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Yes, OdyMember has the right link. I've purchased a number of these from r3seller on ebay, and they are legit Philips 9012 bulbs.

That is the lowest price for a pair of these that I've seen, ever.

My wife just set off to work in her Accord, and it does me good to see those bright headlights offering up good illumination for her to safely drive downtown. Same for my son's 2012 Civic.

This is one of the least expensive safety upgrades you can do for a Gen 3 Odyssey. Purchasing a couple-three pairs would keep you in good shape for years to come. Makes me wish the Gen 2's used the same bulb setup.

OF
I think the 3rd gen light fixtures in general focus the light better than the 2nd gen. i'll likely put them on my all my family's vans also. thanks again
 
The blue tint kind will work. In one of the posts OF lists the advantages and disadvantages of that. Preference is standard, yellow for this type.
 
Diggin the HIR2's,

Last night on a dark hwy in North Ga going 75MPH around a sweeping right turn there was a car stopped and the driver standing there with his car door open. I was in the fast lane (left lane) and a SUV going the same direction was in the same lane as the stopped car. The SUV was in front of me by about 100 feet, i think we saw the stopped car at the same time. The SUV hit his brakes and tried to come into my lane to avoid hitting the stopped car and the guy standing in the Hwy. The SUV spun out completely into my lane going backwards looking like it was going to flip over any second. So i went off roading a little to avoid the SUV and not chance bumping him into the pedestrian. It was very close and the cars behind me driven too close didn't help matters. It was crazy how no one hit anything especially the guy standing in the middle of the road.

All that to say If the SUV had some HIR2 headlights he would have seen the car 100 feet sooner could have helped. Nice recommendation!
 
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Guys, I may not have worded everything the way I intended...

...blue tint entirely covering the bulb's clear envelope will degrade light performance in any application.

If the bulb in question only has tint at the extreme "cap" of the bulb, or the extreme bottom, below the filament, it really can't degrade performance. Blue tint in these extreme fore or aft areas of the bulb doesn't contribute to anything in terms of lighting performance either, so I'm not even sure why bulb makers even do this:



To ensure the maximum amount of light transmissivity from the filament and through the glass envelope, ideally you want no tint. Unfortunately, even Osram and Philips put a small amount of blue tint on the top and bottom of their high-end bulbs, probably as a gimmick.

"True white light" from a resistive tungsten filament will have a decent amount of red, orange, yellow and green wavelengths, which are actually useful for our mere human eyeballs at night.

This is why I like the HIR bulbs so much, namely they maintain the same full-spectrum lighting output in a brighter, and still long-lived package.

OF
 
What kind of life expectancy are we looking at OF?
 
Sir, we managed to get four years of longevity out of our first set of HIR2 bulbs (low beam, 9012) in our Honda Accord. One of them stopped working due to a broken filament after that time, so I replaced both. Performance was very good throughout the lifespan. Roads in my locale are hideously rough.

The HIR1 bulbs (high beam, 9011) in that same 1998 Accord are still soldiering on.

My recommendation? One only needs a pair of low beam HIR2 (9012) bulbs for the majority of nighttime operations.

When one considers the following...

1.) Brighter light down the road (no puddle lights)
2.) Longevity (most "performance" halogen bulbs last one year)
3.) Ease of installation (modify only one tab on the bulb base)
4.) Ability to retain stock components/wiring
5.) LEGAL beam pattern with stock configuration (HIR filament in same position as stock bulb)
6.) COST $$$ (CD & USD :cool:)

...the HIR bulbs are a clear win over current LED drop-in systems and PnP HID. Gen 3 (2005-2010) owners have a great alternative to the stock 9006/9005 low beam setup.

I currently have HIR bulbs in two vehicles (1998 Accord LX & 2012 Civic EX). Can't imagine going back to generic halogen bulbs on those cars.

r3seller on ebay sells legit HIR2 bulbs (low beam 9012) from Philips. I've purchased my current and spare replacement sets from him. In fact, my last purchase he carefully packaged within what was formerly the bulk Philips packaging for a tray of bulbs. Given the markings on the bulbs (I intensely search to ensure they are real due to counterfeits on the web) and performance (they work!), I'm confident r3seller's are the real deal.

Right now they are on sale for $14.99 per pair with free shipping: r3seller's ebay ad. Best price I have found so far on the web for these real-deal Philips high quality bulbs.

OF
 
I just received and installed one 9012LL HIR2 bulb from r3seller on eBay. It's okay, not dim, but no brighter than the older stock Sylvania basic 9006 bulb on the passenger side. I asked my wife to watch as I drove down the road at night and she saw no difference either. Based on the reviews here, I was expecting to see at least a noticeable difference. Both headlights were just polished to a like new appearance, so it's not that.
 
SVO LOU, the DRL runs via the high-beam bulb. Stock is 9005, and replacement HIR1 bulb is 9011. I think Honda uses PWM (pulse wave modulation) in the DRL circuit to maintain 12V with a current reduction and the resulting lower wattage output which means, yes, just as you described, it will look as dim as the OEM bulbs during the day.

In answer to WillowTheDog's post above yours (my reply is tardy), sometimes one runs into a situation where no bulb can help, and the stock wiring is just not robust enough to take advantage of any better bulb's higher power requirement. This can happen in an Odyssey, since all of the bulb voltage runs through the control stalk (the relays are for use by the multiplexer to automatically switch lighting on or off as needed). I've had that wiring problem happen (on a Fiat X1/9), and I simply used the stock wiring for triggering relays with stout gauge wiring directly from battery to bulbs. That made a tremendous difference with stock bulbs, an even more so with the upgraded Hella H4 high-wattage bulbs I installed.

