Brighter 194/906/921 Bulb Replacement

[MachineAgeVictim]

This is a little mod that I came across a few years ago. I found a bulb that was the same size and shape as the 906/921 bulb which shares the same socket as a 194 bulb. The only difference is that instead of being the automotive standard 3-7watts these bulbs were 11watts, and were still 12v. Since then I found that they recently came out with a 18w 12v bulb that is a direct fit.

 

Initially I started to find places on my car to put these new bulbs but I ran into some problems using them to replace the 194 bulbs. The head of the bulbs are bigger than 194s so they won't fit in the bulb housings used on cars in many locations. The bulbs also get hot enough to melt the lense plastic. So they'll work as turn signals, like the side signals, with just some electrical tape keeping the socket in place. The bulb won't get hot enough blinking to melt the lense. They're also great if you have removed the amber lenses inside many front corner lights, otherwise they'll fit many cars without any modification (like in the corners of the 98-00 RS).

 

Here is a picture of what the 18w bulb looks like compared to the stock 194

 

Here is a picture of one from the side, they conveniently shine ahead into the side of other cars, enabling the driver to get a good look at potential problems with other vehicles, note: this was taken at dusk and the brightness of the car is accurate

 

Here is a comparison to a blinker and the side projection of an HID headlight

 

Finally here is example of how bright they are compared to the direct projection of an HID headlight

 

Ok, so where can you find these bulbs? Home Depot, other home goods places (ie WalMart, Taget, Lowes) may carry them also but I can only confirm that Home Depot has the 18w bulbs. To find them look in the garden lighting area (the inside department usually has more stock). They are replacement bulbs for garden lights, like the ones pictured below.

 

thanks for reading and sorry if this is old news.