Has anyone tried the new non-GE Bulbs?

On Thu, 6 Jan 2005, it was written:

For those who don't know what a 9011/9012 HIR is, see here:

GE introduced the 9011 and 9012 (HIR1 and HIR2) bulbs in the late 1990s, and discontinued them approximately 18 months ago, though they still appear in the '03 GE catalogue. Several automakers got rather badly burned on that product -- GE had a good idea, and they had the experience with infrared-reflective technology from some of their architectural and utility lighting, but the form factor they chose for their 9011 and 9012 was mechanically very fragile. It was a long, spindly glass tube with an external support wire, looking very much like an automotive HID bulb. With normal road vibrations, the bulb broke at the glass-to-base junction an uncomfortably large percentage of the time, and all parties involved got rather angry with one another. Hence the discontinuation.

There've been a few copycat Chinese/Korean products on the market from IPF, Polarg, etc. -- as usual, not worth messing with. (There's fairly strong evidence that GE's tooling for these bulbs was "back doored" to one of the Asian companies).

The only current OE-certified manufacturer of 9011 and 9012 is Toshiba. They do not have GE's fragile construction. They have the spherical bulb glass with the infrared-reflective coating, but are otherwise practically identical to 9005 and 9006 in all critical dimensions (with the obvious exception of the one plastic base tab which is wider than on the 9005 and

9006, to prevent the use of these bulbs where 9005 and 9006 were originally specified). The overall length of the Toshiba HIR1 and HIR2 bulbs is identical to 9005 and 9006, so there are none of the "Tough luck, too long, won't fit" problems often encountered by headlamp manufacturers with the discontinued GE product. Filament focus is MUCH better in the Toshiba product than it ever was in the GE.

What are you considering putting these bulbs in? As the linked website suggests, you can't safely just bung 'em into anything -- there are glare factors to consider.

DS

I was thinking of putting the authorized bulbs in a 98 RAV4 and a PT Cruiser. Both seem to have decent cut-off light beams that would not cause excessive glare.

Richard.

On Thu, 6 Jan 2005, it was written:

Agree with you on the PT Cruiser -- not the RAV4 unless you aim the headlamps to ECE specs,

Send me an e-mail if you want help. tech at danielsternlighting dot com

DS

Did as you instructed and they are a superb improvement!

Richard.