Brighter Headlight Bulbs ?

[johnmyster]

Bulbs do grow dimmer, especially long life (LL) oe models. Reflectors and housings also.

Most Huyndais of the era use 9005 high beams. I can wholeheartedly guarantee you'll get more light out of a Toshiba 9011 bulb. A pair can be had for $24 on ebay. You won't find any bulb brighter.

If I knew what kind of low beam bulb you needed we might could make similar recommendation.

Edit - appears the low beam is HID, D3S on a Sonata. Well, factory reflectors are prone to "bowl burn" but you might get some increased output out of a fresh set of bulbs. Philips Extravision and Osram Night Breaker Gen-2 are considered king of the hill in replacement HID bulbs. I'm assuming that would also be true in the D3s format (and not the typically referenced D2s).

I'm kinda amazed (disappointed) on how many specific bulb suggestions you got without anyone honing in on the required types. If I'm correct about D3S, you can take all the halogen low beam and LED retrofit suggestions and ignore them.

 

[f355spider]

Bulbs do grow dimmer, especially long life (LL) oe models. Reflectors and housings also.

Most Huyndais of the era use 9005 high beams. I can wholeheartedly guarantee you'll get more light out of a Toshiba 9011 bulb. A pair can be had for $24 on ebay. You won't find any bulb brighter.

If I knew what kind of low beam bulb you needed we might could make similar recommendation.

Edit - appears the low beam is HID, D3S on a Sonata. Well, factory reflectors are prone to "bowl burn" but you might get some increased output out of a fresh set of bulbs. Philips Extravision and Osram Night Breaker Gen-2 are considered king of the hill in replacement HID bulbs. I'm assuming that would also be true in the D3s format (and not the typically referenced D2s).

I'm kinda amazed (disappointed) on how many specific bulb suggestions you got without anyone honing in on the required types. If I'm correct about D3S, you can take all the halogen low beam and LED retrofit suggestions and ignore them.

The only issue with the Toshiba HIRs is shorter life. Common with higher output bulbs in general.

In the 9012 size, I have found Hella offering a long life 9012 HIR bulb. Inexpensive too. Maybe they will offer in a 9011 eventually...
https://www.rallylights.com/hella-9012ll-12v-55w-long-life-bulb-each.html

 

[WeyounDS9]

Yes, the bulbs absolutely get dimmer with age.
Reflectors on all but the most high end brands may also lose reflectiveness.

Phillips Xtremevision do actually put out more light but their lfie expectancy is shortened.
The Phillips are IMHO much better than the Sylvania Silverstars and come in differnet levels of overbrightness.

Dont pick the brightest model they burn out in 4-6 months, get the 2nd brighest phillips.

 

[Sequoiasoon]

The 3 Hyundai's I've had and helped with, the projectors and reflectors react well with LED or HID. I prefer HID as you can get them in a 4300-5000k color temperature which is not as glaring white. A bit more work to set up with the extra ballasts but not hard. Aiming is key on what you have and after swap.

Phillips Extreme or Osram Nightbreaker is real easy and not expensive.

For LED's the new Morimoto 2Stroke 4.0 is NOT inexpensive but If any of my current lights burn out I might try them. My daughter has Nineo LED in her H4 CRV. They maintain beam pattern on high and low. Nineo LED on right, Silverstar Halogen on left. The LED did have to be turned in the base to get it aligned.

Method for headlights and foglights I have used for over 40 years from Hella instructions. Let me add that my wife's '19 Pilot, the factory fog lights were WAY low and had to come up a couple turns. Her headlights were aimed too high and had to come down. I drive at night a lot. This will have them aimed at a slight down angle so you don't blind others but get the max lighting potential down road.

Do each light individually by blocking the others with something. I normally just lay a microfiber or something over them.

Find a flat area 25-30 feet away from a wall. Measure from ground to center of foglight (or headlight). Go to wall and measure/mark a line 1-2" lower than at car measurement. Adjust the light up/down to meet that marked line on wall. Might be easiest in evening and headlights covered.

and a video on it
How to aim headlights

 

[Skippy722]

Sorry I want the eye pleasing head lights of the 60's. Night vision people can't tolerate the overly bright head lamps.

And that’s why my truck has halogen headlights. There’s just something about the LED’s that feels…. Wrong. Why can’t we have warm white LED’s?

