Before you spend money on HID bulbs, or even Sylvania Silverstars and other like-bulbs, please read my experience below. I was in the same position as you.
I know there's always alot of buzz around HID's, conversions, good-kits, bad-kits, and those blindingly-bad junk-blue installs you see in every civic and integra on the street.
I was originally looking wvery hard at doing a Proper HID conversion, utilizing TSX projectors and real HID bulbs/ballasts from HID Planet.
However just before I spill the cash on the parts to rip open my lamps and do the chop, a friend of mine mentioned a,nother type of lighting other than Halogen and HID.
SOME HIR INFO:
HIR - Halogen Infrared Reflecting
These are redesigned Halogen bulbs that utilize an inward reflective coating on a globe type glass bulb that allow HIR bulbs to burn at a higher temperature than stock halogen bulbs, at the same current/amperage draw as 9005/9006 bulbs.
These bulbs have a color temperature between that of Halogens and HID's, 3600K (3250K Halogen, 4000K+ HID's). They appear VERY white compared to stock Halogens, and blow Silverstar's away.
They use stock halogen filament locations, so you do not get the resultant random light dispersion and glare that you see from those swaping in HID kits into non-HID light assemblies.
The light output is phenominal compared to stock, the light pattern is very consistent top/bottom, left/right. Imagine your High-Beams with the top cut off around 4' off the ground (yes, you can see the cutoff from our stock headlight assemblies).
If you want the full info on HIR's check the followiing site: http://www.hirheadlights.com/ More info than you will ever need to know about HIR's.
INSTALL:
Very easy, if youve read the above website you'll know why. They are essentially the same base as our 9005/9006 bulbs, however they use one slightly larger tab wich needs to be trimmed. Then they just drop in like replacement 9005/9006's. No adjustment of light pattern alignment needed since the filament is in the same stock position. No ballast or wiring, just snap in your headlight cable.
COST:
I could only find one provider for HIR bulbs. Subsequently it is the from the author of the above HIR info website. He sells Toshiba brand HIR bulbs for $30 per bulb. About the same price as Silverstars, but completely blows them away in terms of performance. Just search on ebay for "HIR" and they will be listed as Toshiba 9011/9012 bulbs from user - hir_headlights.
OVERALL OPINION:
Of all the basic mods I did to my car when I first got it (exhaust, intake, short shifter, etc) this was by far the best money I spent for the benefits. I just replaced my low beams and since have never needed my high beams. I may be buying HIR's to replace my stock High's also.
Night driving is a joy. The light is clearly whiter than all of the halogens on the road, and if you attend meets, others will easily pick up on the color difference if thats what you want. Light is thrown MUCH farther than stock, I've never really noticed a clearly defined cutoff with halogens untill I installed these HIR's, and they resemble the pattern and effects I see in my friends 2005 Acura TL with stock HID's. On the roads you'll notice every reflective surface within several hundred feet light up brightly, similarly to what yousee with your High-Beams on.
Hands down, if you want to upgrade your stock lights and don't wanna invest in an HID conversion, read the site, http://www.hirheadlights.com/, and believe me theyre worth $60 and 2 minutes to modify the base and drop them in.
If you guys want I can take some pictures if you want to see them in a tC, theres some good pictures on the HIR site also.
Ive been lookinmg to do this for a while but Ive gone ahead and modified 9005 bulbs to fit the 9006 hraness instead. Ive looked at the ratings and the low beam HIRs have the same lumens as 9005 High beams.
Ive actaully considered running HIR high beams in my lows since the tC headlight eyebrows craete a cutoff that doesnt blind oncoming traffic.
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Ive been lookinmg to do this for a while but Ive gone ahead and modified 9005 bulbs to fit the 9006 hraness instead. Ive looked at the ratings and the low beam HIRs have the same lumens as 9005 High beams.
Ive actaully considered running HIR high beams in my lows since the tC headlight eyebrows craete a cutoff that doesnt blind oncoming traffic.
So you have 4 9005 bulbs? I wonder how 9005 Silverstars would look on the lows......sweet
Also, when I was doing the research a month or more ago, I ran across an independent test between alot of different types of bulbs where they mapped out intensity and pattern gradient for many differnt types of bulbs, including HIR's and Silverstar's. They were only interested in Halogen based bulbs, so HID's werent included.
It turns out that the Silverstars and others like them put out less intensity than stock bulbs. HIR's took the top in terms of pattern density and intensity.
