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01-05-2017, 01:28 AM | #1 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 423516
Join Date: Jun 2015
Chapter/Region:
NESIC
Location: RI
Vehicle:2015 WRX Premium Lightning Red |
2015 light output upgrades
So I have a 2015 WRX premium, and one big gripe I have since coming from retrofitted HIDs is the terrible light output in these cars. Looking for opinions on easy PNP products to give ample light output improvements in the low beams and fogs. Really not interested at this point in doing a retrofit again or hacking open the housings to put in different projectors, so looking for more PNP options to keep it simple yet effective. Too many bulbs on the market now, and just need concise answers.
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Last edited by striktlysubie; 07-19-2018 at 02:43 AM. |
01-05-2017, 05:27 AM | #2 |
Trust no one
Moderator Member#: 11170
Join Date: Oct 2001
Chapter/Region:
Tri-State
Location: NYC
Vehicle:02 RAV4 MT 15 WRX/11 CRZ |
Try this first-
https://forums.nasioc.com/forums/sho....php?t=2083911 |
01-10-2017, 01:47 AM | #3 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 423516
Join Date: Jun 2015
Chapter/Region:
NESIC
Location: RI
Vehicle:2015 WRX Premium Lightning Red |
Custom bulb swap? Hmmm... any of the Subispeed products stand out for anyone?
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01-10-2017, 02:28 AM | #4 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 456346
Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: Inland Empire
Vehicle:2015 wrx |
Im running olms headlight lowbeam leds, light output isnt the best but its not that bad either
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01-10-2017, 08:51 AM | #5 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 191755
Join Date: Oct 2008
Chapter/Region:
SCIC
Location: Bakersfield
Vehicle:2004 Forester XT Black |
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01-13-2017, 04:55 PM | #6 | |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 461037
Join Date: Jan 2017
Chapter/Region:
SCIC
Location: SoCal
Vehicle:2016 Subaru World Rally Blue |
Quote:
Hids are bright, I had them on my stock projectors and they glared (not as much as reflector hids) had people drive my car while I was in front and it's annoying so I did a retrofit. Led bulbs don't glare as much but arent as bright. |
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01-16-2017, 04:29 PM | #7 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 423516
Join Date: Jun 2015
Chapter/Region:
NESIC
Location: RI
Vehicle:2015 WRX Premium Lightning Red |
Can the projectors in the premium trim headlights handle LEDs, or are HIDs safer and wiser?
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01-16-2017, 07:12 PM | #8 | |
Trust no one
Moderator Member#: 11170
Join Date: Oct 2001
Chapter/Region:
Tri-State
Location: NYC
Vehicle:02 RAV4 MT 15 WRX/11 CRZ |
Quote:
No plug-and-play LED's are going to give proper output in the stock projectors, the only valid LED upgrade is a set of OEM LED light assemblies from a Limited or STi. As for HID's, a full projector retrofit is the right way to do those. I still recommend you try the H9 mod as I linked to in post #2. |
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01-22-2017, 03:31 PM | #9 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 423516
Join Date: Jun 2015
Chapter/Region:
NESIC
Location: RI
Vehicle:2015 WRX Premium Lightning Red |
Thanks for the info Mulder. I'll see what I can do with the H9s.
In layman's terms, can anyone explain the big differences between the projectors in the base/premium models versus the limited/STI? Maybe once the 2018 models come out, the price for the Limited oem headlight housings will go down a bit... maybe. |
01-22-2017, 03:36 PM | #10 |
Trust no one
Moderator Member#: 11170
Join Date: Oct 2001
Chapter/Region:
Tri-State
Location: NYC
Vehicle:02 RAV4 MT 15 WRX/11 CRZ |
The Limited/STi low beams are LED projector assemblies. All other trim levels are standard halogen projectors. There is no way to "retrofit" or "plug-and-play" any kind of LED bulbs into the standard projectors and get the same results as the factory LED lights.
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02-12-2017, 09:16 PM | #11 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 423516
Join Date: Jun 2015
Chapter/Region:
NESIC
Location: RI
Vehicle:2015 WRX Premium Lightning Red |
^ ok.
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04-23-2017, 12:20 PM | #12 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 423516
Join Date: Jun 2015
Chapter/Region:
NESIC
Location: RI
Vehicle:2015 WRX Premium Lightning Red |
Looking to re-up this topic to see if anyone has any plug and play ideas that may now be available for low-beam headlight upgrades for the halogen-based housings. If not, I can try the H9 conversion, but haven't gotten around to it yet.
