A few questions to the experts… - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

djnk954 · 08-12-2008, 02:51 PM

First, I did try to search for answers from past posts, but no luck… I’m a newbie here and this forum gave me many answers so far, but I still have a few questions (I have a 2008 Camry SE V6, no nav, no leather).

1.I want my camry to have the kind of headlights luxury cars have (yes, I know I’m so “new to the business” that it is embarrassing…). You know, those “white lights”.

2.I love my car soooo much, but the headrest is killing me. It’s especially uncomfortable for long drives… I sew a post about someone who bend his headrest, but I was wondering if any of you had something less destructive? Maybe buying customized, but I’m sure there is a color issue…

3.This car is fast, but I was wondering if you guys can give me some tips of how to make it faster, without changing anything in the outer shape of the car. To be exact, better acceleration…

Thank you very much!
Djnk954

CamrySExxx · 08-12-2008, 03:33 PM

1. There are three ways to go. First way would be to just replace your oem halogen bulbs with an after market halogen "Xenon" bulb to produce a "HID" look. They normally look whiter but they have less light output vs. your oem. The second possible way would be to upgrade with a HID kit. This will inrcease your light out put and you can pick from a variety of temperatures (colours), although this will create more glare because your oem projectors were designed for Halogen bulbs and not for HID's. People still put HID kits in and reduce the glare by covering the squirrel spotters (search for more info). And your last option (most expensive) would be to have a retrofit. This is pretty much putting a projector lens designed for HID's from a different car (oem) and customly putting it into your headlights. IMO option #2 would be best.

2. Not too sure about the headrests. You can try KUSHNECK another member on this forum is selling.

3. Your best bet... keep it stock

An air intake wont do too much except make more noise which wont be worth the price. Your best bet would be to get a TRD or K&N drop in filter. Exhaust also makes more noise and probably isnt worth it unless you get a whole exhaust system but in the end it probably wont be worth the money. The best way to get a better acceleration for cheap would be reducing the cars weight. So removing unnecessary weight. This can improve your MPG also.

Good luck modding your camry and when in doubt... Search

JACK_FROST · 08-12-2008, 03:36 PM

^^ +1

***darksparkz*** · 08-12-2008, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by djnk954

1.I want my camry to have the kind of headlights luxury cars have (yes, I know I’m so “new to the business” that it is embarrassing…). You know, those “white lights”.

'Luxury' Cars, don't really have 'white lights' They use HID bulbs, which is common in most higher end cars, some Toyota's and most Lexus's have them as well though. You can do a few options to get it white, by either directly replacing your stock 'yellow' bulb, and get a whiter one, but you will definitely lose light output by doing that.

If you go the HID route, you can purchase an aftermarket kit that tries to imitate what a true HID setup is like, you will get better light output then a simple bulb replacement, but it will not be as sharp or as great of an output as a true HID setup.

If you want to do the true HID setup, you'll have to swap in parts from another car that originally had HIDs, ie Acura TSX, Honda S2000, Lexus RX330, BMW e46, and so on and so forth.

Read: http://faqlight.carpassion.info/

Quote:

Originally Posted by djnk954

3.This car is fast, but I was wondering if you guys can give me some tips of how to make it faster, without changing anything in the outer shape of the car. To be exact, better acceleration…

Engine mods wouldn't change anything in the outer shape. Intake, grounding kits, and such would improve slightly. You can swap out your exhaust as well.

djnk954 · 08-12-2008, 03:43 PM

darksparkz and CamrySExxx, thank you. I already have K&N air filter that was recommended by a few members. Not sure how much id adds, but I had to get the bug our of my head...

I guess I'm more confused about the light thing... Nevertheless, thank you for your reply!

***bandit*** · 08-12-2008, 03:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by djnk954

darksparkz and CamrySExxx, thank you. I already have K&N air filter that was recommended by a few members. Not sure how much id adds, but I had to get the bug our of my head...

I guess I'm more confused about the light thing... Nevertheless, thank you for your reply!

Go to For Sale section of the forum, search the forums or google "mod express hid", "xenondepot" for sellers.

