[TLS90]

Hey everyone. I just bought a 2014 CR-Z 6MT Base. Car is great but that headlights suck, partly because of the yellowed housings. I want to either polish them out and upgrade bulbs or replace the entire assembly. I've been reading a lot of the posts on here and consensus seems to be upgrade to 6000K HID bulbs for the low beam. Does the base model come with HID? Also, I plan on changing any incandescent bulbs to LED. All the interior bulbs look the same (2825/194/168). Any other tips are much appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Spdbump]

Base does not have HID there are conversion kits and our vendor here Automotive LED Replacement Bulbs & Lighting Upgrades sells both the kits and OEM replacement bulbs used for EX that have HIDs standard. They also have all the bulbs for the outside. If you contact Diode Dynamics and mention this forum your standard shipping is free. Many companies sell HID conversion kits some are good some are not. All HIDs use a High Voltage ballast so you need to be careful in installing them.

Biggest hint is the turn signals will need load resistors added to avoid Hyper Flash. Diode Dynamics sells them too.

Usually the base uses the Headlight as DRL and EX and EX with navigation have LED DRLs. The base when it uses the headlight as the DRL causes issues with LED upgrades. LED Headlights are now apparently illegal(see below) . There have been postings on here with how to use LEDs as DRL using diodes and relays.

If you want to add Fog lights to your base look for part number 08V31-SZT-100B ( or for 11-12 08V31-SZT-100) ($317.60 from Honda Parts at Honda Parts Now | Genuine OEM Honda Auto Parts) and you can follow these directions for installation https://www.collegehillshonda.com/instructions/crz/2014/foglights.pdf. Kit contains everything you need including the stalk with switch. You can upgrade the fogs to LED prior to installation, if you wished. Diode Dynamics now sells Full LED fog light replacements but you have to have the factory Housings switch etc to use them.

Diode Dynamics has this note about legality of LED headlights on their page not sure how any LEO or other legal entity will react and I plan on installing LED headlights anyway but we all should be aware of the legality. I hope that state inspections will not be an issue.

APPLICATION NOTICE: LED bulbs are legal in the USA for Fog Light use only. Not compliant with DOT / FMVSS108 and not street legal in the USA for Headlights. Legal for off-road use in ATV, snowmobile, and off-road racing use. International legality varies by country. Note: This usage regulation is not unique to Diode Dynamics bulbs. All LED bulbs from all brands, regardless of marketing claims, are prohibited from street use in halogen headlights in the USA. Click here to learn more.

Here is the information from the Click here above.
Street Use of LED Bulbs
Diode Dynamics is suspending the sale of LED Headlight bulbs in the United States, due to federal regulations which restrict the use of replaceable light sources in headlamps. This restriction applies to all LED Headlight bulbs on the market. It is not unique to Diode Dynamics.
Our LED Headlight bulbs were designed and tested for effective photometric output, providing increased output with compliant beam patterns when installed in specific applications. However, the federal regulations do not include any provision for LED replacement headlamp bulbs. Therefore, it is not currently possible to certify any LED bulb for headlamp use.
The regulations are updated very rarely, with the last major revision occurring in 2007. However, we maintain hope that progress will be made so that advances in technology may be accommodated in the future. Newer technologies like LED lighting offer many potential benefits to consumers, which we believe should be incorporated into the regulations.
We apologize for any disappointment or frustration, and hope you will be able to find an alternate solution for your headlight needs. We are pleased to continue offering bulbs for other applications on your vehicle, as well as our highly-rated lamps and off road lighting products. Thank you for your understanding and support.
International customers may continue to find LED Headlight bulbs available in their market, based on local laws and regulations.

Guess I got lucky and ordered mine prior to their decision.

 

[MrFastFox666]

I got all my lights replaced. For the headlights, I used 55w HIDs. The color is pure preference. 4300k is a slightly yellowish color, 5000k is a pure white with no color, and 6000k is a slightly bluish white. In my opinion, this does make a good improvement, but I still don't think the headlights are good. They're usable, but barely. I'm considering an HID projector retrofit with Morimoto Mini D2S 5.0 Projectors. The stock low beam for the base model is H8 (not 100% sure). The base models, at least in the U.S, do not come with HIDs. As for the high beams, those are 9005 bulbs. For those, you'd want LEDs, although they don't work great. You can read my post about DRLs on base models for more info, but the TL;DR is that LEDs flicker and you get a warning light on the dash. For the turn signals, I actually struggled to find something I like. I settled on these lights. They don't produce a perfect beam, but make up for it by being very bright. Also, they have built-in load resistors, so no need to install those yourself.

