NOKYA Headlight Bulbs: REVIEW & TEST
by DocJohn » Wed Aug 25, 2004 6:48 pm
I KNOW that HID Xenon headlights are “the” lights to have if you want brightest blue or purple tinted headlights. However some of us don’t feel like dropping several hundred dollars on HID upgrade kits, but would still like to make some “improvement” over our stock lighting.
I decided to check out Nokya Arctic White bulbs, according to autothing.com ( http://www.autothing.com/P-Support/psup ... lbFAQS.htm ) and some posts I’ve read here, the Nokya bulbs “create a stunning bright white light with a lite blue tone (or purple, depending on the Nokya Arctic bulb type)”, more so than even the much more costly PIAA “Xtreme White” or “Super Plasma” bulbs. Since the Nokya’s cost about $25 a pair I could outfit my Solara with a full set-up (high beams, low beams, fog lights) for $75 ... a WHOLE lot less $$$ than HID’s would cost.
One of my concerns was that two of the Nokya bulbs of the types used in the ‘04 Solara were listed as having a considerably higher wattage than the stock OE bulbs, and I didn’t want to worry about blowing fuses or melting relays or wires. So before installing the Nokya bulbs I decided to test them against the OE bulbs to see exactly how much additional power (Amps) they would draw.
You can see my test results at: http://www.angelfire.com/ky3/gabby/bulb_test.htm
The bottom line is the 9005 bulb draws only 0.4 Amps more current, and the H11 bulb draws 1.45 Amps more current (both tested at 13 volts). So in my opinion, an additional 2.9 Amps total additional current for a pair of Nokya H11's should not be enough to cause any problems unless Toyota is using some pretty poor engineering and design practices for their electrical system.
Well, I must have guessed right because I have all 3 pairs of Nokya bulbs installed in my Solara now and I haven’t blown any fuses or melted any relays or wires. Best of all, these new bulbs look REALLY GREAT in my opinion! They are nice and bright and have a light blue tint to them even in daylight. No, they are not as bright as HID’s I’ve seen on BMW’s, M-Benz’s, etc. I’ve seen, but for $75 they’re just fine by me.
BTW, while I was checking out my new bulbs, I noticed that when I turn on the high beams, my fog lights shut off!! That is to say you can't run your low beams, high beams and fog lights all at the same time. What a DUMB way to wire a car (nice job Toyota)!
This weekend I’ll try and post some nighttime photos of the new bulbs in my car if anyone is interested in seeing them.
I decided to check out Nokya Arctic White bulbs, according to autothing.com ( http://www.autothing.com/P-Support/psup ... lbFAQS.htm ) and some posts I’ve read here, the Nokya bulbs “create a stunning bright white light with a lite blue tone (or purple, depending on the Nokya Arctic bulb type)”, more so than even the much more costly PIAA “Xtreme White” or “Super Plasma” bulbs. Since the Nokya’s cost about $25 a pair I could outfit my Solara with a full set-up (high beams, low beams, fog lights) for $75 ... a WHOLE lot less $$$ than HID’s would cost.
One of my concerns was that two of the Nokya bulbs of the types used in the ‘04 Solara were listed as having a considerably higher wattage than the stock OE bulbs, and I didn’t want to worry about blowing fuses or melting relays or wires. So before installing the Nokya bulbs I decided to test them against the OE bulbs to see exactly how much additional power (Amps) they would draw.
You can see my test results at: http://www.angelfire.com/ky3/gabby/bulb_test.htm
The bottom line is the 9005 bulb draws only 0.4 Amps more current, and the H11 bulb draws 1.45 Amps more current (both tested at 13 volts). So in my opinion, an additional 2.9 Amps total additional current for a pair of Nokya H11's should not be enough to cause any problems unless Toyota is using some pretty poor engineering and design practices for their electrical system.
Well, I must have guessed right because I have all 3 pairs of Nokya bulbs installed in my Solara now and I haven’t blown any fuses or melted any relays or wires. Best of all, these new bulbs look REALLY GREAT in my opinion! They are nice and bright and have a light blue tint to them even in daylight. No, they are not as bright as HID’s I’ve seen on BMW’s, M-Benz’s, etc. I’ve seen, but for $75 they’re just fine by me.
BTW, while I was checking out my new bulbs, I noticed that when I turn on the high beams, my fog lights shut off!! That is to say you can't run your low beams, high beams and fog lights all at the same time. What a DUMB way to wire a car (nice job Toyota)!
This weekend I’ll try and post some nighttime photos of the new bulbs in my car if anyone is interested in seeing them.
<B>2004 Solara SLE V6 with mods (sold 10/10/06)
- DocJohn
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