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Low beam halogen headlight of my 2013 RX is not bright. It is difficult to see at night. I am planning to change the bulb myself. Here are some bulbs which I found online. Which one would you suggest? or any other brand. Current one is philips.
Halogen H11 bulb:
Sylvania SilverStar Ultra -- farthest downroad performance with whiter light for improved clarity. Approx 50$ for two. Temp 4100k
The H11 to H9 conversion is the best bang for your buck if you want much brighter night vision. H9 bulbs (appear to be about 3 times brighter and cost about $9 on Amazon for Philips bulbs. I have done this on 3 cars, including my presently owned Lexus HS250h. What you need to do is get the under $30 Bulbzilla adaptor harness from here https://www.xtremediesel.com/bulbzil...transplant-kit or here
This makes it much easier to swap them over and change bulbs when they burn out next year. Then on the H9 bulbs all you have to do is trim off one side of one of the metal tabs so it will fit into the H11 hole. It takes less than a minute using wire cutters or snips.
Google H11 to H9 conversion. It has been covered in many forums with photos and instructions. Buy 4 bulbs so you have spare ones as they do burn out faster, say once a year on average, compared to H11 bulbs. It is well worth it. https://www.google.com/search?newwin...Y9vBuQQ4dUDCA0
The problem with LED bulbs is the headlight reflector is not designed to project them properly and you will actually not see as well at night although they may look brighter if you stare at them in your driveway.
Finally if you do not get the bulbzilla harness you also have to trim a plastic piece from the bulb base to plug it into your harness and that is a pain to do as opposed to trimming the metal tab only.
I tried the very expensive premium halogen bulbs, and I found that they are not any brighter than the regular ones. The may produce whiter light, but not more, and they burn out fast.
But I can also recommend first trying the H9 bulbs. I converted my headlight and I'm happy with the result.
If you want to try LED's you can, but remember that the cheap Amazon LED's are worthless, they will produce less usable light than your old halogens, and they will blind oncoming traffic. If you want good bright LED, you have to spend about $150 and get them from a reputable source, like Diode Dynamics or GTR lighting.
Not sure where the 3 times brighter comes from. H11 is roughly 1300 lumens and H9 is roughly 2100 lumens. Bulbs vary a bit but certainly not that much.
Not sure where the 3 times brighter comes from. H11 is roughly 1300 lumens and H9 is roughly 2100 lumens. Bulbs vary a bit but certainly not that much.
3x brighter is an exaggeration for sure, but from my experience it's noticeably brighter.
It's no match for the factory HID brightness for sure.
I'm no expert but can the OP simply go out and get a HID kit with ballasts etc and go that route?
My understanding is no. It takes a lot of changes including the housing itself to make that change. Is it possible to accomplish, probably, but not with just ballasts and bulbs.
My understanding is no. It takes a lot of changes including the housing itself to make that change. Is it possible to accomplish, probably, but not with just ballasts and bulbs.
Wow. Guess I got lucky with my ML500. All I did was buy the HID conversation kit. I don't think I had to make any housing changes. The ballast had to be fitted but ok. Maybe the RX is different.
Wow. Guess I got lucky with my ML500. All I did was buy the HID conversation kit. I don't think I had to make any housing changes. The ballast had to be fitted but ok. Maybe the RX is different.
The HID conversion kit bulb will fit the RX headlamp, no problem.
The reason people who do the HID conversion modify the headlight housing, is to reduce the blinding of oncoming traffic.
The problem is, that the factory halogen housing is designed to shine some light up, to light up the traffic signs. When you install an HID bulb that is 4 times brighter, the light the is meant to light up the road signs is so bright, it can blind the oncoming traffic.
This is the only reason. Safety.
The HID conversion kit bulb will fit the RX headlamp, no problem.
The reason people who do the HID conversion modify the headlight housing, is to reduce the blinding of oncoming traffic.
The problem is, that the factory halogen housing is designed to shine some light up, to light up the traffic signs. When you install an HID bulb that is 4 times brighter, the light the is meant to light up the road signs is so bright, it can blind the oncoming traffic.
This is the only reason. Safety.
I guess you have to forgo the self leveling feature. I assume that is why you have to modify the housing.
I went ahead and bought Sylvania Xtra vision H11 bulbs from Walmart for 20$ (2 piece). It is definitely better than my stock bulbs. Earlier there was not much light on road and not possible to drive if I did not turn on fog lamp. Now there is enough light even when fog light is turned off. Attaching photos with new bulbs and fog light turned off. Light is bright and coverage is more (both farther and broader). I do not have photo with stock lamp for comparison.
I checked bulbfacts.com as they have tested many bulbs. For projector, they said sylvania silverstar and silverstar ultra is less brighter compared to xtra vision. For reflector headlights, silverstar is good though life is short.
I had shortlisted my choice to Sylvania Xtra vision vs Philips Xtreme vision. As per bulbfacts test reports, Philips xtreme vision is brighter than Sylvania Xtra vision but life is lesser. Philips are 40$ with shorter life and Sylvania are 20$ with more life. Not much difference in brightness so I went with Sylvania Xtra vision. So far happy with my decision,
09-13-20, 10:46 AM
2013 RX Headlight bulb low beam