For the rear lights, I did this upgrade to my reverse lights. They're much brighter and actually useful. For the turn signals, I use Sylvania Zevo LEDs. Im not 100% satisfied, but they are the best option I've tested.

For the interior lights, as well as the license plate lights, you need T10 bulbs. There's 9 in total (including license plate bulbs). One thing I recommend to increase the life of the bulbs is to de-solder the large resistor many "canbus" LEDs have. It serves no purpose on the CR-Z and produces tons of heat which will damage the LEDs over time. I'm using XenonDepot T10 LEDs. They're nice, but totally not worth it for such a price. I recommend something like this, assuming you're willing to desolder the resistor I mentioned.

Base does not have HID there are conversion kits and our vendor here Automotive LED Replacement Bulbs & Lighting Upgrades sells both the kits and OEM replacement bulbs used for EX that have HIDs standard. They also have all the bulbs for the outside. If you contact Diode Dynamics and mention this forum your standard shipping is free. Many companies sell HID conversion kits some are good some are not. All HIDs use a High Voltage ballast so you need to be careful in installing them.

Biggest hint is the turn signals will need load resistors added to avoid Hyper Flash. Diode Dynamics sells them too.

Usually the base uses the Headlight as DRL and EX and EX with navigation have LED DRLs. The base when it uses the headlight as the DRL causes issues with LED upgrades. LED Headlights are now apparently illegal(see below) . There have been postings on here with how to use LEDs as DRL using diodes and relays.

If you want to add Fog lights to your base look for part number 08V31-SZT-100B ($317.60 from https://www.hondapartsnow.com) and you can follow these directions for installation https://www.collegehillshonda.com/instructions/crz/2014/foglights.pdf. Kit contains everything you need including the stalk with switch. You can upgrade the fogs to LED prior to installation if you wished. Diode Dynamics now sells Full LED fog light replacements but you have to have the factory Housings switch etc to use them.

Diode Dynamics has this note about legality of LED headlights on their page not sure how any LEO or other legal entity will react and I plan on installing LED headlights anyway but we all should be aware of the legality. I hope that state inspections will not be an issue.

APPLICATION NOTICE: LED bulbs are legal in the USA for Fog Light use only. Not compliant with DOT / FMVSS108 and not street legal in the USA for Headlights. Legal for off-road use in ATV, snowmobile, and off-road racing use. International legality varies by country. Note: This usage regulation is not unique to Diode Dynamics bulbs. All LED bulbs from all brands, regardless of marketing claims, are prohibited from street use in halogen headlights in the USA. Click here to learn more.

Here is the information from the Click here above.
Street Use of LED Bulbs
Diode Dynamics is suspending the sale of LED Headlight bulbs in the United States, due to federal regulations which restrict the use of replaceable light sources in headlamps. This restriction applies to all LED Headlight bulbs on the market. It is not unique to Diode Dynamics.
Our LED Headlight bulbs were designed and tested for effective photometric output, providing increased output with compliant beam patterns when installed in specific applications. However, the federal regulations do not include any provision for LED replacement headlamp bulbs. Therefore, it is not currently possible to certify any LED bulb for headlamp use.
The regulations are updated very rarely, with the last major revision occurring in 2007. However, we maintain hope that progress will be made so that advances in technology may be accommodated in the future. Newer technologies like LED lighting offer many potential benefits to consumers, which we believe should be incorporated into the regulations.
We apologize for any disappointment or frustration, and hope you will be able to find an alternate solution for your headlight needs. We are pleased to continue offering bulbs for other applications on your vehicle, as well as our highly-rated lamps and off road lighting products. Thank you for your understanding and support.
International customers may continue to find LED Headlight bulbs available in their market, based on local laws and regulations.

Guess I got lucky and ordered mine prior to their decision.

