3rd & 4th Generation (1992–1996 & 1997–2001)Toyota Camry Discussion for years: 1992-1996 & 1997-2001
Topics of discussion range from fuel economy, safety, modifications, performance all involving America's favorite family car, the Toyota Camry.
This is OEM ... look at the spread (NO hotspots...) These are aimed perfectly (the picture of DEPOs I posted earlier is aimed down quite a lot I think...)
Even though I'm using 2500 lm HIRs in my lows, no hotspots (headlight wasn't made for this output..)
All in all very good visibility with OEM headlight. They are a little bit yellow but couldn't be happier. DEPOs will have their time when I get my HID retrofit.
This second pic is a comparison of stock Sylvania 9006 low beam vs. 9011 HIR high beam bulb modded into low bulb socket. Quite interesting comparison of stock (I think around 1100 lm) vs. HIR 2500 lm. Makes the difference (standard HID is 3200 lm, however output is not everything - projector makes much better use of the light! )
Quite interesting comparison of stock (I think around 1100 lm) vs. HIR 2500 lm. Makes the difference (standard HID is 3200 lm, however output is not everything - projector makes much better use of the light! )
Yup. You hit it right on the nose. A bulb that puts out a lot of lumens in a housing that isn't built to reflect/refract that light properly = a whole lot of wasted lumens.
Are you planning on a retrofit? What kind of setup are you going to go with?
__________________ 2009 Audi TT 2.0T --- THE BEAST! 2002 LE 4Cyl --- Gone, but not forgotten. 06/28/09
Glaring blue HID bulbs are NOT classy, and don't make your car look nice, no matter what that kid in the Civic told you.
Last edited by white3ch0c0late; 02-19-2007 at 12:01 AM.
I have no idea about a setup, I haven't really looked into that yet. I could use a recommendation as a starting point but my main ideas are: 4100-4300k bulbs that can also be boosted, some nicer projectors(maybe ones that can also be used as a high beam, when shield lifts? i'm not sure but I read somewhere that some can do that = then when I switched to high beams I would have HID high beam (low beam with lifted shield) along with HIR high beam), ballasts that can be boosted to 50W, all this built into DEPO headlights...(which I already have but won't use without retrofit)
any recommendations? Is the "shield lifting" thing real or did I misunderstand that? also I would like it to cost less than $1k...
also, can boosting be done so that it would only boost when I have my high beams on?
So, these are my ideas, some of them are probably far from what can be achieved, but I will eventually learn and find out If you have any comments or suggestions please post them
By the way, although I'm sure projectors use light much more efficiently, the upgrade to HIRs REALLY helped visibility even with OEM headlights.. I can't complain. What was unacceptable to me before (I didn't like night driving at all) was made acceptable (and quite enjoyable with high beams on, hopefully there is not many cars on rural roads so I can use them quite often )
The "shield-lifting" thing is called bi-xenon. There are two types of HID projectors-- single xenon and bi-xenon. There are two major differences: bi-xenon projectors use a 3" lens, and single-xenon projectors use a 2.5" lens... and bi-xenon projectors have a solenoid on them that you would splice into your high beam wires and when the high beams are engaged, the shield would lift and allow more light to reach the lens. You're still only using the 1 HID bulbs for both low and high beams. You won't be needing any HIRs once you do a bi-xenon retro.
As far as HID bulbs, I've never actually heard of a bulb being boosted. From what I've seen, all HID bulbs are 35W. But what people have done, quite often too, is boost their ballasts.
As far as recommendations, since you'll probably be going bi-xenon, I would personally go for a set of TL projectors. They are probably the best in terms of output.
If you're going for single-xenon, then I'd say S2000, TSX, RX330 AFS, and LS430 projectors are top of the line. It really comes down to how much you want to spend.
As far as bulbs, either OSRAM or Phillips. Other brands are very questionable. OSRAM and Phillips quality is very proven.
And as for ballasts, Phillips, Denso-Koito, and Matsushita are the best IMO.
There is a plethora of information on the HIDPlanet.com forums. Before I started my retro, I spent probably 2 months there reading and researching just so that I knew exactly what I was doing, how I was gonna do it, and all of the science behind HIDs and whatnot.
__________________ 2009 Audi TT 2.0T --- THE BEAST! 2002 LE 4Cyl --- Gone, but not forgotten. 06/28/09
Glaring blue HID bulbs are NOT classy, and don't make your car look nice, no matter what that kid in the Civic told you.
Well... when I did my retrofit... I spent $175 for Denso-Koito ballasts, $60 for OSRAM 4300K bulbs, $100 for a set of headlamps (since I didn't want to risk screwing up my stock set), $45 for a xenondepot.com harness, $95 for e46 shrouds (they are pretty hard to come by... very rare, but look great) and $160 for TSX projectors... that comes out to $635 for core parts. Probably add another $60 to that to include a dremel that I bought, and miscellaneous things likes nuts, bolts, washers, JB-weld, paint, etc. So I spent around $695 total.
TLs are gonna run you a little bit more than TSXs because TLs are slightly harder to come by (but I'm sure you can easily find a set for sale on HIDPlanet)... so I figure you can pick up a good set of TLs for around $200-$250 or so... could be less, I'm not 100% on that.
Its pricey.. but the means is definitely worth the end.
__________________ 2009 Audi TT 2.0T --- THE BEAST! 2002 LE 4Cyl --- Gone, but not forgotten. 06/28/09
Glaring blue HID bulbs are NOT classy, and don't make your car look nice, no matter what that kid in the Civic told you.
Last edited by white3ch0c0late; 02-19-2007 at 01:50 AM.
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(standard HID is 3200 lm, however output is not everything - projector makes much better use of the light! 
)
The "shield-lifting" thing is called bi-xenon. There are two types of HID projectors-- single xenon and bi-xenon. There are two major differences: bi-xenon projectors use a 3" lens, and single-xenon projectors use a 2.5" lens... and bi-xenon projectors have a solenoid on them that you would splice into your high beam wires and when the high beams are engaged, the shield would lift and allow more light to reach the lens. You're still only using the 1 HID bulbs for both low and high beams. You won't be needing any HIRs once you do a bi-xenon retro.
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