 

[TiGeo]

If these are standard halogen bulbs there are some overdrive ones that work well. I like Osram Nightbreaker Laser. They are a bit brighter than standard bulbs.

 

[97prizm]

On my beloved 26 yr. old Mazda protege, I put in some Phillips "Extra Vision" 20% brighter low beam bulbs. Fantastic! (Cleaned & coated the headlight covers as well.) It seems to me after seeing the LED headlight cars going in front of me, my light is less directional and spreads more light evenly. Different color temps, but I see just fine w/my halogen bulbs. I don't think I blind oncoming drivers. Some of these LED headlights are just too much. Just another example of no government oversight and letting car manufactures do anything they want. (Just wait tell you have to replace an LED housing! $$$) Too much complexity, bring back old and simply. Cars with souls and personality.

That's why hid or later on BMW's laser headlights were peak performance. No glare, better cutoff and higher output. Halogens really are a relic of the past when speed limits were 50-55 mph.

 

[johnmyster]

The only issue with the Toshiba HIRs is shorter life. Common with higher output bulbs in general.

In the 9012 size, I have found Hella offering a long life 9012 HIR bulb. Inexpensive too. Maybe they will offer in a 9011 eventually...
https://www.rallylights.com/hella-9012ll-12v-55w-long-life-bulb-each.html

Acknowledged. For $12 a bulb, I keep a spare set of 9011s on hand. Also, for high beam output I really don’t see reduced life as meaningful. The set in my commuter is at three years.

The top tier 9012 is the Vosla +50 and +120. Again, $15 a bulb. You can put a 9011 in that hole if you don’t need a glare shield.

A long life 9012 is an oxymoron.

 

[Sequoiasoon]

That's why hid or later on BMW's laser headlights were peak performance. No glare, better cutoff and higher output. Halogens really are a relic of the past when speed limits were 50-55 mph.

All the highways by me are still 55mph and many of these have no street lights with many animals. Thruway further upstate is 65 mph. 2 lane roads to hunting are 55.

@Skippy722 - check out doing a set of HID with 5000k bulbs and 55W ballasts. This in my Accord with projectors and actually looks a bit whiter than what they are.

These are the factory LED Fogs on my Pilot that are the same as the headlights. iPhone 13 nothing adjusted so does what it does for white balance and sensitivity. Actual on road IMO the HID's in Accord cover more and definitely don't glare as much off wet roads, signs and others.

 

[Sequoiasoon]

Acknowledged. For $12 a bulb, I keep a spare set of 9011s on hand. Also, for high beam output I really don’t see reduced life as meaningful. The set in my commuter is at three years.

The top tier 9012 is the Vosla +50 and +120. Again, $15 a bulb. You can put a 9011 in that hole if you don’t need a glare shield.

A long life 9012 is an oxymoron.

I keep at least 1 of each of my halogen low and high in the cars I swapped to HID and LED. Only had to swap one once but of course that was a crappy night, middle of nowhere. Happy to have had them in the trunk.

 

[ChrisD46]

It appears bulbs in that Sylvania Silver Star 9005 series class range would be brighter than stock bulbs yet last longer than Ultras . What would same be by Phillips ?

 

[Sumboodie]

After changing to Led its hard to imagine how we lived without them all these years. I do wish people would adjust them after they put in a set though, it's hard on oncoming traffic.

It's not possible to correctly adjust LED "bulbs" that are put into the incorrect style headlight housing. (Typically designed for halogen bulbs)

 

[I<3oil]

And that’s why my truck has halogen headlights. There’s just something about the LED’s that feels…. Wrong. Why can’t we have warm white LED’s?

We can. DDmTuning makes some in 3000K and 4500K. I have the 4500K in my Silverado projectors. It’s virtually the same as OEM but quite a bit brighter.

 

[TiGeo]

Unless you've spent the time using these products personally testing etc....

Post in thread 'OEM Headlights upgrade to LED White Bright Headlights' https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/t...d-white-bright-headlights.379242/post-6791702

 

[johnmyster]

The difficult thing with saying that brighter bulbs “maintain pattern” and so they’re a good fit, is that maintaining pattern only gets you so far.

A well designed factory setup, even with a dim bulb gives you enough foreground to see things close for slow speeds, leak enough up-light (above the cutoff) to see signs and for the brain to process movement of trees, and enough side light for turning and for the brain to process peripheral. Even if the distribution is identical, throwing in a 300% brighter HID bulb results in 300% more foreground, 300% more up light and 300% more ditch light.