I find it both funny and infuriating that U.S regulations for lights are super strict but super ineffective. OFten, vehicles imported from other markets need to have their headlights completely redesigned just to comply with U.S regulations. And yet, the regulations don't allow technologies such as Smart Headlights, which can control the shape of the beam to illuminate the road without blinding others, or allowing ridiculous things such as red turn signals and even using one bulb as both turn signals and brake lights.

Plus, all this is going to cause is people to order cheap LEDs that can't produce a good beam pattern; all the reputable companies will stop selling their well made bulbs, but the chinese companies selling crap won't care.

partly because of the yellowed housings

Forgot to mention this. Try sanding and polighing the headlights. Wet sand with 1000 grit, then 2000 grit, then 3000 grit, then polish (you'll get far better results if you use a machine to polish). If the damage is superficial, your headlights will be crystal clear. If it has gone through the entire plastic, your results will vary. To protect the newly restored surface, I apply wax every 3 months. It's easy enough, in my opinion. I've heard of people using paint protection firm or clear coat. If you use clear coat, don't polish, and make sure its a good quality clearcoat designed for automotive use.

 

[Spdbump]

None of Diode Dynamics lights have built in resistors that is why they offer them as an option and if you epoxy or super glue them to a metal part under the hood they will have better cooling. I would not want resistors built into the bulbs as that puts heat where I would not want it. Installing the resistors for the 4 turn signals is not hard. A little soldering if you want a better job or use the crimp connectors but however you make the connections make sure they are sealed with heat shrink tubing or good electrical tape. They are a good source and they have all the legally available bulbs.

For the High beams ( and maybe the low beams) on the base if you do not want to go to a lot of trouble to get LEDs to work the SYLVANIA SilverStar® ULTRA is what I installed on my previous car and they worked well. They do burn out more often but while they work they are much better than stock.

I am angry that they had to stop selling their well designed and engineered replacement headlights.

 

[MrFastFox666]

None of Diode Dynamics lights have built in resistors that is why they offer them as an option and if you epoxy or super glue them to a metal part under the hood they will have better cooling. I would not want resistors built into the bulbs as that puts heat where I would not want it. Installing the resistors for the 4 turn signals is not hard. A little soldering if you want a better job or use the crimp connectors but however you make the connections make sure they are sealed with heat shrink tubing or good electrical tape. They are a good source and they have all the legally available bulbs.

That's generally true. That's why I recommended removing the big resistor on the interior LEDs, because it does basically the same thing. But in the case of the ones I showed, the big heatsink is there mainly to cool the resistor. The LEDs are like 7w, I think, so that heatsink is plenty for the turn signal, especially considering that turn signals flash instead of illuminating steadily, and they are used occasionally for very short periods of time. Plus, if for some reason one of the LEDs fail, you can't just put in a cheap halogen replacement as a quick fix if you have the resistors hard wired because you risk damaging the computer that controls the turn signals, or blowing a fuse.

Also, for the LED high beans, a load resistor would also work as an easy, if inelegant solution to the "check DRL system" warning on the MID display. Again, you can't use halogens if they're hardwired.

In my opinion, high performance halogen lights are not worth it at all. As you said, they burn out often, but they still cost as much as a decent set of LEDs or HIDs but provide a marginal performance increase.

 

[Spdbump]

My plan is to use use connectors for my resistors so that the resistors can be unplugged and the remaining wires plugged back together. Specifically for the situation where a bulb blows and all I can get when on a trip is conventional ones.

 

[OldSkool]

One thing I recommend to increase the life of the bulbs is to de-solder the large resistor many "canbus" LEDs have. It serves no purpose on the CR-Z and produces tons of heat which will damage the LEDs over time.

I am very interested in this, when I look at the T10 bulbs I have there is one large resistor in the middle then about 5 little ones running down the middle inbeewtten the neg/positive connectors.

Could you elaborate please. Much appreciated!

 

[TLS90]

I finally replaced my turn signals and reverse lights with Diode Dynamics bulbs and resistors. Switchbacks up front. They look great and very bright! however, the are brighter than my headlights. What are my options. Base model has halogen projectors. I replaced low beams with Philips Crystal Vision ultra and high beams with Sylvania SilverStar zxe. What are my options to replace just the bulb?

 

[MrFastFox666]

I am very interested in this, when I look at the T10 bulbs I have there is one large resistor in the middle then about 5 little ones running down the middle inbeewtten the neg/positive connectors.

