New Generation of HIR2

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Sounds like a winner.

I am still seriously looking at the HIR1 9011 bubls for me as I drive a lot of country roads. Any advantage in spotting the critters long distance the better for me...
 
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Either will be a fine choice. I'm in suburbia and crowded highways, so the HIR2 was my choice. Me seeing fine would be negated by a blinded driver crashing into me.
 
Excellent report, thanks for the tips (I just found this thread).

I have the original Toshiba HIR2s in my Corolla, in the low segment. In the highs, I have normal Sylvania XtraVision HB3s. I've had the Toshiba HIR2s for YEARS now. I first had them in my '01 Cadillac STS, and now in the Corolla. They keep going strong. For a while, I had them in my Corolla's fog lights, using them as DRLs, so I can vouch for their longevity.

With the new Philips bulbs sporting an even longer life, and higher intensity, they're a no-brainer to me.

(And I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who advocates against HID conversions into halogen reflector housings. What a dangerous and hideous thing to do. It's immediately obvious when you have an oncoming car who's done an HID conversion, and it's not immediately obvious in a good way.)
 
Just an FYI, it seems that the "new" HIR bulbs are not using the reflecting technology, or not properly. The 9011 actually has less output than the original Toshiba HIR bulbs. From what I read, the new "replacement" versions are simply bright halogens. There is no reflective coating. The extra brightness comes from the gas mixture, the filament placement and the cylindrical glass and, of course, from power consumption.

The new 9011 version is down about 400-500 lumens, and really is not that much brighter than "halogen" spec.

HIR original was 2500 lumens (9011)
HIR Phillips is 2100 Lumens (or less)
Halogen is 1800 Lumens

Here are the originals:

http://hirheadlights.com/Bulbs Images/2bulbs338x330.png
 
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The Toshiba HIR are "real" HIR with the IR-reflecting coating. The Philips HIR are an over-driven 9005 that marginally meets the spec.
 
From this very informative thread on the Philips HIR2:


"The luminance of the Philips HIR2 is superior to that of the Toshiba bulb -- 30 Mcd/m2 vs. 24 Mcd/m2 -- and the filament ghosts are more consistently and conventionally located."
 
Originally Posted By: SubLGT
From this very informative thread on the Philips HIR2:


"The luminance of the Philips HIR2 is superior to that of the Toshiba bulb -- 30 Mcd/m2 vs. 24 Mcd/m2 -- and the filament ghosts are more consistently and conventionally located."


^^^^ That's talking about the Philips HIR2/9012 low beam bulbs.

Originally Posted By: Cujet
Just an FYI, it seems that the "new" HIR bulbs are not using the reflecting technology, or not properly. The 9011 actually has less output than the original Toshiba HIR bulbs. From what I read, the new "replacement" versions are simply bright halogens. There is no reflective coating. The extra brightness comes from the gas mixture, the filament placement and the cylindrical glass and, of course, from power consumption.

The new 9011 version is down about 400-500 lumens, and really is not that much brighter than "halogen" spec.

HIR original was 2500 lumens (9011)
HIR Phillips is 2100 Lumens (or less)
Halogen is 1800 Lumens

Here are the originals:

http://hirheadlights.com/Bulbs Images/2bulbs338x330.png


^^^ This is referring to the HIR1/9011 high beam bulbs.

The Philips 9012's are the real-deal HIR bulbs, with the IR-reflective coating. Their 9011's are "tarted-up" 9005 filaments that are over-driven, according to one article I read on them.

Summary:

Philips 9012/HIR2 bulbs = real deal HIR, buy.

Philips 9011/HIR1 bulbs = fakers, run away.

Kinda OT, but I've been nothing but impressed with the Philips 9012's in my Buick's low beams.
 
