H11 Silverstars

[chayos00]

H11 Silverstars(no more) ->H11->H9 Upgrade

It looks like Osram Sylvania has finally gotten the H11 bulbs in the Silverstar series! I'm going to give my local autozone a call and see if they can get these. ***EDIT They have them and I'm going to get them tonight!***

2008 TOYOTA 4Runner

Low beam headlamp
H11
H11ST Silverstar High Performance Lighting: The Whiter and Brighter Halogen
H11XV XtraVision Halogen - The Brighter Light

High beam headlamp
9005
9005SU Silverstar ULTRA for Ultra Night Vision - The Whitest and Brightest Halogen
9005ST Silverstar High Performance Lighting: The Whiter and Brighter Halogen


***EDIT***
Further into this thread you will see I installed the plain jane H9 bulbs on 11-30-2009, as of 06-08-2012 I had to replace the bulbs due to them being shot. Guess I won't keep my headlights on 24/7 when I drive from now on, as I killed the original bulbs that quickly! Just thought I'd give an update for this. Sorry for bringing up such an old thread.

 

[nefarious]

look forward to seeing some pics

 

[chayos00]

Yeah I put the two that the local autozone had on hold. I already have the fog lights done, now I just need the high's and low's. I'll get some pics of it later. I'll put one of the factory fogs in for a upgraded side vs a factory side.

 

[Nuke]

I have the Silverstar Ultras in both the hi and low beams plus Hella Optilux Extreme Yellow (XY) for my fogs. Very nice combination for functionality without getting annoying to others.

 

[Scoobs]

Personally I would have just gone with H9 bulbs for the lows and HIR for the highs. But that's just me.

 

[chayos00]

Personally I would have just gone with H9 bulbs for the lows and HIR for the highs. But that's just me.

Maybe it's what Canadians call HID's but what is HIR?

 

[Scoobs]

Maybe it's what Canadians call HID's but what is HIR?

That's a good one. Actually HIR ( Halogen-infrared )is a different technology that gives much more light at the same wattage without the blue color. The bulbs also have normal life expectancy, unlike many of the "plus" bulbs on the market that generate more light by running the same wattage through a thinner filament.

http://store.candlepower.com/9011.html

 

[Scoobs]

This is the link for the H9 bulb for the lows

http://store.candlepower.com/h-9.html

H9s put out @ 2100 lumens, much more than a standard H11 bulb, and more than any of the "plus" H11 bulbs on the market.

 

[Scoobs]

This is from tundra solutions. Note that the HIR hi-beam is 2500 lumens. A +50 9005 is only 1850 Lumens. That's big difference. Even the SS Ultras won't have as much light as the HIR bulb.

For what it is worth, I went through Daniel Stern Lighting at the suggestion of another forum member, and have followed his suggestions with great success.

His reply follows below:

> I am looking to replace the high beam, OEM fog, and low beam bulbs,
> along with any others that can be easily accomplished (Daylight
> running lights, interior, brake, back-up, turn signals with something brighter.

OK...that's doable.

The upgrade for the low beams is to install H9 bulbs (2100 lumens) in place of the original H11 bulbs (1350 lumens). You have to shave a slight ridge of plastic from the H9 bulb's connector so the H11 socket will fit it. H9 direct order link is here:
H9 bulb

Your high beams can also be significantly upgraded if you will Replace the existing 9005 bulbs with 9011. The new bulbs are not some tinted or overwattage version of 9005, but rather employ a relatively new technology called HIR, Halogen Infrared Reflection. The mechanical dimensions of the bulb are all virtually identical to the 9005, but the bulb glass is spherical instead of tubular, with the sphere centered around the filament. There is a "Durable IR Reflective" coating on the spherical glass. Infrared = heat, so the coating causes heat to be reflected back to the filament at the center of the sphere. This causes the filament to become much hotter (producing more light) than it can by passing electricity through it, *without* the shorter life or greater heat production that comes with overwattage bulbs (to say nothing of overwattage bulbs' incompatibility with stock wiring.)

