2009 Camry - candidate for HIR?

Subject says all, any reason I shouldn't do the HIR conversion on my roommate's Camry? What about a 1998 Integra?

N8N said:

Subject says all, any reason I shouldn't do the HIR conversion on my roommate's Camry? What about a 1998 Integra?

Click to expand...

Any Integra that old will have major lens problems unless the lamps are brand new, or a plain miracle occurred. I'd recommend against the HIR2 for the low beam for that reason alone-- it'll really be glare for everyone else on the road. As far as the high beam, you could do the HIR1, but with the "cataracts" it's not going to be much of an improvement for the driver.

The '09 Camry uses an H11 low beam, and a 9005 high beam. There's no HIR H11, but the H9 might be a good swap. Aim, and clarity of headlamp lenses are important. The high beam, using a 9005, should be a go for the HIR1 (9011).

That's a new one on me... not familiar with the H11/H9 swap to which you refer. I was just thinking high beam only. Off to Google, unless you care to enlighten me (pardon the pun)

Ah, I see what you mean now. So I should look at the car and try it ONLY if it has a glare shield in front of the bulb, then?

While falling down another rabbit hole of lighting, I found reference to putting H11s in place of H8s, which are used in the fog lights of my E92 335i. Also worthwhile? I'm assuming that going to H9s would be inadvisable in a fog light.

N8N said:

Ah, I see what you mean now. So I should look at the car and try it ONLY if it has a glare shield in front of the bulb, then?

Click to expand...

It seems the Camry has projector lamps. There's an existing thread on that: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?354490-H11-to-H9-on-a-2009-Camry

I found reference to putting H11s in place of H8s, which are used in the fog lights of my E92 335i. Also worthwhile? I'm assuming that going to H9s would be inadvisable in a fog light.

Click to expand...

The H8 is 35W; the H11 is 55W. That's quite a jump, and could cause thermal problems. Going to 65W (H9) for thermal and electrical problems alone would be a no-go. Then there's the specular glare (light bouncing off the wet road surface) that could cause problems for other drivers.

If it *could* handle the extra heat, I might be tempted to put in H9s but only after the fog lamp lenses were made selective yellow with Dupli-Color MetalCast Yellow. Might.

H9 in the Camry low beams: Yes, fine, good upgrade.
HIR1 (9011) in the Camry high beams: Yes, fine, good upgrade.
Anything other than H8 in H8 fog lamps: NO WAY, JOSE. Dangerous levels of glare regardless of lamp aim, and I can't think of any H8 fog lamps that will withstand the extra heat of an H11 or H9 bulb. Turn the fog lamps off and leave them off.

-Virgil- said:

Dangerous levels of glare regardless of lamp aim, and I can't think of any H8 fog lamps that will withstand the extra heat of an H11 or H9 bulb.

Click to expand...

Even BMW? (I kid!)

They *did* pick a 35W bulb when they designed it, and fog lamps are usually small, so I think I was a bit ambitious with even a 55W.

Turn the fog lamps off and leave them off.

Click to expand...

It's a shame that lamps that could have a genuine purpose are often designed so poorly -- but even if they're designed extremely well, the charts show they just don't do as much as we'd like.

The worst part? They are the most abused lamps! People using them in clear weather! People going 45mph+ with them on in all weather. People going 45mph+ with them in weather that they should go WAY slower but they think their fog lamps are "penetrating fog".

N8N: Get a REAR fog lamp instead of messing with your front fog lamps.

So projector lamps = that's good for the Camry low beams then?

As for the Bimmer fogs, I just used them for the first time in ages the other night; 99% of the time they are off much like the rear fog which was actually the first thing I modded when I got the car (it's easy, just buy the Euro headlight switch - the bulbs etc. are already in place as they are used as the "adaptive" brake lights (only come on under hard braking) I was actually thinking of doing an amber lens mod which prompted the question about moving up to the H11s, to make up for the light lost by doing so. I'm just old school enough that I feel more comfortable with amber fog lights, even though all research shows yadda yadda yadda that white is really just as good. But I obviously don't want to do this if someone's already done it and has determined that it'll melt my lights etc.

Subjectively, the fogs are actually pretty good as is, even though my lenses are not in the best of shape (uncracked and clear, but lots of little sandblast pits as the car has a decent number of fast highway miles on it - am actually thinking of having the whole nose redone in the spring with a bumper repaint and then a "clear bra" to keep it nice), did BMW resist the trend to just slap any lights down in the lower fascia (or worse yet, up high like VW has done a few times) and call them "fog lights"?

Amber is not a useful or correct color for front fog lamps -- it's for turn signals and side markers. Fogs are white or selective yellow.

N8N said:

So projector lamps = that's good for the Camry low beams then?

Click to expand...

Yes, the H9 is an excellent upgrade for the Camry's low beams.

Maybe it's my Toyota Pride showing, but Koito (or sometimes NAL) makes great headlamps for Toyota. I'm going by my occipital goniophotometer, of course.

As for the Bimmer fogs, I just used them for the first time in ages the other night; 99% of the time they are off much like the rear fog which was actually the first thing I modded when I got the car (it's easy, just buy the Euro headlight switch - the bulbs etc. are already in place as they are used as the "adaptive" brake lights (only come on under hard braking) I was actually thinking of doing an amber lens mod which prompted the question about moving up to the H11s, to make up for the light lost by doing so. I'm just old school enough that I feel more comfortable with amber fog lights, even though all research shows yadda yadda yadda that white is really just as good. But I obviously don't want to do this if someone's already done it and has determined that it'll melt my lights etc.

Click to expand...

Nice, you've got a rear fog lamp! That will do so much more for your fog driving safety than front fog lamps. It'll keep the guy who thinks that "yellow penetrates fog" from rear-ending you.

For front fog lamps, the correct color is either white, or selective yellow. Amber removes far too much green. Selective yellow removes only the blue and blue-violet light. All factors being equal, selective yellow *should* be slightly better, but a properly designed and aimed fog lamp will be lighting the very near road surface (and edges) and not lighting up the fog directly. Still, selective yellow light is easier for us to process. Just remember, though, the sole determination of what makes a front fog lamp a front fog lamp is the beam pattern, not the color.

did BMW resist the trend to just slap any lights down in the lower fascia (or worse yet, up high like VW has done a few times) and call them "fog lights"?

Click to expand...

Probably not, unless it was meant for the European markets which have had more stringent requirements on fog lamps, or if they only speced that kind and that's what you ended up with. Here in the U.S., they're usually just a fashion accessory.