2016 Challenger Halogen HIR2 / 9012

As above...

1 What is likely in the car from the factory (brand, specific model)? They (FCA) list HIR2LL.

2 What is the best brand, specific model currently? Philips lists a 'plain' and a LL.

3 What would a manufacturer actually do to make an LL lamp? (Is it real or just marketing?)

(I'm working up spares, etc for the car and finally got to lamps.)

I'm pretty comfortable with the lighting, except...
If I go down a short hill with a rising hill quickly coming up (country road), I can feel like I could drive 'into' the cutoff (which is very defined).

Since I have the cutoff mechanism, could I have the rare car where a HID lamp and ballast retro would be all that is necessary (ie, do I already have the right lens assembly, cutoff, and leveling gear)?

THX

Re: 2106 Challenger Halogen HIR2 / 9012

To answer your last question, no you do not have the set up for an HID retrofit. While visually very similar, even in internal design, a projector (and any other type of optic, really) that is designed for one light source cannot properly focus and project the light of another lightsource.

Its your best move to pick the best, non coated bulbs available, and check the voltage they wre receiving with the car on and under load. The higher the voltage, the brighter and more intense the light emitted.

About the only modification that would be appropriate and increase safety, would be to tint your headlamp lenses to what is called "selective yellow," which removes the cyan and blue wavelengths of light, reducing scatter in fog/rain/sleet, etc.

Re: 2106 Challenger Halogen HIR2 / 9012

tshephard said:

What is likely in the car from the factory (brand, specific model)? They (FCA) list HIR2LL.

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Philips or Vosla.

What is the best brand, specific model currently?

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It's this Vosla HIR2 +30 bulb. Shorter life but better luminance and beam focus = longer and wider seeing.

What would a manufacturer actually do to make an LL lamp? (Is it real or just marketing?)

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It's definitely real. LL bulbs tend to have a larger filament coil with looser pitch (coil-to-coil spacing). Filament lifespan is increased, but the tradeoff is lower filament luminance, a brown-er light color, and shorter seeing range.

If I go down a short hill with a rising hill quickly coming up (country road), I can feel like I could drive 'into' the cutoff

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That is intrinsic to low beams with a sharp cutoff. Low beams with a soft/no cutoff don't generate such a stark feeling of driving into a black hole, but that's all it is -- a feeling. The driver's effective seeing distance is not longer without a cutoff, it just feels like it is.

Since I have the cutoff mechanism, could I have the rare car where a HID lamp and ballast retro would be all that is necessary (ie, do I already have the right lens assembly, cutoff, and leveling gear)?

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The car you describe is not "rare", it is non-existent. No matter what kind of headlamp you have, even though it's a projector, the optics are NOT the same for halogen vs. HID light sources. That is a common myth thrown around on car forums. Detailed (and correct) information on the subject can be read here, and it also applies to so-called "LED bulbs".

In most driving conditions and with most headlamps there is no safety benefit to a yellow (or any other color) tint.

Re: 2106 Challenger Halogen HIR2 / 9012

'Rare' was my choice to imply I had read, in many posts, about NOT 'retro'ing HIDs.
Since I was hearing that cutoff 'thunk', I thought it was possible it 'was engineered the other way around - cheaper halogen lamp stuck in a 'better' housing, for cheap SOB's like me that wouldn't pay extra for a pile of gadgets (since manufacturers no longer do ala carte).

I also agree on, and abhor, colored lights.

With no other input on lamps, I will install the +30's and make the OE's the traveling spares.

Re: 2106 Challenger Halogen HIR2 / 9012

-Virgil- said:

….No matter what kind of headlamp you have, even though it's a projector, the optics are NOT the same for halogen vs. HID light sources. That is a common myth thrown around on car forums….

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It is disheartening how this myth has been perpetuated so often that it has now become The Truth on automotive forums. Another myth that has become Truth on automotive forums is that fog lamps can not cause glare, because of their low mounting position.

Re: 2106 Challenger Halogen HIR2 / 9012

When I posted my "BTW", I honestly wasn't sure what the OP was specifying. That is kind of why I posted it as BTW, and not "this most likely will not work". I noticed that the OP mentioned "lamp". This is not exactly the same as an "HID retrofit". The OP may be asking if he/she could retrofit the entire HID lamp, which is not the same as just swapping a HID retrofit bulb. While it may be costly to do, (which may be more in line with what the OP is asking details on the possibility), retrofitting an HID lamp would include all the proper optics, no?

Re: 2106 Challenger Halogen HIR2 / 9012

jzchen said:

The OP may be asking if he/she could retrofit the entire HID lamp

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Yes, that is possible.

BTW, I got them in a GM box, V +30, 18.75@.
Wife didn't want to believe Mopar parts in a GM box...

tshephard said:

BTW, I got them in a GM box, V +30, 18.75@.
Wife didn't want to believe Mopar parts in a GM box...

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She was right! [emoji3] But if the shoe fits.......

And to follow up, in case of others following...

OE lamp was Philips HIR2LL

Lamp covers install clockwise from rear, or NORMAL, lefty loosey, etc

Lamps install counter-clockwise, lefty tightey!

Built-up holder assembly WILL allow tightening with a tab out.
(While looking for a mirror I remembered a homebrew scope setup I had.)

Car does not detect a disconnected lamp!

THX ALL