Well, I finally got annoyed enough that my DRL were a dull yellow, that i decided to "upgrade" them to SilverStars for more of a "white" light.

As it turns out, the DRL must use a reduced voltage which results in the same "yellowish" light with the SilverStar bulbs. Well, that's $30 bucks down the drain. I should have just ordered the LED DRL replacements I've read about on this board.

The point of this post is to prevent another AZ member from making the same mistake.

 

DRLs use 50% of the output or something like that... that is why you do not get the full color.

 

I got Nokya's and tried to do this. Also did not work. Well it sorta did, when I swap one bulb, it works, it's white, but then I swap both, it doesn't work at all.

 

Be careful, you don't want to run high wattage halogens in your DRL's cuz you will melt the bezel from the heat. Your best solution is LED's.

 

Same wattage as factory bulbs....

 

I have a questions about our Hid's do they use more or less energy then the DRL on my 08 TL. And don't our HID's last alot longer then our DRL's? But they are also alot more expensive.

 

DRL = daytime running lamps. They aren't a type of bulb, its a classification of their use like low beams or high beams. The DRL's run on 2v's to my knowledge and a reduced wattage. If you try to stick an HID in there, you will most likely set your car on fire due to the wires melting from the 2000+ Watts needed to start the HID's.

 

you'll have a brighter, "whiter" high beam atleast?

 

Sounds like "mods that went wrong" thread material.

 

Nope, high beam comes from the HID lens.

 

Hello, I am new to the board, but also new to ownership of an Acura TL. So far I'm loving the car.

What model year did they introduce the DRLs? I have an '04 but it doesn't have DRLs, instead, I can leave my headlights turned on all the time and they will automatically shut off, and turn on when I lock/unlock my car. Since I'm new to having HID lamps, I'm not sure if I should leave them on all the time. Is it ok to do this? I have no idea how old the bulbs are.

 

That would be a very bad thing.

The 07 and up have DRL's. Your fog lights in your 04 are where the DRL's are in the 07-08. You can leave the HID's on all the time - that is your choice but be mindful that it will shorten their lifespan when you do. Not sure how much they are to replace. I read it on here before but I have not had my coffee so I'm not up to searching just yet.

 

Since we are already on the subject of DRLs... I would like to have mine YELLOWer on my '04... Would swapping the stock bulbs for some JDM yellow bulbs work? or will the reduced voltage do something to them?

 

Unless Honda is different from everyone else, the DRLs are regular 12v bulbs wired in series instead of parallel. That's why they appear "dim".

Also, HIDs don't take 2000W to start. The fuse for each side is 15A, that means the most power it can draw is only 180W before the fuse pops, assuming 12v. Now it does use very high voltage tho from the ballast, but that is not the same as very high wattage. (Tho it does use more power than traditional halogen to start the bulbs. Probably in the neighborhood of 100-120 watts)