Any suggestions for headlight replacement bulbs?

[megacoupe]

I'm not looking to get HIDs (too expensive to replace the whole headlight), but I would like to get the brightest and least yellow bulbs possible to replace my burned out passenger-side low-beam bulb (and the driver-side one as well). I've read that HIRs might be a good option, but I don't know anything about them.

Any suggestions? The burned out one appears to be a Sylvania 51W (9006), put in by the previous owner. I really would like something brighter, but I suppose I'm willing to settle for the same amount of brightness I have now if the light is less yellow and more white.

[mikered30]

Like you mentioned, HIR fits what you are looking for and are the best halogen bulbs to put in the corolla. HID are illegal anyway in this generation. Amazon has the HIR from Philips, 9012 and 9011 for the cheapest price but they require trimming. The improvement in low beam is slight as the beam is restricted by the glare shield but on high beam they cannot be beat.

[megacoupe]

I rarely use high beam as I almost exclusively drive in the city/urban areas.

Is it worth spending the extra money for HIR low beam bulbs if they don't make much of a difference? If so, any recommendations for a bright, more "white" bulb that is non-HIR?

[SaGa]

SilverStar Ultras from Sylvania tend to have a brighter, whiter light than their basic bulbs, but to accomplish this their lifespan is much much shorter than the cheap basic bulb. It's always a tradeoff. If you want a brighter light, you'll lose lifespan. If you want longevity, your light will be just bright enough to be legal (not saying it's dim, just normal) but will last several years before needing a replacement or burning out. I think SilverStars run around $30-$40 for a pair of 9006 bulbs, I think. And to be honest, you shouldn't expect to get more than a couple of years out of them, if that. So if that's a cost you're ok with, you can go that route. I'm not sure how much you'd be looking to pay for your HIR idea, but this is something to consider as an option.

Also, make sure your headlight housings aren't hazy, as this will affect your light output no matter how bright they are.

[dmsyr]

Lol you don't have to replace the whole headlight for HID's. They are bulbs wired to a ballast. Take out your old bulbs, swap in the HID bulbs, connect everything and mount the ballasts. The longest part is decididng where to mount the ballasts. I mounted mine on the strut tower (passenger side) and underneath my intake tube (driver side)

9006, 4300k (pure white), 35 watt is what you will need. Luminis HID kits on eBay are on $38 shipped and work very well. I have had mine for quite some time. They will be brighter and whiter than ANY halogen bulb ever made.

[Archer0T8]

Originally Posted by dmsyr

Lol you don't have to replace the whole headlight for HID's. They are bulbs wired to a ballast. Take out your old bulbs, swap in the HID bulbs, connect everything and mount the ballasts. The longest part is decididng where to mount the ballasts. I mounted mine on the strut tower (passenger side) and underneath my intake tube (driver side)

9006, 4300k (pure white), 35 watt is what you will need. Luminis HID kits on eBay are on $38 shipped and work very well. I have had mine for quite some time. They will be brighter and whiter than ANY halogen bulb ever made.

That's the way to do it if you don't care about throwing glare at every single other driver on the road. You pull in behind someone, and you might as well have your high beams on because that's exactly the effect it has for every other driver on the road.

More than once I haven't been able to use any of my mirrors because of the guy with poorly done HID's sitting behind me, killing my night vision.

There's a reason that HID's in reflectors are illegal in a lot of places.

[GreatAvalon]

for me, i would rather see the road much better and i dont care about glaring at other people. Get a autodim rearview mirror and front window tint if you dont want to be blinded. There is no difference between HID glare and a big ass redneck lifted truck w/ halogen lights that are now shining above your corolla lol. there already is a ton of people that have it anyways so its not like you are the only one blinding people.

but the OP said he didnt want HIDs...so the sylvania silverstar ultras are good. However, the next step up from the silverstar ultras are sylvania zxe's. They are the closest light color to 5000k as your going to get from Sylvania, without throwing glare at other drivers. This is the whitest light that Sylvania makes. No yellow at all. If a parts store even has them, the zxe's are going to be expensive, so just get a set from amazon or ebay or something. Also, the zxe's come in the correct bulb size so you dont have to trim anything and jerry-rig it to go into your housing. just plug and play baby.

[dmsyr]

Originally Posted by Archer0T8

That's the way to do it if you don't care about throwing glare at every single other driver on the road. You pull in behind someone, and you might as well have your high beams on because that's exactly the effect it has for every other driver on the road.

More than once I haven't been able to use any of my mirrors because of the guy with poorly done HID's sitting behind me, killing my night vision.

There's a reason that HID's in reflectors are illegal in a lot of places.

If you aim them down and/or correctly, you won't have any issues. I have had my HID's in stock housings for over 3 years and nobody has ever given me any hassle...ever. Also being slammed on coilovers helps too lol

That being said, if your headlights aren't aimed correctly you will glare other drivers regardless of HID bulbs or super white halogens.

[gold94corolla]

As usual, there's a lot of ignorant talk about HIDs in here. But since that's not the subject, let's not make yet ANOTHER HID thread lol

OP, the HIR bulbs are the ONLY bulbs worth investing in. They are the only bulbs that are truly brighter and whiter, without reducing their lifespan. Especially since you only want the low beams, go with those and they will be worth the $25 or whatever. If you buy anything else, that will be a complete waste of money, and you are better off with stock bulbs.

[GreatAvalon]

Originally Posted by gold94corolla

OP, the HIR bulbs are the ONLY bulbs worth investing in. They are the only bulbs that are truly brighter and whiter, without reducing their lifespan. Especially since you only want the low beams, go with those and they will be worth the $25 or whatever. If you buy anything else, that will be a complete waste of money, and you are better off with stock bulbs.

I dont know if i'd say the zxe's are a complete waste of money. i think the OP said whiter/brighter light and the zxe's are a bulb that does offer those 2 things. However, lifespan wise...I doubt they are any where near as good as OEMs...I've seem OEM bulbs go for almost 10 years lol. I cant speak on lifetime of the zxe's because ive only had them a vehicle in for 1 year so far. I can talk about Silverstar Ultra's lifespan and i can say you will be buying a new set yearly because they simply dont last.

Like i said before, never heard of HIR's. the pics of them you posted on the other thread showed a significant improvement over oem though so definitely HIR is a solid option. that being said, i would never buy a bulb that i had to jerry-rig to fit. If i wanted that i would just do retrofit lol.

[gold94corolla]

Jerry rig? Well you don't have to jerry rig HIRs.... they install just like normal bulbs. They are definitely the only bulbs to buy, speaking from experience!

[GreatAvalon]

i've got a good amount of experience dealing with lighting. not retrofitting though haha.

i've never tried HIR's...have you ever tried zxe's?

yea, cutting tabs to make them fit is jerry rigging to me. maybe one of the previous posters is wrong and you dont have to cut tabs?

[invader]

I use regular 60W 9005 bulbs for my low beams instead of the dim 51W 9006. You just have to remove the two plastic tongues in the bulb's plug-in. I use a soldering gun to melt them off. Easy, cheap, and highly effective.

[SaGa]

So your 80% from the 60W for the DRLs must be about equivalent to the 100% of the 51W, then, eh?

[invader]

You would think so, mathematically... I haven't compared, but my impression is that they're a bit brighter with 9005 60W rated bulb at a supposed 80%, compared to 9006 51W rated bulb at 100%.