Here's the comparison:

stock: 9005, 12.8V, 65W, 1700 lumens, 320 hours
compare: 9005+50, 12.8V, 55W, 1830 lumens, 175 hours
new: HIR1, 12.8V, 65W, 2530 lumens, 320 hours

These bulbs are costly as bulbs go - $29/ea - but their cost is worth considering in context: Any number of companies will charge you more than this for a tarted-up 9005 with blue colored glass (PIAA and Sylvania Silverstar come to mind) that doesn't produce more light and has a very short lifespan.

The HIR bulbs have a double-wide top ear on the plastic bulb base, this is to comply with the law requiring different bulbs to have different bases.
The extra-wide plastic top ear is easily trimmed or filed to make the bulb fit your headlamp's bulb receptacle. Once that's done, they go directly into the headlamp, and the existing sockets snap on. Please see HIR bulb base modification for details.

The direct order link for these bulbs is 9011 (HIR1)

The fog lamps take 9145 bulbs. Despite the bad info circulating on the internet, it is neither safe nor wise to hack any other bulb type to fit in place of the 9145. Leave the standard bulbs alone. If you want your fogs to be more effective in fog, make 'em yellow; see Daniel Stern Lighting Consultancy and Supply

If you're trying for yellow fog lamps, the stick-on films don't really tint the light very effectively. You can get good results by removing the fogs, cleaning the lenses *thoroughly*, and spraying them with several coats of Dupli-Color Metalcast yellow, which is a transparent yellow paint
product: METALCAST™ . Let each coat "flash off" (dry most of the way) before applying the next, and use thin coats so you don't get drips and "sags" in the wet paint. With each successive coat, the yellow tint will grow deeper. Make them about 2 moderate shades deeper than you want to wind up with, and let them dry completely before taking the vehicle on the road.

> HID is not out of the question,

Actually, it is. See
Daniel Stern Lighting Consultancy and Supply

The front turn signals can be made 25% brighter with these:
Plastic wedge base

Best DS

 

[Uneek]

Save your receipt for the Silverstar. A few of my friends who upgraded to those have experienced bulb life to be less than a year. I gotten two out of mine.

 

[chayos00]

OK I got the lights installed. I tried taking a comparision picture with my camera but all I got was mad glare in the photo. So I guess I'm usless when it comes to a comparision picture. I did pick up the 921 Silverstars for the reverse lights I do see a difference in those lights, it's really dark here in Tucson at night. As there are observatories around so there are very minimal street lights.

I've had Silverstars in my 94 Ranger for several years after I got tired of replacing the higher wattage Nokya bulbs (one every year). Then I put Silverstars in my wifes 96 Tercel they also have been in the car for a few years. I think I installed silverstars sometime during 2006 in those cars, and they still work.

 

[chayos00]

This is from tundra solutions. Note that the HIR hi-beam is 2500 lumens. A +50 9005 is only 1850 Lumens. That's big difference. Even the SS Ultras won't have as much light as the HIR bulb.

I tried searching the net for HIR lights and it leads me to a dead end. Plus those links that you lead me to I looked up that manufacture and they didn't say a darn thing about HIR. So..... I don't really know what to say about HIR technology.

 

[Nuke]

Regarding Silverstar longevity; I've been using Silverstars for years and now the Ultras. My 3rd gen's DRL's used the low beam bulbs and I was lucky to get 1 1/2 - 2 years out of them but I also did a lot of nightime driving. On other vehicles that don't include the Silverstars as DRL's I've put over 2 years min on them. IMO, they're worth the shorter life.

 

[Scoobs]

I tried searching the net for HIR lights and it leads me to a dead end. Plus those links that you lead me to I looked up that manufacture and they didn't say a darn thing about HIR. So..... I don't really know what to say about HIR technology.

