Bulb recommendation for a 2003 Honda Pilot

64.5vette · Dec 16, 2015

I purchased 3 new cars for my family but we kept the suv around for the occasional snow trip. All our cars have factory led or bi xenon headlights so I am trying to get more light out of the truckster. I believe it uses HB2 (9003). Would the phillips x-treme power be the best bulbs? The headlights are starting to cloud but since it only gets driven once or twice a year I don't want to spend $600 for new genuine Honda lights unless there is a genuine xenon option i am not aware of.

Thanks in advance!

Qship1996 · Dec 16, 2015

if it truly only gets driven once or twice a year,why not sell it and just rent a SUV for those few trips? The savings of ongoing maintenance and repair costs,insurance,registration,etc..... plus the cash in pocket from the sale would cover many days of rentals! If it gets used more often,new headlamps are a reality,especially if you are wanting to put brighter bulbs into them.An old vehicle{even a low mile one} that sits and sits quickly becomes a moneypit in my experience.

Alaric Darconville · Dec 16, 2015

64.5vette said:
All our cars have factory led or bi xenon headlights so I am trying to get more light out of the truckster.

But you're only driving one at a time-- I know you know the lighting is better on the newer cars but that doesn't necessarily follow that you MUST upgrade the Pilot's headlamps. I'd put in the X-Treme Vision and also spring for a set of snow tires. Snow tires may have a much higher return on their investment than new lamp assemblies-- and at night on snow/ice you're going to be driving more slowly and more cautiously-- just be aware of your distance seeing limitations and the limitations of the vehicle itself. Unfortunately, there are no factory HID headlamps for that vehicle.

Qship1996 said:
if it truly only gets driven once or twice a year,why not sell it and just rent a SUV for those few trips? The savings of ongoing maintenance and repair costs,insurance,registration,etc..... plus the cash in pocket from the sale would cover many days of rentals!

You can always reduce the insurance coverage for the bare minimum to be legal, and just drive it around a few miles every month to get the engine warmed up and any moisture in the oil boiled out, as well as redistributing the oil/grease in the differential(s). Just upgrade the insurance before the big trips so you don't risk your life savings (and home!) should you be found at-fault in an accident (or you could get an umbrella policy). (But now we're exceeding the scope of this forum.)

Qship1996 said:
If it gets used more often,new headlamps are a reality,especially if you are wanting to put brighter bulbs into them.An old vehicle{even a low mile one} that sits and sits quickly becomes a moneypit in my experience.

It does sound like you should really evaluate if you need this fourth vehicle. Maybe you can do an incremental upgrade to a slightly newer Pilot or similar vehicle. But one thing is that if you keep this one, you're ready for the weather event that you don't want to drive your new cars in if you can't help it. As far as rentals-- renting a vehicle is something of a pain (at least for me).

Majestic Honda sells headlamp assemblies for $189.88ea, so new headlamps aren't as far out of your reach as you might think.

64.5vette · Dec 16, 2015

Alaric Darconville said:
But you're only driving one at a time-- I know you know the lighting is better on the newer cars but that doesn't necessarily follow that you MUST upgrade the Pilot's headlamps. I'd put in the X-Treme Vision and also spring for a set of snow tires. Snow tires may have a much higher return on their investment than new lamp assemblies-- and at night on snow/ice you're going to be driving more slowly and more cautiously-- just be aware of your distance seeing limitations and the limitations of the vehicle itself. Unfortunately, there are no factory HID headlamps for that vehicle.

You can always reduce the insurance coverage for the bare minimum to be legal, and just drive it around a few miles every month to get the engine warmed up and any moisture in the oil boiled out, as well as redistributing the oil/grease in the differential(s). Just upgrade the insurance before the big trips so you don't risk your life savings (and home!) should you be found at-fault in an accident (or you could get an umbrella policy). (But now we're exceeding the scope of this forum.)

It does sound like you should really evaluate if you need this fourth vehicle. Maybe you can do an incremental upgrade to a slightly newer Pilot or similar vehicle. But one thing is that if you keep this one, you're ready for the weather event that you don't want to drive your new cars in if you can't help it. As far as rentals-- renting a vehicle is something of a pain (at least for me).

Majestic Honda sells headlamp assemblies for $189.88ea, so new headlamps aren't as far out of your reach as you might think.

We do drive it about once or twice a month to move seasonal items to a storage locker or taking junk to the dump, but those are strictly daylight activities. Living around San Fransisco there is no reason for snow tires as the all seasons are good enough for our yearly mountain trip. Insurance wise it actually saves us money by listing our teenager on the pilot instead of his new car.

I will order those bulbs asap and reconsider new headlights. My main holdout is these cars are known to eat transmissions at around 100,000 miles and this one is at 104,000.

-Virgil- · Dec 16, 2015

If the vehicle's on "borrowed time" with ref to the transmission, then maybe an investment in new headlamps isn't wise; you can buy yourself some time this way.

64.5vette · Dec 17, 2015

-Virgil- said:
If the vehicle's on "borrowed time" with ref to the transmission, then maybe an investment in new headlamps isn't wise; you can buy yourself some time this way.

It took two trips to pepboys because they dropped the bulbs while ringing me up, but the philips x-treme vision are installed and aimed. Noticeable difference on the garage door but I can't really tell if there is more light on the road. (I understand about objective vs subjective opinions).

I will follow that guide on sanding the lights and post back tomorrow.

Alaric Darconville · Dec 17, 2015

64.5vette said:
I will order those bulbs asap and reconsider new headlights. My main holdout is these cars are known to eat transmissions at around 100,000 miles and this one is at 104,000.

When's the last time you did a fluid and filter change? Adding an additional transmission oil cooler could also help with the longevity.

The headlamp restoration process -Virgil- linked to actually shows better results than the marketing material of most headlamp restoration kits shows. The third pic on that thread is GORGEOUS.
I *nearly* got the same results with the Doublehorn kit, but they didn't last long at all. See here.

64.5vette · May 18, 2017

I now have some driving experience with genuine racing vision H4s.

Low beam:
-Beam focus seems slightly better, cutoff is slightly but noticeably sharper.
-CCT is also slightly higher(bluer) than +100 X-Treme visions, but still in the lower half of the 3000k range.
-Hot spot seems minutely more intense, foreground and spread lighting slight more so.

High beam:
-PALE BLUE, like seriously blue. I have never seen a legitimate brand made halogen bulb this blue. Its almost like they took a upper 3000k range bulb and cranked up only the blue.
-Slightly brighter everywhere
-Can't comment on focus, but assuming its minutely better like the low beam.

Price: about $10-15 more than X-Treme visions

Is it worth it?
-Coming from a high performing bulb such as a +100 or better? Not unless yours have burned out.
-Coming from anything else? If your bulbs are easy to change and you don't mind a 150-200h life, I would take these over X-treme visions every day. If your car requires dropping the bumper to change bulbs? Probably not.

Disclaimer: This is my subjective opinion. While I strive to educate myself it may not be 100% correct. I do have a feeling -Virgil- will agree with most of what I've said however.

Bulb recommendation for a 2003 Honda Pilot

64.5vette

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Qship1996

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Alaric Darconville

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64.5vette

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-Virgil-

Flashaholic

64.5vette

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Alaric Darconville

Flashlight Enthusiast

64.5vette

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