Because I tend to forget things, I'll answer last Q first: I'm in CT, 20 mins SW of Hartford. I love visiting Boston, cities in general (I'm in a little town because it's where my SO and I were both working when we moved, and schools had a good reputation). We were last in beantown in Feb, and I shot quite a few rolls of Kentmere PAN 400 film on the street, while enjoying the free bus service. We stayed downtown at the Seaport hotel, right across from the wharf. I brought my a bike, and before the kids awoke, did some some exploring with my camera a couple of early mornings. One morning it was 15 degrees. I'm not one for cold, but I managed. You need to be careful what you lube your tripod with, if you're taking it out in that weather, hehe. I packed it in when I realized I wasn't devoted enough to reload film in my 1959 Leica M1 (they load from the bottom, not the back) with bare hands in that weather. I'm a super amateur shutterbug, and even less adept at developing. Nevertheless, I am pleased with the results. Probably having more to do with the vibe of Boston, than my skills. I've uploaded some of the shots here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/195142414@N02/ Anyway, it was a great trip that the kids still talk about. We did literally nothing other than pretend we were townies. But that's how a city can be if you don't get to spend much time in one. Growing up, I (and my wife) lived in Fairfield county, CT, which is like an NYC suburb. So if you're thinking "cities are a hassle, what's that guy talking about?" I get it. That's how NY became for me, even though I never worked there.

Returning to the bulbs: I think the 12k lm 9004s I have presently might actually compare to the 9006s I had in my old Honda. As you say, they are likely quoting full, max everything, and the 9006s are low / dipped only, not both. So the big difference I'm seeing is either bad aiming on my part, or scattered light pattern from the Cibie lenses. Ultimately I'll blame the pattern, as the lack of a defined cutoff is making me question my aiming skills. Of course someone with more experience would be able to work around that. So I'll reiterate that I'm fine with the output of these bulbs, whatever that may be. More lumens won't help. I'm seeing street signs lit up during the day, mind you. Interestingly, my wife drove the 940 for the very first time last night to bring the kids to their Lego League (wish that existed when I was a kid), so she's driven the car at night more than I have at this point! She had no complaints about the lighting, or anything else (whew!). So a lot of this might be me.

As for the measuring procedure, thanks for spelling it out. Measuring at the fusebox seems simpler (and much more comfortable) than what I was thinking. My dad was an electrical engineer, and I learned some skills growing up (like how to solder properly), but my intuition is lacking in this area. Anyway, my VOM is rated to 400 amps, but that's inductive, and AC only. It seems the unit I have (a $70-ish Southwire handheld from the blue big-box home store) may not even measure current at all at the leads. I don't have it handy to confirm, but I'll take a look later (left it in my shared home office, and my wife is on a video chat for work). Honestly, if I don't have a tool that can measure this, I won't. It's not that important to me. I would like to know if the left and right bulbs differ, though. Kittysgreyvolvo's reply suggests that the differential between left and right could be more of an issue than the actual draw difference between these bulbs and the (matching) halogens I replaced.

Thanks again. I think I really need a better solution than pushing more lumens through an inferior diffuser. I may end up doing e-codes eventually - so far I'm really liking this car. But I'll have to save up for that one, and was hoping for an easy, inexpensive stopgap in the meantime.

-Wilson