Want to upgrade your headlights the right way? Read here.

[Gixxersixxerman]

Originally Posted by msile

Theoretically some of the OP's / Daniel post may be accurate, but I disagree with the TRS diatribe. Practically, the visible end result is more valuable. I went the TRS route, with projectors and proper cutoffs. The product was well made, there is only one way to mount the lens and it is VERY secure (center of gravity.....please).

What I experience is MUCH better lighting than stock. No bulb vibration (impossible with the screws holding the lens in place), no gaseous interference from silicon (used factory adhesive) etc, etc, etc.

I think he is referring to people that just use TRS projectors and not the proper housings, the mini H1 kit designed for our cars, and the H1 kit in general, is a well designed housing and kit..

http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/forum.php

Great forum with everything you could think of about hid kits, from the cheaper ones we use to very expensive high end kits

[msile]

Originally Posted by Gixxersixxerman

I think he is referring to people that just use TRS projectors and not the proper housings, the mini H1 kit designed for our cars, and the H1 kit in general, is a well designed housing and kit..

http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/forum.php

Great forum with everything you could think of about hid kits, from the cheaper ones we use to very expensive high end kits

Ahhhhh. Apologies.

[Gixxersixxerman]

Originally Posted by msile

Ahhhhh. Apologies.

He could be talking about our kits... Idk... But there is no cutting or painting, that's what makes me think he means projector only and not housings.. But he does have a point with the high and lows lol.. I'm still working on getting them perfect

[Khánh]

Originally Posted by Gixxersixxerman

He could be talking about our kits... Idk... But there is no cutting or painting, that's what makes me think he means projector only and not housings.. But he does have a point with the high and lows lol.. I'm still working on getting them perfect

yes from his response, sounds like he's talking about normal retrofit which, putting a HID projectors into a reflector housing, hence cutting.. I don't have the TRS kit, but looking installation pix, it looks pretty sturdy to me, as sturdy as stock projectors...

[SkAsphalt]

Originally Posted by JonnyRocket

Daniel Stern is widely regarded as an authority on automotive lighting. As for why HID kits and projectors are usually a terrible idea, look here: Thinking of converting to HID? - It's due to many factors, like bulb shape and housing design.

Nothing in that article discusses replaces a halogen projector with a HID calibrated projector using the factory mounts. I have read that article many times, it is why I went the route I did - which is a proper retrofit

[Ingen]

OK, in a mad dash to pull this thread back on topic...

Do you guys think that upgrading the low beams (h11 to h9) would be beneficial enough to skip the high beam bulbs, or should I do it all at once? Since it is all halogen I would not think I would have a color difference, but I am unsure of that.

Has anyone done the upgrade yet, or will I be the one making the thread?

[PNW FRS]

Originally Posted by Ingen

OK, in a mad dash to pull this thread back on topic...

Do you guys think that upgrading the low beams (h11 to h9) would be beneficial enough to skip the high beam bulbs, or should I do it all at once? Since it is all halogen I would not think I would have a color difference, but I am unsure of that.

Has anyone done the upgrade yet, or will I be the one making the thread?

I just did the H9 mod last night and IMHO it puts out so much light that I'm going to stay with stock Hi-beams for the time being. $7 a bulb... what a great (and value-based) mod!

Did some research and found "opinions" that H9 bulbs should last approximately 500 hours. So... do the math.. figure out an average amount of time you drive with headlights and you'll have an approximate projection of when you'll need to replace the bulb.

Example: 30 minute commute each way in the dark each work day... 1 hr... 500 hour expected life... 500 days... plan on the bulbs lasting at least a year. (Longer commutes and weekend driving routines... factor that in too.)

To put this in context of other types of hi-output bulbs... I put Silverstars (about $17 ea on Amazon) in my wifes SUV and they only last about 1.5 year (based on her driving routine).

So... I'll be keeping a spare set (maybe the OEM H11s...) on-board after I've run these H9s for over a year. I ordered 4 bulbs on Amazon (to get the free shipping) so the next set is already modded and ready-to-go.

As always... YMMV

[Ingen]

Originally Posted by PNW FRS

I just did the H9 mod last night and IMHO it puts out so much light that I'm going to stay with stock Hi-beams for the time being. YMMV

Agreed. Below the cutoffs, the beam of the high beams is invisible. The low-beam... beam... sort of eats it up. So when the highs are on it just looks like you moved the low beam cutoff upwards, IMO.

Also, THIS WAS SO EASY, and it's so good. I love it.