OF
 
SVO LOU, the DRL runs via the high-beam bulb. Stock is 9005, and replacement HIR1 bulb is 9011. I think Honda uses PWM (pulse wave modulation) in the DRL circuit to maintain 12V with a current reduction and the resulting lower wattage output which means, yes, just as you described, it will look as dim as the OEM bulbs during the day.

In answer to WillowTheDog's post above yours (my reply is tardy), sometimes one runs into a situation where no bulb can help, and the stock wiring is just not robust enough to take advantage of any better bulb's higher power requirement. This can happen in an Odyssey, since all of the bulb voltage runs through the control stalk (the relays are for use by the multiplexer to automatically switch lighting on or off as needed). I've had that wiring problem happen (on a Fiat X1/9), and I simply used the stock wiring for triggering relays with stout gauge wiring directly from battery to bulbs. That made a tremendous difference with stock bulbs, an even more so with the upgraded Hella H4 high-wattage bulbs I installed.

OF
Thank you.
 
For some reason I thought I had already replaced the 9006 low beam bulbs on my daughter's 2013 Corolla....but found they still had the original 51W Sylvania bulbs. Dropped in a pair of Philips 9012 bulbs. Hate to use the cliche to describe it being a night-and-day difference...but it is.

Did have to perform a slight vertical adjustment of the headlight housings, but that is all. Reaping the reward of full-spectrum true white light thrown further down the road.

OF
 
UPDATE: Tab modification (trimming it) is NOT always necessary for the 9011 HIR1 high beam bulbs.

This is interesting... a number of years ago, when I replaced our 1998 Accord's foggy, murky, almost opaque headlights with new Honda OEM headlights (purchased from one of our Odyclubbers), I baked apart one of them and kept the reflector assembly.

I just found that the 9011 (HIR1, high beam) bulb fit into that 1998 Accord headlight assembly's high beam socket without any modification required to any of the tabs.

Hmmm. Curiously, my 2005 Nissan Altima uses 9005 high beam bulbs, so I removed those and installed 9011 HIR1's, and these also fit into the high beam socket without any modification required to any of the tabs!

Today, I just installed a set of 9011 HIR1's into my son's second 2012 Civic (first one was demolished by a tractor trailer, thank God for no injuries). Yes, these also fit into the high beam socket without any modification required to any of the tabs.

Yes, a lot of vehicles using the 9006 low beam / 9005 high beam OEM headlight setup will require that tab modification to use a 9011 HIR1 high beam bulb in the high beam socket....but I would say, if you get the 9011 HIR1 high beam bulbs, check them first for fit without modifying that top tab. You might get lucky, as I have repeatedly, and find that you can just remove the old 9005 bulbs, and the 9011 HIR1 bulbs can be dropped in with no tab modification required.

Man, from a headlight perspective, I envy you Gen 3 Ody owners. The 2005-2010's have a well-engineered reflector, and it responds well to using these HIR bulbs.

OF
 
Don't know whether this is the right thread....

But..my driver side low beam light suddenly went out one evening. So I started to look at tutorials at YT and found that the connectors, wiring pigtails in those vids are different from what is in my vehicle:

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This looks like some aftermarket headlight setup. It is also plug and play--see how the black aftermarket connector plugs into the factory white socket.

What is this? Is this halogen infrared reflecting (HIR )--or some other fare?

I am not very knowledgeable about things automotive, so sorry about the noobish questions.

My original plan is to go to the local yards to harvest the factory bulbs. They are cheap. $2.50 for one. Now since the setup in my van--I acquired it about two months ago--has non-OE head bulbs, I don't know how much each new bulb would cost or where to get it.

And I don't know whether the headlight housing is still OE or some aftermarket. It is shiny, for sure. No yellowing at all at this point.

The light output of the headlights is super bright as well. Took me by surprise when I first flipped them on.

Pics of the headlight housing. Maybe you folks could tell me what brand it is, if aftermarket.

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Those braided bits sticking out the back are a heat sink for some LED setup. I can't name a single one of these that isn't made in China.

HIR bulbs (HIR1 or HIR2) look almost identical to regular 9005 and 9006 halogen bulbs.

OF
 
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Those braided bits sticking out the back are a heat sink for some LED setup. I can't name a single one of these that isn't made in China.

HIR bulbs (HIR1 or HIR2) look almost identical to regular 9005 and 9006 halogen bulbs.

OF
So you think I might have LED bulbs inside?

If so, is it possible to tell which brand?

I picked up this van about two months ago. Have no idea what the PO put in!

If you look at the first pic with the braided wiring, there are three screws holding the bulb in. I tried to twist the connector left and right, but nothing came loose. What is the correct way to take the bulb out? Removing the three screws?

The HIR 2 or 9012, 9011 bulbs that are discussed here do NOT require some ballast or aftermarket wiring, from what I've read. I just want to find out exactly what kind of aftermarket headlight setup the PO has put in and decide whether to keep it or go back to the OE setting.

Thx for the input!
 
The HIR 2 or 9012, 9011 bulbs that are discussed here do NOT require some ballast or aftermarket wiring, from what I've read. I just want to find out exactly what kind of aftermarket headlight setup the PO has put in and decide whether to keep it or go back to the OE setting.
It looks like you still have the factory wiring in place:
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These LED setups typically plug into the factory wiring and then extend a bit from there.
 
owns 2006 Honda Odyssey EX
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