These would not be useful on a Fiero unless you've changed over to a headlamp system that uses the low profile 4-lamp lenses or maybe with Hella 6054 H4 lenses (get to that later).

With my other vehicle I'd been using the up-scale halogens by GE, Sylvania and others. Most are just a higher wattage halogen bulb and the old adage "if you burn twice as bright, you last half as long" is very true. They run $55-70 a pair and have a life span of ONLY 250-300 hours (some even less). Yeah - have them on an hour a day and you'll be burning one out after 10 months. Also while running 100/80 watt bulbs in place of the 65/55 watt stockers looked great, I was concerned about melting the wiring and connector as some have reported.

There were no factory HID lamps for my vehicle that I could acquire and just swap in, so other option - HID bulb kits. There's all kinds of HID kits that run from cheap crap to overly expensive - but most still just stick a HID bulb into your headlamp designed for halogen bulbs. Not ideal because the rear reflectors inside the headlamp are not designed for HID but some swear it works great (as they blind everybody on the street).

While looking around I found these HIR bulbs (bulb on left)



Information

The HIR (Halogen Infra-Red) incandescent light bulb produces 75% of the light output of HID headlights at 25% of the cost. They are a single filament bulb with the same base and o-ring style as a 9005 or 9006 headlight bulb. These bulbs attain light levels 75% to 110% brighter than stock as a result of an engineering process by GE that deposits multiple, yet almost invisible, layers of semi-reflective coating on the surface of a specially shaped quartz bulb. This coating reflects a portion of the infrared energy emitted by the filament back onto the filament, causing it to glow brighter and emit more light from the uncoated forward portion of the bulb. Although the filament gets hotter, the glass does not.

These bulbs generate NO MORE heat than a regular halogen bulb, and they draw the same electrical current as the stock bulbs that they replace. These are a great option if you wish to upgrade your stock 9006 or 9005 halogen bulbs because they will be a near direct plug and play upgrade. The cross reference numbers are: 9005 bulb = 9011 HIR bulb; 9006 bulb = 9012

There's a couple models of cars that had these from the factory.

HIR specs : http://www.headlightservice...oad/HIRspecsheet.pdf
You can buy here I think: http://hirheadlights.com/


My experience:

You can only use HIR bulbs in headlamps with the metal reflector in front of the bulb.
The bulb itself has no "cap" on the end like regular halogens and you'd be blinding oncoming drivers.
My vehicle's headlamps have the internal reflector.

Now these bulbs were developed as a single filament bulb with the filament in the "sweet spot" where the infra-red rays are reflected, so most Forums I found talking about these and the few vendors selling these had the single filament bulbs. My Dodge Caravan has a dual-filament high/low halogen bulb. So I figured that's it - too bad.

BUT I found a source for dual-filament HIR bulbs to fit my vehicle - model 9007/HB5
http://www.limbat.com.sg/products/search

I ordered a set $75 delivered to my door by Fed-ex in 3 days.
Sylvania ZXE run $69 at my local store by comparison (the ones with 250 hour or less lifespan).

Direct fit, installing was a snap. After getting them in and playing with them I found a minor problem.
The high/low was reversed and swapping the wires in the connectors took and extra 5 minutes.
The headamps also need re-aiming, but that was expected.

WOW! I like them.

Not as "white" as the 100/80watt blue-tinted halogens I had been using. Nor as yellow as regular halogens. A good color light - easy to see with.
What is most noticeable is the FLOOD of light across the road in Low beam, and High beams light everything up blocks away.

... and these are only 35/35 watt bulbs but they put out 2300 lumens.
Installed them in September, so only a couple of months so far, but these should last.

I think by switching to Hella headlamps, you could then use the H4 dual-filament HIR bulbs.
Again, it would need to have the reflector in front of the bulb in there. Someone would have to check.



Sorry - don't have any before/after pics of my own.
But I researched this stuff and found these on other forums.
See their pics. I have pretty much the same results as the Corvette.

http://forums.corvetteforum...headlight-bulbs.html
http://g35driver.com/forums...ir-bulbs-anyone.html
http://www.dsmtalk.com/foru...wthread.php?t=174610



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My World of Wheels Winners (Click on links below)

3.4L Supercharged 87 GT and Super Duty 4 Indy #163

[This message has been edited by fierosound (edited 11-16-2012).]

Thanks for the information

Fierosound,
Thanks for sharing you experience with the HIR bulbs.
I'm seriously considering putting a set for HIR bulbs on my 2010 Accord.
The info that you have given makes me much more willing to get up and make the change to the HIR bulbs.
(Maybe I can talk Santa to give me a set. )

~ Bob ~

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"Its nice to be important.
Its more important to be nice."

These are also offered by hairballrm in his setups as posted in the mall (sorry can't link from my phone )
Ryan

quote Originally posted by FieroBobo: I'm seriously considering putting a set for HIR bulbs on my 2010 Accord.

