[vsrivatsa]

Foxfire Platinum Series LED Lighting

I have done several upgrades in terms of the Lighting for my Honda City over the years. The Headlights have gone through several iterations of different LED bulbs and then I also added Projector Fog Lamps to complement the Headlights. Prior to the LED upgrades, I dabbled with the Osram Nightbreaker series as well for a while. For some time now, I have had the Nineo Gen II LED Headlights on both my Low Beam (H11) as well as the High Beam (9005/HB3).

Recently heard from the Foxfire contact (Sunny Gupta) that they have also started selling LED Headlights as well. I have had good experience in the past with the Foxfire Android Head Unit, my car currently has the Foxfire Android Head Unit (2GB/32GB variant) (>)

Given the good experience, decided to give a try to these Headlights from Foxfire. I decided to swap out only the High Beam this time around and see how it goes. Ordered a pair of the 9005/HB3 LEDs from Foxfire. The package arrived around the Christmas time – it was securely packed and arrived in great condition.

For those who are more inclined towards a video review - I am enclosing that as well - so feel free to jump into the video if that is your preference:

Foxfire Platinum Series LED Lighting - Light Up Your Way!

And for the rest who prefer the traditional written route, let us move ahead...


The LED Package Arrives

Specifications: Foxfire – Platinum Series LED Lighting:

Before we get into more details – let us look at the specifications for these lights:
• Watts: 140 W/Set (70W per Bulb)
• Lumen: 16,800 Lumens/Set (8400 Lumens/Bulb)
• Colour Temperature: 5700 K
• Cooling: 8500 RPM Fan + Dual Copper Heat Pipe
• CANBUS Support: Built-in Canbus Driver, Radio Interference Free

Warranty: 1 Year Full Replacement Warranty. Year 2 - Paid Warranty Option available.

Product Page: Foxfire Lighting


Specifications on the Box


Foxfire Booklet That comes with the LED Kit


Physical Dimensions

I have tried Bulbs up to 40W per bulb in the past but at 70W per bulb this appeared quite high. I did call and check with Sunny if it is OK to use this bulb on the Honda City which comes with a rating of 60W per bulb. Sunny re-assured me that there won’t be any issue as it is only a small deviation from the rated value. He also offered me installation at Red Soul but I declined the offer saying that Headlight fitment is a D-I-Y and I would do it myself.

Contact Details:
Foxfire
Sunny Gupta: Mobile/WhatsApp - 95550 11134
Excellence Multiservices Pvt. Ltd.
Plot No. 812, Sector 43, Gurugram (HR) - 122009
Customer Care: info@foxfire.co.in



Unboxing the Foxfire Platinum Series LEDs:
The bulbs looked premium and well-built. The Foxfire branding is visible on the LED as well as on the LED Driver Ballast.


9005-HB3 Socket Type for High Beams


Box Opened - 01


Box Opened - 02


LED Bulbs placed in front of Box


Hand Held View


Close-Up View of the LED Bulb - 01


Close-Up View of the LED Bulb - 02


Close-Up View of the LED Bulb - 03


View of the Bulb Base with Fan and Top


Upclose View of LED


Close-up showing Foxfire Lettering





Testing the Bulbs:
Immediately after unboxing I decided to test the bulbs to ensure that I got working ones.


LED Connected to the Headlight Power Socket


And there was Light!

I unplugged the power plug from the existing socket and connected it to the Bulb and tested both bulbs to be working in the engine bay itself without mounting. This is a quick and way to test the bulbs rather than fitting the bulb completely onto the Headlight Socket.




Installing the LED Bulbs:
The Honda City comes with 2 pairs of Headlight sockets. One pair based on the H11 Socket type and powering the Low Beams and another pair based on the 9005/HB2 socket type powering the High Beams. The Low Beams are positioned on the outer side and the High Beam sockets are positioned towards the middle.


Engine Bay View showing the High Beam Sockets - Arrows Pointing to the Base of the LEDs


Driver Side - Socket - Front View


Driver Side - Socket - Rear View

The High Beam socket on the driver side does have an obstruction in terms of the Wiper Water Piping. A clip that holds the Wiper Water Pipe needs to be removed to provide easy access to the High Beam Socket on the driver side.


Passenger Side - Socket - Front View


Passenger Side - Socket - RearView

On the Passenger side though, there is no obstruction and sufficient space to fit the bulb easily.

Also the Bulb Angle within the socket can be adjusted. Sunny adviced me to ensure that the bulb is in the Gun Position. The Gun position is illustrated in the image below:

Bulb Alignment within Socket - Gun Position

Installed the Bulbs by pulling out the Nineo Bulbs. The LED Bulbs are Plug and Play and there is absolutely no cutting or splicing of wires. The entire installation is completely Plug and Play and takes 10 minutes are less.
Now that I had completed the fitment of the High Beam Bulbs - let us next explore the performance of these bulbs in the subsequent section!

[vsrivatsa]

Foxfire Platinum Series LED Lighting - Evaluating the Performance

In this section, we move towards evaluating the performance of the newly installed LED Bulbs.

