Being a keen experimenter and open to new ideas, I decided to try the cheaper HIR bulb option in my ’98 100 Series Landcruiser High Beam as opposed to the HID kits. The ’98 Cruiser runs a traditional glass multi segment fresnel lens with two parabolic reflectors. The reflectors are separate for High and low beam with separate bulbs. The later year cruisers have changed to a faceted reflector with a clear polycarbonate unbreakable lens.
The High Beam bulb in my cruiser is a 9005 HB3, Low beam 9006 HB4. These can be swapped with a HIR 9011 bulb that is very similar in design. A small plastic tab needs to have about 3mm of plastic trimmed to fit in the socket.
I purchased mine from www.finemotoring.com in the US who has plenty of information on HIR bulbs. The bulbs arrived in about 10 days, and I found the service prompt and friendly.
HIR bulbs are brighter than conventional Halogen bulbs, including the high output types, and cheaper than HID. I went for them as they are on instantly (HID needs to warm up), cost effective, simple drop in, no ballast to mount, and I wanted to see what they were like. There is also less legal concerns running these bulbs than HID’s, but I’ll skirt that issue as it seems to be somewhat murky. Headlight and vehicle modification legality debates are contentious at best.
The HIR’s draw 65w, meaning there is no need to re-wire the car to get a reasonable voltage to them. Running 100W or 130W halogen’s requires re-wiring in most cars. Failing to do this gives a significant voltage drop through the loom, and low voltage at the bulb. Halogen’s hate low voltages very quickly falling in brightness. A 130w bulb underdriven will produce less effective light then a well driven 55W. I have rewired the headlights in several previous vehicles, but am getting lazy in my old age. I haven’t measured terminal voltage to check the amount of loss, but with the engine running and 13.8v at the battery, they seemed fine.
The bulbs that I removed where Silvania 55w units of unknown age. There was no visible material deposited on the glass and the filaments were in good condition, so I would estimate their output to be well within 90% of new. Bulb’s tend to lose output as they age. High beam doesn’t get as much use as low beam, likely contributing to their good condition.
ARB and IPF are flogging HIR as the next best thing, with prices to match. I don’t know where they are sourcing theirs from, and some of their information seems contradictory with other sources on the web. Well, that’s this new intertechnoweb thingymajig for ya.
Fitting was moderately easy. The sockets for the bulbs are tight and tend to hold dirt, with difficult to remove plugs. They are also require removal of the battery to access the sockets, and lifting 35kg of AGM battery out of the tray is great fun.
The outcome is “acceptable”. The light is whiter and brighter, but not hugely so. These are not HID output colour’s or levels. The photo’s don’t give a good comparison as the camera light metering affects what you see. I would estimate the increase to be in the realm of 30 – 50%. Due to the lens design it doesn’t throw the light that much further, maybe 10 or 20m, but the fringe regions are more clearly lit, and the colour is less yellow, probably about 300K whiter at a guess. The centre area’s have more white light in them, but were acceptable before. There is some colour difference when projected onto the garage door, or when you look at them, however the camera doesn’t capture it. They are NOT blue or purple to look at.
I would score them about 6/10 – acceptable as a quick, simple cost effective upgrade with more, but with the falling price of HID kits, I think I’ll just go HID in everything.
Low Beam – Conventional
High Beam – Conventional
(Landcruiser keeps Low Beam lit when High is on)
High Beam – HIR Bulbs