I've had the ss and ss ultra, while they will give you the look you want they will only last about 1 year, I recently got tired of the yearly switch and went with Sylvania xtravision which have the same tinge as stock but give as much light as the ss/ss ultra and will hopefully last more than 1 year.

 

I actually installed those very same fog led's and ended up switching back to the factory bulbs. The LED bulbs might look brighter when viewing them head on but from the driver's seat they give off a lot less illumination.

 

Respect Rootsman. (the name sounds like a yardie)
That's disappointing to hear. Although I'm not interested in extreme brightness, I don't want to be worse off than stock. I'm just afraid of having crisp white high/low beams, then having yellow tinge fogs.
You or anyone else have experience with how the Ultras and ZXEs look and perform?

 

I've had the lows replaced with Sylvania silverstar and after one year both went out in the same day,within a couple of hours difference leaving me to return home at night with the high beams!
never again!

 

LED bulbs = pure looks. Unless you get things like the triton from VLEDs, they don't have the performance of halogen/incandescent bulbs.

if your spending hte money to get $50-60 halogen bulbs that will burn out in a year, just go a step farter and get a PnP HID kit. The Morimoto H11 kit (with XB35 bulbs) should work good, and will vastely outperform those halogen bulbs. Don't put HID's in the high beam though.

 

Thanks for the replies, much appreciated. Now I just have to make a decision. I'll post some pics once I've got things set up.

 

Getaway I went with the TRS H11 hid kit in my 2011 and couldn't be happier in the difference in lighting. Took all of 10 min. to install. Give thanks for the respect bredren.
Don't bother with replacing the highs as due to the way Toyota's drl system works any bulb you put in there will turn yellow and lose brightness over time.

 

Thanks for the info Rootsman - bigup! I think I'll go with that kit too.
For the high/drl... I was contemplating about trying these:
http://store.ijdmtoy.com/9005-LED-Daytime-Running-Light-For-Lexus-IS-GS-SC-p/led_sku45_r4.htm
I'm thinking that the HID lows will make such a difference that the highs will only be used for drl, keeping the clean look. I rarely use the high beams as it is.

 

I don't personally like the idea of sacrificing high beams for looks, but if you really want to, I'd go a different route. If your willing to spend $50 on a LED bulb, I'd suggest these:
http://www.vleds.com/5k-white-10-led-drl-fog-light-bulbs-hb3-9005-h10-9145-1-pair.html
They are a tad more $, but are from a much more reputable brand, and should be higher quality. Vleds is one of the bigger LED PnP bulb makers out there.

Having said that, I don't know how well LED's will work as DRL. The HL uses PWM (Pulse width modulation) for the DRL, which essentially is a 12V signal that turns on/off VERY fast. It emulates a 6-9V source if you look at it with a basic multimeter. Point is, halogen won't show that on/off as the filament has to cool down and dim, but an LED MIGHT flicker with each cycle. Its something you have to consider. Now you might be able to "smooth" the on/off with an inline capacitor, but its something to think about.

] recently purchased the opt 9003 bi-xenon kit off amazon for $60. DDMTuning.com has the same kit in 55W for $4 more but $17 in shipping. I'm content with my purchase of the Opt7s. Before my HL I owned an 08 cobalt as with a custom Audi A4 retrofit that I used the 55w 6000k xenon kit from DDM and I absolutely loved how much better I was able to see at night

The 55W kit washed some of the blue tint making it more like 5100k range. Standard halogen operates around 3100k. Luminosity difference is astounding and HIDs in the 5000k-8000k range adds more visual appeal than the 12 year olds running 12000k-15000k which is REALLY BLUE.

If I can manage to have DDMTuning offer a military discount, I'll spring for the 55W kit but you MUST buy the bi-xenon kit*to use factory hi beam controls in the 08 base model. The install is purely PNP minus battery and ground connection.

I'll take a night photo later this evening as I'm currently pulling 24 duty at my unit.
OPT7 35W KIT:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00COORGIE/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
DDMTuning Kit:
http://ddmtuning.com/Products/DDM-HID-Kit-Slim-Ballast-35W-or-55W

The only options you'll need from DDM is 55w, 9003 Hi/Lo, and I'd highly recommend 6000k temp

Not really replyign to you Hammbones, just posting in regards to your post.

First off 9003/H4 is the 08-10 bi-halogen bulb, the 2011+ (getaways's) uses H11 for low beam and 9005 for high.

As for temps, if you really like blue go for 6k, 4.3k is OEM HID color and offers the highest possible lumen ouput. If you stray either direction from 4.3K, you lose lumens. After 5k it drops like a rock and is hard on your eyes. I used 5k at 55 watts for awhile and I found those to be too white. It makes it difficult to see in heavy rain due to how it reflects on the road, I would personally recommend just sticking with 4.3k.

 

] recently purchased the opt 9003 bi-xenon kit off amazon for $60. DDMTuning.com has the same kit in 55W for $4 more but $17 in shipping. I'm content with my purchase of the Opt7s. Before my HL I owned an 08 cobalt as with a custom Audi A4 retrofit that I used the 55w 6000k xenon kit from DDM and I absolutely loved how much better I was able to see at night

The 55W kit washed some of the blue tint making it more like 5100k range. Standard halogen operates around 3100k. Luminosity difference is astounding and HIDs in the 5000k-8000k range adds more visual appeal than the 12 year olds running 12000k-15000k which is REALLY BLUE.

If I can manage to have DDMTuning offer a military discount, I'll spring for the 55W kit but you MUST buy the bi-xenon kit*to use factory hi beam controls in the 08 base model. The install is purely PNP minus battery and ground connection.

I'll take a night photo later this evening as I'm currently pulling 24 duty at my unit.


OPT7 35W KIT:
[ame]http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00COORGIE/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1[/ame]

DDMTuning Kit:
http://ddmtuning.com/Products/DDM-HID-Kit-Slim-Ballast-35W-or-55W

The only options you'll need from DDM is 55w, 9003 Hi/Lo, and I'd highly recommend 6000k temp

 

Here's the best image I have of the 5000k 55W kit on my old car:

 

I believe you have 9005 Hi beams & H11 low beams.

If you want to make it harder to see by having less output from your headlights then by all means, get the Silverstar this or that. You get a gimmicky blue tint as an added bonus.

If you truly want to be able to see more, see easier, and have more output from your bulbs then buy some 9011 HIR for high & some Orsram Night Breaker H11 bulbs or Narva H9 for low.

Here's your link for the high beams:
http://store.candlepower.com/hirlighting.html

Here's your link for the plug n play low beams:
http://store.candlepower.com/bconibr90ulh5.html

You can always try an H9 as a low beam with a simple mod and get a lot more output, but shorter life. Beam pattern will have to be verified. I've had them work perfectly and others look terrible. Never tried it in a HL.
http://store.candlepower.com/h-9.html


Don't expect to be blown away by changes you make. Humans don't perceive 2x the light as 2x as bright (for example).

 

Beam pattern will have to be verified. I've had them work perfectly and others look terrible. Never tried it in a HL.

Consider it verified

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/1...com/forum/122-2nd-generation-2008-2013/427971-best-pnp-hid-kit.html#post4014238
http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/1...om/forum/122-2nd-generation-2008-2013/429529-h11-h9-night-pics.html#post4015435