A week and 5 days later after I received my HIR2 bulbs, I've finally gotten off my lazy butt to post it and let everyone know how they work. (HIR stands for Halogen Infrared). The bulbs use an IR reflective coating on the bulb. HIR bulbs have only been used on the Dodge Viper and on the latest gen Camry (dunno if it's true for the Camry or not, I can't confirm).

First off, this isn't a new idea because I remember reading someone else on the board was going to try out the HIR2 bulbs as well. The stock halogen multi-reflector lamps are excellent as they are, and I wanted to see if the HIR2 bulbs will improve them even further. The following links is where I first came across HIR2 bulbs. Please check them out because they have a great deal of useful information concerning these bulbs.

http://bmwz.org/articles/lighting/0506trick/
http://bimmer.roadfly.org/bmw/forums/e32/5728460-1.html *For this site, scroll down just a bit till it starts talking about HIR bulbs*
http://www.rdautosport.com/GroupBuy.htm *Also scroll down till HIR section*
http://www.scoobymods.com/forums/sho...&threadid=3122

I got the HIR2 bulbs from Candlepower, Inc. (http://www.candlepowerinc.com/) I didn't get the HIR1 bulbs for the high beams because I don't use the high beams that often. However, I might end up getting them in the future. The bulbs are manufactured by Toshiba. They seem to be the only place where you can get HIR2 bulbs off the web, however one of the links mentioned going to a John Deere dealer. Price was $29.98/each if I recall correctly(so don't quote me on the price!), so about $30. Shipping was like $5 or so, and arrived in one week (was shipped UPS Ground) from the East Coast(Maryland). Daniel Stern (his name almost always comes up throughout automotive lighting discussion boards simply because he knows his stuff) will be asking you what the bulbs will be used for. He won't be selling it to you if it's not going into a Viper. Yes, folks this is a hint!

On to the pics:

The first two pictures of the bulbs were taken with my Nokia 3650. The actual night shots were taken using an Olympus Camedia C-5050 with the shutter speed at 1/80th, flash off, no tripod. (Borrowed the camera from my brother and I'm not a photography expert so..ya )

Notice the difference between the HIR2 bulb (left) vs the 9006 bulb(right)? If you can't for some odd reason, it's the black plastic tab. It's much bigger on the HIR2 bulb and it should be, because it's a different bulb it must have a different base. Cut/file this off a bit till it looks just like the 9006. Take your time. I know it's not rocket science but if you cut/file it too much it might not fit right. Just be sure not to touch the bulb itself. If you do, clean it off with rubbing alcohol before putting it in the lamp.


A visual comparison of the 9006 and HIR2 bulb. Yes, it does look very strange compared to the 9006, using a spherical rather than tubular design. The paper below is the receipt from Candlepower, Inc.


In this pic, the HIR2 bulb is on the left, the 9006 bulb on the right. Notice the left is much more intense than the right. This is because the HIR2 bulb gives out 1875 lumens vs 1000 lumens from the 9006. The tC is about 5 feet away from the garage. Beam pattern is the same as with the 9006 bulb in place, just more light. If you were to stick a HID bulb in there you'd get a completely wacky picture(i.e. tons of glare). This pic is similar to the one shown at the bmwz.org site.


This is a front shot of the tC with BOTH HIR2 bulbs in the left and right lamp housing. This is just to give you a visual of how it looks like at night. That yellow light on the hood is from the streetlight.


This last pic was taken the next night. You can probably tell since there's no fog. Anyhow, this shows you the driveway with both HIR2 bulbs installed. I'm guessing here, but around 30 to 35 feet away from the garage. It looks much whiter in this pic compared to the one against the garage door. It's probably because I don't know how to use the stinkin camera, or more than likely because I wasn't using a tripod! In reality, it's not as yellowish as the garage pic but not as white as this last pic is showing. Cameras tend to make it look whiter than what it really is. The color leans more towards the white side, trust me on that. Bulb specs show their temp at 3600K. (For comparison, stock halogen is at 3100K, the blue-coated Sylvania Xtravisions which Sylvania likes to market as the Silverstars are at 4000K, and OEM HID Philips bulbs are at 4100K)

I definitely need to hit the country roads and take a pic in the complete darkness, or just find a place that's completely dark. The stock headlamp is already excellent, these bulbs just give it more light to throw. When I get the chance to borrow my brother's camera and his tripod I'll update it with more (hopefully better) pics if someone wants me to.

My conclusion for HIR2 bulbs: I like them and I think they're well worth the money. After all, as noted in the websites above, it uses the same amount of wattage as a stock bulb, puts out more lumens, and battery life is about the same. If you're looking for the HID look you won't get it from these bulbs. For an increase in lumens(light), meaning increased visibility, these bulbs are worth it. If you've put HIR2 bulbs in your tC I would love to hear what your take is on them. Remember, if you do order it from Candlepower, you're ordering for a Dodge Viper!

Sorry for posting such an extremely long post! Hope you found it informative! :D

 

cool, but i already have silverstars

 

Any idea how long these are supposed to last? How come, if they cost less than the silverstars or about comparable, can you not get these bulbs everywhere?

 

According to http://bimmer.roadfly.org/bmw/forums/e32/5728460-1.html, the HIR bulbs last just as long as a regular halogen bulb, so they last much longer than overwattage bulbs. So, on average about 1000 hours. Compare this with the rated life of a 9006 Silverstar, rated at 150 according to http://www.sylvaniaautocatalog.com/s...%20ST,%20%20ST

Silverstars are the same bulbs Sylvania has been selling for years before the HID-imitation craze came out. That's when bulb manufacturers started marketing the look of HID to the average consumer with both illegal and legal blue bulbs. In this case, Sylvania is essentially coating the Xtravision bulbs (I read this somewhere, I can't remember where but it was awhile back) to give it that HID look. As many before me have stated before, either on this board or others, the blue coating steals light. The Osram Silverstars, however, were engineered to specifically match Philips Vision Plus bulbs.

As to your question of the cost of HIR bulbs, I can't answer because I don't control the pricing or the factors that surround their pricing guidelines. It's a relatively new innovation in bulb technology, despite the fact it has been around for numerous years. This may be the reason as to why it's so tough to track them down. This could also explain why so few automotive manufacturers use it in their vehicles, because as far as I know only Toshiba is manufacturing HIR bulbs. I could be wrong, though this is purely speculation. I'm not a lighting guru or nothing I just read a lot. But comparing price to price and specs to specs, HIR bulbs in my opinion beat the Silverstars hands down. If you want to know more and haven't already done so, check out those links I posted or do a search on google. Or, better yet contact Daniel Stern(he's the lighting guru, not me). I'm sure he'll give you all the info you need.

Hope this helps! Any more questions, feel free to ask.