Based on my past experience, the performance of the LED Bulb differs widely based on each brand and it is not a straightforward call to go for a bulb based on specifications on the box. The main problems with many LED bulbs are as below:

1. In some LEDs the light scatters and the beam cut-off and beam pattern is not comparable to standard Halogen Bulbs.
2. Some LEDs work well in Reflector Housing and some work well in Projector Housing and vice-versa.
3. Some LEDs give out good white color light but based on the bulb design the throw of the light maybe less which is not ideal for High Beam type of a use case.

Let us now evaluate and see how well these perform based on the criteria above - let the tests begin!

Before we head into the comparisons - let also set the context that the 4th Gen City comes with a Dual Setup for Headlights with H11 Socket type powering the Low beams and the 9005-HB3 pair of sockets powering the High Beams. When the High Beam is turned on - it acts as an add-on to the Low Beam which would already be turned on and hence when I talk about High Beam it would be combination of Low Beam + High Beam.


The City - All Set for LED Evaluation

In the first comparison - I am providing three views and will follow the same pattern for each of the sample set of pictures that I share later as well. Three views are as below:

• All Headlights Fully Switched off - No Lights
• Low Beam Switched on, High Beam Switched Off
• Low Beam and High Beam both switched On

Evaluation 01 - No Lights


Evaluation 01 - Low Beam Only


Evaluation 01 - Low Beam + High Beam

Based on the three pictures - there is clear differentiation of the additional distance that is getting covered by the addition of the High Beams in the last picture. In order to explain my interpretation of the performance let me add a side-by-side comparison of the Low Beam Only and Low Beam + High Beam below:


Evaluation 01 - Comparison View of Low Beam Only with Addition of High Beam - Side by Side

From the Side-by-Side comparison, would like to draw the attention of the reader first to the yellow circle and then to the red circle.
When we see the Yellow circle, marked out on the tree - it is clear that the High Beam has not illuminated the tree more - this is a good sign. I have seen some LED bulbs that throw the light on trees due to scattering.
From the yellow circle comparison we can say that the scatter of light is in control.

Now, bringing the attention of the reader towards the red circle - we can clearly see the illumination of the gates of the school below the lettering in the Right Hand Side image. This shows that the throw of light is good and being thrown straight ahead as against scatter towards nearby objects such as trees. Roughly the distance from the Headlight to the gate and wall shown in the picture is about 180 ft.

Let us have more comparisons under different a few more different scenarios to get more conclusive evaluation of the performance.


Evaluation 02 - No Lights


Evaluation 02 - Low Beam Only


Evaluation 02 - Low Beam + High Beam


Evaluation 02 - Comparison View of Low Beam Only with Addition of High Beam - Side by Side

Roughly I think the distance to the wall from headlight is upwards of 250 ft+. So the Low Beam is no where in sight and the Right Hand Side image clearly shows very illumination of the wall ahead - once again adding good credentials to the throw of light from the LED Bulbs.

Let us see the 3rd set of evaluation samples as well now:


Evaluation 03 - No Lights


Evaluation 03 - Low Beam Only


Evaluation 03 - Low Beam + High Beam

In this case the distance to the wall is about 300ft+ and the wall is well illuminated in the High Beam picture.
In order to check for any light scatter in the nearby region - decided to check one more set of samples and below are the results from the fourth and last set of samples:


Evaluation 04 - No Lights


Evaluation 04 - Low Beam Only


Evaluation 04 - Low Beam + High Beam

From the fourth set of images - if we do a three way compare it is clear that the Low Beams are the primary source scattering some light onto the trees, and High Beams are adding a tiny bit more on top which appears to be very much acceptable by LED standards.


Evaluation 04 - Three-Way Comparison

So, overall the light scatter seems to be well controlled on the High Beam side.


Beam Cut-off Evaluation:
Next up, let us take a look at the Beam Cut-Off for the LED.

Beam Cut-Off - No Lights


Beam Cut-Off - Low Beam Only


Beam Cut-Off - Low Beam + High Beam

As can be seen in the third image which has the High Beam turned on - the LEDs produce a focused Beam, and the cut-off as well as pattern appears to be good.


Conclusion:
The Foxfire Platinum Series LED Lighting offers good throw when used within Reflector Housing based on the results and the scatter appears to be controlled as well with good beam pattern. I will let the other experts on this forum to provide further inputs.

