i've been wanting to change my headlight bulbs for a while.
i'm not comfortable with doing a retrofit myself and i dont feel like paying 1000+ for someone else to do it for me, and i putting hid's in stock housing seems kinda lame considering all the glare and stuff i'd be causing.

so my alternatives are silverstar ultras or piaa xtreme white plus or predator xenix hypermatch. i was wondering which of these three are the best when in comes to light output and just overall appearence?

 

I doubt anyone's compared them directly... I've always been happy with my Silverstars though.

 

I bought a HID Ballast conversion Kit and I love it. I'm not sure what glare people are talking about but my HID's have a clear line where the light doesn't go above just like my stock lights. Then again. I may be one of those _______s that blind other people but ever since I bought my tC I've had people flashing their lights at me because my stock lights were too bright and they thought they were my Highbeams? All I can really say is F'em and get what you want.

-D

 

http://www.carxpressions.com/lightin...ight_bulbs.htm

i reccommend these bulbs, i used them up until recently i put on my HID kit.

they look and perform great. i used the xenon fusion bulbs on my low beam. they looked great, gave it a nice crisp blue while giving me just as much usable light as my silverstar bulbs that burned out a few weeks, i was so ____ed because i was so careful not to touch the bulbs when i put them in. my eurolite bulbs had lasted two years which is alot becuase i drive with my headlights on 24/7, and were still working before i changed to my HID kit.

 

^ Ya, that's my only complaint about Silverstars is the life. Though I definitely get more than a few weeks... maybe like 5-6 months. And I DO drive with my lights on all of the time. So like you're saying about the other ones, they are on a LOT. So I expect the life to be a little less than expected. I'm really just too lazy to bother trying anything else though.

 

well, the silverstars don't have that look that i wanted, and sot over 30 a pair and didn't last very long. my eurolites look nice and blue, lit up the night and only cost 20 a pair from the place i got them in florida two years ago. now they are only 12 bucks a pair. silver star bulbs are just rediculous to me.

 

Ah... I'm not going for anything blue. I like the plain "white" color of the Silverstars. Not really yellow, but not really approaching a blue or purple color.

 

I'd be afraid of the aftermarket bulbs that you can buy online. I bought some and one decided to melt the connector between it and my car wiring. There was a $300 mistake that i'm not making again. If you're looking for the best color output I'd go with a Ballast Kit. you can get em on ebay for 100ish and they're super easy to install.

Step 1: turn off Headlights.
Step 2: remove old bulbs.
Step 3: plug in ballast.
Step 4: plug in bulbs.
Step 5: turn on car.
total time... 10 minutes

-D

 

^ Were they Luminics brand?

 

This may also help in your decision
[/img]

 

Oooh... thank you for that. I've been looking for another one of those pics for the temp differences.

 

I don't remember what brand they were. All I remember was the looked good untill my Left headlight started getting intermittent and I found that the bulb was melting the plastic on it and on the wire. I think I just recently threw out the bulb/connector or i'd show you. Bottom line is.. you get what you pay for. spend 12 on bulbs...who knows what will happen? Oh yeah, this wasn't just my car that it happened to. My friend bought some bulbs like mine(not the same brand) and it did the same thing to her right light. She was smart and bought a $5 piece and fixed it herself. I tried replacing my OEM bulb and took it into toyota and they said that when i installed my CAI i must have bumped my headlight or something. Total BS but it was my decision to install those bulbs and I have to live with it.

-D

 

i have Halo platnium whites, and i think they look nice and have been lasting awhile unlike Silverstars. i also have Halo super yellows for my fogs that i put on a few weeks after i got my car, and that was two years ago

 

thanks for the temp pictures. that helps a lot. for the ballast kit is there like a specific brand you use? what's the name of the company of yours?

 

Go for the new option, 2008 stock tC projectors with an H11 HID kit. Total cost will be about $550ish.

 

The ballast kits are kinda generic..most of them look the same with different stickers. There's a guy on ebay that offers them for 49.99 with 50ish shipping...total 99.99. he says there's a 1 year warranty on them but who knows how far that will go. I've been thinking about getting new ones to tone down my 10,000k blue and go with a 6000k. They guy I am planning on buying my new ones from is supervtec on ebay. Let me know if you want more info

-D

 

i'm not a fan of the 08 headlights. the headlights and taillights were a major reason why i chose to go with the 07 rather than the 08.

and dlukz, i'd like more info on the guy you're buying your new ballast kits from please.

 

not a fan? well I've been running HIDs in my stock 06 w/o any problems for a few while now. Never got complaints of glare or high beams from oncoming traffic, so don't listen to all those folks out there preaching the retrofit. Just make sure your bulbs are properly aimed to begin with and you should have no probs!

 

OEM projectors at trdsparks.com are $398 + shipping. If you’re going to get HIDs, then spend a little more and do it right.

 

ichibansf, how would you aim your bulbs correctly?
how would you know if you aimed it correctly or its aimed too high or too low or something?