How about doing a retrofit? Halogens to HID projectors. It would involve some work. Those would be the brightest and safest headlights on the road. Checkout the retro fit source web site. Also get on Acura forum. I’m sure someone has done a retrofit over there.
Question about headlight upgrade
- Thread starter Sturg
- Start date
When replacing Halogens's with anything else its about putting the filament/chip in the exact same location as the factory bulb in order to preserve the focus of the reflector or projector. Cheap amazon LED's will not get you there, you're going to have to spend some money. Check out some LED's S-V.4's these are some of the best I have seen for preserving factory reflector or projector optics.
Here is a photo of the S-v.4's in a reflector housing. You can see the cutoff is clean without any glare above the cutoff. As long as the headlights are aimed properly you wont be blinding anyone.
This photo is representative of the headlights I run in my 2021 trailboss with reflector housings. I also run these in the 07 Camry with projector housings. 10X better than stock and I am not blinding anyone.
Here is what you don't want to see, this blinds people and is illegal for good reason...
Here is a photo of the S-v.4's in a reflector housing. You can see the cutoff is clean without any glare above the cutoff. As long as the headlights are aimed properly you wont be blinding anyone.
This photo is representative of the headlights I run in my 2021 trailboss with reflector housings. I also run these in the 07 Camry with projector housings. 10X better than stock and I am not blinding anyone.
Here is what you don't want to see, this blinds people and is illegal for good reason...
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Alla Lighting says your car came with Halogen or HID’s? Presumably you have Halogens?
So after I've detailed to the OP a real $50 solution that preserves intended HB and LB patterns and will produce actual results, we turn to HR marketing videos and bulbs at $200 a set, not designed for the housing, not legal for on-road use, and 6000K color temperature that is a compromise for night vision.
Bowl burn is a real thing. Reflector degradation and lens yellowing on his 12 year old assemblies are almost guaranteed. Additionally, I can almost guarantee his present bulbs are LL versions that are low output for their type. OP needs new housings and if he wants, 9011 and H9 combo for increased output.
But I get it. Housings and best of a kind halogens are less sexy than $27 china Hikarimpowvov LED drop in toys from M-zon.
Check out Retrofit source
Blah Blah Blah.... I guess I missed the memo that made you the "AUTHORITY" on headlight upgrades. I shared not because of marketing but because of real world results. I just used pictures from HR because they were perfectly aligned with my real world results. Check your ego dude.
The HR marketing media is overhyped, but it's out there and it's good for sales, especially of the units that are 10x the cost of the amazon cheapos. Let's get out the LUX meter and measure peak intensities...
I have yet to see a LED chip that replicates the size, cylindrical shape, and emission pattern of a tightly controlled headlamp filament. Not to mention the pattern. That halogen filament emits photons omnidirectionally, filling the reflector. LED chips don't do this. They emit perpendicular to the junction. So an LED chip without an integral lens over it will never fill a reflector. You'll always get light presented unevenly into the (aged and degraded) reflectors. It's not as bad as a laser but it's going to be a ersatz source. OP would be better served with a $50 drop-in 55w HID kit to vaporize whatever might be left of his 12 year old reflectors.
I'm not the authority. The (inconvenient) science is. Check the science behind the product, dude. LED's emit perpendicular light.
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I realize that, but proper placement of the chip makes a huge difference which was the purpose of the first picture I showed. This screenshot was from a video they did for a 2019 trailboss with reflector housings which are the same housings my 2021 has. The beam pattern and cutoff between the LED's I quoted and the stock halogens is almost identical which was the intent of the screenshot/photo
I never brought up HR, you did. I couldn't possibly care less about them or their marketing. I simply showed the difference between a good light pattern and a crappy one that blinds people. That is the main point. Too many people are installing the crappy LED's in reflector housings and blinding people. Driven at night lately?
Meh, my commutes are 100% at night. My 55w HIDs in appropriate projectors ensure that my pupils are adequately constricted to the point I'm really not bothered by oncoming illumination. If I am, my Toshiba 9011 HIR1 high beams are sufficient to get the point across.
If HR (the source of your images?) manages to test all bulbs in all fixtures and arrive at DOT compliant combinations, I'm all ears. If they're only promoting a combination that makes a particular product (that they sell) look good, I remain skeptical. They don't promote H11>H9 swaps, 9005>9011 swaps, or 9006>9012 swaps because there isn't any margin for them in it. Their marketing is based on convincing people that the $200 units they sell are better than the unsafe $20 amazon units. Reality is that they all have the potential for junk results because they all compromise principles of optics.
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I change the headlight bulbs every November with the brightest 9004’s available. Purchased from RockAuto in bulk.
The brightest bulbs don’t last long but I don’t really care.
I want the highest visibility possible.
The brightest bulbs don’t last long but I don’t really care.
I want the highest visibility possible.
9004. Talk about starting life at a disadvantage.
For sure. Fortunately the +30% and +50% bulbs make a significant improvement.
I think Acura offered hid as an option. You can likely get oem replacements then install the rest
This is the best option.
I’m gonna put on a critical thinking hat for a second. I’ve started to catch something that I didn’t see before. In other words, I’ve been fooled and figured it out. Go back and look at the post 22. The LEDs shown indeed have a crisp cutoff. Excellent. It’s what I would look for too. You know what, it also has glare, even through the cutoff. How can you tell? The cutoff itself is crisp - there is a fine line and that is the edge where the excellent contrast is shown. As a consumer, I’m convinced. BUT WAIT. Compare the two again. The area over the yellow halogen is black. There’s no light going up there. Look closely at the LED… it’s not black. There’s indeed a cutoff, but there’s light above the line, and any stray light above the line is a problem. Furthermore, if the good light is that much hotter than the halogen, the camera iris/exposure will have dialed back, meaning the bleed over the line is also dialed back in the photo, meaning that it’s worse in real life.