I guess the only thing to say about HIR is that it is superior to anything you can put in your vehicle short of a HID set-up. The technology was developed by GE. Its been around long enough that I thought everyone knew about it by now. Lots of different forums, including this one, have threads on HIR. There is lots of info on the net about HIR technology, I'm not sure why you can't find it. Daniel Stern is an acknowledged expert in vehicle lighting and he says it is superior. The existing HIR bulbs are made by Toshiba. HIR 2 low beams ( I'm not sure if they can be used in a 4R, and probably only 2003-2005 ) can be purchased through John Deere dealers.

At present I run H9 bulbs in the low beam projectors and and HIR 1 highs. They produce more light ( lumens ) than any of the "plus" bulbs, last longer than any "plus" bulbs, and cost less. What's not to like:biggrin2:

here's a sampling

The Ultimate Bulb Lighting Thread: All You Ever Need to Know About Bulbs - NASIOC

HIR Headlights 9011 9012 bulbs

HIR bulbs - 8th Generation Honda Civic Forum

Automotive Lighting FAQ - Recent updates

Toshiba 9012 HIR bulbs better than Silverstars. next best thing to HIDs? who has them? - Honda-Tech

HIR automotive bulbs - CandlePowerForums

 

[chaz]

if you get the osram, make sure theyre the "night breaker + 90." they are different than the reg. silverstars.

 

[Scoobs]

if you get the osram, make sure theyre the "night breaker + 90." they are different than the reg. silverstars.

I had Osram Nightbreaker +90 in my Honda Pilot. Bought them from Powerbulbs in the UK. First set burned out within 4 months. Got a replacement set but sold my Pilot before having a chance to install them. They have been running in sis in laws X-Trail for over a year no problem. They are good bulbs but still do put out the same amount of lumens that an H9 or a HIR bulb does.

 

[chayos00]

Well I guess after reading all the stuff about the different lights that Scoobs showed, I'm not sure what to do. Since I put those bulbs in yesterday I could probably take them back out and return them to Autozone. If I could find H9's to replace the H11's with some Osram Night Breaker +90 or some other similar upgraded bulb I would. Does anyone know of any? Plus then I could get the 9012 (HIR2) to put in my Fogs.

I see the difference from this picuture.

So summary.
High's replace with 9011 (HIR1)
Low's replace with H9's (upgraded not OEM, who makes them??)
Fogs replace with 9012 (HIR2) (need to find someone that still has them)

 

[Nuke]

Sorry, but putting HIR's in your fogs will reduce the functionality of them as fog lights.

1. Additional light output in fog is detrimental
2. The higher the bulb temp (K), the less contrast

Is your intent to use your fogs as driving lights? If so, then you still won't accomplish that with HIR's as the fog lamp's reflector is designed to give a short, wide throw. For a true, effective bulb in our T4R's, the standard 55W bulb in the 2500K range is ideal. Take a peak at the Hella Extreme Yellow (XY).

 

[chayos00]

Sorry, but putting HIR's in your fogs will reduce the functionality of them as fog lights.

1. Additional light output in fog is detrimental
2. The higher the bulb temp (K), the less contrast

Is your intent to use your fogs as driving lights? If so, then you still won't accomplish that with HIR's as the fog lamp's reflector is designed to give a short, wide throw. For a true, effective bulb in our T4R's, the standard 55W bulb in the 2500K range is ideal. Take a peak at the Hella Extreme Yellow (XY).

NUKE i never thought about how higher light output in the fogs would be bad. Well luckily here in Tucson we get little if any fog. I would say I've only utilized fog lights here only twice since I moved here in 2006. So for me they are mainly driving lights, so the extra output would be useful for driving lights. If I really needed them as fogs I would put some yellow bulbs in them. I might even get a set for "just incase." But thanks for the useful info about the fogs.

 

[Nuke]

No problem, chayos00. If I were in your location I'd probably do the same. But here in the midwest and all those years when I was in PA & NJ, those 2500K lamps were a lifesaver on many occasions.