PIAA Powersport Bulbs - AutoMatCentral.Com

Howdy Ladies and Gents,

I jumped on a "free lights for a writeup" deal and here it goes.

I drive a 2012 Tacoma TRD Offroad, V-6, 6-Speed Manual. Stock otherwise.

I was looking for headlights with a bit more throw and came upon this "ill give you lights if you review them" deal. Solid win for me, so I took it and ordered up a set of "PIAA 'Powersport' Bulbs" from AutoMatCentral.com

I was told the bulbs would ship on Friday, and while I did not receive a shipping notification, the bulbs showed up on Tuesday, so I have absolutely no complaints, AND they sent me a free hat!



So after a fews days I decided I had a few minutes and it was dark enough for a before picture. Unfortunately I did not think ahead enough to get a high-beam photo before, so that was my bad. Before:





So the 2012 uses this stupid clip system. there is a boot over the light and then the harness plugs straight into the light through the boot. the battery or the washer fluid reservoir is in the way no matter what you do. after struggling with the first light, I figured out the best thing to do is pull the harness off (no safety clips or locks, its just a pressure fit), then pull off the boot (it comes off in your hand; a set of long needle-nose plyers were my best friend), and THEN you un-clip the spring-steel clip and pull the bulb out.








Pay attention to how the old bulb came out. there are three non-evenly spaced "prongs" on each bulb to help orient it in the socket.

old vs new:




(New is on the left; stock on the right)


install was relatively easy. try not to touch the bulb to anything, but the placement, without removing everything from the engine bay, is kinda hard. do the best you can. put the bulb in so the "prongs" fit, then clip it in place. at this point, just push the boot back on and plug em in. DONE!





high beams:


Driving Low Beams:


Driving High Beams:


It is clear that the bulbs are a much "whiter" color, but with the lights on, I am not sold on a bigger throw or them being brighter. Unfortunately, I do not have the "before" high beam picture, but I definitely think that the high beams are WAY brighter and throw farther than stock.

I am not sure I would spend the $50 on them from stock, but if the stock bulbs are burn out, I would def replace them with these. On top of it all, the guys at AutoMatCentral were awesome. Within a day reply on all emails or PM's, a free hat, and super fast, on-time shipping. I would def use the company for other upgrades as they come along!

 

Thanks for the great review! For those interested, you can pick up a set using the following link:

PIAA 9003 H4 Powersport bulb kit

 

I’ll toss in my 2 cents…


I’ve been running the Sylvania Ultras for the past few years. I have been happy with the light output and light pattern but not so pleased with the longevity of the bulbs. I recently burned out a Sylvania that I had installed back in May of last year - just 9 months on this particular bulb. I will say that I do run with my headlights on all the time. Just in the habit of turning them on and off as I get in and out of the truck. I understand that the brighter bulbs burn hotter and will not last as long.



Thought I would try the PIAA Super Plasma bulbs to see if I can get longer life out of them. Honestly I don’t see much difference between the before and after top picture is Sylvania bulbs, followed by a picture of the PIAA bulbs.





I can detect a slight blue tint towards the outer edges of the PIAAs. This seems to disappear entirely with the bright filament in the final picture.



Interested to see how long the PIAA bulbs will last. I’ve had PIAA driving and fog lights in the past and have been very happy with them.


dd

 

As much as I like the Piaa, the high powered ones tend to burn out after about 1-1.5 years. 4 sets of Piaas I had all burn out after 1-1.5 years. The same goes to for the Sylvania silverstars ultras and ZXE.