Headlight Bulbs

[Tim S]

Hi All,

Could anyone recommend good quality headlight bulbs for my 2018 Auris?  I love the car, but have found the headlights to be poor. The current bulbs are the bulbs that came with the car, so I’m hoping fresh more expensive bulbs will help. 

Thanks

Tim

[Mushu84]

 

Legal:

Philips X-tremeVision Pro150 - around £23, just be aware they will burn out more quicker then normal

My choice as I do not feel is such a big difference in light output is 

Osram Original - Around £10 - very good light spread from the bulb

 

Please check:

LED Osram Street legal - but I could not find UK in there

https://www.osram.com/ecat/LED lamps (street-legal)-Car lighting-Automotive/com/en/GPS01_3574187/

Led Philips Street Legal - again with CE mark but not sure if approved in UK 

https://www.philips.com/c-e/au/road-legal-led-headlights/ultinon-pro6000-led.html

 

Illegal:

I had these on one of my cars about 3 years ago, is more expensive but very good V shape and coverage across the road 

But a word of warning they are ILLEGAL and it can void your insurance if they discover them also you can't have them on at the MOT 

Osram LEDriving Gen2 - £75

[Maurice Mynah]

I like Osram Nightbreakers, £25 ish/pair depending on fitment. Assuming your car has existing Halogens in a reflector headlight unit, please give other road users a thought by NOT fitting illegal l.e.d. lamps.

 

 

[Mushu84]

7 minutes ago, Maurice Mynah said:

I like Osram Nightbreakers, £25 ish/pair depending on fitment. Assuming your car has existing Halogens in a reflector headlight unit, please give other road users a thought by NOT fitting illegal l.e.d. lamps.

 

 

Hi Maurice,

 

I am not giving buying advice, just presenting options. All are for sale online/stores (last illegal LED option is for sale at Halfords by the way) and it is your option what you put in your car.

 

I think I was more then correct when I explain LED for now are illegal to install and it can create issues, fail MOT and such

[TonyHSD]

It won’t be much of improvement as the problem these cars has its not the bulbs themselves but the headlights and more precisely the reflector unit that uses one bulb hir2 type for both dipped and high beams.
These headlights has the worst light output by far and I don’t even know how they can be legal. 
Even on brand new Yaris and Yaris cross icons trims the lights are simply a joke. 
Aygo X for example uses standards halogen bulbs in reflector and these provides really good light field ahead , just slightly on the yellowish side, and here if you fit Phillip white vision or Osram nightbreakers you can notice significant improvement, unfortunately in Auris and all other models which uses hir2 there is no much of a help or worth upgrading to more powers bulbs. 

[koji]

1 hour ago, TonyHSD said:

[...]

unfortunately in Auris and all other models which uses hir2 there is no much of a help or worth upgrading to more powers bulbs. 

Amen.

The 'oficial' alternative for standard halogen HIR2 are the Optiwhites (Toyota ref. 90981-YZZDN). The improvement is poor, 8-10% brighter, but they are expensive and will last less than the 'standards'...

LED alternatives are forbidden both in the EU and UK.

Here more info:

 

[Toyota Nige]

I have had my Auris 8 years now and still find the Hir2 bulbs awful - my question is, why did they use them in the first place???

 

Regards

Nigel

[Maurice Mynah]

 

23 hours ago, Mushu84 said:

(last illegal LED option is for sale at Halfords by the way)

Where did I refer to your post as "buying advice"? All I wrote was to spare a thought for other road users before fitting non road legal lighting.🤷‍♀️

It's not illegal to sell them, they're not road legal though.

And like most others who sell aftermarket l.e.d. lamps Halfords state "For interior and off road use only"  (e.g. H4 replacements).

[Mojo1010]

23 hours ago, koji said:

Amen.

The 'oficial' alternative for standard halogen HIR2 are the Optiwhites (Toyota ref. 90981-YZZDN). The improvement is poor, 8-10% brighter, but they are expensive and will last less than the 'standards'...

LED alternatives are forbidden both in the EU and UK.

Here more info:

 

Hence the reason I fitted hid to the hir2 projector units for 5 years until the car got sold. It was cheaper than the optiwhites. 

[Mojo1010]

23 hours ago, Toyota Nige said:

I have had my Auris 8 years now and still find the Hir2 bulbs awful - my question is, why did they use them in the first place???

 

Regards

Nigel

I think it's more the trend of having projector units which may look nice (subjective) and perhaps saves on cost of having 4 reflector units - which when I had cars with them on halogen, no complaints. 

Couldn't put up with 8 years, I installed hid after a few months with the projectors. 

[Cyker]

On a slight tangent, I finally looked and TonyHSD was right about the Yaris LEDs - They are reflectors, not projectors; Each lamp has 3 sections - The two outer ones are the dipped beams (I don't understand why it needed two but whatever?) and the inner one is the nuclear death laser I mean high beam!

They've just mounted the LEDs in such a way it has that sharp cut-off very reminiscent of projector-type headlights.

Does this matter? What difference does this make? No idea! All I know is they're still too bright!!