The MRP quoted on the box is ₹9999 which takes it into the zone of branded bulbs such as Philips Ultinon etc. though there are good discounts on top of MRP that are offered. So, make sure you negotiate well when buying these

Contact Details:
Foxfire
Sunny Gupta: Mobile/WhatsApp - 95550 11134
Excellence Multiservices Pvt. Ltd.
Plot No. 812, Sector 43, Gurugram (HR) - 122009
Customer Care: info@foxfire.co.in

Thanks for reading my thread and would also recommend going through some of the other related articles I have authored on Team-BHP for your reference below:

Foxfire Related Threads:

• Foxfire HU 2GB/32GB >
• Foxfire Jeep Compass HU > (Operation Jeep Compass : Foxfire Android Head-Unit with a 360-degree camera)
• Ciaz Foxfire HU Upgrade > (Unbranded - Journey from Blaupunkt to an Android Head-Unit in a Ciaz)

Headlight Related Threads:

• Projector Fog Lights> (iPHCAR Bi-Xenon Projector Foglamp upgrade (Blaze India))
  
• Morimoto HIDs> (Jeep Compass: Morimoto HID Headlights + FE Retrofit Projector Foglamps Upgrade)
  
• Maruti Ignis H4 Headlights> (DIY: LED Headlights Upgrade (Maruti Ignis))
  
• Nightbreaker Upgrade >
  
• Oedro Multi-Color LED Lights>

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[corvus corax]

How come you have only used Foxfire products? Do you have any affiliation with them?

[gururajrv]

Thanks for the detailed review. I have gone ahead and booked a pair from Sunny directly for 140w LED with close to 16k lumen intensity. I hope the lights are worth the price I've paid for. I was using Autobahn's LEDs for close to 3 years and they've shown deterioration in light output.

Nevertheless, I hope to receive the package within next 3 or 4 days time and I should be able to post a feedback in next week or two.

[vsrivatsa]

Originally Posted by corvus corax

How come you have only used Foxfire products? Do you have any affiliation with them?

Good question - with so many articles on Foxfire products it appears that I am their Brand Ambassador But no, I do not have any affiliation with Foxfire.

Mainly have explored more on this dealer based on trust and the support he provides. Foxfire also has tie up with Red Soul in Bengaluru who is very reputed Installer as well - so this adds to the convenience and overall experience.

In terms of the others, based on my experience I would also recommend Blaze India as an excellent dealer as well in the Auto Accessory space - I procured the ipCHAR Projector Fogs from there. However the difference there is, I had to go to an installer on my own and there was no tie-up. A tie-up between seller and a local installer gives a lot more peace of mind.

Originally Posted by gururajrv

Thanks for the detailed review. I have gone ahead and booked a pair from Sunny directly for 140w LED with close to 16k lumen intensity.

Good to hear! Which model of Socket does your car have - H4 Socket which has both Low and High Beam in the same bulb typically gives lower results than others. And is it in Reflector Housing or Projector Housing? Will wait for you to share your results!

[gururajrv]

Originally Posted by vsrivatsa

Good to hear! Which model of Socket does your car have - H4 Socket which has both Low and High Beam in the same bulb typically gives lower results than others. And is it in Reflector Housing or Projector Housing? Will wait for you to share your results!

Mine is a Brezza with dedicated H7 low beam projector. Hopefully I should be able to provide my first observations by end of the week if the product reaches me before Wednesday.

[Artyom]

This thread is coming at the right time as I was also planning to upgrade.
Quick question though. The Box has a red mark denoting its a 9005(HB3 Type).
But during installation i saw you mentioned HB2.
Am I missing anything or is it a typo?

[vsrivatsa]

Originally Posted by Artyom

This thread is coming at the right time as I was also planning to upgrade.
Quick question though. The Box has a red mark denoting its a 9005(HB3 Type).
But during installation i saw you mentioned HB2.
Am I missing anything or is it a typo?

Confirming - it is 9005/HB3 Socket which is the Headlight type on the 4th Gen Honda City.

[autocratic1107]

Iam planning to upgrade the headlights of my Volvo S60 CC from the stock HID Xenon. Can anyone please suggest a good LED option suitable for both city and highway driving?

[puneetakhouri]

Originally Posted by vsrivatsa

H4 Socket which has both Low and High Beam in the same bulb typically gives lower results than others. And is it in Reflector Housing or Projector Housing? Will wait for you to share your results!

Quick question, since the LED bulbs have a fan to dissipate heat, how does the fan work when placed inside the dust cap with no place for the hot air to go?

[abhinav007_007]

Thanks for sharing the review. I'm also looking for high beam upgrade to LED, a supplier in Gurgaon is indeed very handy..

But, the wattage seems quite high for the heatsink visible in the pics. Can anyone please share the current drawn by these bulb during operation?

I have seen (& been duped) by similar high wattage LEDs which don't even draw half the current as told!

[flywheels]

Do these LEDs in the headlight setup actually help during foggy and rainy weather? Would love to have the opinion of users.

[scorpian]

Originally Posted by flywheels

Do these LEDs in the headlight setup actually help during foggy and rainy weather? Would love to have the opinion of users.

No. absolutely not. They are as good as no lights.
I have been in this boat and I feel its a waste of money. The white light is no good to both the user as well oncoming traffic.
I have got the best results using 100/90 setup with a good relay and no burning of reflector also.
These led are ok if you use your car only in city, but on highways they are no good.

[sabsubs]

Originally Posted by flywheels

Do these LEDs in the headlight setup actually help during foggy and rainy weather? Would love to have the opinion of users.

Visibility can be very low during rainy condition. Thats a drawback of LED lights.