Upgrading halogen headlights

[vroom]

For reference. The Philips is 65 watt as well, but it doesn't have the tint to make it whiter. My thinking (unconfirmed) is that if you use the same power (65 watts) but subtract some light (with the tinted glass) then there is less light on the road.

You are absolutely correct. There are two ways to get whiter light. You can burn hotter, but to do that with the same power you likely need a thinner, more fragile filament. More likely a bulb would use a bluish tint to filter out yellow light. Filtering is synonymous with subtracting. The yellow light gets absorbed by the tint and gets re-emitted as useless heat and infrared. Basically, useful light is transformed into useless energy: you lose it.

With incandescent lighting, whiter light usually comes at the cost of either usable light or durability.

 

[ryguy27]

I've been using the JDM Astar LED kits for about 6 months now and they have been flawless. Almost as easy as just swapping bulbs.

 

[yrwei52]

Which would be a better H11 Bulb then???
Don't want to go the LED or HID route but I don't want a bulb that burns too hot for the Housing or Wiring?
Phillips, Sylvania or $$ PIAA

I usually go to a UK website powerbulbs.com for any bulb upgrades including halogen headlights. They're in auto bulb business since 1977 and you normally can receive your bulbs about a week with free shipping and one-year warranty. The best part is they offer all kind of European name brand bulbs from Philips and Osram (Sylvania was bought by Osram and most Sylvania bulbs actually are re-branded Osram). I ordered Philips Vision Plus (no longer available, but newer Philips Diamond Vision is a upgrade) for our Honda CR-V and VW Passat and they are really good and both have lasted at least 5 years. They offer additional 20% off for everything right now with the discount code "SPRING" and free W5W sidelights with orders over $21. Here are available H11 bulbs for your low-beams and 9005/HB3 bulbs for your high-beams and DRLs.

From powerbulbs.com, I'd choose Osram Night Breaker Unlimited H11 and 9005/HB3 for maximum performance and cheaper price. Sylvania SilverStar Ultra High Performance paris1 recommended is also excellent but it'll look whiter with 4100K color temperature (means it could be hotter).

 

[madar]

I threw in a set of PIAA Night Techs. Sylvania bulbs never lasted long for me or a whole bunch of other users (check ratings on Amazon), the PIAAs are brighter than the stock Philips at the same wattage and are supposed to last longer than the Sylvanias, paid about $50 for the pair. I do a lot of early morning driving on back roads and these really made a difference for me. Time will tell how long they last. You have to watch the wattage, shouldn't deviate higher or you could possibly melt a connector over time. Higher wattage means higher current.

 

[fdew]

I threw in a set of PIAA Night Techs. Sylvania bulbs never lasted long for me or a whole bunch of other users (check ratings on Amazon), the PIAAs are brighter than the stock Philips at the same wattage and are supposed to last longer than the Sylvanias, paid about $50 for the pair. I do a lot of early morning driving on back roads and these really made a difference for me. Time will tell how long they last. You have to watch the wattage, shouldn't deviate higher or you could possibly melt a connector over time. Higher wattage means higher current.

The PIAA Night Tech 9005 says it is produces more light with stock power draw. That puts it at 55 watts vs the Philips 9011 at 65 watts. It doesn't say how much light it puts out. I get nervous when a company doesn't publish numbers that are easy to measure. The package says "Up To 90% more light. Up to is a upper limit, what is the lower limit? compared to what. They also say that "greater light output than its rated power consumption: i.e. 55W=110W If it is more light then tell me the Lumens. Watts is a unit of power, (Volts times amps) It is not a unit of brightness. They may be the best headlight bulb out there but short of buying a set and testing them on the bench there is no way to know. Not for me.

 

[silverevo05]

Per some research I think I'm leaning towards the Phillips Crystal Vision Ultra h11

Good reviews on Amazon for it

 

[madar]

The PIAA Night Tech 9005 says it is produces more light with stock power draw. That puts it at 55 watts vs the Philips 9011 at 65 watts. It doesn't say how much light it puts out. I get nervous when a company doesn't publish numbers that are easy to measure. The package says "Up To 90% more light. Up to is a upper limit, what is the lower limit? compared to what. They also say that "greater light output than its rated power consumption: i.e. 55W=110W If it is more light then tell me the Lumens. Watts is a unit of power, (Volts times amps) It is not a unit of brightness. They may be the best headlight bulb out there but short of buying a set and testing them on the bench there is no way to know. Not for me.

I'm just citing personal experience. Never said they were the best. They are brighter/whiter than stock (personal opinion), power consumption is the same. They got great reviews on Amazon so I bought a set for the hell of it. They didn't disappoint like the Sylvania Xtravisions I tried, but to each his own.

