Changing The Lights On A Rav4

[Get_Ya_Rav_Out]

I'm thinking about changing the lights on my Rav4 to those whiter appearing lights. The whole lot, like high and low beam, fog lights etc.

What do I need to buy? Is it evan possible/legal?

Thanks for you input.

Mike

[selyaT]

What type of bulbs do RAV4's use?

Philips and Narva sell their own ranges of whiter headlights. Philips goes from blue vision to diamond vision, all I know about Narva is they're called Artic blue.

Just a matter of spending about $100 at Autobarn on the bulbs and installing them yourself. If you want anything whiter/bluer than that then you will have to go with an aftermarket HID kit, at about $300 for a basic set.

P.S. in terms of parkers, the Philips sets come with a free set of parkers that appear blue on the outside but they aren't actually much whiter than stock ones when you turn them on. Best bet for parkers are an LED set I guess. Foggies might be somewhat of a grey area here.

Edited December 6, 2007 by Tayles

[Get_Ya_Rav_Out]

What type of bulbs do RAV4's use?

Philips and Narva sell their own ranges of whiter headlights. Philips goes from blue vision to diamond vision, all I know about Narva is they're called Artic blue.

Just a matter of spending about $100 at Autobarn on the bulbs and installing them yourself. If you want anything whiter/bluer than that then you will have to go with an aftermarket HID kit, at about $300 for a basic set.

P.S. in terms of parkers, the Philips sets come with a free set of parkers that appear blue on the outside but they aren't actually much whiter than stock ones when you turn them on. Best bet for parkers are an LED set I guess. Foggies might be somewhat of a grey area here.

Thanks for the post. Looking in the book I need the following bulbs, but Autobarn didn't seem interested in helping. I might need to try another store.

Low Beam - H11 55W

High Beam - HB3 60W

Fog Lights - H11 55W

Park - Wedge Base Bulb 5W

[selyaT]

Here is the link you need

Sadly I am not seeing any H11, probably explains why Autobarn didn't want to help out.

They do have HB3 high beam and W5W parkers so you can get those... But the low beam headlights are what you will be using most of the time so I dunno if there's any benefit in upgrading everything but them. Definitely shop around though, ask about H11 upgrades.

[selyaT]

PIAA make upgraded H11's... http://www.piaa.com/Bulbs/Bulbs-H11.html

[Get_Ya_Rav_Out]

Thanks, I'll be sure to let you know how I go

[Taka]

Thanks, I'll be sure to let you know how I go

Was thinking about upgrading our lights (which is only about 2 weeks old).

Have a trip overseas and the Philip is next to free (they were about AUD$50 each). The H11 will be a crystal white which is less bright then orginal. So we gave up.

Saw some nicer Polarg brand light.... I think when they are rated 5000K it is pure white - higher number than that will be blue and certainly less bright than stock.

Even the Xenon lights are 4500k, so there is some reference there.

I now thinking of a good Xenon conversion set up and keep the other stock.... that seems the norm in the BMW series and can go under the radar from the police. They will not know RAV4 and Kluger does not come with Xenon as option > >>> I will just tell him it is factory option and they will believe me.

[Get_Ya_Rav_Out]

Thanks, I'll be sure to let you know how I go

> >>> I will just tell him it is factory option and they will believe me.

They prob will. Not as funny though as a time I was with a mate who got pulled over in a Lancer. Policeoffice shinned his touch on the back tires and asked if we'd been doing burn outs as it was a bit worn. Politly my friend tilted his torch to the front tires and said "Front Wheel Drive Mate" We on our way after that.

[Taka]

They prob will. Not as funny though as a time I was with a mate who got pulled over in a Lancer. Policeoffice shinned his touch on the back tires and asked if we'd been doing burn outs as it was a bit worn. Politly my friend tilted his torch to the front tires and said "Front Wheel Drive Mate" We on our way after that.

