just burned out my headlight bulb in my daily driver and have to replace very soon. Just wondering if anyone may have an opinion on the best upgrade in terms of not only brightness but also longevity. The Syvania ultrabright silverstars are getting alot of complaints in reference to lifespan and the PIAA's too. I was thinking about the top of the line GE's "Nighthawk Platinum" any thoughts anyone?
When I still had halogen bulbs I purchased osram (euro company of sylvannia, but suppose to be a lot better than) bulbs, it was from powerbulbs.com, even though it was from the UK it came pretty quick and shipping was not bad. The osram bulbs I had boast of increase output and life span, which I believe since I still have them in another car. Regarding PIAA, they do have a higher output, but imo are way expensive for halogen bulbs, and my friend's for his highlander only lasted a little less than a year with probably about 8-10 hrs a week with night driving. However I would also recommend Philip's bulb if they're applicable for your car, reason is that I currently use Philip's bulbs for my headlight retrofit, seems to be a favorite on automotive lighting websites like hidplanet and have last in my car for over a year now without any problems.
Thanks durabio one of the bulbs just went out on me tonight and I have to figure out what I'm going to order soon. I'll check into the philips bulbs and hopefully I'll get some additional feedback.
If you're just replacing halogen bulbs, Philips Diamond Vision are one of the best available. 5000K rating so you'll get a more pure white instead of ugly yellow look.
Hoens are nice. They have factory matched HID colors. It's weird to compare the two, that is regular light and these. The stock bulbs were more apparent due to the color, but the other bulbs lit more up but blended with the darkness better.
what's the price range on those? I can get the GE Nighthawk platinum for about $45 for a set of 2 bulbs. I'm sure the Philips xenon bulbs are the bomb but I'm on a budget
what car do you have? in some cars HIDS are not bad and are quite good with glare. there is new hid bulbs out where you can adjust focusing distance of the bulbs arc so it will match focusing distance of halogen bulb, they do cost $130 but im sure a lot cheaper in long run since HID bulbs last about 1500 hours (OEM hid bulbs are rated at 3000 hours). i have hids in my oem halogen headlights and no glare, dont get flashed by oncoming drivers, and 50W hids in custom bixenon foglights (with projectors from FX35), id say look into HIDs as long as you get 4300-4500K in color and not that rice 8000K+ colors
Misha, I have a 2004 Honda Civic EX 2dr. coupe (daily driver). I was looking on the Philips website and looking at the Xenon bulbs but they say should also replace the ballast too which is another $120 plus $70 per bulb which is way too much for me and I'm just trying to keep it relatively simple and low cost while still improving over stock. Some people complained about the Sylvania silverstars and PIAA bulb lifespan not getting from 3-12 months only. Some switched over to the GE Nighthawk with no complaints and said the lumination was just as good. I figured for $45 for two bulbs .....?
The cheapest improvement over stock IMO is running HIR bulbs or Philips Xtreme Power. about 38 bucks for a set. Definitve improvement. I'm running Xtreme powers on my Maxima and they are definitively brighter. I also redid the engine grounding and that improved it even more.
Gdal, thanks I'm looking for them now on the internet. That's a good price too! Any website recommendations for those Philips Xtreme power?
Check this kit out, it looks promising to control glare and u have single filament bulbs so glacé should be at minimum as is Xenith Xenons - Premium Xenons in a Not-So-Premium Market Regular bulbs last about 300 hours. Hid bulbs about 2000 hours. I have hids in my accord for 2 years now and still work fine. Had HIR and still have bulbs , just don't like yellowish color ( they are 3600k in color)
Philips Xtreme Power bulbs<br><b><br><br>NEW---- H1XTP HAS ARRIVED</b> Great customer service and fast shipping.
Xtreme power have more of a pure white color. I was amazed when I first drove at night with them. It makes freshly-painted road lines light up like you wouldn't believe.
im a bit of a closet hidplanet stalker and have played around with hid kits, bending shutters to give hids more colour at cutoff etc etc there are so many hid kits on the net these days, and most come from the same factories in taiwan, korea, china. Some do use Hella ballasts or Philips globes that have been re-based, but just know that neither companies make hid kits. If you want a premium hid kit, look at raybrig from japan - they manufacture both the ballasts and globes themselves, rather than mix and matching various parts dont put a hid kit in a halogen reflector headlight as the light arc is completely different - you'll end up with a scattered beam pattern and most likely blind oncoming traffic if you have a halogen projector headlight, you can get away with a hid kit (even though hid projectors and halogen projectors are slightly different), just keep the kelvin within 4300k to get the most output - the higher kelvin/more colour the less output you get similarly with halogen replacement globes, dont go for a globe with a blue tinted lense. Manufacturers wil claim more output and 5000k hid like light output which is bs. Think about it, light is trying to escape tinted glass, and is no different from light entering a tinted window car. Keep the glass clear for max output
Thanks for everyones help. Order placed for a pair of Philips xtreme power bulbs $44 for the pair including shipping.
A little late on this one but here you go any way. Good prices, great service and he sells detailing stuff now too haha! I have had these HID's in a few cars now ( over 2 years ) with no problems at all HID Xenon conversion lighting kits
If you haven't read this site, you should...it's very informative: Daniel Stern Lighting Consultancy and Supply And to answer your question, Osram is an excellent choice.