 

[fdew]

I'm just citing personal experience. Never said they were the best. They are brighter/whiter than stock (personal opinion), power consumption is the same. They got great reviews on Amazon so I bought a set for the hell of it. They didn't disappoint like the Sylvania Xtravisions I tried, but to each his own.

Madar. I didn't mean to seem like I was arguing with you. You say they are good and I believe you. They just did some things in the advertising that bother me.

 

[madar]

Madar. I didn't mean to seem like I was arguing with you. You say they are good and I believe you. They just did some things in the advertising that bother me.

understood, no problem, agree with you about the advertising.

 

[yrwei52]

Per some research I think I'm leaning towards the Phillips Crystal Vision Ultra h11
Good reviews on Amazon for it

For the price (70% of the list) I'd get them without hasitation.

From my experience, all of these halogen "upgrades" will have shorter life. This Philips CrystalVision Ultra has no exceptions. 4000K color temperature is pretty white (and hot). Unfortunately there is not much more info available on this particular Philips bulb.

 

[Cobra jet]

Just curious - has anyone taken before and after pics comparing the stock bulbs w/ any of the aftermarket bulbs mentioned in the last few threads?

 

[paris1]

Just curious - has anyone taken before and after pics comparing the stock bulbs w/ any of the aftermarket bulbs mentioned in the last few threads?

I'm not sure those B/A shots really prove much of anything as they've been used in other threads dealing with the same subject and weren't very impressive. The real test is driving down familiar dark roads after you make the switch and the difference was pretty dramatic with the Sylvania SilverStar Ultras. Part of the difference is the whiter light from the replacement bulbs, but that in itself was worth the $$. I find myself now comparing these lights (favorably) to the HIDs on my wife's BMW. The thing that's missing on the CX-5 is the "auto-turn" feature where the lights follow the direction of steering. The lighting quality itself is much closer to that of the BMW, although the reach isn't as far.

 

[madar]

I'm not sure those B/A shots really prove much of anything as they've been used in other threads dealing with the same subject and weren't very impressive. The real test is driving down familiar dark roads after you make the switch and the difference was pretty dramatic with the Sylvania SilverStar Ultras. Part of the difference is the whiter light from the replacement bulbs, but that in itself was worth the $$. I find myself now comparing these lights (favorably) to the HIDs on my wife's BMW. The thing that's missing on the CX-5 is the "auto-turn" feature where the lights follow the direction of steering. The lighting quality itself is much closer to that of the BMW, although the reach isn't as far.

Right, I don't think camera shots do light differences justice, depends on the camera, monitor, etc. I installed one bulb first and compared it with the other and saw quite a difference. Granted, halogens degrade over time but I don't think the originals were quite as bright, newer ones are whiter & seem to have a longer throw.

 

[silverevo05]

Just curious - has anyone taken before and after pics comparing the stock bulbs w/ any of the aftermarket bulbs mentioned in the last few threads?

On this thread there is a video on the reviews

https://www.amazon.com (commissions earned)

 

[Cobra jet]

Great info - thanks fellas, really appreciated!

 

[hek8560]

I changed my bulbs to HID, so far so good. I use TRS HID KIT, it cost about 140 for the kit plus 2 or 3 years warranty. After you change the bulbs, I noticed that stock bulbs are perform better in raining condition.

 

[MikeM.]

I changed my bulbs to HID, so far so good. I use TRS HID KIT, it cost about 140 for the kit plus 2 or 3 years warranty. After you change the bulbs, I noticed that stock bulbs are perform better in raining condition.

Is that because the warmer color temperature of the OEM Quartz Halogens have less reflected glare from the rain drops?

 

[MikeyMcFly]

I changed my bulbs to HID, so far so good. I use TRS HID KIT, it cost about 140 for the kit plus 2 or 3 years warranty. After you change the bulbs, I noticed that stock bulbs are perform better in raining condition.

That's the case even with OEM projector HID. I have factory projector HID in my STi and back when I would drive it at night in the rain the headlights were awful compared to halogen.

 

[MikeM.]

That's the case even with OEM projector HID. I have factory projector HID in my STi and back when I would drive it at night in the rain the headlights were awful compared to halogen.

I haven't noticed that. I use the OEM HID's on lots of rainy nights on dark backroads and they penetrate the rain better than even the best halogen headlights I've ever used. The light is exceptionally well controlled.

 

[silverevo05]

I haven't noticed that. I use the OEM HID's on lots of rainy nights on dark backwoods and they penetrate the rain better than even the best halogen headlights I've ever used. The light is exceptionally well controlled.

The light MUST be exceptionally well controlled because it's made by MAZDA, don't you think Mike??