Could you elaborate please. Much appreciated!

This one here, the biggest one on the bulb. It basically just produces heat so cars which monitor the current of the bulb don't think it's burnt out and flash a warning. The CR-Z doesn't do that (at least not with interior lights).

I finally replaced my turn signals and reverse lights with Diode Dynamics bulbs and resistors. Switchbacks up front. They look great and very bright! however, the are brighter than my headlights. What are my options. Base model has halogen projectors. I replaced low beams with Philips Crystal Vision ultra and high beams with Sylvania SilverStar zxe. What are my options to replace just the bulb?

Either LEDs or HIDs. I recommend HIDs, as LEDs sometimes don't work well with projectors. In general, I recommend avoiding "premium" halogen lights. They're very overpriced, burn out very quickly, and only provide a marginal increase in brightness over regular halogen lights.

 

[Spdbump]

Update to LED headlight information from Diode Dynamics. I received the below as I had ordered and received them. They are not installed yet and I still plan to keep them but they are now recalled. As they are high beams only they will not be used often but they are an upgrade to the halogens.

 

[TLS90]

Update to LED headlight information from Diode Dynamics. I received the below as I had ordered and received them. They are not installed yet and I still plan to keep them but they are now recalled. As they are high beams only they will not be used often but they are an upgrade to the halogens.
View attachment 62702

Yup I had seen this! The halogen low beams are ok on a dark road with no cars or street lights. Otherwise, they don’t do much. I’d like to upgrade high beams to LED, but like you said what’s the point if they’re not used often. My other concern, as has been mentioned on this forum, is whether or not LED will flicker etc when used as DRL. I know there’s a fuse that can be pulled but will that still allow the high beams to work?

 

[Spdbump]

My low beams are HID ,my high beams are currently Halogen and my DRLs are LED strips so I do not have the high beam as DRL issue. One poster mentioned a way to use LEDs as DRL using relays and diodes I think. I used to have SilverStar® ULTRA Headlight - Ultra Night Vision, Farthest Downroad | SYLVANIA Automotive in my last car and they worked great for Low and high beam. All you can do is get the best halogens you can find or you can go nuts and change to a different lighting technology but I doubt it will be much improvement and you will have to do a lot of re-engineering to get the DRLs to not flicker. The flickering is a side effect of the way they were dimmed by using a square wave which makes them flash halogens do not react fast enough for you to see the flicker. LEDs do. Are your headlights clear or are they fogged? Many have had to restore the headlights. I have PPF over mine and they are as clear as they were when I bought the car new.

HIDs since they are high voltage it is not a good idea to use them as DRLS and they react slow so flashing them is a bad Idea.

Yup I had seen this! The halogen low beams are ok on a dark road with no cars or street lights. Otherwise, they don’t do much. I’d like to upgrade high beams to LED, but like you said what’s the point if they’re not used often. My other concern, as has been mentioned on this forum, is whether or not LED will flicker etc when used as DRL. I know there’s a fuse that can be pulled but will that still allow the high beams to work?

 

[NY-Z]

IMO LED's are not an "upgrade" in lights designed for halogen bulbs. They may appear brighter, but usable light on the road will probably be less because of the mismatch between the optical properties of the LED's and the housings. Also the color temperature of most aftermarket LED headlights is higher than optimum (typically 6000K vs 4300). Manufacturers spend millions on development for their OEM LED headlights, and these are always designed as integrated units rather than conventional type housings with replaceable bulbs. The aftermarket is trying, but this isn't something that can be easily duplicated with something you buy and stick into your existing lights.
So, while I've been using LED's for other exterior and interior lights on my various vehicles, I won't be putting them in the headlights.

 

[Spdbump]

Since currently they are illegal there are not good Quality LED replacements. Diode Dynamics is not your usual vendor they actually design what they sell and have manufactured to their requirements and they test. This is why I went with them rather than the others we have all seen advertised. My SL1s will be installed in place of my high beams. The HIDs will be replaced with DD replacement HID bulbs same with all the rest of the exterior bulbs and appropriate resistors I bought from them. I believe they have properly designed their LEDs to work with the factory reflectors. On a side note i have looked at Base and EX CR-Zs and the reflectors and lenses do not look different from each other.

