Hey everyone, has anyone tried these Silverstar headlights that we see on TV all the time? I always have trouble seeing the road when it is wet at night...
Silverstar
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Bought a set of them for my motorcycle a few years ago and have been using 'em ever since without a hitch.
John.
John.
I recently put a set in the low beams of my Wife's Jeep GC. They are a nice improvement of the stock bulbs. I hope they last a few years.
I’ve had a set of Silverstars in my 2003 Chevy 2500HD Pickup since new and I just put in the third set up Low Beams... currently on the second set of High Beams.. definitely an improvement over conventional OEM bulbs. Wiring in the 03 & up Chevy trucks uses a separate relay for each bulb so there is a little less than a 1-volt drop between the alternator output and the bulb.. this may be why they don’t last as long. I also rewired the low beams to come on with the high beams by connecting the low beam switch to the BCM flash-to-pass input… makes the high beam position very bright..
I put some in my mazda and one of them burned out in about 1 year. I liked the color but not enough to pay $30 per year for it.
I have a set of sealed beam SS and they work well but the last time I checked the specs at Sylvania's website they were listed as having a 25 hour life. Mine have held up for several years but I don't often drive that car at night.
I had a set in a civic and they only lasted about a year. I didn't notice that much difference in the brightness for the cost.....
Mine have lasted 3 years on a '96 Crown Vic.
It seems in wet, foggy, and raining weather, the "whiter light" does not illuminate the road as well.
I may upgrade my vehicles to Sylvania Xtra Visions. Pep Boys has a coupon for $10/pair.
It seems in wet, foggy, and raining weather, the "whiter light" does not illuminate the road as well.
I may upgrade my vehicles to Sylvania Xtra Visions. Pep Boys has a coupon for $10/pair.
I installed a set of Silverstar ST and really like the improvement over stock. I'll upgrade to the "SU" when I justify the cost.
I put them in may last 2 cars and both of them when I had one burn out about 6 months after getting them I put in the stock one I replaces for them and low and behold they were identical in color and brightness. They were absolutely fantastic when I first put them in but lasted not long after that as they fade to be regular bulbs. Right now in my car is one less than one year old Silverstar and one $7.50 regular bulb that are identical.
Never again. regular bulbs for me and will save for real performance parts for my car.
Never again. regular bulbs for me and will save for real performance parts for my car.
Any blue bulb will make rainy vision worse. You want clear bulbs. Osram Silverstar, Philips Vision Plus, GE 9012 (replaces 9006), are all better choices. You'll have to shop for these from an online vendor or on eBay...they aren't marketed here, 'cuz not enough folks want to pay for quality.
Ken
Ken
I have changed my low and high beams to this bulb also changed the fog lamps. I love them and they are bright. I have had mine on my truck for about 6mos and no problems yet.
When I first tried the Silverstars I loved them, at that time though I did not realize that old halogens much like old florecents or even sparkplugs(not lighting but similar effect) slowly degrade in performance. After having one low go at 6 months and the other at 8 months I put in plain cheap bulbs from Walmart and liked the foul weather performance better. Turns out the real improvement I got from the Silverstars was not from their special features but from them being new the ones they replaced were 8 years old with 110K on the car, they were dated May 96 one month before the car was built.
I have a Painless wiring relay harness which if you car does not have large gauge relay setups for the headlights should be your first lighting upgrade, makes a HUGE difference since most cars have very long runs of marginally sized wiring greatly reducing voltage to the bulb.
I have a Painless wiring relay harness which if you car does not have large gauge relay setups for the headlights should be your first lighting upgrade, makes a HUGE difference since most cars have very long runs of marginally sized wiring greatly reducing voltage to the bulb.
I have them in my Scion and my wife's RAV4.
Her set is over three years old now, mine are about a year.
They have a new bulb - forget the name, but I like them a lot.
Scott
Her set is over three years old now, mine are about a year.
They have a new bulb - forget the name, but I like them a lot.
