2013 Toyota Avalon XLE Premium dual low beam projectors 9005 to 9011 upgrade

[jtsr43]

I own a 2013 Toyota Avalon XLE Premium with dual low beam projectors. The low beams use a 9005 bulb, as do the high beams. The low beams seem to have relatively poor performance, so I'd like to upgrade them to 9011 bulbs. I've only seen mention of upgrading the 9005 to 9011 for high beams, so I am curious if there are any issues with converting low beams from 9005 to 9011. I am concerned with heat and of course the optical performance with swapping out bulbs. The headlamp optics seem very clear and yield very little refraction.

It seems most vehicles use either an H11 or 9006 for the low beams, so it seams my vehicle is odd in this regard.

If this is not a good idea, is there a recommended bulb for the low beams that may provide better performance?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Alaric Darconville]

:welcome:

I am concerned with heat and of course the optical performance with swapping out bulbs.

Heat won't be a problem; the HB3 (9005) and HIR1 (9011) bulbs are both 65W and produce the same amount of heat; theoretically the HIR1 produces less heat because more of the electrical energy is converted to light energy (but the actual heat output difference will be extremely small).

The big issue is the suitability of the optics to produce a beam without excessive glare, data that I don't have at this time.

Obviously, the high beams can be immediately upgraded to HIR1 because high beam glare is somewhat of a non-issue other than additional some backscatter for the driver (if you're using high beams correctly, that is, without too-close oncoming or leading traffic).

 

[-Virgil-]

Welcome to this forum! Thanks for asking a well thought out, detailed question.

Go ahead and use the HIR1 (9011) for an effective, safe low beam upgrade. The best such bulb available right now is this one made by Toshiba and available exclusively as a Toyota part.

There is no heat concern; the HIR1 (9011) bulb is a 65w bulb just like the HB3 (9005) bulb. The HIR1 has much greater efficacy (lumens per watt), but because the total power dissipation is the same, there is no extra heat or power draw. There are no optical issues with that bulb in these lamps, either; you won't ruin the beam's formation or create glare hazards...of course, this depends on the lamps being aimed correctly as described here.

 

[Alaric Darconville]

Discussion of the revisions of Daniel Stern's headlamp aim page have moved here.
Please keep responses in this thread on the topic of the 2013 Avalon and the HIR1 upgrade.

 

[weedkill3]

How can 9005s be used for low beam? Isn't that too much glare? I'm surprised the user says the light output is low wants to upgrade.

 

[-Virgil-]

How can 9005s be used for low beam? Isn't that too much glare?

The amount of glare produced by the headlamp is not a function of which type of bulb it was designed to use. There are bulb types that are most frequently selected when engineering high beams -- HB3 (9005) is one of these, and so is H9 -- but there is no reason why they cannot be selected and applied in low beams, and there are legitimate low beam lamps designed to take HB3 or H9 bulbs -- there are also legitimate high beams designed to take HB4 (9006) or H11 bulbs, even though those are more often selected and applied in low beams. The optics of the lamp are designed around the characteristics of the light source (bulb) to comply with the applicable regulations, including upward/glare light.