I'm gonna do some google searching tonight and try and rummage up the link again, if someone else has read the same article please post a link.
hmmm i think im gunna get these, i have luminics pure blue and they are not bright at all
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Also the guy on ebay who sells these, paints the tab white where you need to trim. It's downright idiotproof.
I went out and took a few pics when I moved my car. I'll post them up, however I'm smack in the middle of Hoboken, Jersey City, NYC so theres streetlights everywhere which doesnt quite condone decent headlight patterns. I found some backwater road and took a few shots, still big ornage steetlights though but pretty dark.
I'm heading home to MD for Thanksgiving so I'll get some good highway and pitch black shots.
I think the coolest thing with these lights is how they light up anything reflective within 2 city blocks and almost 180deg. Street signs, lane markers, tailights, peoples clothing and COPS, all light up like the sun.
I'll be on the highway and all of the lane markers and signs in front of me are lit up bright like my highbeams were on. Even with other cars in front of me, they light up and I know it's not their lights doing it.
I thought about these for a while, but I started thinking about clearance to the "cap" that covers the tip of the bulb in the headlight. Whats the clearance like with the "globe" area?
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I thought about these for a while, but I started thinking about clearance to the "cap" that covers the tip of the bulb in the headlight. Whats the clearance like with the "globe" area?
I thought of that also before I bought them. Without cracking open the housing and measuring I'm not sure what the exact measurement is, however they fit fine and there hasnt been any issues in the course of a month of use on potted Hoboken/Jersey City/Newark/NYC roads with stiff springs. I'm sure if there was any contact between the bulb and housing, my daily drivin, shake your kidneys, torturous local roads would have busted them by now.
i would becareful. they are 55 and 65 watt draws. Stock low beam is 51. I used luminics 55 watt and it burned out my wiring harness.
That sounds a bit funny to me for a 4 Watt change ~8% power variation. Unless were talking TTL load circuits, for robust power circuits they should be correctly engineered to handle swings of +/- 15%. I'm sure the Toyota engineers would forsee users buying generic 55W 9006's and plugging them in. I'm an Electrical Engineer, however I am not the engineer who designed the harness so I'm not calling you out in any way.
How long were the bulbs installed? Also what was the extent of the damage and what state were the bulbs in after the burnout?
i would becareful. they are 55 and 65 watt draws. Stock low beam is 51. I used luminics 55 watt and it burned out my wiring harness.
That sounds a bit funny to me for a 4 Watt change ~8% power variation. Unless were talking TTL load circuits, for robust power circuits they should be correctly engineered to handle swings of +/- 15%. I'm sure the Toyota engineers would forsee users buying generic 55W 9006's and plugging them in. I'm an Electrical Engineer, however I am not the engineer who designed the harness so I'm not calling you out in any way.
How long were the bulbs installed? Also what was the extent of the damage and what state were the bulbs in after the burnout?
They were on for a while.
Go to this thread http://www.scionlife.com/forums/view...inics&start=25
and you will see it. Plus, I am not the only one with the problem. There seem to be many many people with this problem.
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They were on for a while.
Go to this thread http://www.scionlife.com/forums/view...inics&start=25
and you will see it. Plus, I am not the only one with the problem. There seem to be many many people with this problem.
I will definitely read through those posts, and if I can lend any expertise to those losing harnesses I will. I would tend to lean towards a defect in the bulb design first, but I need some more investigation.
Toshiba is who produced the HIR's I have now, and I put them up there with GE in terms of bulb design.
I have had these in for over a month now, I will keep close eye on the harness and throw my lser temp gun on them every once and a while to see if anything seems out of place. I can also check the current draw between the stock lams and the HIR's, just gotta throw an ammeter around the lead. I'll also take a look at Toyota's doc's regarding their wiring in the Factory Service Manual.
Again if theres a problem, or I can help with the Luminics situation I will let you all know.
Im pretty sure the melted harnesses are due to the aftermarket bulbs as opposed to the harnesses themselves. Those bulbs are produced very cheaply and Im sure that the quality control is not strict enough to verify each bulb is drawing the proper amount of power. That would explain why some people have problems and others do not. I ran the Luminics for a while and while they looked great (see my avatar) I found the light output to be lacking. I have been using the standard Sylvania 9005s as my low beam bulbs and fogs for over 3 months now with no harness issues and those have a higher wattage than the 9006s do,
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HIR Headlights, Best $60 spent on the tC yet!
