2012 headlights (low and high beams)

[VectorZ]

My last 4 cars had HIDs, and it's one of the biggest omissions in a Titanium trim imo. But I replaced both the high and low beams and they were a fairly large improvement, espcially the high beams.

[Joeywhat]

To those running H9 bulbs, are you melting the reflector or housing?

[slow3v]

Originally Posted by waypastfast

Any chance you could post some pictures? I am very curious about this upgrade!

I would but taking the bulbs out requires taking the headlight out - and I'm not about to tear the car apart in 30F weather sorry bud.



Found that pic online. Thats what you have to do. I just trimmed both tabs.

The difference between going the H9 route vs going with Silverstars (Osram or Sylvania), and Philips is that those are just whiter and MAY offer 100 more lumens of light output. A regular old H11 bulb will put out ~1350-1400 lumens while a regular old H11 bulb will output 2000-2150 lumens, a HUGE difference.

Originally Posted by Joeywhat

To those running H9 bulbs, are you melting the reflector or housing?

I've been running mine since August and I've taken plenty of long 3+hr road trips at night, all in all I've put about 7500 mi on the car with these bulbs and haven't had an issue. They're slightly whiter in color, a LOT better with light output, and there are no error messages, wire issues or housing issues.

10w increase is pretty negligible from a wiring standpoint, whereas it is a lot more serious as far as heat output, but I've never had a problem. They overengineer the housings and what not by quite a bit these days.

[waypastfast]

Originally Posted by slow3v

I would but taking the bulbs out requires taking the headlight out - and I'm not about to tear the car apart in 30F weather sorry bud.

Sorry I meant a picture of the lights on in the dark so I can see how bright they are! And did you do both driving and fog as well? Thanks for the other picture as well

[slow3v]

Originally Posted by waypastfast

Sorry I meant a picture of the lights on in the dark so I can see how bright they are! And did you do both driving and fog as well? Thanks for the other picture as well

Whenever my headlights are on I turn my fogs on, and I've also run the highbeams for a long extended period of time too. They're a separate bulb, and I haven't changed those yet.

Ill see if I can snap some pictures later. Hopefully my phone (galaxy nexus) captures it alright. Camera is kinda meh

[Joey D]

I had the Phillips Crystal Vision bulbs before converting to HID's and still run a pair in my full beams. They are the best standard headlamp bulbs I've had experience with. Silverstars are by far the worse bulbs I've ever used, their life expectancy is awful for what you pay for them. I know some people have had good luck with them but I never have. The Phillips are very reliable and I haven't had one fail yet.

[slow3v]

Pictures as requested. They don't really do them justice, but going from 1350 lumens to 2100 lumens is a 65% increase in light output, roughly. So as you can imagine, it was pretty drastic. Note too my housings are filthy due to my car being.. filthy. Rain FTL



Fogs are stock





I'll have to get a broader shot in a large un-lit parking lot eventually. Possibly this weekend.

[waypastfast]

I was doing some further research on this mod and it seems extemely popular with the Subaru guys! Changing the bulb from the H11 to the H9 seems to make quite a difference!

[hand-filer]

Originally Posted by Joeywhat

To those running H9 bulbs, are you melting the reflector or housing?

I drove the car for 11 months after doing the H9 conversion with nary a trace of melting.

[MetalMuffins]

I am thinking of getting a pair of Nokya H9 Hyper yellow bulbs for my fogs, would you recommend it? (http://www.advancespeedshop.com/noky...25-p-1850.html)

Also, is anyone doing anything for highs? I am looking at getting the Phillips Diamond Vision (5000K) H1 for my highs and H11 Crystal's (4300K) for my lows.