**Brand New Morimoto XB Evo Headlights are here!

We've been secretly working with Morimoto over here at Hotshot Offroad helping develop their newest headlights for the 14-24 4Runner. We've had a set on a truck here for a few months testing out light output and patterning, a lens heater feature, among other things!

Well, the day has come for the newest XB EVO Headlights to be here!
https://hotshotoffroad.com/products/xb-evo-led-headlights-14-24-toyota-4runner

• Full Design Refresh - Brand new DRL piping, projector arrangement, and light/dark accents throughout.
• New Optics - A fresh optics design allows for aiming the beam much closer to vertical without blinding oncoming traffic. It makes for a MUCH more comfortable driving experience vs the hard cutoff lines before. We worked directly with Morimoto in an attempt to perfect uplight allowing for earlier detection of downrange obstacles as well as illuminating road signs earlier and better. Overall output is far improved in terms of perceived brightness, even on the base LED driver.
• New Supercharger LED Driver System - While not on-road compliant, a new "supercharger" LED driver is available as an add-on that boosts intensity by 30%.
• Built-in Lens Heater - In ambient temperatures below 41F, an on-board lens heater system can be turned on to allow for active clearing of the lens. We were getting lens temps of around 80F when ambient was in the 20s. The unit definitely works!
• Selectable DRL and Turn Signals - With a quick swap of a little "key" you can pick whether you want a white or amber DRL. You can also select whether you would like a sequential turn signal, or a fade off turn signal. We're big fans of the fade off version over here!
• 5-Yr Warranty

 

While they are a stylistic upgrade for sure (as many vehicle modifications are) these definitely are more than only that. It's one of the few lamps that can say that they are more than just something that looks different. They've got greater output than even the stock OEM LED, and the on-road profile is better to boot. This is one of the graphics that MM has shared. I'm not sure what the "rating" is though as there's no legend to compare it against. Having been behind the wheel of a set of these though the actual down-range visibility is much improved. Also, depending no where someone lives these are the only lamps on the market that have the ability to clear the lenses of snow/ice buildup. No other LED housing can do that.

 

These lights come with unique plug and play harnesses that are specific to each application - OE LED, LED Hi/Halogen Low, Halogen Lo/Hi all in the box. The incoming OE wiring gauge is the same across all models, but of course with different plugs depending on the lamp.

One of the very first things I checked when I got the prototype units was the power draw as I had to know as well. An OE halogen low beam bulb pulls approx 55W. On the XB Evos low beam came in at 25W, and high beam came in at 32W. I just checked it today, and with the supercharger module installed, DRLs on, and heater activated peak draw came in at 47W.

 

I didn't have a set here to test, but I can confidently say it'll be less than halogen! I did ask Morimoto if they could get that for me for my own records, but haven't heard back quite yet. I have my guess sitting around 22-23W for low beam, but I don't have any hard data there.

 

Morimoto boys just shot me a text and said that OEM LED high beam is 24W. They're going to give me full logs on Monday, but low beam is going to come in lower than that of course.

 

But seriously I'm not here to tell you how to spend your money. They're a super cool product that I personally got to play a part in which makes me extra hot on them. If it works for your aesthetic and your budget I say party on. If and when the time is right we'd love to earn the business if you decide to get them!

 

Ha they just came out boys! These are a MAP restricted product, and I'm unfortunately not the manufacturer. Just a guy who happens to sell them and helped out with R&D. We could maybe do something where we do a "group buy" in that the more people we get on an order I can offer increasingly larger Hotshot Offroad gift cards, or give away something else . I unfortunately am not allowed to directly discount the product though.

Ryland (Crash) and I are actually good friends. That's been part of the plan all along!

I definitely understand the high cost associated with a purchase such as this. For reference, if you were to head down to the dealership and purchase OEM LED headlights brand new the price point is around $1,600 if you shop around, and you still will need to get a wiring adapter to make them work on a truck not originally equipped with them. Of course, there are going to be plenty of classifieds and ebay listings to be able to get a takeoff set cheaper. I'm just pointing out that the price isn't "that" lofty when compared to its competition. Add in the fact that Morimoto offers (and we honor) a paid to trade program where even your halogen headlights could be worth a couple hundred dollars, it helps bring the initial hit down. The current going rate for a set of halogen takeoffs, is $75. It was $225 last week, but I am guessing there are a handful of folks leveraging this for the new heads. It fluctuates up and down.

Having driven plenty of miles with these headlights I can confidently say that unlike nearly all other aftermarket headlights these are more than just a different looking housing. They provide a true improvement to downfield visibility over all other options, and the high beam is a vast improvement over anything else I have ever seen. We understand that they're not for everyone, but for those who want a different look than stock they are the only option I would personally recommend over OEM LED.

 

Yes it can. It's accessible with just the hood popped open.

 

Admittedly, MM did a pretty bad job of "showing" the difference between the lights in this one graphic that they have pre-prepared. The fact that they only showed off the low beam didn't help either. I'll hopefully have some free time in the next week or two to capture some images of my own with the production units, but I can tell you that they're not the same. I have some formal test data from them that I am not allowed to share quite yet. The low beam between the two lamps is honestly somewhat similar in terms of performance (assuming you're not using the supercharger module), with a candela increase of around 20% at nearly every test point. The high beam, however, is not even a comparison. The XB Evo is miles ahead in terms of performance there at around a 35% boost in power from OEM LEDs. Comparing to OEM halogen is not even a contest, as they are unfortunately a quite poor performing lamp altogether.

Again, I understand that $1,500 is no small ask. That said, if someone is converting from OEM halogen, breaks a light, or wants an upgrade from even OEM LED to have a bump in performance and aesthetics that they can see, this is the only lamp on the market that will complete that task. No to mention they have really good styling to them IMO, and come equipped with a lens heater which is certainly a nice feature for those of us up north who know all too well what snowpack on headlights during a snowstorm is like.

As an aside, comparing new to new - A quick call to my local dealership revealed that they wanted $2,200 for a set of OEM LED headlights for a 4R. The cheapest place that I was able to find a set of new OEM LEDs with a quick search online was at "Wholesale Direct Toyota Parts" in NC, and they wanted $751 per side + $216 shipping... I'm not the manufacturer so I don't set the pricing, but they're not completely out of line compared to what's currently out there in the performance sector.