Headlight Differences

[Leftistelf]

I do a terrible amount of nighttime driving on unlit, twisty 2-lane roads, often in moderate southern USA rains. Lighting matters. It keeps me and others safe. It's also the principal reason I'm ditching my Subaru Outback for a SUV. A higher seating position will get me out of the blinding oncoming traffic's beams. I've settled on a 200 series LC or Lexus.

Two questions:

1) Which 200 series model has the best headlights? LC or Lexus.

2) What is the best aftermarket headlight upgrade for the 200 series? Is it worth it over the stock headlights?

 

[luke27617]

I have the 16 LC with LED lights. Personally I think they are really good comparing to earlier BMW 4-series, GX460, Acura MDX. This is the first one for me that came as well with Auto High Beam which is really great. The only complain you may hear that those lights do not rotate to the turn. Personally don't see an issue. Maybe the light patter is a little different. Fog lights are as well LED which provides the same light color which perfectly blends in with headlights. I will let other comment on other years and LX570.

 

[rhllc]

I had a 2010 LX570 and the headlights sucked. Worst low beams I've had on a vehicle in years. The auto level seem to guarantee they pointed at the ground. I found the low beams dangerous on two land mountain roads at any speed above 40 MPH. I'm pretty sure Lexus upgraded the headlights within a few model years, maybe in '12 or '13? As I recall the LC lagged as far as headlight upgrades, maybe until '16?

In contrast, the 2016 LC with auto high LED beams are probably the best stock lights I've ever had on a vehicle. Just awesome. Nice bright white light that always dims for oncoming traffic. The last maybe 3-5 miles back to my house are on a narrow two lane that winds through the hills so I test them a lot. Almost worth it to upgrade to the '16 just for just the headlights. I suspect the '16 LX570 to be at least as good.

Only time the auto doesn't work as I would like is at rock crawling speeds on step, windy, narrow, one lane roads. At that point I've needed to switch them from auto to manual to keep them set on high.

 

[AnthonyLC]

What year did the auto dimming headlights come out? (Auto dim high beam when oncoming traffic detected)

 

[afgman786]

I've got an 08 LC and first thing I did was purchase LEDs off Amazon by CougarMotor for that exact reason. Do a lot of night driving on back roads and nothing beats the beam of an LED or HID when there's no street lights.
However, I would say the headlamp is meant for a halogen not an LED bulb (I don't have the projector lense)

 

[bloc]

13 cruisers and I think LX got xenon “HID” low beams and they are very, very good. I did put HIR bulbs in the high-beam locations and frankly feel no need to add auxiliary lighting. The stock setup is that good.

(Granted I’m not doing high speed desert running at night. In that case I would have aux lights)

I did try a very nice IPF LED in the high beam location but didn’t like the pattern or color for driving in mist. HIRs are great for that.

The low beams on 13-15 cruisers are height adjustable from the cab but do not auto-dim.

 

[TeCKis300]

The Lexus variants also have AFS (Adaptive Front-lighting System), utilizing a dual swivel function to steer the light towards the heading of the vehicle. I think the later 2016+ models that went multi-LED elements lost this feature?

The original halogen lighting was okay, but not terribly high in lumens by modern standards. Fortunately, there are plenty of drop in LED retrofits for headlight and foglight for an easy peasy upgrade. Combine AFS, projector lenses, and 4x modern high lumen LED bulbs, and good lighting is...not an issue.

 

[bloc]

Oh and.. whatever you get.. make sure the lenses are clear. It really bugs me that my six year old ~80k dollar vehicle has yellowing lenses (on top).. but so far not on front.

It can make a dramatic difference in how much light ends up where it needs to be when they are yellow and fogged up.

 

[phatairman]

13 cruisers and I think LX got xenon “HID” low beams and they are very, very good.

Could you drop those HID low beam bulbs in a 08-11 LX?

 

[bloc]

Could you drop those HID low beam bulbs in a 08-11 LX?

No. They changed the whole low beam section.

HIDs generally need a projector lense to get a correct beam and not blind oncoming traffic, vs the reflector that I think you have now.

