Headlights And Lighting

[pauljcl]

I'm trying to get a 'topic' started where the enquiries, comments and questions and answers regarding lighting can be concentrated. Bear with me - first time I try something like this.

The origin of my interest are the 'new' (to me) 9011 and 9012 bulbs. They replace 9005 and 9006 bulbs, are made by Toshiba, and have several advantages (not in any particular order):

1. The filaments are said to be in the same place as the filaments of the original 9005 and 9006 bulbs, which means that the headlights' design and cut-offs should function perfectly. This should reducer any glaring or blinding of incoming drivers;

2. The wattage is the same as the original bulbs, i.e. 65W and 55W. This means that any original 'sensors' should have no problem 'sensing' the 9011/12 bulbs as they did the 9005/06 bulbs, and, not least, the same wattage means no greater load, nor any over-heating of the wiring. Color of the light should be similar to original;

3. Lumen (i.e 'light') output seems substantially (i.e 65% or more) higher than the original bulbs. This is said to be due to a reflective coating on the bulbs around the filament, which reflects heat onto the filament and thus,. for the same wattage, make it burn hotter, i.e. brighter. The 'glass' of the bulb is said to be no hotter than that of the original bulbs. The coating reflects infra-red (heat), thus the designation "HIR" (heat infrared reflective) for those bulbs;

Otherwise:

1. The bulbs have a slightly different shape, being 'blown up' a little in the middle rather than 'straight' tube-looking

2. A number of posts on other web sites (some Volvo, some BMW, some Honda, some 'other' - can be found by Googling 9011 and 9012 bulbs - HIR - Toshiba...) seem to agree on the increased light output and advantages. It is said that the 'high beams' of the Viper and some BMW models use HIR bulbs from the factory.

3. A tab on each bulb needs to be cut/filed down. On one bulb, it is 1/2 the tab, on the other 3/4 of the tab. Not difficult.

4. All the leads I found on these bulbs seem to have www.finemotoring.com as their source, except for one separate 'analysis' site. That is where I bought my bulbs. - I just received them, but the car is in MI, and I will try them out at Thanksgiving.

If the bulbs do work as described, they seem to be the answer to low-cost (+/-$25 per bulb) improvement in lighting, without the 'rice-rod' overly blue look, and without much trouble in installation.

Has anyone else heard about these bulbs - Any comments?

Thanks, everybody!

Paul

[kuri]

Looking to replace the low beams on the RX300 and found this thread. The HIR bulbs certainly sound promising. Let us know how they work out for you. :)

[pauljcl]

Looking to replace the low beams on the RX300 and found this thread. The HIR bulbs certainly sound promising. Let us know how they work out for you. :)

Talk about timing!!!

I just arrived in MI (where the RX300 is) for Thanksgiving and installed the new 9011and 9012 bulbs. Last night was first use. It is night and day (pun intended!). The 9011 and 9012 are fantastic. They are definitely brighter, and somewhat more 'white', though not as bright and less 'blue' than the Xenon HID lights. The headlights keep their cut-offs perfectly, and the light is substantially stronger. To explain the feeling, it is like when you had the pre-halogen 'fixed' lights and then the halogen lights became available. I would not not change the bulbs to 9011 and 9012 on any car I would have that did not have them (sorry: convoluted sentence: means that I like them and would put them on all cars that don't have them).

Removing the old bulbs was relatively easy. The 'plug' was difficult to detach because you need to press real hard on a 'latch' that frees the plug, and this requires lots of force (probably becuase mine were undisturbed for many years. I got the latch lifted nearly all the way, then use - gently- the tip of screwdriver to ge the last part over the protruding part.

Bottom line: I strongly recommend the change.

Good luck to all!

Paul

[kuri]

Thanks Paul for the update! Now I can't wait to try them myself.

Any problems with the fitting? I understand that you need to cut/file down a bit of the top tab. Any other modifications necessary?

[kuri]

Well, seeing I only have 1 working headlight anyway, I thought it'd be a good time to try these HIR bulbs out as pauljcl suggested.

I ordered a pair of 9012 HIR bulbs to replace the 9006 low beams from http://www.finemotoring.com/ and Max was a pleasure to talk to. He confirmed the car that these were for and made sure that there are no problems. I received the bulbs today and with a little trimming of the top tab of each bulb, they were installed and ready for action.

From what I've seen during the short drive around the block, they do look quite a bit brighter than the stock 9006 bulbs! :)

[Boxbrownie]

It will be/would be interesting to compare these to the "Silver Stars".....to see if the difference is still worth the extra cost?

Best regards David

[pauljcl]

It will be/would be interesting to compare these to the "Silver Stars".....to see if the difference is still worth the extra cost?

Best regards David

From what I had read, there was a major difference in durability (between SilverStars and the 9011/9012). The latter have an expected life similar to that of regular bulbs. When I replaced my 'original' bulbs, I found that there was a darkening of the tip on the original high beams (at reduced power, these are the 'daylight-on' lights), and this probably made the comparison even more favorable to the 9011/12 series. But the difference was also apparent on the low-beams.

[cduluk]

Go with the HIR bulbs by Toshiba. They have a special coating on the glass that reflects heat back towards the filament making it burn hotter, yielding a brighter light. You may need a harness to get the full potential though. I have them as my DRL/high beam bulbs in my '03 Rx300 and they are definitely brighter after being on a few minutes after they heat up...

Go look on hidplanet.com in the halogen forum, there's a ton of info on them. I'm an active member on there, my user name is cduluk there too. I purchased the HIR bulbs on candlepower.

[pauljcl]

Go with the HIR bulbs by Toshiba. They have a special coating on the glass that reflects heat back towards the filament making it burn hotter, yielding a brighter light. You may need a harness to get the full potential though. I have them as my DRL/high beam bulbs in my '03 Rx300 and they are definitely brighter after being on a few minutes after they heat up...

Go look on hidplanet.com in the halogen forum, there's a ton of info on them. I'm an active member on there, my user name is cduluk there too. I purchased the HIR bulbs on candlepower.

They use the same power (50/55W) as the regular bulbs, the extra brightness due only to the reflected heat onto the filament, so why would a new harness be needed? Mine work fine with the original wiring.

Paul

Paul

[cduluk]

The voltage to the DRL/HIGH's isn't as high as the voltage coming straight out of the battery. DRL/HIGH bulbs get around 12.2V during full power, with the harness you can easily get more than 14V.