80/100 watt headlights

[Digger]

I think this would be a better way to light up the road than my driving light Idea. I also think I will put a set of 100 watt bulbs in the fogs.

[SeattleJeremy]

I think your asking for Melted housings. I once put 37w bulbs in my 22w fog lights, and it melted them really well. Stock has a 55w bulb. 80w/100w bulbs out off a lot more heat.

[Digger]

I can't be the first to try this. there are many people doing it in other cars. I just want to make sure I get the white bulbs and not the blue bulbs. Any ideas?

[Whelan]

A higher wattage white bulb???Any bulb that is going to be white is going to have some sort of coating on it. Silverstars even have a very very light blue coating on them and do not last very long either. So if you do a lot of night driving, stay away.Another note, the reason companies have 80/100W bulbs is because they are compensating for the bulb coloring. So when you see the blue bulbs or purple ones from Nokya or the like, they are drawing more power to increase the light output because Lighting 101, colored glass or films on headlights does not mean more light output. Even Silverstars which are rated at 65W instead of the normal 55W use more power. If you must go this route, look also for harness upgrades so that you will not fry your wiring and be stuck with a bigger problem.I went a different route after being sick of constantly changing my Silverstars. I got Toshiba 9012 HIR bulbs for my low beams. A few others on here have them as well and like them. The bulb has an Infrared coating on the glass that reflects the IR light back onto the filament making it genuinely brighter w/o any extra power draw. I have used this with great success, I just need to adjust my headlights since they are aimed fairly low, that is tonights quick fix. The bulbs are sold by John Deere for their 9000 series tractors (the big ones in farmland) and cost about the same as Silverstars. Here is a lumens comparison, with average life span and cost:And FYI: Kelvin Temps of bulbs have absolutely NOTHING to do with light output. That is simple for color. The real scale is Lumens which rates the brightness of a bulb:This is for Low BeamsStandard OEM Halogen 1000 Lumens, 800 hour life, $6Sylvania Xtravision 1060 Lumens, 300 hour life, $10GE Nighthawk 1150 Lumens, 250 hour life, $14Toshiba 9012 HIR 1800 Lumens, 800 hour life, $22Sylvania Silverstar 910 Lumens, 150 hour life, $20The standard OEM Halogen is what it is, and has a good life span.The Xtravisions are simply a slight upgrade of a stock OEM bulb, but with more output (not by much) you get an exponentially shorter life span.The GE Nighthawks have a fairly good review and are again not pure white, and once again VERY short life span.The HIR bulb is the best of all the technologies, the beam is brighter, farther, wider, a bit whiter, but not by much and throws out as much light as your high beam. High beam is 1750-1800 average lumens. Not to mention you get the same lifespan as a standard OEM halogen bulb.The Silverstars put out a whiter light than all the others and you can see what you can see very well, but the distance and width of your beam will be crap. Another side note is that a short lifespan such as 150 hours relates to this. I do not have my DRLs on, I bypassed them, I drive at night fairly often and only was able to get a maximum of 3-4 months tops out of these bulbs. So figure that is 150 hours so the others would net me maybe 8 months max. I am not one to change bulbs every year. With the HIR I can change them as you would a normal bulb and for the price you get every penny's worth. Also Sylvania has just released a new headlamp bulb, the "Sylvania Silverstar Ultra". I have not tried these yet but the general concensus among forum users seems positive. The specs on these new bulbs are decent: 1000 lumens (H3 low beam), 30% longer life than a regular Silverstar, and a 4000k color temperature. Be warned though that 30% longer than a regular Silverstar is still not very long and that these bulbs are expensive, retailing for about $50 for a pair, but fair weather visibility should be somewhat better than a regular halogen.Here is a sidenote I pulled from a review site:So here's where the "Xenon" or "Plasma" bulbs come in. They promise a higher color temperature and the increased visibility of HID, at the price of a regular halogen bulb. Look, there is no free lunch, and if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. These "Xenon" bulbs just have a bluish layer added to a regular halogen bulb's glass, filtering out the yellowish rays and making the light whiter. The problem here is, because its filtering out some of the light, the amount of light projected onto the road is decreased significantly.So how can they be advertised as "Brighter" and "greater visibility"? Simple, because "brighter" is ambiguious and subjective, just like "louder" or "better". "greater visibility" is pretty much a lie no matter how its sliced, but its also subjective. Pure white light does have the advantage of improving contrast and, given the same light output, will improve visibility in clear conditions. The problem is that the bulbs with coating on them have a heavily reduced light output. I can guarantee that using a "Xenon" bulb will NOT make you see better, although maybe you will be convinced it has because you just spent money on them.Also, the "before and after" shots that seem to "prove" how much brighter these new bulbs are should be ignored. Cameras can skew contrast and brightness very readily, and even the photos themselves can easily be manipulated to show the blue Xenon bulb as much brighter. In some of the shots you can even tell that the entire picture had been brightened because objects outside of the beam pattern are much brighter as well.Another problem with the bluish color of the light is that it scatters more readily in poor visibility conditions. This is why some cars have (or used to have) yellow fog lights - the yellow is better illuminating through bad weather. The blue color is also more irritating to the human eye which is why true HID systems can be annoying to drivers. The natural yellowish tint of halogens is not as bad as its made out to be. Also avoid all higher-wattage bulbs for obvious reasons - they put off more heat, they consume more power. Your car was not meant to use a 100 watt headlight bulb, and you might suffer electrical problems due to overcurrent or headlight housing issues because they put out so much heat.This i probably more than you wanted to ever know but from my past experiences and plenty of $$$ I have come to the conclusion that the HIR is the best bulb next to a full fledged HID system you can get.