You might be able to adapt to the whole later model headlight bucket but I’m not sure, and they won’t be cheap. I know for the cruisers they are $800 each new.

 

[AnthonyLC]

What is the recommended vendor / website to order the overseas headlight assemblies (that have the DRL lower LED, and the turn signal in the LED)? I'm finding the US version but not this version that makes that large chrome chunk on the light into an LED and actually useful:

EDIT: Found a Video:

 

[ckkone]

I have a 2013 LC with the HIDs, best upgrade I did to improve the headlights was the Philips X-Treme Ultinon 6000k HID bulbs.

Best price is on Amazon Japan: Amazon product ASIN B077P9Q1FF

 

[phatairman]

I have a 2013 LC with the HIDs, best upgrade I did to improve the headlights was the Philips X-Treme Ultinon 6000k HID bulbs.

Best price is on Amazon Japan: Amazon product ASIN B077P9Q1FF

Those are showing for the fog lights. But you placed them into your Low bulb housing?

 

[ckkone]

Those are showing for the fog lights. But you placed them into your Low bulb housing?

D4S is the size you want for the headlight in a 2013 landcruiser.

 

[chilibit]

We are using xenons from MB, VW, Cooper and the LC 200. The 13 LC holds it own just fine. I retrofitted some Diode Dynamic LEDs to a
Subaru. Better, but not in the xenon class. Yes, mine have jittered from day one. The Chevy pickups spray blue light everywhere. Annoying. The xenon lens have sharp cutoffs. The lens design and materials are just as important as the lamp IMHO.

 

[Hammeredsole]

13 cruisers and I think LX got xenon “HID” low beams and they are very, very good. I did put HIR bulbs in the high-beam locations and frankly feel no need to add auxiliary lighting. The stock setup is that good.

(Granted I’m not doing high speed desert running at night. In that case I would have aux lights)

I did try a very nice IPF LED in the high beam location but didn’t like the pattern or color for driving in mist. HIRs are great for that.

The low beams on 13-15 cruisers are height adjustable from the cab but do not auto-dim.

I agree. I have a 2014 with the HIDs, and 9011 bulbs in the Highs are amazingly bright. The stock lighting is like a wall of light, actually too bright when reflective road signs are present.

 

[gaijin]

D4S is the size you want for the headlight in a 2013 landcruiser.

Exactly right. Google for these:

They match the color of the IPF or Hikari LED High Beams perfectly.

HTH

 

[bloc]

I found the IPF LEDs in the high location too blue and made glare in fog and misty rain.. kindof the opposite of running amber fog lamps. And yes, we shouldn’t be using high beams in fog but light drizzle seems reasonable. But that’s just me.

The stock lighting is like a wall of light, actually too bright when reflective road signs are present.

This exactly. I put amber bulbs in the stock fog location, as much for appearance as anything since we can’t run fogs only. But those, the 9011s, and stock HID bulbs are all I could ask for in a vehicle lighting setup.


(BTW I’ll sell those lightly used IPF LEDs if anyone wants them. Work fine, and many people love them, I just didn’t like them as much as my HIR bulbs)

 

[eatSleepWoof]

I'm in the minority in that I found stock lighting in my '13 LX to be inadequate. The xenons/lenses/etc. are all great, but the bulbs were lacking.

I used HIKARI Ultra LED bulbs (HB3/9005) in high beams, Philips (D4S X-tremeVision Gen2 42402XV2C1) in low beams, and Baja Designs Squadron Sport (Amber, Driving combo) in fog lights. Quite happy with the light setup now.

 

[CLHickman]

I'm in the minority in that I found stock lighting in my '13 LX to be inadequate. The xenons/lenses/etc. are all great, but the bulbs were lacking.

I used HIKARI Ultra LED bulbs (HB3/9005) in high beams, Philips (D4S X-tremeVision Gen2 42402XV2C1) in low beams, and Baja Designs Squadron Sport (Amber, Driving combo) in fog lights. Quite happy with the light setup now.

I'd agree with your statement above regard the '13 LX lights. I'd like to upgrade, and will probably follow your example.