Headlight recommendations

freezingmoon said:

Which ones did you get from them? I’m looking to order some ASAP! Thanks!

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I got the 6000k set. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01H6NZ7D8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Some topics never stop resurrecting... LoL

I did the H9 bulb upgrades, huge benefit in light output. I stopped looking, but finding an adapter cable so you didn’t have to trim it would be nice, but you still have the metal tabs to trim, but I remember those going faster.

But looking at those Cougar upgrades... How is the throw, pattern and brightness compared to the H9 upgrade for low and high beam? Any noise introduced into the car, especially AM or FM radio?

Rickmeister 48 said:

You guys did read the part of the post where I said I did not want to go with LEDs right ??

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People will jump all over me for saying this, but I would go with the silverstar ultras. I have them in my car and see just fine. I got them for my low and high beams. I don’t care what the package says, they last longer then advertised. I’ve had mine in my civic now for over a year and do a lot of my driving at night. If installed properly then they will last a long time. By installing properly I mean do not open the package until you are ready to install them, this prevents moisture getting on them. Next, do not touch the glass of the bulb whatsoever, handle with the plastic only. This prevents oils of your skin getting on it, which greatly reduces the lifespan. I have used these bulbs and installed them exactly how I described and have never had one burn out on me. Here is an image of my low beam and high beam with the silverstar ultra. The picture looks like there is a hot spot right in front of the car but it’s actually even lighting in real life.

Well... I attempted the surgery yesterday on the H9. My thumb now has a butterfly bandage and the bulb is shattered.

However... when I was pulling the original bulb to use as a reference; I was *SO AMAZED* by how easily it was to remove them that I began to reconsider the H11 'super/extra/enhanced/whatever' bulbs.

Generally when I destroy a part or draw blood; I consider it a good indicator that I'm too fixated on a particular solution and am closed minded to other options. So I ordered the Phillips 60% mo' brighter bulbs. If I can change these with no significant difficulty; I can live with the possible shorter life. I could even carry one in the glove box and replace as needed.

My logic was that the 30% bump didn't seem worth the effort. But the 100% bump was optimistic. I did the Goldilocks logic and went with the 60% as that seemed 'just right'. We'll see.

Thanks for all the wisdom and links. And sorry if I steered us off topic for a bit.

Background: I cannot tell ya' how goddamn difficult it was to replace these on the RSX. That design was some sick joke on the part of a sadistic Honda engineer. The little spring clip took 25 minutes on average (for me) of trial and error to finally connect. My lower back was hurting so bad by then that I swore my allegiance to the standard garden variety halogens if they'd last a few years. So now that Honda has redeemed themselves with this design; I'm back in the 'enhanced' mix. And goddamn it feels good.

@shoegazer sorry to hear you hurt yourself, that isn't good!

This has sent me off on a whole pursuit to find "the truth". LoL Reading lots of the threads here on LED it seems there is a lot of conflicting information, unfortunately.

* LED fog updates - those are reflector housings, so if you don't use a cutoff bulb you will cause glare - true? I think the Honda official upgrade provides new housings. But if you buy that for $180 or so, I am unclear on reading the instructions if you have to install the whole wiring harness if you have existing fogs or not. I would think no, but I still am not clear on that point. Or you can install bulbs like the Philips that have the cutoff in them as long as you align them properly.

* LED bulbs - Lots of debate over what is best, but since the headlights ARE projectors, no matter what you put in there it shouldn't cause glare? Or is this false as well? I see a lot of images with a lot of different bulbs and they seem to have some mixed results.

* H9 upgrade v LED upgrade - If one has H9s installed, is there much boost to any LED update over that beyond the color of the light? . I think perhaps the H9 has a purer coverage pattern, the LEDs seem to have some minor dead spots, but overall I like the whiter light.

n9yty said:

I think perhaps the H9 has a purer coverage pattern, the LEDs seem to have some minor dead spots, but overall I like the whiter light

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I experienced shadows with the led set I tried too. While bright, I didn't care for the 6000k blue/white color.

I went hid and have a set of 5000k bulbs that are whiter than halogens but still yellow enough for my liking


Edit: I found that the stock halogens not only had had better beam pattern than led, but better throw. They just weren't as bright in the foreground

n9yty said:

* LED fog updates - those are reflector housings, so if you don't use a cutoff bulb you will cause glare - true?

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Depends. No two LED conversion kits are really created equal. Differences in number of LED, position of LEDs, output of the LEDs, etc etc can change the beam pattern pretty drastically. Ideally, you want a LED "bulb" where the body of the bulb is as thin as possible, and the position and pattern of the LED placement is as close to replicating the position of the filament within a halogen bulb. If the bulb is well designed, the beam pattern will mimic a halogen bulb pretty closely, minimizing glare.

n9yty said:

* LED bulbs - Lots of debate over what is best, but since the headlights ARE projectors, no matter what you put in there it shouldn't cause glare? Or is this false as well? I see a lot of images with a lot of different bulbs and they seem to have some mixed results.

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See above. Again a kit that more closely mimics the output position of a halogen filament will produce a similar beam pattern to a halogen bulb.

n9yty said:

* H9 upgrade v LED upgrade - If one has H9s installed, is there much boost to any LED update over that beyond the color of the light? . I think perhaps the H9 has a purer coverage pattern, the LEDs seem to have some minor dead spots, but overall I like the whiter light.

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I'd think a LED is still going to outshine a 65w H9 bulb. Halogen is halogen. A higher wattage bulb will be brighter, but not LED bright.

LED "deadspots" are inherent to the current leading designs... a LED with a good beam pattern is nearly flat with two clusters of LEDs at 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock as close to where a halogen's filament would be. While these LEDs have great output, their coverage is not a perfect 180 degrees on both sides, so the 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock positions have a noticeable lack of coverage within the projector compared to a halogen filament's 360 degrees of light output.

Good Lord,the days of just buying some headlights seems to be over.
You guys got my head swimming taking about modifications, reflector, hid, wiring harnesses, h9, and inflicting injury to ones self.

I think I'm just gonna hunt down some Death Ray X51 ,retina vaporizing bulbs and be done with it.