If you look closely in that picture, turn up your screen brightness if you need to, you’ll see it.
I’m not going to bash LEDs. Having done a number of mods, I am guilty of changing things around. I’ve always discarded attempts that don’t work. LEDs can be effective in projector upgrades. And since a lot of the oem LEDs have become rather obnoxious (I unfortunately drive one), the better LED drop-ins by comparison, well, might not be any worse, within reason (there are some high-lumen kits on our local roads that do indeed go way too far here). BUT - as I’ve learned and stated above - it’s not JUST the cutoff. It’s also the distribution (not discussed here). And even if the cutoff is clean, doesn’t mean that the light above the cutoff is near zero where it should be.
The majority of LED drop-ins I see up here bleed. There have been a couple of vehicles I’ve noted which seem to have drop-ins but don’t seem to bleed - like sitting in the dentist’s chair with that big spotlight on my mouth and none of the light is in my eyes kinda thing, and I’m curious to know what they have found. I’d promote those….
If you look closely in that picture, turn up your screen brightness if you need to, you’ll see it.
I’m not going to bash LEDs. Having done a number of mods, I am guilty of changing things around. I’ve always discarded attempts that don’t work. LEDs can be effective in projector upgrades. And since a lot of the oem LEDs have become rather obnoxious (I unfortunately drive one), the better LED drop-ins by comparison, well, might not be any worse, within reason (there are some high-lumen kits on our local roads that do indeed go way too far here). BUT - as I’ve learned and stated above - it’s not JUST the cutoff. It’s also the distribution (not discussed here). And even if the cutoff is clean, doesn’t mean that the light above the cutoff is near zero where it should be.
The majority of LED drop-ins I see up here bleed. There have been a couple of vehicles I’ve noted which seem to have drop-ins but don’t seem to bleed - like sitting in the dentist’s chair with that big spotlight on my mouth and none of the light is in my eyes kinda thing, and I’m curious to know what they have found. I’d promote those….
This was going to be my suggestion. A quick look at the wiring diagram shows no difference between the HID and halogen lamps, so it may take some slight wiring adjustments but with a good used set of OEM HID lamps the OP would be good to go.
2013 RDX HID headlamp assembly
2013 RDX Halogen headlamp assembly
Comparing the two, it appears that the only difference in the two assemblies is the location of the low-beam connection. The halogen has the connector built into the dust cap, whereas on the HID unit it connects to the ballast instead. There's even provisions on the bottom of the halogen assembly for the HID ballast, suggesting that Honda changes very little between the two types.
The headlight assembly might look identical but if they're reflectors they're definitely shared different due to the light source ie hid vs halogen and luminous output. Check to see if its a D1s D1r or D2s , D2r
Not quite sure what you were trying to get across here, but when I said "identical" I was referencing physical fitment on the vehicle. The HID projectors most certainly have different optics than the halogen projectors, which is why the OP can't just throw HID capsules in his original housings. Installing OE HID assemblies will solve any light output issues, as long as the wiring can be adapted (should it need to be at all).
Must be that time of year when people are driving in the dark again.
Those gains, are however generally temporary because the additional light/heat of the HID (including poorly controlled UV output of cheap conversions) makes quick work of whatever reflective coating is left on the projector bowls.
I personally stick to 4k-5k bulbs. The "innovited" kits are pretty good for the cost but there's a definite improvement to Morimoto branded rebased bulbs, ballasts, ignitors, etc. Reiterate, please do not put these kits in a fog light (no glare shield), high beam (they don't like to be cycled), or reflector-based low beam.
For the OP, it might be well possible to bolt in a set of the factory (or aftermarket replacement) HID housings, new or in good shape. For highs, likely 9005, convert to 9011 Toshibas. For lows, rather than use the OE D4s bulb, use a D2s with aftermarket ballasts and ignitors and plug into factory LB supply wiring. Morimoto bulbs and ballasts can be had for under $100. The HID bulbs would be $50 to $120 depending on taste. High beam bulbs, $45. Housings, whatever. The projectors themselves wouldn't be state of the art, but nonetheless pretty close.
As much as I bash drop in LEDs, many of the OE halogen projectors (including the Japanese ones) do really well with a rebased HID conversion kit in them. I have said HID conversions in two vehicles that are factory halogen projectors. The additional output brute forces rather than solves the problem of low efficiency (aged) housings where the lens and/or reflector (projector bowl) aren't passing all the lumens to the road.
Those gains, are however generally temporary because the additional light/heat of the HID (including poorly controlled UV output of cheap conversions) makes quick work of whatever reflective coating is left on the projector bowls.
I personally stick to 4k-5k bulbs. The "innovited" kits are pretty good for the cost but there's a definite improvement to Morimoto branded rebased bulbs, ballasts, ignitors, etc. Reiterate, please do not put these kits in a fog light (no glare shield), high beam (they don't like to be cycled), or reflector-based low beam.
For the OP, it might be well possible to bolt in a set of the factory (or aftermarket replacement) HID housings, new or in good shape. For highs, likely 9005, convert to 9011 Toshibas. For lows, rather than use the OE D4s bulb, use a D2s with aftermarket ballasts and ignitors and plug into factory LB supply wiring. Morimoto bulbs and ballasts can be had for under $100. The HID bulbs would be $50 to $120 depending on taste. High beam bulbs, $45. Housings, whatever. The projectors themselves wouldn't be state of the art, but nonetheless pretty close.