"Intereting...
Wonder if they actuallt replaced the reference
bulb (9005/9006) with a new one??"
The article says that they did, as follows:
"The left low beam lamp in these pictures is burning a new, standard 9006 bulb, while the right low beam lamp has been fitted with a 9012."
"I already have HIR bulbs in my foglights. It isnt really a conversion, just a clear coating on the bulb that blocks infrared light from escaping."
The idea of the coating is to trap HEAT (infrared) and reflect it back to the filament. This produces up to 50% more visible light from the filament, with no additional electrical consumption.
I'm a little vague about what you mean by "conversion"; you do have to modify the HIR bulb to make it work in a 9005 or 9006 setup, and the resultant light output is way above stock.
"I already have HIR bulbs in my foglights. It isnt really a conversion, just a clear coating on the bulb that blocks infrared light from escaping."
If they are true HIR bulbs, not only do they have the coating, but they also would have the round spherical shaped glass chamber centered around the filament, so the coating/glass would have the correct angle to be able to reflect the IR light back to the right spot (It's like a mirror). If they just had the tubular capsule, then the IR rays would just bounce anywhere and very few would actually concrentrate back onto the filament. The sphere is just as important as the coating
They are. I am using H3C HIR bulbs. They have a clear coating that under a magnifying glass I can see and also the middle of bulb is spherical, different than the stock H3C bulbs.
I actually went to dodge dealer to see the bulb,... it doesn't look anything like the "bubble" style bulb on that ebay page.
i even bought a pair like those (japanese place, Polarg I believe) and the only thing those bulbs did was get hot and singe my reflectors
(because of the larger diameter of the glass = closer proximity to the reflector portion)
i didn't notice any extra amount of light like those in the pics (with polarg bulb)
Real HIR bulbs should look like this: http://www.gelighting.com/na/downloads/hir1techsheet1.pdf
Dang, it's been so long since I used to study about these types of bulbs (HIR), and I DID in fact forget that the authentic GE ones have the ground electrode running along the outside of the capsule. The part of the eBay auction that sold me was the fact that he said that he had to file the tab of the 9011 base to make them fit 9005. I hope these aren't just some cheap imitator! They could be. Perhaps I jumped too soon. I wondered why could they be so cheap. I guess wishful thinking would like to make you think they are authentic. I guess I will find out if they really DO work better than 9005 soon enough. Maybe they could be like what Japanese car makers put in their OEM cars? (more wishful thinking) I might have just been had....
Is GE or Toshiba the only brand that can make these (by patent)?
Josch,
There are two basic configurations on the HIR bulb design; GE's original design that tries hard to look a lot like an HID capsule, and the later "globe" design. Either design can be called an HIR bulb, as long as they are actually designated 9011 (or 9012). Let's just hope these bulbs aren't the fake third-world copies that don't have the authentic HIR coating on the glass and are just over-wattage bulbs with a slight tint. I ordered a pair for study, and they should be here in another day or so.
I guess we'll soon know? From the pics on the eBay ad, it DOES look like they have a coating of some sort, centered around the bubbled area (see pic below):
Also note that the bulb has 'DOT 9011' printed on the base
So I'm more hopeful that these are real
I'm curious to find out what brand they are
This message has been edited by JustHitADeereWithHID on Sep 8, 2004 3:19 PM
I just got my HIR 9011s tonight from the eBay auction. I haven't had a chance to plug them in yet, but from the looks of it, they are definitely authentic. They say Toshiba Japan HIR1 on them w/ a patent number stamped on the base, along w/ DOT 9011 and also [E11] 2B1 U . The top tab has been filed skinnier so it will fit into a 9005 fixture. I will put one in tomorrow night into my car and do a side by side comparison and see if I can get a decent pic.
They definitely burn slightly whiter color temp (indicating more energy across the filament). Against a wall it's hard to tell an accurate comparison since my crappy Ford highbeam light fixtures have a slightly different concentration of light from driver's side vs. pass side. They definitely seem a bit brighter w/ the HIR, but it's not like an 'awwwwww' jaw-dropping amount. I only have one bulb in the pass side as of now, and haven't even had a chance to testdrive vehicle yet, so I can't tell how they look shining afar. Just against the wall is all I got for now. Been kinda busy for a few days
looked up the specs on the Philips HIR1 and its a 225 hour average life span with 2300 lumens, compare that to the Philips Rally 100W 9005 at 100 hour & 2650 lumens
Yeah, these are definitely a little brighter than 9005, although, like I said it didn't seem like 'super ahhhh' but it is noticeable. Mainly just a little whiter and brighter all around (like they were just running a little higher voltage), but mainly this not too drastic difference is because the HIR 9011 is just a few lumens brighter (2350lm) than 9005 (1700 lm) already is out of the box.
So for kicks I put one of my spare 6054 light fixtures (has an H4 halogen), side by side next to my 9011 HIR (which is 1000 lm on highbeam mode vs. 2350 lm), and all I can say about that was 'super ahhhhh!' It was like a night/day difference on that.
All and all, I'm happy with them, but if you already got 9005 in your car as it is, then I'd say this mod can wait til you blow one of the old ones first. I'd do other things to your car first. But it definitely DID make a difference you could notice still.
