Quote:
Originally Posted by gunnibronco
I have the regular halogens lights in my car & I did a little experimenting myself. I bought the HIR high & low beams & the Xenon 7k "high beam" bulbs. I did not have any comparison pictures that came out, but I did note a few differences.
The HIR lights are significantly brighter than the stock bulbs (high & low). The Xenon 7k is significantly bluer than the HIR & stock high beam bulb. I don't think the Xenon is as bright as the HIR bulb. The blue coating is pretty significant & probably blocks out some light.
The end result with HIR's in the High & Low beams & stock 9005 in the fog light is significantly brighter. I haven't been flashed by any oncoming traffice despite the increased light. I doubt I'll consider HID conversions now. Since this is my first new car I was pretty happy even with the stock light output, but I'm easily impressed.
I guess the only comparison I haven't seen is Sylvania Ultra compared with HIRs.
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Well, this took a little detective work! Having never heard of these types of bulbs before, I worked Google until it was almost in flames. And the search results were very lacking, with only a couple sites offering this type of bulb - and only as an indoor flood lamp made by GE. I also learned that Halogen Infrared or HIR bulbs use a high-temperature reflective film to coat the inner lamp and trap the otherwise wasted invisible infrared light within. This redirected infrared heats the filament to produce more visible light, resulting in efficiency gains over standard halogen lamps. Mind you, this was on residential lighting for indoor flood lamps.
I then searched by 9005 & 9006 and came up empty again. I reread your post and saw the reference to 9011 and tried again. Finally, a breakthrough on a Honda board post of two years ago! Seems only ONE seller on eBay has them and gets $29.95 shipped for them - EACH! They are indeed Toshiba HIR 9011 (apparently the only manufacturer to whom GE has licensed the technology). And they do need to be modified to fit a 9005 (or 9006) socket.
With those Silverstar Ultras really lighting up the road for me in the Denali, I am a little hesitant to drop another $60 on a pair of these HIR lights to see how they do comparatively. Especially as the seller has a "no return" policy. They sound pretty impressive, but even this seller's feedback when mentioning Silverstars have mixed reactions - and those aren't the newer (and brighter) Silverstar Ultras. Decisions, decisions...