Your favorite non-OEM halogen headlight bulb?
- Thread starter mshu7
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In Germany, the first HID factory light was available in the BMW 7series in 1991, so the author of the above quote is misinformed at least in regard to what was available when. That particular light had a color temperature of around 6,000 K (blueish).
Current Euro HID lights put out around 4,000 - 4,300 K (slightly yellowish and similar to "white" halogen light) because so many people complained about being blinded by the "blue" HID lights. The first car with the 4,000 K HID lights was the VW W8 in 2001.
So - you don't believe one Mr. Daniel J. Stern actually wrote that?
Perhaps the dates were inaccurate. Daniel writes a lot and I suppose a lot of it is typed rather hastily; perhaps he meant mid-80's or early 90's. However - that was a verbatim quote from him. If you really don't believe that he wrote it, his email address is [email protected] ; maybe ask what the intent was. Include that quote and ask if he really wrote that (it was crossposted to rec.autos.tech and alt.autos.subaru). It was really a response to someone who insisted that the bluish spikes of HIDs provided higher performance; that same guy also insisted that the bluish shade of Sylvania Silverstars was a safety measure.
However - the gist was that there's nothing about the color of HID that can't be tweaked by engineering the chemistry of the vapor in the bulb. HIDs and other arc lamps have all sorts of colors. Low-pressure sodium vapor lamps have an almost orange glow. Most high-pressure sodium vapor lamps look less blue than North American auto HIDs. I can buy flourescent lamps in at least a half dozen variations of white. Still - I understand that the xenon (to improve startup time) in most automotive HIDs does glow a little bit blue. I've seen stadium high-pressure sodium vapor lamps take several minutes before they produced bright enough light.
I use sylvania h9 bulbs in my lows and highs. Needless to say the cutoff shield in the lows is the main reason for blue tint the headlight modules emit at certain angles.
The cutouff shield (and design of headlight module) is repsonsible for the nice color tint you get from OEM HID setups. I believe the proper term for it is diffraction. I recall an article that states that DOT standards and so forth make it illegal for an OEM headlight bulb to emit blue light. as stated most OEM HID is 4300-4500K, and the blue and purple tints come from the cutoff shield
The cutouff shield (and design of headlight module) is repsonsible for the nice color tint you get from OEM HID setups. I believe the proper term for it is diffraction. I recall an article that states that DOT standards and so forth make it illegal for an OEM headlight bulb to emit blue light. as stated most OEM HID is 4300-4500K, and the blue and purple tints come from the cutoff shield
JHZR2
Staff member
My favorite is the Hella +30 H4 bulb... a bit brighter/hotter, nice clean light, and works great in my e-code lights.
Whatever bulbs they used in my saab get high marks despite being OE... man oh man did they ever design a top-notch lighting system - bright where it counts, efficient, great cutoff, etc.
JMH
Whatever bulbs they used in my saab get high marks despite being OE... man oh man did they ever design a top-notch lighting system - bright where it counts, efficient, great cutoff, etc.
JMH
My wife's Impala I want to get the 9006 Xtravisions for, and the 9005 in Nighthawks since I don't see them in Xtravisions anymore. My cavalier's headlights and battery are probably going to be replaced later this summer. I have the Xtravisions in that and they are about four years old, so I just want to replace them as preventive maintenance.
Currently Installed
Saturn SL1:
9006- NAPA Britelites *repackaged Philips Premium +30
9005- Sylvania Silverstar
Mazda6
H1 Low- Philips Standard (+30) *OEM from the high beam
H1 High- Sylvania Xtravision *repackaged Osram Silverstars!
I've found the brighter bulbs to be more effective when put in the high beam reflectors. On the lows I didn't see much benefit to the +50 bulbs. I would like to retro the Mazda's low to a Bosch HID in the future.
