thank you guys. it seems like upgrading the halogen bulbs is the way to go. what temperature should i go for to achieve a white lighting like a 6k HID bulb?
This is from my personal experience, so you can take it with a grain of salt if you wish. I retrofit my 73 Chevy pickup and 1989 Jeep Cherokee with H4 Halogen capable headlamps, and did a retrofit projector with HID install on my 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee. Since I've had my 4Runner for less than a week, I am still trying to decide what I'm going to do with it.
There are some resources online about headlights that provide some good info. One of the universal assertions is that putting HID headlights in housings that are not designed for HID lights is a bad idea. The reason is where the light is being generated. In other words, if you hold an HID bulb and and H4 Halogen bulb right next to each other, you can see that the pieces that arc to make the light are different distances from the socket, and oriented in different directions. Therefore, they bounce the light off the reflectors differently, even in the same housing. This is why HIDs in non-HID housings produces glare.
One of the other things that we have to think about is the color. Some people have decided that a higher temperature number produces more light, but that is usually not true as well. The temperature of color just defines what color the light is. The sun, as viewed through the atmosphere, is usually about 6000K (depending on atmospheric conditions). Many bulb manufacturers use filters to make their light bluer, which actually causes loss of light output. Additionally, as you start up the color temperature spectrum, the light starts causing an increase in glare to the human eye, which our brains usually perceive as "brighter", even though the output hasn't changed, and the light that is produced is less useful.
To really get "brighter" lights, you need to understand that light output is measured in lumens, which really don't have anything to do with color temperature. And, the lumens that a headlight bulb puts out is actually regulated by the government. For instance, the standard 9007 bulb is legally required to put out 1000 lumens from the 55w low beam filament when powered at 12.8v. Manufacturing tolerances for that bulb are 15%, so the bulb that you buy off the shelf could produce as much as 1150 lumens, or as low as 850 lumens. Most cars power the headlights a more than 12.8 volts, sp you get a little better light performance.
Now, there are some halogen bulbs that produce more light through different types of technology and manufacturing processes. Sticking with a regular 9006 bulb, you can get the Narva +30, or the Philips Xtreme Power +80, both of which put out more lumens, but the cost is the life of the bulbs. While a standard bulb should last about 650 hours, and a long life about 1100 hours, a +30 would drop to about 400 hours. A +80 would be even lower than that. You can also check into the HIR lights, but those require some extra work to make them fit.
Hopefully that helps some. I'm happy to admit that I don't know it all, and stole most of my info from other sources. For more information, I would check out Daniel Stern's website (
Daniel Stern Lighting Consultancy and Supply) or the CandlePowerForum's site. Both are excellent sources of information for lighting.
Headlight Services - Home has some good selections of higher-output bulbs. And, no, I am not affiliated with any of the sites I've mentioned. I've just spent WAY too much time looking into how to see better while I drive at night...