 

[MrFastFox666]

IMO LED's are not an "upgrade" in lights designed for halogen bulbs. They may appear brighter, but usable light on the road will probably be less because of the mismatch between the optical properties of the LED's and the housings. Also the color temperature of most aftermarket LED headlights is higher than optimum (typically 6000K vs 4300). Manufacturers spend millions on development for their OEM LED headlights, and these are always designed as integrated units rather than conventional type housings with replaceable bulbs. The aftermarket is trying, but this isn't something that can be easily duplicated with something you buy and stick into your existing lights.
So, while I've been using LED's for other exterior and interior lights on my various vehicles, I won't be putting them in the headlights.

You'd be surprised how far aftermarket LEDs have come along. If you get a properly engineered, high quality LED bulb with CSP chips and a very thin PCB, you can get fantastic usable light output without increased glare for oncoming drivers. What you describe happens when the LEDs aren't properly made and cannot replicate the shape of the halogen filament. The light scatters off the incorrect surfaces at incorrect angles, so your beam becomes unfocused and diffused. This is why the headlights look super bright, but produce little to no usable light. Also, 4300k is a color used in HIDs. Most halogen lights are closer to 3000k, which is actually not ideal. Under nighttime driving conditions, our eyes are more sensitive to cooler light, so 3000k (or even 43000k for that matter) isn't ideal. The reason most manufacturers use 4300k HIDs is because they are the brightest bulbs due to their chemical composition. If you go for higher kelvin ratings, the bulb's light output decreases. From what I've seen, warmer LEDs produce less light. I do agree that more color options should be available, though. I'd like to see 5000k bulbs, as that is my preferred color. Also, Most, if not all LED headlights (OEM and aftermarket) are made as more integrated units because of cost and simplicity. There's no reason to make the LED bulb removable since it is supposed to last the life of the car. Additionally, these LEDs require special driver circuits, so its easy to integrate them into the housing instead of having them externally mounted like an HID ballast. Finally, higher power LEDs need cooling, so again it is much easier to make the headlight sealed and integrated.

Since currently they are illegal there are not good Quality LED replacements. Diode Dynamics is not your usual vendor they actually design what they sell and have manufactured to their requirements and they test. This is why I went with them rather than the others we have all seen advertised. My SL1s will be installed in place of my high beams. The HIDs will be replaced with DD replacement HID bulbs same with all the rest of the exterior bulbs and appropriate resistors I bought from them. I believe they have properly designed their LEDs to work with the factory reflectors. On a side note i have looked at Base and EX CR-Zs and the reflectors and lenses do not look different from each other.

I think they're the exact same. I took apart my headlights and the high beam reflector is separate from the rest of the headlight. most likely Honda uses the exact same part for the high beams but changes the low beam projector

 

[TLS90]

Hey all. I’m looking for a complete LED fog light kit (wiring, switch/stalk, surrounds/bumper inserts, etc etc). Preferably a plug and play option. Does the OEM Honda kit include the surrounds? Are they LED? Any insight will be much appreciated. I currently have all @Diode Dynamics bulbs installed with the exception of headlights and high beams.
Thanks!

 

[Spdbump]

The kit contains all the parts including the surrounds( Just make sure you order for the correct year 2011-12 or 2013-15). They are not LED but could be upgraded before install. I would also suggest you install Paint Protection Film over the fog lights prior to install as it is easier.

I added your new posting to the original above.

Do an online search for the correct part number for your year, you may find the price varies.

This is exactly the same information I provided to you last time for the same question. Nothing has changed.

 

[Spdbump]

Update: I made the attached for my turn signal upgrade. Just need to take the time to install and to screw the resistors to metal. Each one has screw holes or I could use rivets.

 

[roberto.andino]

First thing to do is to restore the yellowed/fogged/crazed lenses..
Walmart does it for $25/pair... with a 2 year warranty.

 

[Spdbump]

Apparently now Diode Dynamics will sell you High Beam LED headlights like I have, if you certify you will not use them on the road.

High Beam LED Headlight Bulbs for 2011-2016 Honda CR-Z (pair)

Increase your nighttime visibility with the SL1 High Beam LED Headlight Bulbs for 2011-2016 Honda CR-Z (pair)!

www.diodedynamics.com