Sylvania Ultra vs Phillips X-tremeVision

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Apr 13, 2013
Messages
3,220
I cleaned up the oxidation on my Accord's headlights and the light output increased a little, but not by much. The current bulbs are 3 yr old basic Sylvania 9006 halogens. Is it worth upgrading to Ultras or X-tremeVisions? I know these bulbs have reduced service life and reading around, people seem to like the X-tremeVisions more than the Ultras since they apparently last longer. Any users of either product care to chime in? Are they significantly brighter than stock bulbs or is that all just marketing hype?
 
Last edited:
The lumen count will be higher and there is likely a different color temperature that may be more conducive.

I wonder if 9006 can be retrofit with either H9 or some HIR bulbs with minimal retrofit??
 
If the bulbs got some Smoke tint to them, I would replace. Stock bulbs are usually long life, means they are under driven to last... and get dimmer as they age.
 
I honestly didn't notice that much of a difference between OEM bulbs, Sylvania XtraVision 9006 and Philips Xtreme Powers 9006 in my old Acura... I wouldn't pay more for Xtreme Powers given the negligible benefit. The Philips bulbs also only lasted a few years before dying on me, whereas the more inexpensive lights last much, much longer. I have a set of Silverstar Ultras waiting to be put into the Scion once one of the current lights burn out, so I can't really comment on those yet.
 
Out of those two, I'd take the Philips.

Another bulb to consider is the GE Nighthawk Platinum. In the same class as the two you mentioned, but cost much less and frequently on sale on Amazon.
 
SS seem to burn out often. My experience has been been limited with them, but the two sets of Philips XV's have lasted well for me. On is going on 6 or 7 years old, the other is 3 years old.

I can also say that in a 9007 Ford lamp the Philips XV did result is a noticable brighter and tighter beam.
 
Silverstars are bad bulbs and should be avoided, especially the old stock will full blue tint over the glass. The new ones are un proven, but have clear glass over the filament, so they have that going for them but with their track record for expensive bulbs I'd pass

The Phillips are good bulbs and the brightest drop in no mod bulbs

Hir2 9012 will mod easily into 9006.
 
Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
Silverstars are bad bulbs and should be avoided, especially the old stock will full blue tint over the glass. The new ones are un proven, but have clear glass over the filament, so they have that going for them but with their track record for expensive bulbs I'd pass

The Phillips are good bulbs and the brightest drop in no mod bulbs

Hir2 9012 will mod easily into 9006.



I agree on the HIR 9012 mod. Also if you look around you can get a pair of HIR bulbs (usually not sold in pairs like those blister packs) cheaper than the Silverstars. Best bulb I put in my chevy truck.
 
Originally Posted By: ThirdeYe
I honestly didn't notice that much of a difference between OEM bulbs, Sylvania XtraVision 9006 and Philips Xtreme Powers 9006 in my old Acura... I wouldn't pay more for Xtreme Powers given the negligible benefit. The Philips bulbs also only lasted a few years before dying on me, whereas the more inexpensive lights last much, much longer. I have a set of Silverstar Ultras waiting to be put into the Scion once one of the current lights burn out, so I can't really comment on those yet.



+1 They burn bright and don't last that long. I also never noticed a difference between OEM/long life bulbs and the extra bright ones.
 
Very familiar with 9006, tried many over the years results:

9006 SilverStar - 1st replacement bulb I ever purchased. Bulb blew out was at the auto parts store already. Bought before I researched about tinted bulbs. Still have it from 2004 and still works, but looking back it's not worth it.

9006 XtremeVision - The brightest bulb I could buy in the U.S. in 2004 that wasn't tinted. 30% brighter than stock. Only one I recommend to friends and family.

9006 75 overwatt - Noticably brighter but didn't last long. Also you may not be getting 75 watts if your wiring can't handle it which means your wiring is heating up. Because of this, I don't recommend at all unless you upgrade your wires.

9005 tab modded into 9006 - worth it, but only recommend if there is a that shield in front of the bulb in the housing. Nearly all do.

9012 HIR into 9006 - Would love to try! I see this bulb at auto parts stores, still required tab cutting, but at least it's filament is exactly where it needs to be. Can't wait to try, but my XtremeVisions are still kicking.

Overall, you already did the correct easy things to get the brightest light. Remove the haze from your headlights and replace your bulbs. Next would be to upgrade the wiring or at least run a better ground which isn't that bad in many cars.

And no... though you can measure that they produce more lumens on the road in real life you cannot tell much difference when driving. Most of the time people who say they do aren't attributing it to the fact that they just replaced an old bulb that dimmed... regardless I still recommend the XtremeVisions.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the input, everyone!

I ended up getting the Sylvania Ultras since I dug up a Walmart gift card. Thoughts the few nights I've used them:

-Nice cool, crisp white light. A welcome change from the tired yellow of my old bulbs.
-Down road visibility is about 20% better, but nothing earth-shattering like marketing hype wants you to believe.
-Corner visibility is basically the same as before.
-Back of the box said service life is 300 hrs. We'll see if that's true or not. I don't have DRLs and wore gloves when putting these in so hopefully they don't prematurely burn out.

All-in-all, I probably would've passed on these if I didn't have a gift card to blow.
 
Originally Posted By: mclasser
-Back of the box said service life is 300 hrs. We'll see if that's true or not. I don't have DRLs and wore gloves when putting these in so hopefully they don't prematurely burn out.

All-in-all, I probably would've passed on these if I didn't have a gift card to blow.

I just bought some Sylvanias at Walmart today. They have revised the backs of all of the packages.

The basics I bought are rated for 1000 hrs. All others were around 140. So it seems like the ratings before were GREATLY exaggerated.
 
Just to add to the database, I burned out a PIAA 9006 (4000k variety) yesterday at about the one year point. Being a DRL probably doesn't help. Won't buy again. Light was pleasantly whiter, not blue, but not much, if any, brighter.
 
Originally Posted By: mclasser
Thanks for the input, everyone!

I ended up getting the Sylvania Ultras since I dug up a Walmart gift card. Thoughts the few nights I've used them:

-Nice cool, crisp white light. A welcome change from the tired yellow of my old bulbs.
-Down road visibility is about 20% better, but nothing earth-shattering like marketing hype wants you to believe.
-Corner visibility is basically the same as before.
-Back of the box said service life is 300 hrs. We'll see if that's true or not. I don't have DRLs and wore gloves when putting these in so hopefully they don't prematurely burn out.

All-in-all, I probably would've passed on these if I didn't have a gift card to blow.


I think the 300hrs runtime is also an issue too with any incandescent light. the first little bit will be very bright, especially compared to your old lights, but reserve your judgement until about 10-20 hours down the road.

It's like fresh alkaline batteries out of the box, they put out full voltage for a few minutes before dropping into their normal state
 
I was once involved in the business of large electronic projectors for use in network control centers, military operations centers, etc. The dimming bulb issue in that industry resulted in speccing the bulbs to their half life as their "lifetime" instead of MTBF. Same reasons as the above, it was all downhill after the halfway point.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top