Bulb Upgrade

[NVMY03GT]

Alright Im sure this has already be talked about but Im going to ask again.. :-(..

I was thinking of upgrading the headlights to a hyper white.. Now yes I realise these won't be the HID bulbs that are like $500 a peace, but Im not a millionaire either..

I was looking through some shops around here (IE: AutoZone, Pep Boys, Walmart etc).. And The hyper white (imposter) bulbs go for right around $25.00 a bulb. Will this improve anything on visibility at night and will it be a difference in sight viewing from the outsiders point of view?

 

[MazdaManic5]

no

On the contrary, they will actually reduce the amount of light being emitted by eliminating colors from the spectrum to acheive a blue hue. Stick too stock or sylvania silverstars if you don't have a P5. Personal experience speaking

 

[ph0enixrising]

What about PIAA headlights?

 

[ForceFed]

OK i know i may get bashed for saying this*puts on flame retardant suit*But I have had very good experience from aftermarket (cheap)bulbs but i do know of some good ones for good money.I have always used arospeed or MAXX hyper white bulbs and here comes the flame part*grabs flame retardant sheild*and also used the upped wattage versions with no probs!No melted wiring harnesses or headlight housings?Not sure why there are soo many horror stories on these bulbs?Most of the time i use the standard wattage though.I really like the look and performance i get from these particular brands of bulbs.I really frown on the piaa's because they are overpriced and really suck IMO.These bulbs i stated go for around 25 a set not each.I have never known anything but increase in my lighting with these bulbs!dont hnow why,maybe it just tricks my eyes not sure.I think it just produces a light that is more pleasing to the eye and shows more definition of the road!Just my .02 cents,and my honest opinion(please no flaming!)
Matt

 

[AndrewSilverMP5]

Hey Forcefed ... (flame2) (laugh)

Just kidding, all of us are entitled to their own opinion.

I did extensive research on halogen bulbs ... here's my write up:

The final word

Hope it helps !

 

[ForceFed]

Hey andrewsiver, i already read it the night you wrote it but i was just speaking from my personal knowledge and experience.Your write up was quite informative though!
Thanx,Matt

 

[ph0enixrising]

After looking on Sylvania's website, I see that the silverstars are only available for our high beams. Would the cool blue's be better or worse than our stock low beam bulbs? I'm assuming stocks are just OEM sylvanias.

 

[djstan]

I've also had an (once only) ok experience with no namers. they lasted about 8 months before one busted.

i put the stock ones back when that happened and got the fam to buy me PIAA's for my bday. i think their great, brighter than the others. i didn't opt for the bluest ones, i chose the ones closest to white.

they seem brighter than most everything else on the road except real HID's on BMW's, Lexus' etc...

i wouldn't bother getting the el cheapos since they seem to fail pretty quickly.

 

[NVMY03GT]

PIAA

Can Anyone tell me how much these PIAAs run.. Is there a Warranty on them or anything?

 

[djstan]

PIAA's i got were $274 tax in CDN dollars for both headlamps and fogs.

 

[Familia323]

I have a sedan so it uses 9003 bulbs.. and I can use one set of H4's thankfully... and I picked up some Silvania Silverstars about a month ago... Id have to say for the money they are quite worth it.. Very nice pure color. Unfortunately if your car is lowered and the back end sits more level with the front.. you are going to get flashed constantly from people thinking your brights are on.. hehe I find it funny.

Oh and I only paid 30 usdollars

 

[pro00]

Phillips, they are not completely super whites, but they are brighter, stronger and better, love them
Check out my webpage, there are the pics of them
Great stuff
I would strongly recommend piaas(even though expensive) and phillips(best deal)

 

[Familia323]

oh and to add, I'm pretty sure the Silverstars are the brightest non halogen bulb on the market at 4,000K ..... correct me if I'm wrong anyone.

 

[AndrewSilverMP5]

Yeah they are. They produce the most light at the highest color temperature possible on Halogen bulbs. I have a pair, and am very happy with them ... until of course I upgrade to HID

 

[djstan]

Actually guys the PIAA Super Xtreme's run at 4150K and the Super Plasma GT's run at 5000K.

check it out: http://www.piaa.com/h4bulbs.html

 

[AndrewSilverMP5]

Actually guys the PIAA Super Xtreme's run at 4150K and the Super Plasma GT's run at 5000K.

check it out: http://www.piaa.com/h4bulbs.html

I said that Silverstars will produce the MOST light (measured in lumens).

If you will notice, those bulbs in your website are coated with a blue film. The film will filter out red/yellow lightwaves, thereby creating a more "white" light. Halogen bulbs will never, ever "run" at 5000K. The tungsten filament would nearly vaporize because its boiling point is 5700K.

Whenever you filter *anything* out, common sense will tell you that you will have less than what you began with. The same is true with light... filter out the red/yellows ... and you'll have less light, period.

Incidentally, the definition of "white" light is the presence of ALL colors in the spectrum. In filtering out the reds/yellows, you have bluer light, not white.

European silverstars do not have a blue film and burn at 4000K (the highest temperature at which a tungsten filament may be heated, without losing effectiveness). Therefore ... I reiterate, Silverstars will give you the whitest, brightest light.

 

[djstan]

well said andrew. well, allow me to retort.

just kidding, i had figured that the rating was based on that film that was applied, but from your explanation i'm guessing that they are saying that THEY think the light is equivalent to the numbers i listed off, correct?

if not, do you have any idea how i could check the real output of the bulbs?

 

[scott42]

Ive got the Piaa super plasma GT's in headlight and foglight and I love them. would never go back to stock. they are better than stock, greatly.

 

[AndrewSilverMP5]

well said andrew. well, allow me to retort.

just kidding, i had figured that the rating was based on that film that was applied, but from your explanation i'm guessing that they are saying that THEY think the light is equivalent to the numbers i listed off, correct?

if not, do you have any idea how i could check the real output of the bulbs?

In a way, yes. The ______K label that most companies slap on their products refers to the bulb's CCT (correlated color temperature). They just don't tell you this.

Correlated Color Temperature - The temperature (measured in Kelvins) at which a black body radiator must heated in order to produce light of the same hue

Black Body Radiator - a theoretical object that absorbs thermal energy and emits electromagnetic waves at complete efficiency.

In essence, what companies are *really* stating with those 5000K, 6500K, etc labels is thus:

"This bulb will produce light that is similar to light that is let out by something that is heated to 5000K."

They never say anything about the *amount* of light that is produced, which is *always* less than stock, given that the bulbs are the same watts.

And to answer your second question, you'd need a footcandle meter to measure light output.

Hope this helps!

 

[mrpopnfresh]

So you're saying sylvannia is the way to go, at least price wise. I had some nakayama's, they were the best I had so far. Then when they burned out (after 3 friggin months!!) I had no choice but to get el cheapos. The actual glass on the el cheapos melted and exposed the filament, causing it to burn out. For now I have the stock bulbs back in and I'm saving up for real HID. But since you do recommend sylvannia's, I'll give them a try!!