SethP

Thought you guys would enjoy taking a look at bulb options...

I tried the whole HID kits and had some bad experiences with low quality kits that barely lasted a week, so I took a stroll down more traditional upgrades.

As most of you likely know, there are a few options for upgrading the headlights without going to HIDs, the ones I considered are as follows: -- to keep it simple, i'm referring to the low beams for this comparison.

• Bulb "upgrade" to Sylvania Ultras (my experience says that they really are better than the standard) - in this scenario, i'm still using 9006 bulbs, the standard low beam fitment
• 9005 conversion, basically in this scenario, you modify high beam sockets to fit into your low beams, 9006 are 55w, 9005 are 65w - putting in a 9005 bulb doesn't make them the same as the high beams, they're just much brighter, yet still pointing low, as low beams should. This mod provides 700 lumens more vs standard 9006 fitments
• 9012 conversion, Converting to 9012 HIR bulbs allows you to stay at the 55w range, while providing an impressive 1100 more lumens vs standard 9006 fitments
• 9011 conversion. This is like the 9012 and 9005 conversion in one. With this you're putting in the 65w, or highbeam bulb, which is also a HIR bulb into the low beam socket. This would provide 1350 more lumens than standard 9006 fitments.

For those who are curious about lumens and such, check out the diagram below I found on another forum:
---------------------------LUMENS----COLOR--------LIFE---
Lowbeam
9006----------55w--------1000------3250k-----1500 hours
9012 HIR2----55w--------2100------3450k-----1000 hours

Highbeam
9005----------65w--------1700------3250k------800 hours
9011 HIR1----65w--------2350------3450k------500 hours

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now, let's get down to what I actually did.

I have been running the 9006 Sylvania Ultras for about a year and have really liked how white and clear they actually look, not to mention how much brighter they are.

I decided I wanted to go brighter, but didn't want to cut my bulb life in half for an extra 250 lumens, for that reason I went with the 9012 HIR bulbs.

My only disappointment was the color it produces - I found that the Sylvanias looked so much whiter and cleaner than the Phillips 9012 bulbs. While the 9012 bulbs are definitely brighter, they brought back some of that yellow color I was so happy to get rid of when I moved to the Sylvanias.

Take a look at some pics below.

Driver side has 9012, passenger side has Sylvania Ultra 9006

gazi001

I had hid kit installed since 2008 but no problem until now. You have to buy good one like kensun hid kits or good quality. QUOTE=SethP;7485479]Thought you guys would enjoy taking a look at bulb options...

I tried the whole HID kits and had some bad experiences with low quality kits that barely lasted a week, so I took a stroll down more traditional upgrades.

As most of you likely know, there are a few options for upgrading the headlights without going to HIDs, the ones I considered are as follows: -- to keep it simple, i'm referring to the low beams for this comparison.

• Bulb "upgrade" to Sylvania Ultras (my experience says that they really are better than the standard) - in this scenario, i'm still using 9006 bulbs, the standard low beam fitment
• 9005 conversion, basically in this scenario, you modify high beam sockets to fit into your low beams, 9006 are 55w, 9005 are 65w - the key here is that low beams are now low beams just because of their brightness, but also their positioning, so putting in a 9005 bulb doesn't make them the same as the high beams, they're just much brighter, yet still pointing low. This mod provides 700 lumens more vs standard 9006 fitments
• 9012 conversion, Converting to 9012 HIR bulbs allows you to stay at the 55w range, while providing an impressive 1100 more lumens vs standard 9006 fitments
• 9011 conversion. This is like the 9012 and 9005 conversion in one. With this you're putting in the 65w, or highbeam bulb, which is also a HIR bulb into the low beam socket. This would provide 1350 more lumens than standard 9006 fitments.

For those who are curious about lumens and such, check out the diagram below I found on another forum:
---------------------------LUMENS----COLOR--------LIFE---
Lowbeam
9006----------55w--------1000------3250k-----1500 hours
9012 HIR2----55w--------2100------3450k-----1000 hours

Highbeam
9005----------65w--------1700------3250k------800 hours
9011 HIR1----65w--------2350------3450k------500 hours

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now, let's get down to what I actually did.

I have been running the 9006 Sylvania Ultras for about a year and have really liked how white and clear they actually look, not to mention how much brighter they are.

I decided I wanted to go brighter, but didn't want to cut my bulb life in half for an extra 250 lumens, for that reason I went with the 9012 HIR bulbs.

My only disappointment was the color it produces - I found that the Sylvanias looked so much whiter and cleaner than the Phillips 9012 bulbs. While the 9012 bulbs are definitely brighter, they brought back some of that yellow color I was so happy to get rid of when I moved to the Sylvanias.

Take a look at some pics below.

Driver side has 9012, passenger side has Sylvania Ultra 9006

[/QUOTE]

hypervish

This is a great thread, I'm sure it will help many people.

I've thought about purchasing a cheap HID kit off of eBay, but I don't think they will last long and I certainly don't want to cause damage to any wiring harnesses. Which is the reason why I'm hesitant to stick a higher wattage bulb in there.

For now, I'll stick with the regular bulbs, once one of them blows I'll have to re-assess the situation. The lighting is fine right now, more than adequate. And, there should be even more light once I replace the blown out upper corner fog lights.

SethP

Oh wow, so don't even get me started on the upper corner lights, these are referred to as auxiliary lights. I've gone through a couple of changes with these as well. Right now I have LEDs in there.

I found some LEDs that have a very forward facing cluster, and were said to be SMD. My only warning here is that half of the LED bulbs on ebay are complete crap and will not last very long. Be sure you get some high quality ones if you want them to last.

I got some cheap ones the first time around, and after they blew in about a month I replaced them with what I thought was higher quality ones, they've been running great for a solid year since. My opinion is that these are also a lot brighter than the original/factory ones. Not to mention, I felt the originals were very yellow, this is ultimately why I went to LEDs instead.

LA4Mead

Those upper corner lights are also a pain in the, well every part of the body to replace. So you want to replace them only once, if at all possible. I'd like to replace them with some really long-lasting LED's, but I also want them to be really bright so they double as a kind of auxiliary lights rather than their original intented purpose, just dim running/parking lights.

If anyone has ideas about a source for, and which to select for real long-lasting, super bright LED's that fit those upper corner (parking) lights, please share. Thanks!

Great job, Seth, and to all those who contributed to this thread! Thank you for sharing your information.

gazi001

Go to here for good quality led bulbs: http://www.superbrightleds.com/