Aftermarket Head Lamp Bulbs for 200-Series?

[Kaizer Sozay 13]

Has anyone "upgraded" any of the stock Head lamp bulbs (low and high beam) or the fog lamp bulbs on a 200-series LC?
Tried to search through the forum for posts regarding this in 2009, but didnt really see anythig.

I've found items like:

Sylvania H11ST Silverstar High Performance Lighting: The Whiter and Brighter Halogen for the Low Beams

and

Sylvania 9005SU Silverstar ULTRA for Ultra Night Vision - The Whitest and Brightest Halogen for the High Beams

Has anyone tried bulbs like these? Can you tell any major differences?

Really just looking at swapping to some high performance bulbs and not getting into a major electrical project.

Thoughts and suggestions?

 

[chimyz]

There were a couple of discussions back a few months:

https://forum.ih8mud.com/200-series-cruisers/243001-hid-led.html

https://forum.ih8mud.com/200-series-cruisers/280192-xenon-projector-lights.html

https://forum.ih8mud.com/200-series-cruisers/268005-h11-low-beam-hids-installed-08-cruiser.html

https://forum.ih8mud.com/200-series-cruisers/189973-bi-xenon-high-intensity-discharge-hid.html

 

[Kaizer Sozay 13]

Chimyz,

thanks for the links.

Regards,

 

[chimyz]

No problem...not sure if they help or not. Looks like most aftermarkets will work.

 

[Jule]

Try Daniel Stern Lighting Consultancy and Supply

 

[JBHorne]

I've upgraded my low beams with an all-digital Philips HID kit and installed high-performance bulbs for the high beams, mainly for somewhat color matching to 4200K. My fogs were upgraded as part of the ARB bumper addition and I also have the 35W Lightforce HIDs as well. Mucho light When my lows are on and you flick the highs on, you barely see them. You can see the beam of light increase in height, but not in brightness where they overlap.

I love reflector-style HIDs far better than projectors. My parents both have HIDs projectors in theirs (a Cadillac and a Lexus), but mine will outshine theirs by far. Put both vehicles side by side and turn the projectors on then the reflectors and you see a huge difference. Reverse the test and you will hardly notice the projectors turned on.

 

[huntgfish]

I installed HIDs with the 50watt balasts that are just simply blinding on all three bulbs (hi,low,fog). When I am behind other cars, my lights over power theirs! I also get a lot of flashes from people who think I have my high beams on when they are just on low.

 

[mot]

I love reflector-style HIDs far better than projectors. My parents both have HIDs projectors in theirs (a Cadillac and a Lexus), but mine will outshine theirs by far. Put both vehicles side by side and turn the projectors on then the reflectors and you see a huge difference. Reverse the test and you will hardly notice the projectors turned on.

More reflective area for the reflectors than the projectors!

I installed HIDs with the 50watt balasts that are just simply blinding on all three bulbs (hi,low,fog). When I am behind other cars, my lights over power theirs! I also get a lot of flashes from people who think I have my high beams on when they are just on low.

I've heard some success with retrofitting HID's into halogen housings, but also have heard quite a few bad stories such as yours.

The funny thing is that in Japan, Toyota will install HID's and that passes the inspection. I'm not their standards are different here, but still...

I'm sure the quality/dimensions among different HID bulbs can vary quite a bit, too...