[ragingfish]

you're gonna melt your wiring.

[Baltovibe]

Quote, originally posted by Whelan »I went a different route after being sick of constantly changing my Silverstars. I got Toshiba 9012 HIR bulbs for my low beams. A few others on here have them as well and like them. The bulb has an Infrared coating on the glass that reflects the IR light back onto the filament making it genuinely brighter w/o any extra power draw. I have used this with great success, I just need to adjust my headlights since they are aimed fairly low, that is tonights quick fix. The bulbs are sold by John Deere for their 9000 series tractors (the big ones in farmland) and cost about the same as Silverstars.Whelan, I think your Matrix takes the 9006 bulb which can use the Toshiba 9012, whereas the Vibe takes the 9003 bulb. I don't think the Toshiba 9012 will fit the Vibe. I see that Toshiba offers a 9011 which replaces the 9005. Is there another Toshiba HIR that replaces the 9003, and might fit the Vibe?http://www.finemotoring.com

[Whelan]

Crap! I keep forgetting that you guys/gals have one lamp for high/low whereas my Trix is 9005 for high and 9006 for low. Lemme check this out for ya!

[Altus]

No - there is no HIR replacement for the 9003 / H4 bulbs. HIR bulbs are single filament only, and the 9003 is a dual-filament.HIR 9011 = 9005HIR 9021 = 9006

[Baltovibe]

Quote, originally posted by Altus »HIR 9021 = 9006Thanks for the info ... hopefully they will make HIRs compatible with 9003.BTW, HIR 9012 = 9006

[Whelan]

They may not be Toshibas but Raybirg makes an HIR bulb for different applications. They actually have a 9006 one that you do not have to clip the tab down to make it fit in the holder. Look up Raybirg HIR and see what you can find. One thing I heard is they are not quite up to par as the Toshibas (since Toshiba bought the technology from GE and revamped it to be better and more reliable). I'm actually surprised these have not come out for many applications. I wish Toshiba could see the potential for these in mass market production.

[Legros]

Cool info whelan.. thanks.The toshiba (Toshiba 9012 HIR) seems hard to find...? Anyway not much hit on ebay...

[DavidPIL]

Would these fit in the fogs of the Vibe? I'm thinking there is a metal ring that the bulb slides into that directs the light into the reflector part. These bulbs look mighty fat. Would they even fit into that ring?Just a thought... But if they do fit and if these are that much better, I would think the 9005 conversion would make for some very nice fogs! Considering upgrading my wiring harness for the lights anyway. Might just get a 9005 plug, wire it in then all I have to do is adjust the one tab on the bulb. Dave

[Whelan]

The 9012 Toshiba bulb is only sold on Ebay by one guy for $26 a bulb. JDparts.com has the low and high beam 9012, 9011 for sale. They have upped the price so it costs almost $50 a pair now. I think they got wind of the amount of people buying these for their cars and gained some $$$ along the way. Not bad though considering how much a quality bulb costs nowadays, and for the light output and life of the bulb you def. get your money's worth.

[Digger]

I had the 80/100 bulbs in my mountaineer and the 100 wat bulbs in the fogs with no wire damage. I will get the pig tail for the headlight though just to be safe. http://www.crutchfield.com/S-u...40282h ... -u...70092

[Whelan]

Some cars can handle the wattage. I know for a fact Honda's and VW's cannot. My Saturn took 100W Naxos lights fine. But I have never been a fan of high wattage bulbs since. They burn EXTREMELY hot.The 9012 HIR should fit fine in the foglamp. If a 9006 can fit, so can this. The glass is bulbous but not as much as you think.