Upgrading Bulbs In 2013 Verso

[Neilus]

Hi all

I have recently bought a 2013 Verso 2.0 D4D Icon and wondered if I can simply swap the traditional halogen light bulbs for xenon bulbs or do I need to do something expensive in order to upgrade, also is it possible to upgrade the halogen daytime running lights to neon like the more up market Verso.

Thanks.

[FROSTYBALLS]

What bulb fitments do you have?

[Neilus]

No idea, I have only had the car 2 days, where can I find that out, sorry for sounding dumb.

[Neilus]

In the past I have read that cars need to have expensive upgrades to the electrical side of the lights in order for you to change the xenon bulbs, I thought it would be easy and you just take out one halogen bulb and replace it with the xenon one. I don't want to go wasting my money buying bulbs if its not a simple switch and go procedure.

[FROSTYBALLS]

The bulb type will be in your Owners Manual.

[Neilus]

According to the book it has:

Headlights Low beam (Halogen bulbs) 55W Type A (H11 Halogen bulbs)

High beam (Halogen bulbs) 60W Type C (HB3 Halogen bulbs)

Front fog lights 19W Type D (H16 halogen bulbs).

I hope that lots makes sense, doesn't say in my book if I can swap halogen for xenon but the bulb shape looks the same.

[Heidfirst]

Why do you want to swap bulbs, looks or performance?

[FROSTYBALLS]

Depends whether you wish to change your lighting to High Intensity Discharge (HID) lighting.

If you just want an increase in the amount of light your headlights produce, coupled with a longer beam, a relatively cheap alternative to HID is something like the Osram Nightbreaker Unlimited bulbs - see http://www.amazon.co.uk/Osram-Breaker-Unlimited-64211NBU-01B-Headlight/dp/B00FQ8AQKK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1395250647&sr=8-2&keywords=h11+osram+nightbreaker+unlimited

[Neilus]

I have found the correct dipped and high beam bulbs but the side light bulbs they sent are wrong, seems mine are double filament as they are daytime running lights as well, any ideas if I can get xenon versions of these, code on bulb says w12 but my searches come up with nothing.

[Neilus]

I actually need a wedge type 21/5w e2 bulb, I don't think they do upgraded versions of those so stuck with the standard yellow ones unless anyone has any ideas.

[korat102]

Never heard of a car bulb labelled as an E2 or a W12. Whenever I've done anything with car lights, I've used eBay as a source...you can get almost anything there.

I thought the icon had LED running lights though...

[Neilus]

The Icon has daytime running lights but not LED, they use a double filament halogen bulb which is the same as a stop tail bulb, from what I can see there is not a xenon version of this bulb available. I upgraded the rest from Auto bulbs direct who did W12 headlight bulbs, pretty decent company.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Hope you got your Toyota Owners Club discount - 5%

[Neilus]

Certainly did, saved me a few £.

[korat102]

Thanks, made a note of the thread for when I get my verso (less than a week now, woohoo!). Interesting thing though, seems Toyota don't know their own cars...they list all their used 2013 Verso's as having LED daytime running lights. Must admit I didn't bother to look into that when I checked the car over...there seemed to be more important things to consider at the time :)

Sorted out the insurance today, was a nice surprise to find that the Verso is cheaper to insure than an old 2005 Prius worth less than a quarter of the new car's value :P

[korat102]

I've had a look at the DRL's on my Verso. They're actually your bog standard 580 type wedge brake/tail light bulbs (21/5 Watt), commonly used on American vehicles. I have a box of the things; my old Jeep used to blow rear bulbs!

The Verso uses the 21W filament for the DRL and switches to the 5W filament when you turn your lights on.

[Standard Dude]

Does anyone else find the way the DRLs work somewhat annoying? I'll explain further...

Switching on the headlights to the first click position (engine running) causes the front bulbs to go from 21 Watts to just 5 Watts - which initially feels odd if your previous car didn't have DRLs because switching on the headlights one click just made less light shine out of the front!

So here's my gripe - with the engine running the DRLs automatically switch on but these only illuminate the front so the rear of the car stays dark. So when it starts to get dark outside you have need to switch on the headlights to the first click to illuminate the car rear but that causes the front illumination to drop from the bright DRLs to the dim sidelights (i.e. from the 21W filament to the 5W filament in the same bulb) and your car gains visibility at the rear and loses it at the front.

Perhaps I'm just fussy.

[korat102]

Fusspot :D

Actually, that's a legal requirement, nothing to do with Toyota. DRL's are not aimed and will dazzle in low light conditions so, at night when you're supposed to use your headlights, the DRL's have to be dimmed or turned off. That, incidentally, is what makes most aftermarket DRL kits somewhat less than legal...

[Neilus]

I wasn't aware of this legality, does the same thing happen with LED DRL's that a lot of the more expensive cars have as they are really bright. Hopefully some day someone will bring out a double filament xenon version so I can get all my lights looking the same colour, feel a bit silly having white head lights and then yellow DRL's.

[Standard Dude]

Check out the big brain on korat102! :D

Thanks for the info though.

I understand what you're saying although in reality the Verso DRLs have the same reflector as the 5W sidelight so aren't entirely unaimed and the wattage is low enough for them not to be dazzling. Certainly no more so than the dipped headlight beam in my opinion.

[korat102]

I've just double checked, seems there is actually no legal requirement for the DRL's to automatically dim or turn off, it's permissible for them to be entirely manually operated. The onus is then on the driver to turn them off at night, where they are not legal to use.

[Neilus]

Interesting, still not happy I can't get xenon upgrades though, next job is to change the indicator bulbs front and back to the silver coated version rather than the orange ones.

[Parts-King]

The point of DRL is that are DAYTIME running lights. They would dazzle at night and hence why they drop to the standard 5w sidelight level of brightness when you turn the sidelights on

Another thing that pulls my chain is that people in Beemers and Audi's with the brightest DRL's ever, never use their headlights in bad weather, they seem happy to run on DRL's, do they not know that rear lights do NOT come on with DRL's? Really peeves me!!

Cant stand those ultra bright Audi style DRL's Grrrrrrr

[korat102]

I wasn't aware of this legality, does the same thing happen with LED DRL's that a lot of the more expensive cars have as they are really bright. Hopefully some day someone will bring out a double filament Xenon version so I can get all my lights looking the same colour, feel a bit silly having white head lights and then yellow DRL's.

Something like these? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/400562919961?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Not tried them myself, they are a bit on the expensive side and probably won't have the EU kitemark...meaning that if you get a super fussy MOT tester, you might fail your MOT!

[Neilus]

They are a little on the pricey side of things, I will email Autobulbs Direct and see if they are planning on adding these bulbs in a xenon upgrade anytime soon as their own brand are pretty good and cheap.