2013 3.8 base model headlights

[dc20133.8]

Before I receive the interweb bashing of using the search engine, let me preface this by "I did" and am more confused by what some others have done, not done, changed, altered, changed back, swapped, and left the same.

Anyway, I am dissapointed with the visibility of the standard headlights in my vehicle. I really do not want to do a HID simply because of the additional issues of heat and wiring. The easiest and most effective DIY is to buy new bulbs. The specific question I have is; if I go standard bulb (Sylvania, etc...) which have you found to be best? And if there is a LED option, what have you found to offer more night time lighting and which is preferred? I am looking for plug and play (no transformers, no fans, etc...)

Thanks in advance for your responses. Adding to the first paragraph, there is just soooooo much discussion about this, I do not have the time to fish through all the posts and replies. I am hoping the responses here will be something basic that someone else besides myself can turn to quickly for answers. Thanks again.

 

[zielritter]

Before I receive the interweb bashing of using the search engine, let me preface this by "I did" and am more confused by what some others have done, not done, changed, altered, changed back, swapped, and left the same.

Anyway, I am dissapointed with the visibility of the standard headlights in my vehicle. I really do not want to do a HID simply because of the additional issues of heat and wiring. The easiest and most effective DIY is to buy new bulbs. The specific question I have is; if I go standard bulb (Sylvania, etc...) which have you found to be best? And if there is a LED option, what have you found to offer more night time lighting and which is preferred? I am looking for plug and play (no transformers, no fans, etc...)

Thanks in advance for your responses. Adding to the first paragraph, there is just soooooo much discussion about this, I do not have the time to fish through all the posts and replies. I am hoping the responses here will be something basic that someone else besides myself can turn to quickly for answers. Thanks again.

Before I bit the bullet and converted to HID (which I have been running without issue for over a year), I did a lot of research on halogen bulbs. From what I read, the GE Nighthawks were the best standard watt halogens from a performance/ratio. Unfortunately, I don't think the Nighthawk or a lot of other performance bulbs come in the Genesis's weird size.

Make sure you stick with the stock 55 watt H11B size bulbs (make sure they are the H11B) when shopping around. There are a lot of high-wattage alternatives out there that put out more light at the expense of melting your stock wiring harness.

Edit: Forget what I said, I was getting confused with my Elantra. The Genesis takes the H11, not the H11B. I would suggest looking for the GE Nighthawks or the Philips X-treme vision. The Silver Stars are always a choice too, but I think they're over priced and burn out more quickly than competitors that are just as bright.

 

[Buford T Justice]

I think the issue at hand isn't so much the bulb not putting out enough lumens but the angle of the headlight assembly.
I too have a 2013 base model with the halogens and what I've noticed is the bulb itself is bright enough to light up the road fine, but the damn assembly is aimed so the light only travels 50 feet before hitting the ground.

The real question is, is it easy to aim the headlight assembly up a few degrees?
I did this with my previous car and it made a world of difference, you just can't aim them up too high or you blind oncoming traffic... and your headlights will suck if they are aimed too high.

 

[amartz]

Absolutely. The whole assembly can be aimed. Open the hood, and look for the adjusting holes. Aiming mine higher made a huge difference.

 

[dc20133.8]

I too have a 2013 base model with the halogens and what I've noticed is the bulb itself is bright enough to light up the road fine, but the damn assembly is aimed so the light only travels 50 feet before hitting the ground.

The real question is, is it easy to aim the headlight assembly up a few degrees?
I did this with my previous car and it made a world of difference, you just can't aim them up too high or you blind oncoming traffic... and your headlights will suck if they are aimed too high.

Absolutely. The whole assembly can be aimed. Open the hood, and look for the adjusting holes. Aiming mine higher made a huge difference.

Thank You!

 

[Buford T Justice]

Absolutely. The whole assembly can be aimed. Open the hood, and look for the adjusting holes. Aiming mine higher made a huge difference.