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Originally Posted By: Cujet
Just an FYI, it seems that the "new" HIR bulbs are not using the reflecting technology, or not properly.........


from what I have read:
Philips HIR2 has the IR coating
Philips HIR1 does not have IR coating
 
Originally Posted By: SubLGT
Originally Posted By: Cujet
Just an FYI, it seems that the "new" HIR bulbs are not using the reflecting technology, or not properly.........


from what I have read:
Philips HIR2 has the IR coating
Philips HIR1 does not have IR coating



Bingo.
 
digging up an old thread...

installed new housings (old ones were clouded) with philips HIR 9012's in my mother's civic.

amazon had them for $21 apiece, so the price has come down a good bit.

She loves them. The color temp looks stock, the factory focus is retained, and I'm hoping the bulb life is what philips claims.

The power connector is a direct fit. Required wire cutters to trim one of the locating tabs on the base.

Great Bulb.
 
I switched to the Phillips HIR2 in my Axiom. It has bulb shields, so the unpainted bulb tip is not an issue.
I love them. Beam pattern has not changed, still have the squirrel-spotter feature as well.
 
Thank you for the info here. I was planning to replace hi/lo bulbs in the Accord - I went with the Philips HIR2's for the lo beams and Philips VisionPlus for the hi beams. The housings do have the bulb shield so all should be good
smile.gif
 
A follow-up - I installed the bulbs as mentioned above. They replaced original Sylvania bulbs.
I won't preface comments with WOW! lol. The HIR2's do provide a noticeable improvement in the rural roads I travel. There are a variety of road markers that are visible sooner, I think that perhaps the beam length may be longer? Color is slightly whiter than stock and there appears to be more of an upper cut-off than stock, but not sure if maybe i just had not noticed it with the stock bulbs. The housings are the same, so I don't know why the cutoff would change.
Also noted is the the bulbs look very sturdy, the filament is thicker and well supported. It was more of a pain to get to the lo beam bulbs than to do the tab trimming.
The VisionPlus were a direct fit and are a bit brighter compared to the original bulbs but I expected a bit of improvement new vs old bulbs.
Overall for first impression on HIR2 I'm pleased.
 
Originally Posted By: Mud
Color is slightly whiter than stock and there appears to be more of an upper cut-off than stock, but not sure if maybe i just had not noticed it with the stock bulbs. The housings are the same, so I don't know why the cutoff would change.


The cut-off probably didn't change; it's just more apparent with brighter bulbs. Does your Accord have a step pattern cut-off, like this?

_____|----- _____|-----

Most recent Hondas seem to use that pattern (both of ours do). The cut-off is much more apparently in my CR-V using Philips X-treme Power bulbs vs. the factory bulbs. The pattern itself didn't change...it's just more apparent.
 
Jason, yes I think that you're right. I had noticed that step when the car was close to a wall, it was more pronounced. The overall upper cutoff also more apparent going down the road, somewhat in the lines of HID but of course not as clear/sharp.

I've done a complete (correct) E55 HID projector retrofit into my 02 CV and got really familiar with the HID cut-off and step (for U.S. right hand lane driving). What I'm seeing with the simple addition of the HIR2 bulbs is similar, within the restraints of the bulbs/housings of course. I think installing these bulbs is much preferred over the cheap HID "kits" out there blinding everyone.

This pic is out of a write-up I did on the retrofit and I think is what you were telling me.
382128690.jpg
 
If you haven't tried the HIR1 in the high beam...its equally if not more 'enlightening'. I only have the HIR1's installed as the HIR2 actually proved to overcome the optics of the headlamp in my Corolla just slightly and produced some internal reflections resulting in some arced aberrations about 5 feet up from each lamp. It was great in the clear, but any particulates in the are made them evident and distracting, so I went back to stock.

Those that have the HID kits really do sacrifice good beam pattern, especially in inclement weather. I guess they are so 'dazzled' by the amount of light spewing out it is the only thing that matters to them.
 
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Originally Posted By: Mud
This pic is out of a write-up I did on the retrofit and I think is what you were telling me.
382128690.jpg



Yes. Here's my CR-V's lamp pattern. I think your Accord is nearly the same:

IMAG0291.jpg
 
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