One boat of a car I'd have to say, its the ugly beak version but what blew me away was the headlights were so crisp and clear with a sharp blue cutoff. Put our headlights to shame. Can someone tell me why they are so much brighter please. Is it only a matter of bulbs or lens or what?

 

its the lens

you can do a lens swap

 

It's more than just the lens, although it accounts for the majority of the difference. Honda/Acura (iirc) use Stanley projectors, and
If you've ever seen on opened up, you'd see that the coating on the interior of the projector body is smooth and uniform, while others aren't. Design and shape also contribute.

Older s2k and tsx oem lenses were clear, while the newer ones are fresnel like ours