So that’s 3x the light into oncoming traffic and an overblown foreground that actually constricts your pupils. My experience, the excess foreground is the biggest problem. Neither the excess foreground or uplight can be adjusted/aimed.

Because of this one of my cars (and perhaps two) will soon be getting their headlights opened up to swap the burned out factory halogen projectors to HID projectors. The goal is to put that extra energy down road while avoiding excessive foreground, uplight, sidelight, etc.

I’ve been doing brighter halogens for two years now, and have recently experimented with drop in HID setups. This is my main issue with the claims of the drop in LEDs. Even if patterns are maintained, yeah they’re brighter but I haven’t found that to necessarily mean better. Too much of a good thing applies.

 

[johnmyster]

And that’s why my truck has halogen headlights. There’s just something about the LED’s that feels…. Wrong. Why can’t we have warm white LED’s?

Cheap LEDs have greater efficiencies (lumens per watt) at higher temp. 6000 K is easy. 4000 K is hard. 10-15 years ago during the efficiency push for home LEDs, this was a challenge, efficient, high output in usable colors 2700-3500 K. Philips was the first to solve the problem.

The market is driven by 1) cheap and 2) the trashy aesthetic of the Japanese and euro tuner scene, fast and the furious, grand theft auto that plays out in high school, movie theater, and mall parking lots on the weekends. Not by studies in what actually works best for night vision in various conditions.

Someday fashion will will get back to ~3500 K HIR1/HIR2 bulbs, the H9, and/or 4000 K HIDs.

 

[ChrisD46]

Research here and elsewhere indicates I should stay with halogen bulbs . Also brighter than Basic / OEM bulbs dong last as long . Now retired , I don’t drive as much as I used to and living in a rural area there are no street lights . I’m leaning on splitting the difference and go up one or two brightness levels but not the highest brightness halogen bulbs with the shortest life span . Initially looking at Sylvania Silver Star 9005 style but open to Phillips 9005 or others with a good reputation.

 

[f355spider]

Research here and elsewhere indicates I should stay with halogen bulbs . Also brighter than Basic / OEM bulbs dong last as long . Now retired , I don’t drive as much as I used to and living in a rural area there are no street lights . I’m leaning on splitting the difference and go up one or two brightness levels but not the highest brightness halogen bulbs with the shortest life span . Initially looking at Sylvania Silver Star 9005 style but open to Phillips 9005 or others with a good reputation.

This is the way...

 

[f355spider]

Cheap LEDs have greater efficiencies (lumens per watt) at higher temp. 6000 K is easy. 4000 K is hard. 10-15 years ago during the efficiency push for home LEDs, this was a challenge, efficient, high output in usable colors 2700-3500 K. Philips was the first to solve the problem.

The market is driven by 1) cheap and 2) the trashy aesthetic of the Japanese and euro tuner scene, fast and the furious, grand theft auto that plays out in high school, movie theater, and mall parking lots on the weekends. Not by studies in what actually works best for night vision in various conditions.

Someday fashion will will get back to ~3500 K HIR1/HIR2 bulbs, the H9, and/or 4000 K HIDs.

Something to be said about Color Rendering Index or CRI with any time of lighting. I sold surgery lights for over a decade and CRI and shadow control (from your head blocking the light) were very important. Evaluating tissue is difficult when the lights are too blue and CRI is low. Blue was found to be very fatiguing over time. The CRI was affected by the often heavy filtering done to reduce heat on those standing underneath and at the surgical site. At the time, halogen bulbs in various forms were the norm. Now it is LED, usually mixed, in various types to improve CRI. They also use cameras to see when your head is blocking some LEDs and increase the intensity to those not blocked to maintain even illumination values.

 

[f355spider]

Acknowledged. For $12 a bulb, I keep a spare set of 9011s on hand. Also, for high beam output I really don’t see reduced life as meaningful. The set in my commuter is at three years.

The top tier 9012 is the Vosla +50 and +120. Again, $15 a bulb. You can put a 9011 in that hole if you don’t need a glare shield.

A long life 9012 is an oxymoron.

The lumens ratings are very similar between the Hella HIR2 and the Vosla +120. Yet the Hella is half the price and has significantly (rated) longer life of 1500 hours versus 75-150 hours.

Did you look at the link to the Hella product? Maybe not? Or maybe I'm missing something?