Short answer
The Hilox XTR LED is the first LED small enough to fit in any headlight and bright enough to outperform whatever xenon kit you can pick up on an online marketplace. Planning to put different bulbs in your headlights because you do not get enough light, or because you are sick of those ugly yellow filament bulbs? Then this is the ultimate LED upgrade!
After the 2nd generation of LEDs, the L1 and L2, we took a critical look at design, ease of installation and light output. After 3 years we had gathered enough feedback and data to throw the design rudder fully around. With our City of Light in mind, and the drive to develop something unique that fits in any headlight, the XTR LED was born.
We let ourselves be inspired by the futuristic design of the Evoluon, and the first sketches were drawn from that angle. After a lot of fitting and measuring, we managed to reduce the installation depth to 32mm, which makes installing it a whole lot easier.
To let the Philips Luxeon Z ES LED chips shine at their best, we developed a state-of-the-art control circuit, also known as a driver. This driver delivers a powerful and very constant current, so the LEDs always burn at the same power and do not get dimmer as the chips come up to temperature. The smart XTR driver also takes care of perfect heat regulation: if the LED chips get too hot, the driver reduces the current so the LEDs do not fail. That way you never run the risk of being left in the dark without light, which we think is rather the safe way to go!
The driver is packed in a sturdy aluminium waterproof and shockproof jacket, so it can take a good splash of water and a knock or two.
Our L2 LED already used a Maglev fan, which let us raise the light output from 2,800 lumens to 3,200 lumens. But the position of the fan was not really ideal and took up a lot of room. So we changed its position, which let us shave a full 2cm off the total installation depth, which is huge for this kind of product. As a result, the LED will fit in 99% of all headlights without any modification to the headlight, where the L2 managed only 50%.
Developments in the various technologies in new vehicles move fast, really fast. Designing the CAN-bus module is proof: it took an enormous amount of time. Lots of measuring, lots of data, lots of cups of coffee and overtime. But we pulled it off: a module that, for now, works on 100% of all vehicles. Until a manufacturer comes up with yet another new technology, we are stuck with the Evolution CAN-bus II module for the time being.
Our intern Dion from TU Eindhoven previously did research into the variety of LEDs for headlights. That was mostly theory with a little practical experience. Now, together with TU Eindhoven, we have run a new test that lets us compare against other popular LEDs from the competition.
We think it is important to do research that is as honest and transparent as possible, which is why we chose to do it with a reflector headlight. With these headlights the chance of a poor beam pattern is greater than with a headlight that has a lens and projects the light onto the road better.
Which LEDs did we test:
We took 3 measurements: 1 after 30 sec, 1 after 15 minutes and 1 after 30 minutes. We measured at an ambient temperature of 27.3 degrees Celsius. Yes, it gets nicely warm here in summer!
And then the most important aspect of good lighting: the beam, or beam pattern. Where does the light go, and what does the spread of the light do to the final light output? For this we used a headlight from a Highlander, because even with halogen this headlight already has a good beam pattern. That way we can make a better and fairer comparison.
Disclaimer: Although our test was carried out very carefully, there is always a chance of a small deviation, as the beam pattern depends heavily on the quality of the headlight. Recent American research shows that not all car makers produce a great headlight. No rights can therefore be derived from the research above.
Kapotte autolampen vallen onder slijtage en worden niet vergoed, diefstal en schade soms wel. Lees wat je autoverzekering dekt en hoe led- en xenonverlichting daarbij helpen.
In de dimlicht LED test van Truckstar Magazine kwam de Hilox XTR Black als beste uit de bus. Lees hoe de leds scoorden in reflector- en lenskoplampen, op koeling, CAN-bus en APK.
Op zoek naar een gaaf cadeau voor Vaderdag? Zes Hilox cadeautips, van XTR LED kits en MTB lampen tot LED halsbanden, riemen en elektrische peper- en zoutmolens.
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