2019 Civic headlights upgrade?

[n9yty]

The most cost-effective solution to better light that I've found (and can be done with a low amount of mechanical skill as long as you're handy with a craft blade and nippers) is to put H9 bulbs in the stock low beam projectors in place of the awful H11s and 9011 (HIR1) bulbs in the high beam reflectors in place of the mediocre 9005s. You get probably 3/4 the performance of HID, at least in our stock lights, for under $30 if you shop around for the bulbs. I drive Lyft on the side ~20 hours a week in all conditions, chiefly at night, and the halogen bulb swap was the best bang for the buck under $100, imho.

Thanks for this... I remember seeing this same recommendation a while back when I was looking at putting different bulbs in my 2002 Civic... But I kinda forgot about it.

Any recommendations on what brand/type to get? I see the Philips rated higher on Amazon than Sylvania, but they all have plenty of reviews about a very short lifespan. And can you go with just the bottom-end of the product line and still have it be worthwhile? At least they have longer lifespans. Burn so bright, die so young, as they say.

But I guess even a bottom-end H9 should be an improvment over the stock H11, right?

I'm not against spending the $30-$40 versus the $10-$15 really, but if reports of <8mo lifespan is typical, then for my needs it may not be worth the 3x to 4x price increase for an inverse lifespan.

No concerns over putting a higher wattage bulb in there, either for melting the housings or overloading the wiring? Again, stock 2019 Civic Hatch EX... I gave up on LEDs after reading so much about how the stock headlight enclosure just doesn't give them the pattern you need, and that I don't want to go HID. So this is probably the direction I'd like to go, assuming the safety for the housing/wiring.

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[dallasjhawk]

Thanks for this... I remember seeing this same recommendation a while back when I was looking at putting different bulbs in my 2002 Civic... But I kinda forgot about it.

Any recommendations on what brand/type to get? I see the Philips rated higher on Amazon than Sylvania, but they all have plenty of reviews about a very short lifespan. And can you go with just the bottom-end of the product line and still have it be worthwhile? At least they have longer lifespans. Burn so bright, die so young, as they say.

But I guess even a bottom-end H9 should be an improvment over the stock H11, right?

I'm not against spending the $30-$40 versus the $10-$15 really, but if reports of <8mo lifespan is typical, then for my needs it may not be worth the 3x to 4x price increase for an inverse lifespan.

No concerns over putting a higher wattage bulb in there, either for melting the housings or overloading the wiring? Again, stock 2019 Civic Hatch EX... I gave up on LEDs after reading so much about how the stock headlight enclosure just doesn't give them the pattern you need, and that I don't want to go HID. So this is probably the direction I'd like to go, assuming the safety for the housing/wiring.

a great lighting resource https://www.hidplanet.com/forums/fo...alogens/1409801-ryan-s-guide-to-halogen-bulbs

 

[n9yty]

a great lighting resource https://www.hidplanet.com/forums/fo...alogens/1409801-ryan-s-guide-to-halogen-bulbs

Yeah, I saw that. Nice pics, but hard for me to follow. Guess you have to already pretty much need to know what it is saying to understand what it is saying. Feels that way.

Doesn’t simply answer my question about the recommendation made here to go to the upgraded H9/etc....

No concerns over putting a higher wattage bulb in there, either for melting the housings or overloading the wiring?

 

[dallasjhawk]

Yeah, I saw that. Nice pics, but hard for me to follow. Guess you have to already pretty much need to know what it is saying to understand what it is saying. Feels that way.

Doesn’t simply answer my question about the recommendation made here to go to the upgraded H9/etc....

No concerns over putting a higher wattage bulb in there, either for melting the housings or overloading the wiring?

no,the h9 swap has been around for a while. People are running 55W hids in these projectors without burning the bowls.

 

[n9yty]

no,the h9 swap has been around for a while. People are running 55W hids in these projectors without burning the bowls.

I just still be missing something... That other page is confusing because at the top he says ‘For bulbs that do not have an upgrade size, or are already upgraded do not get over-wattage bulbs. They are dangerous to the housings and your vehicle and perform worse than a high performance bulb of the correct wattage.’.... However the H9 upgrade is putting a 65W bulb in the factory 55W setup, isn’t it? So isn’t that against the advise he gives?