On the contary, I was riding my bicycle down St. Kilda and I saw a cop pull over a double of cars. I thought because the car has lost couple of wheels and side shirt landed on the ground. But HELL no, the car is so low that it bearly lift off the ground. I gave the cop a thumbs up of catching those.

I am now show for high clearance, on a road car that is (not my track car )

[Azza]

I know I have come in on this late, but I have only just come to the Rav4 part of the forum now as I am about to buy one...

As far as headlights go, the first thing I will be checking is what bulbs will go into the 2008 Rav4, and ordering the Philips Crystal Visions from a mate of mine that sells them through an Auto Electrician's workshop he works at (yes, he's an Auto Electrician)

He put them into his Ford Territory and his Mazda Bravo, then hooked me up with some for my Corolla. They are awesome. Even my wife who normally wouldn't even know if the headlights weren't on, actually commented about how much better they are.

I am hopefully taking delivery of the Rav in around 3 weeks. As soon as I get it, the first thing I will do when I come home is call John and ask him to order me some more.....

If anyone is interested and are in the Brissy area, call Comet Batteries at Geebung, as for John....tell him Azz recommended you....

[Black Ninja]

If anyone is interested and are in the Brissy area, call Comet Batteries at Geebung, as for John....tell him Azz recommended you....

how much for a set ?

[Azza]

From memory around $110 for the set....

[nerdygirl]

Thanks for the post. Looking in the book I need the following bulbs, but Autobarn didn't seem interested in helping. I might need to try another store.

Low Beam - H11 55W

High Beam - HB3 60W

Fog Lights - H11 55W

Park - Wedge Base Bulb 5W

I've been looking around for a set of globes to replace these and the PIAA ones are a possibility (someone mentioned them in this thread). It is possible to replace all of these bulbs with PIAA Xtreme white 4000k globes. I was thinking of using the PIAA ion yellow ones for the fog lights though.

One thing which is confusing in looking this stuff up on line is that HB3 is called 9005 when you look at american web sites. it took me ages to realise HB3=9005.

One more confusing thing is that on the specs for the rav4 in the US, the low beam in their ravs isn't H11, it is 9006 which is also called HB4.

It seems strange that they would do a different type of low beam globe for the US rav than the australian one...

Anyway, once i realised that HB3 = 9005, i realised that we can do a full replacement with PIAA Xtreme white globes. They are 4000K so they are legal too. woo hoo!

[nerdygirl]

today i noticed that someone on ebay was selling phillips power2night globes in H11. on the phillips automotive lighting website, it says that they don't make power2night globes in H11, so I decided to give them a call. apparently the website is not up to date, as new globes have recently been added. indeed it is possible to get the power2night globes in both H11 (rav4 low beams) and HB3 (rav4 high beams). so i found someone selling them (autobarn at virginia) and went and got the low beams. they are certainly a big improvement on the stock globes. whiter than the stock ones but not super white or blue. i will gradually update the highbeams, foggies & parkers as funds allow... they were $90 for the set of two. Not cheap...

Edited July 3, 2008 by nerdygirl

[achk]

I've also been investigating headlight upgrade since taking delivery of the ZR6. I was disappointed at the poor lowbeam performance (even compared to my old humble astra and the E46 3-series with stock halogen light).

Looked at xenon conversion but decided against it due to 1) good quality ones are expensive, 2) illegal, 3) may affect warranty and insurance, 4) light optics/focal length not designed for HID strictly speaking.

Finally bought a pair of Osram nightbreaker (H11 for low beam) from this UK company:

http://www.autobulbsonline.co.uk/

The globes are claimed to be 90% brighter and 10% whiter (due to blue tints at the tip and base of the globe, but the area over the filament is not coated). After installing them and testing them, the difference is noticeable and better. And I think it's worth the ~AUD$52 dollars. The company does free shipping and the globes arrived at my door in about 10 days.

I have also installed a pair of Philip extreme 80% in my other car (H7s) and I think the change in performance is comparable to the osram if not very slightly better (probably due to the lack of blue tinting). However, these are not available in H11.

