Poor HIR2 projector performance

[mikered30]

Figured I would update this thread even thought I am not the OP. I bought the Vosla HIR +30 (GM part number 23342527)in January from gmpartsdirect.com. The passenger side bulb burned out today in my corolla, lasted just about 5 months. It was a shame, I knew being brighter comes at a cost with reduced life, I was expecting at least double the life. I was really pleased with their performance up until this point, I even got a few compliments from my passengers about how bright they were, ditto with the 9011 Philips bulbs on high beam. I will stick with the Philips 9012 LL in the low beam. These bulbs are also my DRLs, so I think that had something to do with the short life. I used gloves when I installed them in January and the filament to the naked eye still looked intact, but there were deposits present on the filament. Also the base of the glass was turning a tan color. The drivers side bulb looked similar, but still worked. I am wondering if this bulb burning out this early was an anomaly? I think a lot of people would complain to GMC, especially those truck owners that had the BCM flash update and the vosla bulbs installed. Anyone know the rated lifespan of the Vosla HIR +30 bulbs?

 

[Qship1996]

Here is the official Vosla cut sheet on the bulb,including lifespan figures http://www.vosla-german-lighting.com/upload/products/pdf/de/28432.pdf

 

[mikered30]

Thanks for that cut sheet, looks like I was on the lower end of the rated life.

 

[world.traveler]

I wanted to provide a quick update to my original post, where I raised concerns about my 2014 Impala's headlight performance. I decided against changing to the brighter but shorter life Vosla bulbs because I did not want to make that maintenance trade-off and because intuition told me that the projector design was the major factor affecting the performance of the lights. The dealership did confirm that the lights were getting at or slightly above the correct voltage. The final straw came on a rainy Thanskgiving trip to Connecticut when I nearly left the road on a sharp left turn exiting I-84 near Danbury CT: I just could not see the road.

I recently read the IIHS review of mid-size car headlight performance and noted that the Honda Accord (halogen headlights, not optional LED) scored well relative to most of the competition. As the Accord also offers a manual transmission, which I miss in the Impala, I decided to take a night time test drive. Sure enough, the halogen low beams do a much better job of illuminating the road ahead and to the sides, and the halogen high beams (reflectors which augment the projector low beams, which remain lit) provide a blaze of light across and down the road. In fact these lights seemed to perform as well as, if not better than, the HIDs in my previous BMW 325i. Compared to the Impala, the experience was like night and day, if you'll excuse the pun.

So I now have a 2017 Accord Sport with manual transmission on order. I'll be interested to see how that -- and its halogen lights -- perform over time. Does anyone know which bulbs the car uses for its low and high beams?

 

[64.5vette]

H11, 9005 IIRC. Could easily do a h9 and 9011 swap in those fairly common stanley h11 projectors.

Remember that IIHS tests OE lighting at factory aim, which can be wildly off. I'd bet that some cars would score higher if they were simply aimed correctly.

 

[world.traveler]

H11, 9005 IIRC. Could easily do a h9 and 9011 swap in those fairly common stanley h11 projectors.

Remember that IIHS tests OE lighting at factory aim, which can be wildly off. I'd bet that some cars would score higher if they were simply aimed correctly.

So on the Accord the 65W 9011 would replace the 65W 9005 IIRC in the high beam reflectors? Would the beams focus correctly?

The Impala had one 55W 9012, partly shutter-masked for low beam and the same unmasked 9012 for high beam, in a projector that focused the light into two yellowish pencil beams with little light to the sides. Atrocious. By the way, those were re-aimed by the dealer several times in an attempt to remedy the situation. I did drive a Regal in Florida, which also had shuttered single halogens -- seemed to perform considerably better than the Impala's. I wonder if the bulbs were the same, projector housings different?

Another point. the 9012 is rated at 1825 lumens, the total high beam output on the Impala, regardless of the merits of the projector design. On high beam the Accord carries 1250 lumens from the H11 plus 1700 lumens from the 9005 = 2950 lumens. Isn't this inherently a preferred design to the single bulb 9012 setup on the Impala?

 

[64.5vette]

Yes a 9011 is a higher performing version of a 9005.

Im not qualified to chime in on the rest of your questions, but I DO have 2 cars that match your setup, a d3s bi xenon focus rs and a h9 and 9011 swapped Mazda 3 (using the same projectors as your accord). The Mazda high beam has more "flood" in the trees and surrounding the road on high beam, but none of that is useful for what a high beam is designed for. I much prefer the focus rs xenon output, with its AFS and increased low beam distance light, even though the 3200lm bulb is split between functions as opposed to the Mazdas ~2000lm low beam and ~2500lm high beam.

The takeaway is how light is used, not raw lumens is more much important.

9005: 1,860lm +- 12 %
9011: 2,500lm +- 15 %
9006: 1,095lm +- 15 %
9012: 1,875lm +- 15 %
H9: 2,100lm +- 10 %
H11: 1,350lm +- 10 %

 

[-Virgil-]

So on the Accord the 65W 9011 would replace the 65W 9005 IIRC in the high beam reflectors?

Yes, once you slightly modify the new bulbs' plastic base slightly as shown at [url=http://dastern.torque.net/Mods/HIRmod.html]this page.

Would the beams focus correctly?

Yes, and so would the low beam options optimal H11 or, even brighter without negative consequence, a good H9)

Another point. the 9012 is rated at 1825 lumens, the total high beam output on the Impala, regardless of the merits of the projector design. On high beam the Accord carries 1250 lumens from the H11 plus 1700 lumens from the 9005 = 2950 lumens

That's source lumens (off the bulb), not beam lumens (on the road). Figure roughly 400 to 600 lumens on the road for these types of projector low beams.