Saturn SL1:
9006- NAPA Britelites *repackaged Philips Premium +30
9005- Sylvania Silverstar
Mazda6
H1 Low- Philips Standard (+30) *OEM from the high beam
H1 High- Sylvania Xtravision *repackaged Osram Silverstars!
I've found the brighter bulbs to be more effective when put in the high beam reflectors. On the lows I didn't see much benefit to the +50 bulbs. I would like to retro the Mazda's low to a Bosch HID in the future.
In my Subaru outback:
Low beams: Sylvania Xtravision H1
High beams: Silverstar Ultra 9005.
Best of both worlds.
For the Fogs, right now they're whatever came in the car. Eventually to be replaced with Nighthawk 9006.
Low beams: Sylvania Xtravision H1
High beams: Silverstar Ultra 9005.
Best of both worlds.
For the Fogs, right now they're whatever came in the car. Eventually to be replaced with Nighthawk 9006.
I always had good luck with PIAA bulbs.
Tried Silverstars in two different applications. They didn't last long at all.
Tried Silverstars in two different applications. They didn't last long at all.
I had the OSRAM Silverstars in my Civic and Tundra. They only lasted about 6-8 months. Ended up putting the OEM bulbs back in.
Koito, PIAA are expensive and not any better than OEM bulbs from Osram Sylvania, Philips, GE
I generally prefer Philips (though for some sizes Osram Sylvania is better) because generally better life, product innovation, performance
we test several sizes & types every month, and while I have spoken with Daniel Stern, I don't agree with everything he writes though the info is useful but doesn't take into acct a lot of variations & factors
I generally prefer Philips (though for some sizes Osram Sylvania is better) because generally better life, product innovation, performance
we test several sizes & types every month, and while I have spoken with Daniel Stern, I don't agree with everything he writes though the info is useful but doesn't take into acct a lot of variations & factors
Forgot to add that companies such as Hella & Bosch do not make bulbs, Hella buys from Osram (Sylvania) or Philips, but has been using more Korean mfgs, same with Bosch
and as some of you have realized, NAPA uses repacked Philips and so did GE for their Super Blue before making their own
and as some of you have realized, NAPA uses repacked Philips and so did GE for their Super Blue before making their own
2001 Oldsmobile Alero: Sylvania 6000k 9000 D2S HID
Never been stopped by the Cops or headlights flashed from other drivers as it is all in how You aim the lights.
Never been stopped by the Cops or headlights flashed from other drivers as it is all in how You aim the lights.
Silverstar H13 ST2's in my '07 Expedition. H11 Silver's in the wife's Freestyle. Lighting is exponentially better than the sad OEM stuff. If the factory offered a lighting upgrade option, I would certainly consider it.
BTW - Just noticed this morning, Advance Auto has Silverstar Ultra's on sale for $35.88 +/-.
BTW - Just noticed this morning, Advance Auto has Silverstar Ultra's on sale for $35.88 +/-.
Hella HP high performance 9004s...nice illumination, no ricey blue color, Over 2yrs old & still goin' strong.
Originally Posted By: ChrisW
GE Nighthwaks in H4 in a 94 civic. Best bulbs i've used so far, and i've tried piaa, xtravision (the xtravision are a great value), sylvania us market silverstars (the coating looks cool but reduces light--simple physics there), philips bluevision. About the only bulb i like better than the nighthawks was the Philips VisionPlus; these are not readily availible in the US.
I just put Nighthawk H4's in my Focus SVT to replace Sylvania Silverstars that burned out. So far, I'm happy with them.
GE Nighthwaks in H4 in a 94 civic. Best bulbs i've used so far, and i've tried piaa, xtravision (the xtravision are a great value), sylvania us market silverstars (the coating looks cool but reduces light--simple physics there), philips bluevision. About the only bulb i like better than the nighthawks was the Philips VisionPlus; these are not readily availible in the US.
I just put Nighthawk H4's in my Focus SVT to replace Sylvania Silverstars that burned out. So far, I'm happy with them.
