Subaru Impreza WRX Headlights

SUBARU Impreza WRX

At first, we were a bit hesitant to write about Subaru Impreza as our Featured Vehicle. Not because Impreza is not worthy, but this is one of those cars that people either love or hate it, and the passion that runs through is at a high octane level. Not only that, park a Subaru Impreza next to Mitsubishi Lancer, and you just started small warfare. Not the same car, but poor Scion FR-S always get sidelined in this and get zero respect from both Subaru and Mitsubishi enthusiasts. That being said, We're only going to talk about the light bulbs involved, so spare us the wrath for any mistakes in advance.

Impreza was first introduced in 1992 and is a compact car that is widely known also in the Rally racing field. It has both front and all-wheel drive. The performance version of Impreza is Impreza WRX and WRX STI which has the turbocharger as an addition. The compact crossover, Subaru Crosstrek is part of the Impreza line, but in this Featured Vehicle, we will concentrate on the WRX and WRX STI. Since we'll be discussing the headlight bulb and other options, we'll skip over to the second generation and start from there.

SECOND GENERATION SUBARU Impreza WRX (GD, GG; 2002 ~ 2007)
We understand that people have different styles and tastes but look at 2000 Subaru Impreza Casa Blanca below. That is one ugly conception. 

It looks like a Ford Pinto slammed into the 80's Honda Civic body then slid right into '02 Jaguar X-Type, except Jaguar turned out to be a cheap replica. All in all, this abomination may be the reason for the 2nd generation Subaru Impreza went through such heavy modifications. In most cases, the bulb sizes stay relatively the same per generation. However, Subaru Impreza went through three different facelifts in this 2nd generation and so the bulbs also changed with the process. (Subaru also went through three different designers!) The low beam size went from 9007 (2002-2003) to H1 (2004-2005) to H7 (2006-2007). Fortunately, the high beam and the fog stayed pretty consistent. 9005 (HB3) for high beam and H3 for the fog lights. We'll get to WRX and subsequently WRX STI in the next generation.

THIRD GENERATION SUBARU Impreza WRX (GE, GV, GH, GR; 2008 ~ 2014)
Since the Subaru bulb sizes are pretty much the same in between the Impreza models, we will talk a bit about WRX and WRX STI in this section. Subaru introduced WRX performance models in April 2007. Turbocharged, this is when they named the model "Subaru Impreza WRX." It did receive some criticism that the suspension of the 3rd generation is too soft. Consequently, Subaru made some changes in 2008. WRX STI was introduced in October 2007 at the Tokyo Auto Show. Like the standard WRX, the 3rd generation model was named, "Subaru WRX STI." Also, this was the generation when Subaru produced special editions like Subaru WRX STI Takumi (2008), WRX STI Spec C (2009), and WRX STI A-Line Type S Package. 
WRX model had two different headlight assemblies. The halogen low beam used the size H11 giving more options to either install the HID xenon conversion kit or LED Plug-N-Play low beam headlight bulbs. WRX also had an HID xenon headlight assembly that used the size D2S. 
WRX STI stayed with HID xenon headlights for the low beam. In the later part of 1st generation, D2R HID xenon bulbs were used, but in this generation, they changed the headlight to a projector-type and switched the bulb size to D2S.

FOURTH GENERATION SUBARU WRX (Gj, GP, VA; 2011 ~2016)
In this generation, Subaru dropped the name, "Impreza" and simply named it, "WRX." (In Japan, it was named, "WRX S4.") WRX STI had some momentous events in this generation. In 2016 Subaru released a limited production of WRX STI Hyper Blue Special Edition and only 700 units were produced. WRX STI S208 with a bucket full of high-end options like Bilstein DampMatic II front suspension, Recaro front bucket seats, intercooler water spray, a torque vectoring system and more. Truly a Subaru enthusiast dream. The low beam size stayed the same as the previous generation and D2S for HID xenon headlight assembly and H11 for the halogen. Again, upgrade options are plentiful. For the HID xenon headlights, many of our Subaru WRX customers purchased Osram Night Breaker Laser D2S or Philips XtremeVision D2S. For those wanting a whiter light output, Osram Cool Blue Boost or Cool Blue Advance was the favorites. With H11 halogen headlights, HID xenon Conversion Kit was popular. Besides different Kelvin rated rebased HID bulbs (From 4,800K to 6,000K) HIDCONCEPT.COM also had a brand named bulb that was specially made for the rebased HID xenon conversion kit. Notably and the most popular was the rebased Philips XtremeVision D2S rebased HID xenon bulb. 

FIFTH GENERATION Subaru WRX (GK, GT; 2016 ~ Present)
The headlight bulb options and size stayed the same as the previous generation. H11 for halogen and D2S. However, in 2015 both the WRX and WRX STI models introduced the LED headlight assembly. WRX STI dropped the HID xenon headlight assembly, but WRX still had the H11 halogen headlight assembly. WRX owner who wanted the WRX STI's LED look, but didn't want to spent all that money simply purchased DAMA KFV LED headlight bulbs. This was a much economical choice without the high price tag of the LED headlight assembly of the WRX STI. The high beam size stayed consistent from 2008 to the present generation with the size 9005 (HB3). 
Finally, one of the iconic looks of Subaru WRX is the golden yellow fog lamp. From 2008 to 2014, the size was 9006 (HB4) and from 2015 to present, the size changed to H11. The factory-installed fog bulb was either Osram standard or Philips Standard halogen bulbs. They gave that yellowish color, but the best upgrade that our customer made was to switch the halogen bulb to Philips LED Golden Yellow bulbs 12793UNIX2 which produced nice golden yellow fog lights. For the budget-conscious customers, HCX LED Foglight bulbs were the favorite choice. A nice option for HCX is that a high-quality film comes with the bulbs that you can choose the different color that produces Kelvin rating from 3,000K to 10,000K.