[nerdygirl]

Thanks for that useful info achk.

That website is great, their pricing is very good.

The H11 power2night globes i installed also have a blue tip, just to make the light a bit whiter. The blue tip is infact the only thing to distinguish these types of globes from the phillips VisionPlus globes. They are supposed to be "up to 50% brighter" and are definitely better than the stock ones but actually i'm still not really happy with them. Strangely enough I would like to actually be able to see when i drive at night. the lights on my last car (mazda3 sp23) were much better even than these power2night globes.

i am thinking that perhaps they are not quite pointing high enough and that if i can adjust this i'll get better vision. in the owners manual for the rav4 on page 93 it says the car has a dial to adjust the headlight beam level, however it is "missing" in my rav4 (and presumably everyones in australia). it is supposed to be on the same little panel as the dial for adjusting the brightness of the the instrument panel lights.

however i have a copy of the rav4 repair manual (very nice to have :) ) which says you can adjust where the headlights "point" by turning aiming screws either side of each headlight. it explains in detail how to line them up properly however i'm not sure i will go there. if they are pointed incorrectly they can "dazzle" oncoming traffic. i will perhaps wait until my next service and ask them to adjust them then, or else ask someone else to do it for me if i can find someone...

[achk]

Thanks for that useful info achk.

That website is great, their pricing is very good.

The H11 power2night globes i installed also have a blue tip, just to make the light a bit whiter. The blue tip is infact the only thing to distinguish these types of globes from the phillips VisionPlus globes. They are supposed to be "up to 50% brighter" and are definitely better than the stock ones but actually i'm still not really happy with them. Strangely enough I would like to actually be able to see when i drive at night. the lights on my last car (mazda3 sp23) were much better even than these power2night globes.

i am thinking that perhaps they are not quite pointing high enough and that if i can adjust this i'll get better vision. in the owners manual for the rav4 on page 93 it says the car has a dial to adjust the headlight beam level, however it is "missing" in my rav4 (and presumably everyones in australia). it is supposed to be on the same little panel as the dial for adjusting the brightness of the the instrument panel lights.

however i have a copy of the rav4 repair manual (very nice to have :) ) which says you can adjust where the headlights "point" by turning aiming screws either side of each headlight. it explains in detail how to line them up properly however i'm not sure i will go there. if they are pointed incorrectly they can "dazzle" oncoming traffic. i will perhaps wait until my next service and ask them to adjust them then, or else ask someone else to do it for me if i can find someone...

Unfortunately, you are not going to get fantastic improvement in your lighting with +xx% halogen upgrade globes. I think the performance is limited by the headlight design and optics within. Some cars just have better headlight even if they are just halogen (like your mazda3). If you are not happy with the phillips +50%/power 2night, then I don't think the osram +90% will make a dramatic improvement.

Someone correct me if I am wrong on this. I've noticed that the new RAV4 projector beam is brighter on the top when shining on a wall. This corresponds to the light shining the farthest when shining straight ahead. This make sense cos you've want a good range in your headlight. However, because the "hotspot" is concentrated on the top, the light output immediately in front of the car is quite poor. Subjectively, this may cause us to think the headlight is poor. I have used the stock globes on a dark country road at night, and the performance is not that bad (but not brilliant).

Using the foglight helps too (it lights up the road immediately in front of the car) and seems to compliment the low beam well. However, this is now illegal in victoria (and has been in many other states for a long time) unless in bad weather. I guess we can thank the people who use aftermarket fogs that are invariably aimed wrong and dazzle oncoming traffic. Most factory fitted fogs project their beam BELOW the low beam and do not dazzle oncoming traffic.

I have a dial in my car that adjust the headlight beam level. It's just adjacent to the instrument light dimmer dial. Mine is a ZR6. Not sure if it comes in all RAV4 models.

The headlight beam height is already set quite high in my car, so I wouldn't adjust it any higher. In fact I have mine dialled down a little all the time just to avoid dazzling oncoming traffic.