Scott
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I installed clear Osram Silverstar H7 bulbs about 4 or 5 years ago. I have never seen the clear version in the US. For some reason premium bulbs cost a lot more in the US. Two Osram (=Sylvania) Silverstar H7 bulbs cost under 20 Euros, which is a lot less than the silly blue Sylvania Silvania Silverstars cost in the US. There are some online vendors that sell the clear OSARM version, but they are overpriced, too. Pick up a few sets on a Euro trip, or have a friend bring some back.
Before the Silverstars, I used clear Phillips Vision Plus bulbs in low and high beams. The Silverstars are marginally whiter, but with age all halogen lights get increasingly yellow. Neither the Osram or Phillips bulb burns out quicker than a regular bulb. The extra brightness comes only from optimized placement of the tungsten filament in the exact focal point, which makes the bulb optically more efficient.
A premium bulb in a DOT-compliant headlight that's older than about 6 years is pearls before swine, because the lack of auseful beam pattern is the main problem, which isn't being addressed by a brighter bulb. Newer DOT and DOT/e-code hybrid lights can make use of premium bulbs.
Before the Silverstars, I used clear Phillips Vision Plus bulbs in low and high beams. The Silverstars are marginally whiter, but with age all halogen lights get increasingly yellow. Neither the Osram or Phillips bulb burns out quicker than a regular bulb. The extra brightness comes only from optimized placement of the tungsten filament in the exact focal point, which makes the bulb optically more efficient.
A premium bulb in a DOT-compliant headlight that's older than about 6 years is pearls before swine, because the lack of auseful beam pattern is the main problem, which isn't being addressed by a brighter bulb. Newer DOT and DOT/e-code hybrid lights can make use of premium bulbs.
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I installed clear Osram Silverstar H7 bulbs about 4 or 5 years ago. I have never seen the clear version in the US. For some reason premium bulbs cost a lot more in the US. Two Osram (=Sylvania) Silverstar H7 bulbs cost under 20 Euros, which is a lot less than the silly blue Sylvania Silvania Silverstars cost in the US. There are some online vendors that sell the clear OSARM version, but they are overpriced, too. Pick up a few sets on a Euro trip, or have a friend bring some back.
Before the Silverstars, I used clear Phillips Vision Plus bulbs in low and high beams. The Silverstars are marginally whiter, but with age all halogen lights get increasingly yellow. Neither the Osram or Phillips bulb burns out quicker than a regular bulb. The extra brightness comes only from optimized placement of the tungsten filament in the exact focal point, which makes the bulb optically more efficient.
A premium bulb in a DOT-compliant headlight that's older than about 6 years is pearls before swine, because the lack of auseful beam pattern is the main problem, which isn't being addressed by a brighter bulb. Newer DOT and DOT/e-code hybrid lights can make use of premium bulbs.
Before the Silverstars, I used clear Phillips Vision Plus bulbs in low and high beams. The Silverstars are marginally whiter, but with age all halogen lights get increasingly yellow. Neither the Osram or Phillips bulb burns out quicker than a regular bulb. The extra brightness comes only from optimized placement of the tungsten filament in the exact focal point, which makes the bulb optically more efficient.
A premium bulb in a DOT-compliant headlight that's older than about 6 years is pearls before swine, because the lack of auseful beam pattern is the main problem, which isn't being addressed by a brighter bulb. Newer DOT and DOT/e-code hybrid lights can make use of premium bulbs.
I agree. I think the headlights that were introduced with the 2nd gen Chrysler LH cars in 98-99 were the first (or some of the first) headlights to come on US cars that carried E-code certification. The lights on my 300M have a really good pattern with a nice cutoff and good spread. The cutoff isn't as good as an E-code lamp with an H4 bulb, but the sharp cutoff afforded by such a lamp is more a product of the shielded low-beam filament than the optics of the lamp.
The lights on my 97 Olds van, on the other hand, are simply horrible. Typically sorry US beam pattern, i.e, no cutoff, two hot spots in front with very little spread.
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