DIY upgraded H9 bulbs for FRS owners

[Ingen]

Woo. That wasn't hard.

[Khánh]

Originally Posted by post_break

Not me personally but here you can see the shitty cutoff of HID.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showt...fit+comparison

the stock cutoff with halogen is not any better...but comparing to HID projectors, then yes, i agree..

[just86]

off topic,

[Ingen]

OK, in the past 3 days I have driven for about 5 hours, all in the dark, and feel qualified to review my awesome new headlight magic.

They're brighter. Ta-dah! No, there's more to this review than that. I drove for the first 1.5 hours on the highway, then pulled over and popped the hood. All the wiring was cold to the touch, right up to the base of the connector which was also cold. The bulb sockets themselves were sort of warm, but that's no great surprise. I have utterly no temperature concerns anymore. The install was easy as well, with only a bit of modification to the bases. I cranked the angle down by 4 1/4 turns, but then brought it back up by about one.

PROCEDURAL NOTE! Point your car at a wall before you start this mod, then turn on the low beams and mark the height on said wall. When you're done, adjust projectors to that height. This will save you a lot of headache wondering if you're blinding people, or if you have them set too low.

As far as visibility, I already said they're brighter! They are noticeably brighter in front, and much more so off to the sides. I REALLY appreciated the new brightness toward the shoulders. As far as the brightness in front of the car, the brights are no longer brighter. They shine higher and further, but the light from the brights that hits the pavement is not brighter than the low beam light.

All in all for 14 bucks I am completely satisfied and would do it again, and will! I keep the H11s in the glove box in case I blow a bulb, but I am really not concerned. Gonna help my dad do the same mod for his honda pilot soon, and i am thinking of upgrading the high beam bulbs as well.

Thanks for the DIY!

[post_break]

Ok so this is my second install. The green tape on the wall shows the original cut off. I only had to adjust the drivers side down about an inch and a half to match the stock. We went for a test drive and it was perfectly aligned. Such a great little mod.

[PNW FRS]

Originally Posted by cobrabyte

FYI: turn the leveling adjustment clockwise to lower the throw and counter-clockwise to raise your throw.

8mm wrench will get 'er done.

Got my H9's from Amazon today... carefully used a utility knife to scrap off that small ridge (explained in DIY), cut off about 1/8" of the larger metal tab, and then swapped out the bulbs.

Note: On my FRS... the cord to the driver's side bulb is pretty long... make working on removing the bulb easy -- remember to depress the plastic tongue to release the bulb. On the passenger side, the cord isn't as long and is actually a tight fit (working room wise) for anyone (like me) with large hands.

Went out tonight for a test drive to see if anyone would start flashing me for having "highs on" and nada... not one flash from about 20 cars (on a flat road). So, I'm going to hold off on any leveling adjustment for the time being.

Nice mod for $14 ($7 on Amazon) and about 20 minutes of time. Whiter light... brighter light... slightly wider throw (probably not actual increase in degree of throw, but seems "wider" b/c of the increased output)

Thanks to the OP!!

[redKnight]

I was browsing amazon and came across this:

Philips H11 CrystalVision Ultra Headlight Bulb, Pack of 2

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Philips-CrystalVision-Ultra-Headlight-Bulb/dp/B00480GYSA/ref=sr_1_6?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1358926525&sr= 1-6"]Philips H11 CrystalVision Ultra Headlight Bulb, Pack of 2 : Amazon.com : Automotive[/ame]


I assume this would work for our cars also?

[PNW FRS]

Originally Posted by redKnight

I was browsing amazon and came across this:

Philips H11 CrystalVision Ultra Headlight Bulb, Pack of 2

Philips H11 CrystalVision Ultra Headlight Bulb, Pack of 2 : Amazon.com : Automotive

I assume this would work for our cars also?

Should be very similar in terms of output of reg H11; just "whiter.". Twice the price of the H9. The H9s should last approx. 500 hours. Some articles state that these enhanced h11s might only last about 250-300 hours. Twice the price... About half the life... and probably not close to matching lumen output.

[coachzizi]

or just get hids lol

[mezdup]

[supramkivtt2jz]

[MmmDieselFumes]

Originally Posted by supramkivtt2jz

I was JUST about to ask for something along those exact lines. Thanks, you're a mind reader!

Thanks for the idea post, I'm about to go pick up some bulbs and give this a whirl.

I'm not sure if anyone's asked it, but has anyone found a cheap and easy DRL/HB bulb mod/swap?

[kALMIGHTY]

So does this DIY result in "white" light to give a sort of HID effect, or is it still the same colour temperature as the stock yellowish colour.

[86WRX]

Don't worry the color temp anything goes beyond 4000K is useless because your eyes get used to see certain colors. Beyond that will be useless lights which you think is "whiter" but it does not mean you see the objects in front of you clearer. The yellow lights claim to cut thru' fog is not scientific supported either, same principle.