[mangostick]

Aha, good to know I can use that extra pair of H9 bulbs I have laying around. I did the same conversion on my '10 wrx (shares same H11 lowbeam) and it was a pretty solid improvement. I originally bought two pairs of H9's because of the reported short lifespan.. funny enough they lasted a little over a 18 months before one burned out. For what they cost a year n half or so worth of use is reasonable.

So far I've found the FRS headlights to be ok with the factory bulbs but more output is always desirable. I think after work this evening I'm going to try this out n maybe gets some pics.

[mangostick]

K so here are the pics. Driver side is H9.. passenger is factory H11.





You can see that the H9 is a little whiter and the pattern looks a little more full especially toward the middle and bottom of the hot spot. The cutoff is unchanged so no worry about blinding oncoming drivers.

Driving impression;

As mentioned, it was a little whiter and the pattern out to the sides and front is filled in better. There aren't any deep shadows like before in the foreground and the lights do seem to reach out better than before. Over all not a huge improvement but probably one that will show up better in bad weather where light output seems at its worst.

[Fizz]

Hi guys, I'm curious to know how this would compare against the H9 in terms of lumens output? I've used these before in another vehicle with pretty good results, plus its a direct fit no need to trim anything.

I know the H9 would be awesome in terms of light output, but I don't really want to go with that coz of the extra fiddling around, extra heat, and reduced lifespan. Not going to bother with cheapo eBay HID kits either, been there done that....can't be stuffed doing that again.

[PNW FRS]

Originally Posted by Fizz

Hi guys, I'm curious to know how this would compare against the H9 in terms of lumens output? I've used these before in another vehicle with pretty good results, plus its a direct fit no need to trim anything.

I know the H9 would be awesome in terms of light output, but I don't really want to go with that coz of the extra fiddling around, extra heat, and reduced lifespan. Not going to bother with cheapo eBay HID kits either, been there done that....can't be stuffed doing that again.

From my reading... my guess is that the H11 "Extreme" or " ultra" bulb will be "whiter" but not as many lumens as the H9. And since they cost almost twice as much as the H9 and might only last about 250-300 hours... The H9 option is a better value in addition to the higher output. My other rig has factory HIDs and for giggles I drove it this evening and the H9 in the FRS is just about as bright -- IMHO. Doing the H9 bulb mod is a minor thing... I have to left thumbs and even I didn't mess it up. Note: you do have to take the short tab down all the way to the base for the bulb to securely fit onto the hookup (plug) so have a small (thin) file handy to get deep into the socket.

Color does not equate to lumens... the good news is that as one tinkers with possible options, the cost is relatively nominal.

[Fizz]

Originally Posted by PNW FRS

From my reading... my guess is that the H11 "Extreme" or " ultra" bulb will be "whiter" but not as many lumens as the H9. And since they cost almost twice as much as the H9 and might only last about 250-300 hours... The H9 option is a better value in addition to the higher output. My other rig has factory HIDs and for giggles I drove it this evening and the H9 in the FRS is just about as bright -- IMHO. Doing the H9 bulb mod is a minor thing... I have to left thumbs and even I didn't mess it up. Note: you do have to take the short tab down all the way to the base for the bulb to securely fit onto the hookup (plug) so have a small (thin) file handy to get deep into the socket.

Color does not equate to lumens... the good news is that as one tinkers with possible options, the cost is relatively nominal.

Cheers mate. But I think you may have mistaken the Philips Xtreme Vision range with their other "crystal vision" or "diamond vision" range. The later two have a higher kelvin rating giving them a whitish appearance. But these generally have lower lumen output than even the oem bulbs (not sure by how much though).

But the Xtreme Vision range claims to be "+100% brighter and +35m longer beam" than standard bulbs. The kelvin rating is similar to oem therefore colour wise looks stock. But I was curious to know how many lumens it actually produces.

Just wanted some comparison against the H9 bulbs in terms of lumen output....not saying either is better or worse than the other

[PNW FRS]

Tried this H9 "conversion" mod back when I first got the car in Jan 2013. I've gone over two years and 30K miles w/o an issue. I've got brighter (although not "whiter") illumination than OEM H11 bulbs.

Anyway, ordered two more bulbs off of eBay for about $15... spent about 5 min. per bulb to use an Exacto Knife to shave down the smaller plastic guide... and about 20 seconds to trim off the little bit of the metal from the larger of the three mounting tabs.... and I've changed out to some new bulbs... a proactive change "just b/c" I'll have some peace-of-mind that I shouldn't loose a bulb in the near-future.

All this said, I am looking at some options for LED 9005 and H11... to get the massive illumination and higher-temp color. We'll see how much that ends up costing... or... I'll just leave well-enough alone and save some $$.

Thanks again to OP for a great low-cost mod.