So I finally got around to upgrading my Subaru's headlights. Of course, I'm not bothering with ricer bulbs like PIAA, MTEC, or Silverstars. I went for the newest technology in stock wattage halogens. For the low beams, I went with Osram Hypers, which are their newest bulbs, basically H7s with an H9 filament. For the high beams, I replaced the stock 9005s with 9011 Toshiba HIR bulbs. There is quite the difference, and with the high beams on, the road in front of me sees close to 5000 lumens, which is wayyy more than your typical HID setup. Did I mention that this is with stock wattage halogen bulbs with normal bulb life? So far, I'm super happy with the results that came from simply replacing the bulbs. These lights are so bright I can see into the dark souls of emo kids...before I run them over.

Anyway, here are the pics. I know some of you may whine about how the camera settings make a difference, but I did try to adjust them so that the pictures accurately represent how these look in real life:

1: lowbeams, Osram Hyper vs. OEM H7


2: lowbeams+highbeams, 9011 HIR vs. OEM 9005


3: Notice the new bulbs' colour temperature is the same as OEM. No ricer bullshit here!


4: A drive down a back alley with the lowbeams. Similiar road visibility to HIDs.


5. Highbeams on. Combined with the lowbeams, there is far more light now than the normal HID setup. I win!


6. Another lowbeam shot, both sides installed.


7. Another lowbeam+highbeam shot, both sides installed.

Wow those look amazing. How much they cost you per bulb?

Yah, i'd like to know too. I was considering upgrading to HID but this looks like a much cheaper alternative.

I call I wanna see pics of this...

Originally posted by EK 2.0



I call I wanna see pics of this...

Originally posted by GTS Jeff

Fuk you guys made my day! haha

How long did it take for the lights to get to you and who do they use for shipping?

Looks like a great setup and alternative to HID's.

Chris

Acutally nevermind. I found it... .hehe

Originally posted by topher91






Fuk you guys made my day! haha

How long did it take for the lights to get to you and who do they use for shipping?

Looks like a great setup and alternative to HID's.

Chris

UPS or USPS. UPS is more expensive because of brokerage, but they ship quickly (within 2 weeks) and give good tracking. USPS is way slower (anywhere from 3 to 8 weeks) and has no tracking. I needed these bulbs in for a long drive I'm making soon, so I asked they be shipped with UPS.

HIR are great alternatives to HID.
Lots of people rave about them at hidplanet.

Originally posted by GTS Jeff

touche...

Jeff: What would happen if I installed 9012's 55w Toshiba's where a 9005 51w bulb was supposed to go. Would it work? or would it mess up the headlight housing like cheap HID kits do.

If you are replacing 9005s with HIR, you are supposed to use 9011 bulbs. You only use 9012 if you have 9006 bulbs. The HIR bulbs are designed with the filament placed in the same locations, so your stock beam pattern will be preserved. The slightly bumped wattage shouldn't be a concern either.

even better!

But is it just a direct replacement? Will anything go wrong?

TIA you seem to be the Lighting Pro around here

OR, you can do the 9005/9006 mod. Which gives a slight lumen boost. In this case, 9011/9012 mod.

Originally posted by sneek
even better!

But is it just a direct replacement? Will anything go wrong?

TIA you seem to be the Lighting Pro around here

Yes, it's a direct replacement. The only thing you need to do is trim off a few mm of plastic off the top tab, which is marked for you with white-out. The bulb is slightly wider, so there is a 0.0005% chance that it might not fit into the hole, other than that, it's basically a regular bulb.

I'm not really a lighting pro, I just waste a lot of time researching junk like this haha.

awesome! I have a friend in SoCal who might be able to get the 9011s for $10 from JD

:P its all good, I waste lots of time on stuff like detailing.

just ordered a set of osram hyper's... we'll see how they compare to the hid kit.

anywhere you can buy the Toshiba HIR's in store?

No.

Do a left-right comparison photoshoot.