 

[dallasjhawk]

I just still be missing something... That other page is confusing because at the top he says ‘For bulbs that do not have an upgrade size, or are already upgraded do not get over-wattage bulbs. They are dangerous to the housings and your vehicle and perform worse than a high performance bulb of the correct wattage.’.... However the H9 upgrade is putting a 65W bulb in the factory 55W setup, isn’t it? So isn’t that against the advise he gives?

I believe he means if you are already running the h11 stock, then you have an upgrade available and are fine, if stock and you have h9 55w do not upgrade to h9 65W

 

[Meydey]

I did the H11 to H9 swap on my Altima and it really made a difference even with the base Phillips bulbs. They are harder to find than H11 though.
Just trim the tab and plug them in. Did that like 5 years ago and only had 1 bulb go bad so far.

 

[mcbacon]

Yeah, I saw that. Nice pics, but hard for me to follow. Guess you have to already pretty much need to know what it is saying to understand what it is saying. Feels that way.

Doesn’t simply answer my question about the recommendation made here to go to the upgraded H9/etc....

No concerns over putting a higher wattage bulb in there, either for melting the housings or overloading the wiring?

I just still be missing something... That other page is confusing because at the top he says ‘For bulbs that do not have an upgrade size, or are already upgraded do not get over-wattage bulbs. They are dangerous to the housings and your vehicle and perform worse than a high performance bulb of the correct wattage.’.... However the H9 upgrade is putting a 65W bulb in the factory 55W setup, isn’t it? So isn’t that against the advise he gives?

You'll be fine with a 10w nominal increase in draw. I've never had one single issue in the six weeks I've had them and I do the vast majority of my driving at night.

IIRC, there's not much in the way of "plus" bulbs for H9 and 9011, but the normal Philps one I have for both in there is just fine. You're definitely going to want to do both the low (H9) and high (9011) because, after the H9 upgrade, your low beams will actually out-shine your 9005 high beams.

These are the H9s I used:

https://www.amazon.com/Philips-1236...1&s=gateway&sprefix=philips+h9,aps,153&sr=8-4

And the 9011s:

https://www.amazon.com/Philips-Stan...s=gateway&sprefix=philips+9011,aps,174&sr=8-2

 

[mcbacon]

I'm so sorry I missed this!

"Interesting. I will look for that on my next night drive (most of my driving is on 2-lane country roads). Is it really important to light up 3 freeways lanes next to you when you are looking straight ahead? I find on the deer-filled country roads here that the Elite HID's are quite adequate for the periphery. At least for me."

Dallas has a lot of dark side roads to pull out from and very wide roads with people that like to be stupid when crossing the street. The extra width is a big bonus. Back when I lived in NH, the country roads were far narrower, so throw was more important than width at that point. Our projectors are by no means pencil beams, but they could use with a lot more width for urban driving.

So to be clear, these are halogen-to-halogen swaps and no HIDs? Without going full bi-xenon, I wouldn't mind an extra kick in intensity and kelvin temp color on my halogen high beams. Would I get that by swapping my 9005's with halogen 9011's? Does that swap require craft blades & nippers - or upgrading the harness?

This is straight up a halogen bulb swap. Both require nippers at the minimum and the H11 > H9 needs a craft blade but is very easy. The extra 10W or so isn't generally a big deal to stock wiring. If it made one feel better to run an H11 and 9011 halogen relay kit, it certainly wouldn't cause ill effects and would give even more light output.

https://forum.mazda6club.com/exterior-modifications/238968-h11-h9-fog-light-conversion.html

https://www.iwsti.com/forums/gr-exterior/227770-sunday-mod-diy-hir-9011-9005-bulb-conversion.html

If you're going to do one, I'd do both since it's the low beams that are the most inadequate. If one is running a good aftermarket HID or LED kit in their stock projectors, then just the 9011 upgrade will make a big difference.

The biggest issue I have heard about LEDs is performance in precipitation. I'm still looking for objective material that backs up the consensus, but I notice it camping. I have a halogen/LED headlamp and if it's raining, the LED is useless while the halogen cuts through the precipitation.