You can also search to find out more about HID as well as google. There are threads on both HID and retrofitting. Since you're asking these questions and probably dont know what to do, I suggest just looking into plug and play HID kits. These are sold by Mod Express and Xenon Depot. Mod Express is selling them for $140 (see For Sale section under Car Parts)

***lammydi*** · 08-12-2008, 03:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CamrySExxx

1. There are three ways to go. First way would be to just replace your oem halogen bulbs with an after market halogen "Xenon" bulb to produce a "HID" look. They normally look whiter but they have less light output vs. your oem. The second possible way would be to upgrade with a HID kit. This will inrcease your light out put and you can pick from a variety of temperatures (colours), although this will create more glare because your oem projectors were designed for Halogen bulbs and not for HID's. People still put HID kits in and reduce the glare by covering the squirrel spotters (search for more info). And your last option (most expensive) would be to have a retrofit. This is pretty much putting a projector lens designed for HID's from a different car (oem) and customly putting it into your headlights. IMO option #2 would be best.

2. Not too sure about the headrests. You can try KUSHNECK another member on this forum is selling.

3. Your best bet... keep it stock

An air intake wont do too much except make more noise which wont be worth the price. Your best bet would be to get a TRD or K&N drop in filter. Exhaust also makes more noise and probably isnt worth it unless you get a whole exhaust system but in the end it probably wont be worth the money. The best way to get a better acceleration for cheap would be reducing the cars weight. So removing unnecessary weight. This can improve your MPG also.

Good luck modding your camry and when in doubt... Search

Quote:

Originally Posted by JACK_FROST

^^ +1

+2 Great replied.

CamrySExxx · 08-12-2008, 04:01 PM

Here's an example of a aftermarket halogen bulb.

These bulbs are like any other halogen bulb but they have the slight blue tint on them which will change the colour of the light. Pros: They are cheap and affordable, easy to install, easy to find. Cons: Most have a short life span, could possibly melt your wiring harness due to higher voltage draw, and they have less output vs. oem bulbs.

This is an example of an HID kit.

You can find these all over the internet but you gotta be careful becuase 3/4 of the kits are crap china made ones. So if you buy a kit put a bit more money into it. These are alot more expensive than halogen bulbs. 200+ for some kits. Pros: Brighter light, more output, longer lasting (if u get a quality kit), plug and play, looks cool

Cons: more expensive, MIGHT be a bit more complicated to install, kit might crap out early if its a cheap kind, produces glare when not used correctly. Those are just some examples.

Hopefully this help you a bit. Honestly i would say go for the HID kit, but as long as you get a quality kit. I hear the xenondepot ones are decent and mod-express ones are too. Just make sure you cover your squirrel spotters to reduce the glare.

JACK_FROST · 08-12-2008, 04:12 PM

if your looking into HIDs go with the 5000k its the white your looking for

jcurtin06 · 08-12-2008, 05:18 PM

you can get HID's for 62 bucks on ebay as well. yes i know there made with lesser quality parts but i've had alot of experience using these said poor quality with no problems for years and so have friends just make sure a warranty is given. and if in 1.5-2 years they go out by another kit, for 60 bucks you cant go bad.

k&n intake and fujita intake will add some power.

to bad they dont make light weight pulley's.

djnk954 · 08-12-2008, 05:25 PM

Thank you all for your awesome replys! I think I'll go with an HID kit...

djnk954 · 08-12-2008, 05:35 PM

One more question (more of a clarification...):

The I checked out http://www.sylvania.com/ConsumerProd...de/default.htm but wanted to be sure that what I am looking for is to replace the "High beam headlamp" (9005), right?

JACK_FROST · 08-12-2008, 05:43 PM

HIDs go in the low beam(H11 bulbs)...are you wanting to change the high beam?

djnk954 · 08-12-2008, 05:48 PM

NO!!! Thank you JACK_FROST for replying, or I would have needed to return something........

BoxesandLines · 08-13-2008, 04:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by djnk954

2.I love my car soooo much, but the headrest is killing me. It’s especially uncomfortable for long drives… I sew a post about someone who bend his headrest, but I was wondering if any of you had something less destructive? Maybe buying customized, but I’m sure there is a color issue…

Thank you very much!
Djnk954

The head rest is not for resting your head. You should hold your head up when driving. This will help prevent you from falling asleep while driving. The head rest's purpose is to prevent whiplash in case of an accident.