depo housing after initial testing. That said, Hikari has a neat system that allows about 60* of rotation to the level/trim the beam pattern. For now it’s accurate enough to compare the performance to traditional halogen bulbs.
PRIMARY CONCERNS:
- Blinding on-coming traffic
- Flickering due to vibrations. Mostly due to added connections. I may get the appropriate bulb drivers to marry the factory plug to the Hikari blade. The Depos use H7 bulbs but factory bulb is 9005. As it stands now: Battery > 9005 plug > Depo H7 adapter plugs > Hikari H7 driver > Hikari blade
- Exposure. Factory splash guards are lacking as is. This is worsened by my ARB bumper. The Depo housing has a grommet to protect connections. For testing I’m opting NOT to use the grommet to identify potential failure points. If the bulbs stand up to full exposure, they should be fine with protection. Worth noting the Hikari bulb has a small cooling fan built into the blade. After testing without the grommets I’ll see how they standup to being covered. This will wait until summer.
FINAL NOTE: I have decent aux lighting and will be upgrading to very good aux lighting (Aurara 7” spotties) in the near future. My high beams will be adjusted to supplement my low beams when particulate inhibits performance of the LED light temperature when heavy particulate exists. I’m still looking for amber-colored halogens or condoms for this parts. I personally feel amber is better than yellow for most high-particulate conditions.
Test truck specs: 1998 100 Series with Depo clears from @ranma21
Current bulbs, H7 Philips Crystalvision. Performance is good. Especially considering how bad my HLs were prior (reflectors were shot).
Tested: Nokya Hyper Arctic Yellow H7 for high-beams and Hikari Ultra LED conversion H7 for low-beams.
I’ve used both Nokya and Hikari products in the past with good results but not these specific bulbs.
Regarding the Nokya’s, I’ve used their yellow Halogens for fogs in a few cars and liked the performance.
One thing worth noting, the yellow bulb doesn’t really reflect off the Depo housing to give a yellow color when the lights are off. In this case, I am happy they don’t. Some may want the yellow to come through in the reflectors.
I’ve used the Hikari LEDs when testing various options in my 70-Series.
The LED blades are the same; but the bulb drivers are the adaptive component for different plugs.
I found the Hikari blades to be very crisp with superior cutoff and output compared to halogen bulbs. However the bulb-drivers weren’t stable on a 24V system. SI am not running them in my 70 currently.
So what’s the go on these bulbs with the Depo housing?
Intial impressions are good. Right now my focus is on the LED replacement. Not much “testing” to be had with halogen bulbs in halogen housing.
Temperature of the LED is cool white which is great for the clear conditions of everyday use. It can be bad for conditions with high particulate.
Hikari low beam (temperature is cooler in person):
Philips Crystalvision low beam:
Hikari and Nokya Hi/Lo combo:
Philips Crystalvision Hi/Lo combo:
Hikari LED -vs- Philips halogen cutoff and spread (Philips left /Hikari right):
Fine tuning isn’t done. I’m going to play around with the adjustment screws organic to the Depo housing after initial testing. That said, Hikari has a neat system that allows about 60* of rotation to the level/trim the beam pattern. For now it’s accurate enough to compare the performance to traditional halogen bulbs.
PRIMARY CONCERNS:
- Blinding on-coming traffic
- Flickering due to vibrations. Mostly due to added connections. I may get the appropriate bulb drivers to marry the factory plug to the Hikari blade. The Depos use H7 bulbs but factory bulb is 9005. As it stands now: Battery > 9005 plug > Depo H7 adapter plugs > Hikari H7 driver > Hikari blade
- Exposure. Factory splash guards are lacking as is. This is worsened by my ARB bumper. The Depo housing has a grommet to protect connections. For testing I’m opting NOT to use the grommet to identify potential failure points. If the bulbs stand up to full exposure, they should be fine with protection. Worth noting the Hikari bulb has a small cooling fan built into the blade. After testing without the grommets I’ll see how they standup to being covered. This will wait until summer.
FINAL NOTE: I have decent aux lighting and will be upgrading to very good aux lighting (Aurara 7” spotties) in the near future. My high beams will be adjusted to supplement my low beams when particulate inhibits performance of the LED light temperature when heavy particulate exists. I’m still looking for amber-colored halogens or condoms for this parts. I personally feel amber is better than yellow for most high-particulate conditions.
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