Isn't this inherently a preferred design to the single bulb 9012 setup on the Impala?

Yes.

 

[world.traveler]

Thanks. I drove a new Subaru Legacy over the holiday. That car also had halogen projector low beams and reflector high beams. Would you happen to know whether the bulbs are the same as the Honda Accord's? Ditto the projector manufacturer and model? Subjectively the Legacy's lights seemed decent but not quite as strong as the Accord's.

64.5vette mentioned the Stanley projectors. Are these a standard across the Asian manufacturers that use this dual projector/reflector setup?

Yes, once you slightly modify the new bulbs' plastic base slightly as shown at [URL="http://dastern.torque.net/Mods/HIRmod.html"]this page.



Yes, and so would the low beam options optimal H11 or, even brighter without negative consequence, a good H9)



That's source lumens (off the bulb), not beam lumens (on the road). Figure roughly 400 to 600 lumens on the road for these types of projector low beams.



Yes.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00480KOP4/?tag=2402507-20

 

[-Virgil-]

Thanks. I drove a new Subaru Legacy over the holiday. That car also had halogen projector low beams and reflector high beams. Would you happen to know whether the bulbs are the same as the Honda Accord's?

Yes, they are.

Ditto the projector manufacturer and model?

Koito/NAL is the manufacturer. There is no "model" designator that would make sense or be of use to a consumer.

64.5vette mentioned the Stanley projectors. Are these a standard across the Asian manufacturers that use this dual projector/reflector setup?

No, not at all. Stanley is one of Japan's three major OE suppliers of vehicle lights (the others are Koito and Ichikoh). All of those companies make a wide range of headlamp optics, including projector modules which get tailored to meet the specifications of the automaker for every new vehicle project.

 

[hokiefyd]

No, not at all. Stanley is one of Japan's three major OE suppliers of vehicle lights (the others are Koito and Ichikoh). All of those companies make a wide range of headlamp optics, including projector modules which get tailored to meet the specifications of the automaker for every new vehicle project.

I've always been curious about the the relationship between lighting supplier and vehicle manufacturer, and who actually ~designs~ what (regarding the lamps, of course). Is it typical that a lighting supplier will have basic designs (for projector housings, reflector housings, etc), and an automaker (Honda, for instance), will say "Koito, I need a lamp that does X", and then Koito would say "model ABC is close to what you need, and we'll modify it to fit your exact need"?

 

[-Virgil-]

Every lighting supplier has its own collection of techniques and modules and specialties, elements of which generally get incorporated into whatever project is brought in. Automakers will generally specify a lighting package in design, technology, performance, volume, and cost terms, and the lighting supplier(s) will bid the job. Adjustments will be made until the right balance of those factors is attained. That's the most common way it's done. Sometimes an automaker will come to a supplier and say "Make us the killer app of (headlamps, taillamps, turn signals, or whatever), something really new that nobody else has, here's a pile of money". Sometimes a supplier will say "Hey, automakers, we've got a killer app for (headlamps, taillamps, turn signals, or whatever), something relaly new that nobody else has, who's going to be first to buy it?".

 

[world.traveler]

I had another look at the 2017 Legacy today (my father's). I believe the low beams are HIDs and the supplemental high beams halogen. The car also has cornering lights (large reflectors -- may be LEDs) integrated into the bumper corners that light up when the car turns left or right.

 

[world.traveler]

Who is the supplier on the Impala? It doesn't appear that any changes have been made between 2014 and 2017 but I cannot confirm.

 

[-Virgil-]

I had another look at the 2017 Legacy today (my father's). I believe the low beams are HIDs and the supplemental high beams halogen.

HID low beams are available on the '17 Legacy. Those halogen high beams aren't "supplemental", they are the car's only high beams, though the low beams remain lit with the high beams on. The low beams do not produce a high beam, only a low beam.

The car also has cornering lights (large reflectors -- may be LEDs) integrated into the bumper corners that light up when the car turns left or right.

I don't think those are LEDs on that model, they're halogen. Sounds like your dad's car has the EyeSight package -- nice!

Who is the supplier on the Impala?

I don't know off hand. Could easily be Magna, but GM also buys a lot of lights from Korean makers SL (Samlip) and HMC, and they also buy from Automotive Lighting and Hella, sometimes NAL, etc.

 

[world.traveler]

Thanks Virgil. Yes, by supplemental I meant that the low beams stay on when high beams are selected -- imprecise choice of words on my part. The cornering lights did have a coolish temperature when viewed in my rear view mirror, but that can sometimes be the case with halogens due to the distortion of the sloped back window and the mirror itself. The package works well but I do remember the Accord's high beam (main beam or undipped as we'd say in the UK) performance being stronger for some reason. Mind you that was after stepping out of the Impala - the Accord threw a blaze of light down and across the road.

HID low beams are available on the '17 Legacy. Those halogen high beams aren't "supplemental", they are the car's only high beams, though the low beams remain lit with the high beams on. The low beams do not produce a high beam, only a low beam.




I don't think those are LEDs on that model, they're halogen. Sounds like your dad's car has the EyeSight package -- nice!



I don't know off hand. Could easily be Magna, but GM also buys a lot of lights from Korean makers SL (Samlip) and HMC, and they also buy from Automotive Lighting and Hella, sometimes NAL, etc.