Also, are the headlight housings from the Limited/STI pretty easy to swap into a Premium model, or is the wiring way different? |
04-23-2017, 12:46 PM | #13 |
Trust no one
Moderator Member#: 11170
Join Date: Oct 2001
Chapter/Region:
Tri-State
Location: NYC
Vehicle:02 RAV4 MT 15 WRX/11 CRZ |
Almost 4 months and you still haven't done the H9 mod?
In the time it took you to make that post, you could have snipped the tabs on a pair of H9's and installed them. The answer hasn't changed, that's still the easiest and cheapest upgrade and also the only one that won't affect the beam pattern or color temp. |
07-19-2017, 12:08 AM | #14 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 423516
Join Date: Jun 2015
Chapter/Region:
NESIC
Location: RI
Vehicle:2015 WRX Premium Lightning Red |
Ordered a set of Philips H9 bulbs from Amazon. En route.
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04-08-2018, 05:36 PM | #15 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 423516
Join Date: Jun 2015
Chapter/Region:
NESIC
Location: RI
Vehicle:2015 WRX Premium Lightning Red |
I ended up doing the H9 conversion a while back. Moderate light upgrade. But, over time, will still be looking for something more permanent.
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04-09-2018, 10:57 AM | #16 |
Scooby Specialist
Member#: 251061
Join Date: Jul 2010
Chapter/Region:
SCIC
Location: Temecula, CA
Vehicle:18 Trek 6mt, garage queen 15 WRX 6mt |
https://www.theretrofitsource.com/mo...-2015-wrx.html
This is as permanent as it gets. I know you didn't want to and it seems like you're looking for a quick fix. So when you change your mind look into a proper retrofit. |
04-11-2018, 01:02 PM | #17 | |
Scooby Specialist
Member#: 198067
Join Date: Dec 2008
Chapter/Region:
Tri-State
Location: RAMSEY, NJ
Vehicle:2009 IMPREZA 2.5i 4d WHITE Premium |
If you're not going to do a retrofit, you might try an HID kit.
http://www.ddmtuning.com/Products/DD...ast-35W-or-55W H11 35 watt 4300K. They will produce over twice the light drawing less current. The will not disperse light evenly. Your cutoff will keep the light from going high and to the left. I used a kit on my 2009 for 6 years without problems. For your highs, replace the 9005s with 9011 from CandlePower; https://store.candlepower.com/hirlighting.html The bulbs will need modification; https://store.candlepower.com/mohirbuba.html Quote:
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04-14-2018, 02:06 PM | #18 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 423516
Join Date: Jun 2015
Chapter/Region:
NESIC
Location: RI
Vehicle:2015 WRX Premium Lightning Red |
Thanks guys
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04-15-2018, 11:17 AM | #19 |
Scooby Specialist
Member#: 198067
Join Date: Dec 2008
Chapter/Region:
Tri-State
Location: RAMSEY, NJ
Vehicle:2009 IMPREZA 2.5i 4d WHITE Premium |
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04-17-2018, 05:42 PM | #20 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 401072
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: City of Angels
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The easiest would be to throw a good HID kit into your stock projectors.
Like you, I came from retrofits and weren’t even impressed with the factory Limited LED, so I retrofitted a set of halogens. I would really look into just buying a set of OEM LED’s in the classifieds or getting the subispeed headlights. Those look pretty sick! |
07-15-2018, 01:19 PM | #21 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 423516
Join Date: Jun 2015
Chapter/Region:
NESIC
Location: RI
Vehicle:2015 WRX Premium Lightning Red |
I have still kept the Philips H9 bulbs in the low beams for now. Starting to upgrade the fogs and high beams to OLM LEDs just to see the difference in color and output.
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07-23-2018, 04:57 PM | #22 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 432485
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Connecticut
Vehicle:2015 WRX Galaxy Blue |
I just did the morimoto retroquik system in my car with good results
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09-09-2018, 03:02 PM | #23 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 423516
Join Date: Jun 2015
Chapter/Region:
NESIC
Location: RI
Vehicle:2015 WRX Premium Lightning Red |
^ requires opening the headlight housings though, correct?
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