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(More customer reviews)I could see the HIR coating on the 9012, but not on the 9011, so I investigated and came across this ([...]):
The only current OE-certified manufacturer of 9011 and 9012 is Toshiba of Japan, and those are the bulbs that Daniel Stern sells. They do not have GE's fragile construction nor Philips "kinda sorta not really" compromise. 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 must be filed down in order to use 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 with the discontinued GE product.
Now, what about that "kinda sorta not really" Philips HIR1?
"HIR means "Halogen Infrared", which refers to the heat-reflective construction and technology discussed at
[...]. General Electric (GE) originally designed these bulbs as discussed above. All automotive headlamp bulbs are given an official designator by the US DOT when they are first approved for use in headlamps, but at the time these bulbs were developed the DOT was still assigning two different designators to each new bulb. (Examples: 9004/HB1, 9005/HB3, 9006/HB4, 9007/HB5, etc.). The two designators for the low beam are 9012/HIR2, and for the high beam 9011/HIR1. However, the technical specs for any bulb type contain performance requirements for minimum/maximum allowable light output, electrical power consumption and mechanical dimensions only. The specs do not say how these minimum and maximum specs must be met.
In response to Chrysler's use of the fragile GE 9011 (HIR1) in the high beam of the Viper, Philips added a replacement product to their line. They first displayed it in their booth at the 2000 Automotive Aftermarket Parts Exchange show in Las Vegas, at which time their product manager told me "We didn't want to pay GE a royalty or tool up for different bulb glass, but we wanted to serve the replacement market, so we just basically put together this bulb with a maximum-legal-wattage 9005 filament, overdriven to get the minimum allowable lumens for type 9011. Life isn't optimal, but our bulb costs less to make and we probably won't make it for very long." Remember, this kind of bulb is called a 9011/HIR1 because that's its type designator, not necessarily because it uses any particular technology (such as HIR) to produce its light. Philips took the quick 'n' easy way
out on this one. The bulb isn't bad, but it's not an HIR bulb.
Here are the figures to ponder:
9005's light output spec is 1700 lumens, +/- 12% at 12.8v, maximum 70 watts.
9011's light output spec is 2300 lumens, +/- 15% at 12.8v, maximum 70 watts.
So, the allowable range for 9005 is 1496 to 1904 lumens, while the allowable range for 9011 is 1955 to 2645. (Remember that the nominal wattage is just that -- actual wattage is specified in the regulation. All legal 9005s and 9011s are "65 watt" nominal and are actually allowed to draw up to 70w). It's easy to see how by just selecting the highest-wattage 9005 filaments and overdriving them a little, Philips is able to put together their 9011 bulb. It'll produce the low end of allowable lighting, consume at the high end of allowable wattage and life will be very short, but it'll be a legal 9011. There are no gold stars on any Federal refrigerator for bulbs that are better than they have to be; there are just two kinds: legal and illegal. And even then, illegal bulbs are all over the place, even from reputable manufacturers. The DOT practically never checks."
Do not buy this bulb.
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