Brighter Bulbs?

[Big Don]

I can't remember which forum I was on but someone linked these bulbs
http://hirheadlights.com/
Anyone have anything to say about these?
I'm interested in upgrading my low beams. Not interested in HID though.

Thanks,

[Rolex]

I'm tagging this thread for the answer. Sounds almost too good to be true.

Found some opinions:

http://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=93982

There's some chatter in that link about the higher 55 watt draw melting people's wiring harness. There should be some tolerance in the Titan's factory harness for at least +/- 10 watts. The Luminics Company's answer to the problem was to offer heavy duty wiring harness add-ons for $22. It won't do to hook up a 14 gauge harness to your 18 gauge factory wires.....you'll still melt something. Their heavy duty jobs handle 100 watt bulbs. I'll bet you these bulbs are underrated at a 55 watt draw. I'd like to see them tested by a multimeter, but I'll guess they're 70 watts. I like the idea of a brighter light, and I'm always looking. I'm going to dig for more opinions and reviews, but at this point I'd say beware overloading your factory wiring harness with these things.

[Big Don]

Thanks for the link. I spent time Googling but never saw that one.

[Rolex]

Sorry I was editing my post as you were typing. The one constant thing was the seller of these bulbs answer to all the melted harnesses was to stick the factory bulbs back in, take it to the dealership, and play dumb. Basically they refused to stand behind their products when they started to cause trouble.

[Rolex]

Probably more then you want to read:

What is the brightest halogen bulb?

For the 55W marked segment, sorted in order of brightness:
+50%: Philips Vision Plus (achieves its extra performance by increased luminance, not lumens. See this article: http://www.lighting.philips.com/auto...isionplus.html
+30%: Philips Premium, Osram Silverstar (European marked only - see note below)
+20%: Osram/Sylvania Xtra Vision, Osram/Sylvania Silverstar (North american market only - see note below)
+0%: Philips Bluevison, Osram/Sylvania Cool Blue, Osram/Sylvania Halogen Plus, and OEM bulbs like GE.
-10%: PIAA Superwite

Silverstar: Do not confuse the European (clear glass) Silverstar with the North american (slightly blue tinted) Silverstar. The blue tint steals light!

PIAA "Xtreme White" was released ~Dec 2001. No independant tests have been conducted so far, but several positive indications has it that this can end up in the +20-30%.

Note that many cars sold after year 2000 already have premium bulbs installed and therefore buying any of the above bulbs might not give any or only minor improvement. Among H7 applications, there should be hard to find non-premium bulbs.

If your car is set up for higher wattage bulbs, Philips Rally bulbs will give more lumens than most asian overwatts. Be aware that lifetime of a Philips Rally bulb is ~100hours - so keep some spares in the glove compartment.

Narva bulbs are also top notch. Narva is a daughter company of Philips with one intention: compete with top notch products on the aftermarked. Philips themself are OEM oriented.




What happens if I insert a brighter halogen bulb into an older headlamp?

Let's say you wanted to buy the American Silverstar that has 20% advertised gain. Fact is that the 20% increase can only be achieved if headlamp is new. As an example, let us say that headlamp is 6 years old with plastic front glass. It has 100 000 miles (or 160 000km) so it will probably have high general pitting of front glass. That will lower the actual output on the road with maybe 40%. Then the 20% advertised increase will be reduced by 40%, and you end up with 12% increase. That's when you really wonder if it is worth putting in any new bulb at all. A difference by 12% is hardly noticable.


Are bulbs meant for the European market legal in US?

Legally, if they don't have the DOT label, they are not legal. However, in real life noone will ever know. They do not emit that much extra light that you will separate yourself enough from other drivers, unless you choose one of the blue coated ones. Most likely you will wear out several sets of the "little brighter" bulbs before any legal authority will notice.


Whats the deal with HIR bulbs?

They were invented by General Electric a few years ago. An HIR bulb differs from a standard Halogen bulb by the fact that they have a reflective infra red coating with primary purpose of reflecting heat back to the filament. They are being markeded under these names:
9011 HIR1, high beam, 2500lm bright at 13,2 (+/-15%) Volts
9012 HIR2, low beam, 1875lm bright at 13,2 (+/-15%) Volts


For physical dimansions, goto: http://152.119.239.10/docimages/pdf37/58377_web.pdf For performance data, see: http://www.gelighting.com/na/downloa...techsheet1.pdf

So far its used on OEM applications only: Dodge Vipers high beams and Toyota Camry (unofficial). Dont excpect them to show up at Pep Boys or Canadian Tire anytime soon. Price on each bulb is probably around what an HID capsule goes for (USD 100-200).

In the aftermarket, an HIR bulb has shown up in the 9005 and 9006 base version, which is different from 9011 and 9012 base standard. It is marketed under the "Polarg" brand name. Check out SPW Industries for details. The question is if Polarg is using the GE glasspack and selling them under their own name, or if its their in house brand. Generally, Polarg products have avarage quality, so our speculations goes towards the latter. The first quarter of 2003, the japanese company Vestec also started selling a product that may also very well go into the HIR category: "HID-R Day Light 9006"

[Rolex]

Phillips 9006 XP advertise 80% more light for the low beams. They don't make a high performance high beam replacement though. That seems like a good alternative to Silverstars, though the claim of 80% more light sounds like creative marketing. Better then OEM I'm sure, but don't expect a "night and day" difference. I imagine like the Silverstars these are pricey and only yield a negligible difference in brightness, distance, and reflectivity over OEM.

http://www.nam.lighting.philips.com/...tremepower.php

[CMBTITAN6]

Go with the HID conversion kit, that's what I have on my truck and I really like the output. I have seen way to many people install hotter headlight bulbs or aka "blue bulbs" and burn their wiring harnesses up. You can get a kit for about $100.00 or so and it's easy to install, plug and play.

[Justintoxicated]

Dont waste you rmoney just go HID...I thgouth the stock lights were 55 watts so 55 watt aftermarket should not be a problem...However a 35 watt HID will be brigher than a 55 watt halogen by at least 3 times. The best alternative to HID would be Cree XRE based LED lights, but These don't exist yet that I am aware of I'd trade my HID's for some Cree based lights....

[Big Don]

all good info, thanks guys.

[soljaslimm]

where is the best palce to get a new wiring harness for the headlights due to melting caused by blue bulbs?

[soljaslimm]

i mean place not palce, lol

[1bd1]

Originally Posted by soljaslimm

i mean place not palce, lol

I picked up a set at Autozone, around $20