Morimoto Introduces New LED Pods to Their Off-Road Lineup

If you’re an off-road enthusiast, it’s likely that you’re already familiar with Morimoto’s 4Banger LED pods. It was around this time last year that the new LED pod from Morimoto took the off-road world by storm. The 4Banger LED pods featured updated technology, a much smaller size, and a better look than other competitors. These new pods became evidently popular thanks to their universal and vehicle-specific applications. Now, Morimoto has stepped up the game again with the introduction of 3 new LED pod lights. This new series is called the Banger series and it isn’t just about the pods. Morimoto’s new off-road lineup offers heavy-duty wiring harnesses, brackets, and linkable light bar mounts. The most impressive additions to this lineup are the 1Banger, 2Banger, and BigBanger LED pods.

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The new Banger series from Morimoto is extremely versatile. While the bigger-sized pods might not fit everywhere, that is where the 1Banger and 2Banger come into play. In a range from smallest to largest, the 1Banger comes in with the smallest overall footprint. The 2Banger follows as the 2^nd smallest, then the 4Banger, and finally the BigBanger. After you pick what size is right for you, next you need to decide what power level you want to go for. The Banger series pods are offered in the NCS entry-level, or the HXB top-of-the-line, the brightest option available. After you’ve chosen the power level, now it’s time to decide what color fits your application the best. The Banger series is offered in both white and yellow color options. Finally, it’ll be time to choose your beam pattern – spot, wide, combo, or flood beam patterns are available.

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Morimoto has been paving the way for automotive lighting since 2008. Now in 2022, they’ve brought us off-road re-invented. Morimoto’s LED pods are built with more performance, style, reliability, and fitment in mind. The 1Banger and 2Banger ultra-compact footprint means it’s ideal for small usages. This could be in tight spaces or auxiliary lighting, such as additional reverse lights. They can also be used with a wide range of A-Pillar brackets, though we suggest something bigger like the 4Banger or BigBanger for those applications. The entire Banger series was designed, engineered, and tested in the US. Every aspect of this pod light lineup is made to change the game in the off-road market. Morimoto knows that power is nothing without control, and the Banger series compromises nothing.

For Morimoto, their optical refinement is the real secret recipe that separates them from the rest of the competition. Each lens of the Banger pods is made with TIR-based optics – which means that engineers have manipulated both horizontal and vertical distribution of light through ESC and HSC. ESC stands for exit surface control which allows us to manipulate the distribution of light throughout the beam pattern. This is incredibly valuable for enhancing width and foreground illumination.

HSC, also known as hot spot control, optimizes the vertical location of the hot spot. This is ideal for maximizing your long-range visibility.

HSC

Using such precise engineering within the Banger series ensures you get the most intensity and distribution for optimal visibility.

1Banger LED Pods

The 1Banger LED pod is the smallest addition to Morimoto’s offroad series. This small pod, despite its size, packs a huge punch. The 1Banger is extremely well built with coated aluminum, stainless-steel hardware, and has a Morimoto logo at the top of the pod that also illuminates when the pod is given power. This unique logo can be found on the top of every single pod light in the Banger series.

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Typically, small LED pods that only use one chip are worthless. That changes today. Morimoto created the 1Banger pods in 8 different variations. The 1Bangers are offered in spot, combo, wide, and flood beam patterns. They will also be available in either white or yellow color options. Unlike the other pods in the Banger series, the 1Banger is only available in the HXB version. While that doesn’t make this the cheapest pod light on the market, it does make it the most capable. When you purchase a new set of Morimoto 1Banger LED pods lights, expect to receive 1x pair of pods, 1x set of u-brackets for installation, and the coordinating hardware. You’ll benefit from Morimoto’s heavy-duty wiring, plug-and-play with the Banger series pod lights. Despite this being the smallest pod available from Morimoto, it is the brightest single-chip pod light on the market.

1Banger VS SSC1

Compared to the SSC1 pod light from Diode Dynamics, the 1Banger blows the competition out of the water. The spot beam pattern is 30% brighter than the SSC1, and the wide beam pattern is 20% brighter when compared. This performance gap only increases when compared to other brands on the market like Baja or Rigid.

As mentioned earlier, the 1Banger is offered with 4 different beam pattern options.

SAE Wide Beam: Offers a tight beam pattern with minimal glare. The SAE wide beam also passes SAE 19 regulations for street-legal fog lights. This is the most common beam pattern that is used.
Spot Beam: This is the perfect companion for high-speed driving. ESC and HSC optics manipulate the location of the hot spot to project the brightest part of the beam pattern furthest down the road. Thanks to Morimoto’s incredible engineering, this can be achieved without compromising the surrounding illumination.
Combo Beam: Engineering to cover the full width of the road. The combo beam offers ample light with a central intensity hot spot. This beam pattern is a perfect mix between the spot and wide beam pattern, combining a bright hot spot with illumination to the left and right too.
Flood Beam: This covers light in every direction. It will be perfect for low-speed driving, rock crawling, or even reverse lights. This beam pattern does not project lights far into the distance, instead, it will comfortably illuminate everything in your space. Perfect for camping or even a worksite.

1Banger White 1Banger Yellow

Morimoto is no longer new in the offroad market. Instead, they’ve refined what they know and will continue to raise their performance and standards. The 1Banger is made with the best quality, is highly optimized for a range of beam patterns, and outperforms the competition while looking good at doing it.

103698.010
Morimoto 1Banger LED Pods
$185.00

2Banger LED Pods

The 2Banger is similar to the 1Banger but instead uses 2 LED chips for illumination. It is one of the smaller LED pods offered in the Banger series. This LED pod is offered in 16 different variations. Like the other pods in the series, the 2Banger has 4 different beam patterns: spot, combo, wide, and flood. They will also be available in both white and yellow light outputs. Unlike the 1Banger, this 2Banger is available in two different performance tiers – the NCS and HXB versions. The NCS is the best bang for your buck with an impressive light output. The HXB takes it to the next level offering the ultimate amount of light.

