docster
Member
For anyone interested in upgrading their headlamp bulbs, I will recommend the Philips "HIR" as a great option. My 01 Denali has a halogen projector low beams. The bulbs used were the Sylvania Ultras, and those tend to make more light than conventional bulbs, but run very hot and tend to last only a few months before they rapidly loose their brightness.
Quick thing about HIRs. They dont actually exist anymore. HIR stands for halogen infra-red. They were only ever made by Toshiba, who no longer makes them, and had an infra-red coating to reflect the IR radiation back to filament making it hotter and brighter, without a loss of bulb life.
Now the Philips HIRs have no coating, but they have reworked the bulb to provide much higher lumen output.
9006 - 55 watts - 1000 lumens
9005 - 65 watts - 1700 lumens
9012 - 55 watts - 1870 lumens
9011 - 65 watts - 2350 lumens
D2R HID capsule - 35 watts - 2800 lumens
True HIRs from my understanding were about 2500 lumens.
my Denali uses 9005 bulbs, so I ordered 2 9011 bulbs. And I must say I can actually tell a good difference, no HIDs, but not bad at all.
Pics are all taken with my old iPhone, so they aren't very good, and does not help that the light is being reflected off a white garage door less than 2 feet away...
Here is a pic of lows with 9005 Ultrastars.
Here is the minor adjustment you have to make to top tab.
before trim
After trim
And here is after the Philips install
Like I said, very hard to tell the difference, but nighttime visibility is so much better.
Quick thing about HIRs. They dont actually exist anymore. HIR stands for halogen infra-red. They were only ever made by Toshiba, who no longer makes them, and had an infra-red coating to reflect the IR radiation back to filament making it hotter and brighter, without a loss of bulb life.
Now the Philips HIRs have no coating, but they have reworked the bulb to provide much higher lumen output.
9006 - 55 watts - 1000 lumens
9005 - 65 watts - 1700 lumens
9012 - 55 watts - 1870 lumens
9011 - 65 watts - 2350 lumens
D2R HID capsule - 35 watts - 2800 lumens
True HIRs from my understanding were about 2500 lumens.
my Denali uses 9005 bulbs, so I ordered 2 9011 bulbs. And I must say I can actually tell a good difference, no HIDs, but not bad at all.
Pics are all taken with my old iPhone, so they aren't very good, and does not help that the light is being reflected off a white garage door less than 2 feet away...
Here is a pic of lows with 9005 Ultrastars.
Here is the minor adjustment you have to make to top tab.
before trim
After trim
And here is after the Philips install
Like I said, very hard to tell the difference, but nighttime visibility is so much better.