Most stock LEDs are glare-y messes and a lot of the light gets diffracted by the precipitation. It also doesn't help that some of them of a color temperature that just doesn't do that well in the rain because it's definitely on the cooler side. I imagine if the norm were 5000k units with good focus, similar to the Prius V projector but at a slightly warmer color temp, we'd have a different perception. Also, the usable light from most aftermarket LED sources is of a lower intensity than HID or even Halogen. If the community wants solid numbers on bulbs from different sources, I'll happily do some research and assemble them into a chart.

This is perhaps the only thing I would add a caveat to. I call my fogs my "pot hole" lights. That extra pool of light does wonders in helping me avoid them (at slower speeds, obviously). Some of the roads in PA, NJ and NY have a nasty habit of surprising you with holes to slam into, and I wouldn't dare drive those roads at night without that extra flood of lower, closer lighting.

That's an excellent caveat. Like everything else, YMMV.

I don't know that I have the time or talent to join, but I'll certainly look forward to seeing it!

Thanks! Feel free to PM me any requests that you'd like to see, within reason. I only have a limited budget, so I may see who wants sets of lights for just donation of the parts and in return would receive completed lights and help add to the build guide. I don't think it's prudent to test every projector on the market, but maybe the top five of a forum poll? What is y'all's take?

 

[BataviaJim]

The IIHS test came out recently on the 2019 Civic, and the headlights are still rated "Poor". I was hoping there had been an upgrade but apparently not.

I'm retired and drive after dark infrequently so it seems like a hassle to get into an upgrade, especially as I'm not too handy with mechanical work, to say the least. Also I just got the car this week and don't like the idea of messing with anything stock so soon. On the other hand, the older eyes don't see as well at night so when I do drive after dark I would like better headlights. Not sure what to do.

 

[dallasjhawk]

The IIHS test came out recently on the 2019 Civic, and the headlights are still rated "Poor". I was hoping there had been an upgrade but apparently not.

I'm retired and drive after dark infrequently so it seems like a hassle to get into an upgrade, especially as I'm not too handy with mechanical work, to say the least. Also I just got the car this week and don't like the idea of messing with anything stock so soon. On the other hand, the older eyes don't see as well at night so when I do drive after dark I would like better headlights. Not sure what to do.

find a local dealer of morimoto around you and just pay them to install professionally and you wont have to worry. Then if something does happen, the dealer will be responsible for removal and replacement of any part that my need warranty on the lighting system

 

[BataviaJim]

find a local dealer of morimoto around you and just pay them to install professionally and you wont have to worry. Then if something does happen, the dealer will be responsible for removal and replacement of any part that my need warranty on the lighting system

Good suggestion but I'm having trouble finding anyone local who does installations. I live near Buffalo NY and there are companies that sell the products but so far (looking online) no installers. I guess I'll have to call around and see if I can find one.

 

[n9yty]

Well, I went on a road trip with my sons this weeknd to St. Louis, about 5.5hr each way, mostly at night... I upgraded the halogen lights to the H9/9011 set and was quite impressed with the improvement, so thanks so much for the advice!

 

[mcbacon]

Well, I went on a road trip with my sons this weeknd to St. Louis, about 5.5hr each way, mostly at night... I upgraded the halogen lights to the H9/9011 set and was quite impressed with the improvement, so thanks so much for the advice!

No prob! Can't beat the improvement for $40-50! I think that's about as much as we can get out of our stock projectors (LEDs and HIDs are brighter, but the throw gets a little weird) since our stockers have poor width on dark Interstates and wide surface streets.

Here's a poll to gauge interest on the first retrofit I'll tackle:

http://www.strawpoll.me/17688700

 

[NHCivicGuy]

No prob! Can't beat the improvement for $40-50! I think that's about as much as we can get out of our stock projectors (LEDs and HIDs are brighter, but the throw gets a little weird) since our stockers have poor width on dark Interstates and wide surface streets.

Here's a poll to gauge interest on the first retrofit I'll tackle:

http://www.strawpoll.me/17688700

I voted for ya. RX350's with some tuning and adjustment, would be pretty awesome. I wanted an easy retro for me this time, so I went with the Morimoto MH1 7.0s. FX-R 3.0 probably would've been my next choice but seeing those take some decent modifications to get it right, decided against it.

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