Info on *real* Headlight bulb upgrade for 50%+ more lumens w/ same watt bulbs...
Tried using the search, but its just an endless list of threads to sift through.. Was looking to getting a set on EBay but wanted recommendations first.. I have an 04 SE.. Thanks a lot guys..
The mod I posted to an 894 bulb, uses a halogen bulb that is twice the wattage of the factory 921 bulbs.
On a similar note, there is a fairly conservative headlight and fog light upgrade that produces 50%+ more light, while consuming the same power.
They are called PIR bulbs. They have technology invented by GE that reflects part of the IR output back onto the bulbs filament, heating it further and converting that IR light into more light in the visible spectrum.
The PIR bulbs are brighter, last longer, and consume the same wattage. You have to make a slight modification to the bulbs to use them in your factory 9005 and 9006 bases.
I put them in my old 4-runner, and the difference was dramatic.
More importantly, this upgrade is real and science based -- not some type of hype, or blue tinting or other dubious claims.
The comparison they measured was:
What is HIR??
Please note that the HIR Technology is old and there is no need to coat the bulbs with an HIR coating to achieve the same results.
The HIR bulbs are not some tinted or over-wattage version of 9005 or 9006, but rather employ a relatively new technology called HIR, Halogen Infrared. The mechanical dimensions of the bulb are all virtually identical to the 9005 or 9006, 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 over-wattage bulbs (to say nothing of over-wattage bulbs' incompatibility with stock wiring.)
Here's the comparison:
Hi Beam stock: 9005, 12.8V, 65W, 1700 lumens, 320 hours /
Hi Beam ... HIR1(9011), 12.8V, 65W, 2530 lumens, 400 hours
Lo Beam stock: 9006, 12.8V, 55W, 1006 lumens, 360 hours /
Lo Beam ... HIR2(9012), 12.8V, 55W, 1875 lumens, 1000 hours
See
these guys for info and to purchase. I bought from these guys before. They seem to be legit.
See
this link for more info on HIR technology,
and see
this link for info and a template on how to modify the bulb base so that
you can use the bulb in your 4Runner.