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When you purchase a new set of Morimoto 2Banger LED pods lights, expect to receive 1x pair of pods, 1x set of u-brackets for installation, and the coordinating hardware. You’ll benefit from Morimoto’s heavy-duty wiring, plug-and-play with the Banger series pod lights. Unique to Morimoto’s pod lights, the 2Bangers can be linked together to create a custom light bar – width, color, optics, and radius are completely up to you. Despite this being one of the smaller pods available from Morimoto, it is the brightest dual-chip pod light on the market.

2Banger vs SSC2

When compared to the SSC2 from Diode Dynamics, you can clearly see the advantages of the Morimoto LED pods. The spot beam is 44% brighter than the SSC2, whereas the combo beam is 91% brighter than the competitors. That is a huge improvement and proves why Morimoto is King of the Hill.

As mentioned earlier, the 2Banger is offered with 4 different beam pattern options.

SAE Wide Beam: Offers a tight beam pattern with minimal glare. The SAE wide beam also passes SAE 19 regulations for street-legal fog lights. This is the most common beam pattern that is used. The fog light beam pattern is designed to cut through the fog and supplement your headlights to get the most visibility from left to right.
Spot Beam: This is the perfect companion for high-speed driving. ESC and HSC optics manipulate the location of the hot spot to project the brightest part of the beam pattern furthest down the road. Thanks to Morimoto’s incredible engineering, this can be achieved without compromising the surrounding illumination. This is the brightest beam pattern due to the condensed beam pattern and should be used to supplement other auxiliary lighting.
Combo Beam: Engineering to cover the full width of the road. The combo beam offers ample light with a central intensity hot spot. This beam pattern is a perfect mix between the spot and wide beam pattern, featuring a condensed hot spot but enough width to act as a standalone pod light if needed.
Flood Beam: This covers light in every direction. It will be perfect for low-speed driving, rock crawling, or even reverse lights. This beam pattern does not project lights far into the distance, instead, it will comfortably illuminate everything in your space. Perfect for camping or even a worksite.

2Banger Yellow 2Banger White

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Morimoto 2Banger LED Pods
Starting at $185.00

BigBanger LED Pods

This is the addition to the Banger series that will really blow your mind. The BigBanger LED pod is available in 8 different variations. Unlike the other pods in the Banger series, the BigBangers are only available in spot and combo beam patterns. They will be offered in both white and yellow color options as well as both power variants. The NCS version is the best bang for your wallet with impressive light output. The HXB is the top-of-the-line performer being the brightest pod light available from Morimoto.

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The BigBanger is unique in its own kind as it is the only pod light from Morimoto that features a dual-intensity amber backlight. When driving around with your headlights off, these pod lights have a super bright amber backlight. When you turn your headlights on, the backlight on the pod immediately dims. This unique technology is a game-changer for Morimoto’s Banger series. When you purchase a new set of Morimoto BigBanger LED pods lights, expect to receive 1x pair of pods, 1x set of u-brackets for installation, and the coordinating hardware. You’ll benefit from Morimoto’s heavy-duty wiring, plug-and-play with the Banger series pod lights. Unique to Morimoto’s pod lights, the BigBangers can be linked together to create a custom light bar – width, color, optics, and radius are completely up to you. This is the most capable offroad pod in the world – period.

BigBanger vs SS5

When compared to the SS5 Pro from Diode Dynamics, you can again see why Morimoto takes the crown. The HXB spot beam is 30% brighter meanwhile the combo beam is 80% brighter than the SS5. This performance gap only increases when you start comparing it to other similar lights, such as the LP9 from Baja or the 360 from Rigid.

As mentioned earlier, the BigBanger is only offered with 2 different beam pattern options.

Spot Beam: This is the perfect companion for high-speed driving. ESC and HSC optics manipulate the location of the hot spot to project the brightest part of the beam pattern furthest down the road. Thanks to Morimoto’s incredible engineering, this can be achieved without compromising the surrounding illumination. This is the brightest beam pattern due to the condensed beam pattern and should be used to supplement other auxiliary lighting.
Combo Beam: Engineering to cover the full width of the road. The combo beam offers ample light with a central intensity hot spot. This beam pattern is a perfect mix between the spot and wide beam pattern, featuring a condensed hot spot but enough width to act as a standalone pod light if needed.

The BigBanger pods are only available in two beams because they’re specifically designed for huge light output situations. You don’t need a wide beam when you have this much light! The BigBanger is the perfect mix of lightweight and high-quality construction, giving you the brightest 6-inch pod light in the world by a long shot.

BigBanger White BigBanger Yellow

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Morimoto BigBanger LED Pods
Starting at $325.00

Conclusion

We’re excited to see Morimoto expand upon their Banger series product lineup. The 4Bangers blew us away in respect to their quality, design, and performance and left us wondering what else Morimoto could have in store for this market segment in the future. Now we know that Morimoto is truly deserving of being the King of aftermarket lighting. With the introduction of the 1Banger, 2Banger, and BigBanger LED pod lights, we can’t wait to see what drivers create over the coming years. From custom reverse lights to linkable light bars, Morimoto should be your one-stop shop for all things automotive lighting.

Have any questions about the products mentioned? Looking for something Morimoto does not offer? Just want to say ‘Hi’? Drop us a comment! We would love to hear from you. In the meantime, stick around the Better Automotive Lighting Blog for all the latest on the automotive lighting world. Also, check out our Facebook page we just started. Be sure to drop us a comment and leave a ‘Like’ to let us know how we are doing.

Morimoto's 1Banger Video