Accord guy here http://www.driveaccord.net/...ighlight=sedan+light

He sounds happy.

quote Originally posted by fierosound: Accord guy here http://www.driveaccord.net/...ighlight=sedan+light He sounds happy.

Fierosound,
Thank you. I appreciate you effort to dig up and post the link on my behalf.
You are a true Prince amoung men.

Thanks Again.
~ Bob ~

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"Its nice to be important.
Its more important to be nice."

These HIR bulbs should be useful on some cars that have factory HID.

I've seen some that have HID for low beam only and have a halogen bulb for high beam (sometimes the reverse too).
My GF's Infiniti has this, and I've seen a friend's Ford truck with the HID/halogen combination.

Changing out the halogen bulb for an HIR bulb would give you the best of both worlds.

quote Originally posted by fierosound: Changing out the halogen bulb for an HIR bulb would give you the best of both worlds.

I've been planning on doing just that with my daily driver. I'm not too sure it would be worth it in some cases - mine is a toss up since the car already lights up the roadway like a landing pad. It's in the plan for my Fiero, once I get the Hellas installed.

Update: Installed these in September and still going strong with NO problems.

I'd have had to replace "HID look" 100/80 watt halogen bulbs by now as most have a 300 hour (or less) lifespan.

It's been almost a year with these Hi/Lo HIR technology bulbs snd they are still working great!

In the past I found the "HID Look" bulbs several manufacturers sell last about 3 months or so. Sure they're bright, but they don't last long.
These usually say right on the package they have a 250-300 HOUR lifespan. (about 3 months at 3 hours per day)

And it seems, the old adage is very true "If a bulb burns twice as bright, it will last half as long" (or less).

[This message has been edited by fierosound (edited 08-12-2013).]

quote Originally posted by fierosound: And it seems, the old adage is very true "If a bulb burns twice as bright, it will last half as long" (or less).

Even SYLVANIA Silver Star etc has short run time...

code:

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H6054     SilverStar XtraVision Standard
low beam  150        440        320
hi beam   50         200        200
list/2    $39.99     $29.99     $19.99

9003/H4
low beam  150        160        1100
hi bean   50         160        230
list/2    $39.99     $29.99     $19.99

Life in hours, From SYLVANIA web site

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If you have bad grounds etc or iffy alt then most likely you get light bulb problems too.

quote Originally posted by fierosound: I was concerned about melting the wiring and connector as some have reported.

Added Relays etc is you friend... HL and dimmer switches can get heat damage over time and more bulb amps, the more damage done. Even OE bulbs can cause heat in old worn switches and contacts.
See my Cave, Headlights

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Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.
(Jurassic Park)

The Ogre's Fiero Cave (It's also at the top and bottom of every forum page...)

Interesting that the manufacturer pitches "Infra-Red" even though Infrared is not visible light. lol

quote Originally posted by theogre: Added Relays etc is you friend... HL and dimmer switches can get heat damage over time and more bulb amps, the more damage done. Even OE bulbs can cause heat in old worn switches and contacts.

Don't need it myself now with HIR, but definitely a good idea for anyone who is going to overload their switches and wiring with other high wattage bulbs.

quote Originally posted by sleevePAPA: Interesting that the manufacturer pitches "Infra-Red" even though Infrared is not visible light. lol

LOL back at ya...

It's not the Infrared itself, but the effect it has on the filament.

"This coating reflects a portion of the infrared energy emitted by the filament back onto the filament,
causing it to glow brighter and emit more light from the uncoated forward portion of the bulb."

It definitely works "as advertised".

[This message has been edited by fierosound (edited 08-12-2013).]

Ahh, so basically a short-pass reflective coating.

quote Originally posted by sleevePAPA: Ahh, so basically a short-pass reflective coating.

Exactly!

You know how it is.

After someone invents the thing, you whack yourself on the side of the head and say "Hey! I could have come up with that!"

[This message has been edited by fierosound (edited 08-13-2013).]

quote Originally posted by CheshireGrin: These are also offered by hairballrm in his setups as posted in the mall (sorry can't link from my phone ) Ryan

I've got HIRs in my projectors. High beam only.

In another post, I described them as "portable daylight". They're quite nice.

quote Originally posted by fierosound: Don't need it myself now with HIR, but definitely a good idea for anyone who is going to overload their switches and wiring with other high wattage bulbs.

Relay can help even when using "Stock" bulbs... (50-65w hi, 35w lo) OE HL and Dimmer does wear... Worn switches build more resistance thus create more contact heat etc.

I use "stock" bulbs (Discontinued Phillips Hi Vis 65/35w lamps) and recently I had to replace the dimmer switch because switch was very warm and toasting the plastic shell. In DE, I rarely use Hi beam because tooo much traffic. New switch and heat is gone.

Relays put power to bulbs with less connections.

Carefully check HL and Dimmer switches. Heat, discolored plastic are signs the switch and/or socket has problems. (discolored plastic on dimmer is hard to see in the car. first plastic area to turn tan/brown is at the connections...)