Awsome, any silly tool needed for the job or will a long stem Phillips screwdriver work? I don't want to accidently strip out a screw because I used a Phillips instead of a star head screwdriver or something dumb like that.

 

[amartz]

A regular Phillips screwdriver will do. Mine is about the same length as the diameter of my streering wheel. It did take a little fussing to get the screwdriver to engage and turn the adjusting screw, but it's doable.

 

[SoCalGen]

I've found my 2013 base to have very bright headlights. I agree with others that maybe they need to be aimed. Sometimes even on "low beam" I have people flash me like my high beams are on. Then I flash the brights at them and they get the picture.

In the past I've ran sylvania silver stars on a crown vic, not sure if they make them for the Genesis. They were nicer than stock but it wasn't like going to HID and the silver stars are not known for reliability. You may have to replace them every year or so.

 

[Bill K]

I wouldn't try to aim them myself unless I had all the adjustment specs, and a totally flat driveway to aim them on the garage door.
If you just "wing it", you might end up with some very angry drivers with "road rage" directed at you.

 

[Buford T Justice]

A regular Phillips screwdriver will do. Mine is about the same length as the diameter of my streering wheel. It did take a little fussing to get the screwdriver to engage and turn the adjusting screw, but it's doable.

I had a go at adjusting them last night with a 9 inche long #1 Phillips as well as a 3/16 flat head but couldn't get it to work and I didn't want to start twisting on stuff too hard.
I'm about to ask you way to many questions about a seemingly simple task in hopes I'll see if I did something wrong or if there is something wrong with the headlight itself.

Do we know what driver is really supposed to be used, is it just a Phillips head screw or is it some weird proprietary shape and a screwdriver just happens to fit kinda?

Is whatever we are turning with the driver made of plastic or metal? I don't need to be applying a lot of force to plastic and ruining it on accident.

How much force did you have to apply to turn the screwdriver? One handed amounts or is this a two handed job force?

How hard did you have to push down on the screwdriver to keep it in place when turning the adjustment? I found when I turned the driver it wanted to come up (similar to trying to take out a super tight scew) but I didn't want to press down too hard and strip stuff.

Did you basically have the screwdriver straight up and down when making the adjustment or did you hold it at a funny angle?

Sorry for all the questions, it just feels like your suppose to use a special Hyundai tool to do this and we are making due with screwdrivers. Which I'm all for, but I also know that using the incorrect tool can easily ruin things so I want to make sure I'm doing it as best as possible to keep myself out of trouble.

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[amartz]

The first time, I had the dealer tech, who was doing an oil change, etc., for me, show me. You might see if you can finangal the same. But, the tech showed me that you can (barely) see the mechanism turn if you look thru a small gap at the edge of the top cover. We both used a phillips. If that's what the dealer tech used, good enough for me. I believe it's a nylon adjusting screw, at least the little bit you can see looks that way. It was what I would call a very firm one-handed amount of force, and you had to apply it the whole time you are turning it. Getting the screwdriver all the way down the access hole into the screw head took a little pushing also. As far as holding it at an angle, not possible. You are inserting the screwdriver directly down a verticle access shaft, with barely enough room to get the screwdriver in. There's no play room, except for straight up and down. And with my screwdriver, (length the size of the streering wheel), it's inserted almost to touching the handle before it engages the adjusting screw. I've attached a pic. The gap I'm talking about peering down runs top to bottom in the middle of the pic. The up-down adjusting hole is just to the left of the gap. With a flashlight, and a little prying on the plastic (don't break out the half-moon piece), it is possible to see enough of the adjusting mechamism on each side to at least confirm if it is turning. An earlier msg talked about adjusting too high and road rage. I adjusted mine a bit at a time. I live in a rual area, and it's fairly easy to see where the high-beams are aimed at night, tracking them on trees as I round corners, etc. I just did a bit at a time until I was happy with the results.