i know there has been alot of talk about HIDs vs. the others (5000k or less), but im tryin to figure out what is the best glow for the buck, i know HIDs have a much better light output then others but for those of us that are ona budget HIDs are not even in the picture, there are lot of other brands out there that clam they very simular to HIDs but the sad truth is they arent even close to the output of HIDs, im just tryin to figure out what the best bulbs are w/ out breaking mine or your bank account, some big players that i think should be in this battle of the bulbs is PIAA, Sylvania, Raybrig, etc, and from personal experience PIAAs are great bulbs and so are RAYBRIGs, does anybody have anything to add, HIDs vs. PIAAs, SYLVANIAs, RAYBRIGs,etc.

 

just general LUMEN output alone is enough to convince you.

I think normal bulbs put out like 700 luments, Sylvania's do about 1300 or so lumens.

HID's I think do like 2500+ depending on temp. From my bad memory lool.

 

If you dont want to drop the cash for the HIDs, then I recommend the Sylvania Silverstars. I had them and they had a nice blue tint to them, and they were brighter than the stock lights.

 

I plan on going HIDs... but I had Nokya's on my 99 eclipse.. I like em. They were behind projector's though so I dont know how they would look in a stock housing.

 

From what I have read on other boards, pretty much everyone all around has agreed Sylvania Silverstars are the best bang for the buck if you can't afford HIDs. Maybe you could put aftermarket high wattage harnesses in place of your stock harnesses, and then do the high beam in place of low beam mod with sylvania silverstars! That's what I was thinking of doing!

 

If you want a uniquely white/blue output, I have the Silverstars with Rockblocker blue overlays on the lens. It gives you more of a blue hue from the sides, but the light is actually whiter in front. Night driving actually increased a great deal from stock with stock bulbs and with silverstars it's much better.

 

True dat! I've heard very little about SilverStars frying the stock harness. Here's a link you might find interesting ...

9006 to 9005 Retrofit

Seems a lot of peeps are happy with the outcome of this mod. That would most likely be the closest look to HIDs. Can't really compare the 2 (HIDs vs. Bulbs) though IMHO.

 

That's something you DON'T want to do. The 9005 put out around 85 w of power constantly vs the 55/65 w the 9006 puts out. You will more than likely start to melt some of the seal around the headlight with this and your socket will take a beating. It's a ghetto a** way of getting brighter lights and will definately get you yanked by the cops.

Silverstars are stock wattage but just have a different coating on the lense. They WILL NOT harm your harness at all.

 

^^What bulb(s) are you talking about? OEM 9005 HB3 halogen bulb only puts out 60w. AND; if you read the entire link I provided no one has yet to complain about the swap. I have not done this retrofit. I have SilverStar Highs and Lows and I'm fine with those. I do agree with you on the overlay/SilverStars combo. I have HID Blue Headlight covers on mine and they have a faint bluish tint to them.

 

I've seen this on another forum about retrofitting the 9005 to fit the 9006 and if you have the time to get pulled over all the time for an obviously altered headlight, then be my guest. The higher wattage current used in 9005s will eventually damage the 9006 socket and possible make the bulb dimmer. I've done a similar setup with 9004 to 9007. the 9007 burn brighter with more wattage and eventually began to melt the socket for the 9004.

It does look nice, but b/c the angle of your low beam is already pretty high on the road, the light will go directly into eyes of oncoming traffic. Fun at times but when those white lights ahead begin to flash and have red and blue mixed in, have fun. Just a little tip.

 

yeah sorry, the wattage I wrote 2 posts above for high beams was incorrect.

 

No, the high to low mod will not get you pulled over by cops. It's brighter, but they are still angled as low beams, so it's not like you are blinding mirrors with your low beams like you would with high beams. There are other cars with brighter low beams stock than this mod. Also, I did this mod a while back and fried my harness.. but that's because I didn't have a tight fitment. Other than that, it was AWESOME! But I agree... still not even close to how cool HIDs are!

 

I would just save my money, and time, and get an HID kit. 5000K are sweet and just pure white. 6000K starts to get into the blueish realm.

 

i did the mod with Sylvania cool blues ( about 1/2 price of silver stars ) and that was about 5 months ago and they are still working great. im not a personal fan of silver stars because of the sets i had to go through before (more like other people ive seen) so i went with the cool blues, it is just as bright with a light blue tint imo :D

 

i also did the Silverstar 9005 in 9006 mod and it works out great! im thinking about getting some cool blues to see the difference between the 9005 cool blues and 9005 silverstars?

the silverstar mod lights up the road great. Im thinking about getting HID's but ill wait till i get my s2k projector retrofit.

 

man u guys ahave alot to say, it sounds like the bulb of choice is sylvania 9005/9006 silverstars, hey sounds good to me if it gives out a brighter light than stock im all about it, it jsut i dont want to spend the money on HIDs and it sounds like u guys dont want to either, i had PIAAs in my 2000 integra w/ projector headlights and they were rele bight, but im def gonna try the sylvanias, ill take some pics of them here soon.

 

Well i have PIAA 9005's for my highs and love them, and i currently have a 8k hid kit for my lows in the stock housings and its super bright. Hid kits can be had for under 200 dollars to your door via ebay now. I would reccomend saving up the money for the hids and not wasting them on regular bulbs. Plus they only draw 35 watts of power versus the 55 or 60

 

i do need some high beams. i got silverstars in there now.

 

If you want whiter light check out our night headlight film testing thread here
https://www.scionlife.com/forums/vie...346&highlight=

HID Blue Headlight Protection Kits make a nice addition. ;)

 

well it seems that Sylvania has a "NEW" bulb out? I just saw on their web site about the Sylvania Silverstar ULTRA? It says its better than the silverstar but still? It doesnt give the details on them so im gonna try tomorrow to stop by the local auto store to see what these bulbs got compared to the 9005 silverstars i have right now in my low beam? their going for $20 on ebay right now.


http://www.sylvania.com/ConsumerProd...on/default.htm

p.s.- the lumens on my 9005 silverstars are 1700 and the wattage is 65w. stockers are 1000 with 55w. I have a luminics heavy duty wire harness that ive had when i had my luminics on.