whitels

Bought this set of HB4/9006 bulbs from this Japanese auto accessories boutique. I can't believe I did it because I haven't seen anything halogen or whatever that really came close to the true Xenon/HID. I see a lot of them from ebay and I'm always skeptical. I also see a lot of riced Civics with such type of bulbs but you can always tell that it's not HID.

Anyway, this place has a tester panel that lets you compare actual light output side by side against a standard halogen bulb. One bulb stood out from the rest as giving almost pure white light - it's called RAZO Premium White Zero and is made in Japan. It is rated at 55 watts with 4550 Kelvin output. The OEM in the RX is rated at 51 watts. So, wattage is very close and made me feel more comfortable as I want things as close to OEM as possible.

Tonight, I installed it in the RX and was I pleasantly surprised. The lights came on like a true HID. Just white with a very subtle tinge of blue on the edges when you look straight at the headlamp. Reminded me of those Audi TT HIDs. To further test what I was seeing, I turned on the lights of the GS which has the factory HID. Since all 4 lights are now hitting the white walls of the garage, I was able to conclude that the RAZO is just like the real thing.

Then, I test drove the RX. It's probably a little bit brighter than OEM halogens so that's a good thing. The bad part is the beam is not as uniform as the OEM. Meaning, when the light is shining on the road, there are what appears to be multiple but small dark spots. They're not dark, per se, but it's more of uneven illumination. It is unlike the OEM where the light sweep is uniform and even on the road. How bad is it then? Not that bad, in fact you may not even notice it unless you were looking for it. It also retained the sharp upper boundaries of the beam to spare oncoming traffic from getting blinded. I guess this is a function of the lens mirror design but because they're brighter, it made the RAZO beams look sharper and look more HID. Just like the X5 or GS headlights, its white and beams are confined to a defined area.

This ones are a keeper. I paid $70 with 2 months warranty.

LexRX

You tease us with words and no pictures?!? why...WHHYYYYYY

whitels

Pics coming up

shiaobao

yeah i just installed my new HID headlights (bought from autolamps.com) a couple weeks ago.... I will post up some pictures as soon as i get my lazy *** outta my house

but yeah.... i wanna see some pictures!!!!!

whitels

I don't think the pictures that I took are very accurate. Here are things to consider. The GS parking lights actually appear more yellow in actual than in picture. I use wedge bulb #921. Also, the garage door is painted eggshell color so that will change the lights being bounced. The one place to compare with also is the output color of the house's security lights as it really looks yellow both in actual and in the picture.

Now, the lower lights hitting the garage door are coming from the factory HID of the GS (that's on the right side) while the left lights are coming from the RX with the RAZO.

whitels

more

whitels

another one

whitels

and finally...

whitels

The picture at the very top shows the bluish tint enveloping the beams coming from the RX. In actual, it is not that pronounced and really is much more subtle.

futuregs

It looks good, but you can easily tell which one is xenon and which one is not. SO as far as output your looking at the same as what your stock RX 300 had, just with a bluish tint. Looks great though. =]

GS400_PUSHER

I like it man!!!!!

LexRX

That's amazing to me that those are halogen bulbs. It looks very close to xenon. That is an excellent trade off, cost wise, to and HD kit. However, I will stick with the kit for the increased light output and the reduced consumption in power.

Thanks for the pics!

Goncookoo

so will these things cause the clear plastic light housing to "fuzz" with prolonged use?

While we're on the topic of light housings, does anyone out there know of any nifty ways to seal the housing and prevent water from getting into it. I noticed yesterday after a long rainstorm that there was an enormous amount of large water droplets condensing on the inside of my headlamp housing. All I got right now is clear silicon and I dont think thats a good idea. the dealer is so far away and making an appointment is almost as challenging as getting a hotel room in canada during some big american holiday.

Thanks,
goncookoo

hleo1

I agree with futuregs. It does look good with the Razo bulbs. However, I can also easily tell that it's not real HID. Although color wise it's very close, the level of brightness is still nowhere close to real HID. However, I think if you are not too picky about having brightness same as real HID, value-wise, those Razo is great.

-Hendry

whitels

I also agree that its easy to tell which one is not - and that's by looking at the picture. But, in reality, you don't see that much of the bluish tint which identifies it as the fake ones. The camera may have picked up color spectrum not easily seen by the naked eye.

Like I said earlier, the pictures do not do justice and are not an accurate reproduction of what my eyes are seeing. If you notice the parking lights of the GS, that should have been yellow-orange in color since they are incandescents, but appeared as somewhat white in the pictures.

I think this may have to do with the camera in auto mode, it was compensating the very dark areas by overexposing the light areas to even out the exposure.

But yes, not too bad of a deal for what you're getting.

With regard to the clear plastic fuzzing with prolonged use, I really doubt that it will. That's because the bulb is 55w, only 4 watts more than OEM.

With regard to the moisture, the RX manual says that it is normal to have condensation after driving through rain. It cautioned though that it is not normal if you see big drops inside or water and suggests taking the car to the dealer.