So I was able to dive into these today and get some comparison testing done. I will say I was a bit surprised. I will let the pictures do the talking.
Up first is the disassembly of the headlights. Here is a picture of the projector mounting.
Backside of the housing.
Close up of the new projector.
Closer picture.
Closer picture of the last versions projector.
Notice how dull these look compared to the newer ones.
Here are all the projectors together. The Version 1 out of the old Spyder lights are on the left, the V2 projectors in the middle and the Mini H1 on the right.
The version 1 projector comes in a little above 2.5" the Minis a little below 2.5" and the version 2 projectors come in at 3"
Up next is the lighting output.
First will be the old version 1 projectors.
Now for this test between the 2 Spyder lights, I used the same exact bulb for both projectors to keep things as consistent as possible. Same goes for the voltage, which was 15VDC on a charger.
All pictures were taken in the same spot with shutter speed at 1/250 and an iso of 200.
These were the values I thought represented the output just as I saw it with my eyes.
The light output for the version 1 was a max of 298 lux which was found just to the right of the horizontal cutoff portion.
Up next are the Version 2 Spyder projectors with the same bulb.
So do you think there is a difference? LOL!
Man, what an upgrade from the version 1 projectors.
I measured a max lux of 3250 around the same area as the version 1.
Now the big dog, or the little dog with a big bite. The Mini H1.
This was running on a 50w ballast with a 5500k bulb.
The highest lux I measured here was 3210.
Say what? The Spyder projector was brighter?
Kinda.
While the hottest spot measured on the Spyder light was just barely brighter than the Mini. That was the only place the light output was brighter.
The Mini just puts out great light everywhere. As you can tell in the photos.
And last for ***** and giggles, I threw the Mini's H1 into the Spyder 1 projector.
The output was measured at 1550 at the brightest point. Which was not consistent due to the bulb not fitting these projectors.
I forgot to do the same to the V2 projectors. Maybe tomorrow.
Final notes: The first version of projectors from the Spyder headlights are crap.
The new versions projector is a hell of alot better than the previous one. I knew it would be better based on the finish of the projector bowl but it was a huge step up in light output.
The Mini is still a clear winner all around but for anyone who is looking for a decent upgrade over the stock halogen lights, these may be a good choice.
I will need to get some night shots for comparison. But that will have to be another day.
