Silverstars

All "hyper white" or halogen bulbs outputting over 3500k will have shorter lives than the OEM bulbs.

On previous cars I have tried really cheap generic ones, Nokia, Raybrig, Polarg, PIAA, Silverstars, and even MTEC.

In order of longest life:
PIAA (Xtreme White)
MTEC (Cheap, but better than Nokia)
Polarg
Silverstars
Raybrig

I can't exactly tell you how many months they will last you since that is dependent on your usage. What can I say...expect to replace aftermarket halogen bulbs once or even twice a year. In fact, I recommend that you carry spare headlight bulbs in your trunk (OEMs or another set)... you just never know if those halogens will go out in the middle of a forrest.

Edit: Don't try the PIAA Super Plasma. It actually seemed to produce less light than the OEM bulbs and when directly stared at them they seemed a bit purple to me.

 

Replacing bulbs like that is just not worth the hassle. I upgraded to the HID replacement kit from Pilot and they have been in my 2003 Accord since it was brand new without a problem and they look and work great. This is a true HID with a ballast, not some blue bulbs.

I just did the HID foglights on my Prius and the installation was easy, .5 hour start to finish. Big difference compared to the stock bulbs and they now match the headlights in intensity and color. That kit was $165. Same kit DocVijay used.

Just yesterday I bought a Pilot set for my Ridgeline for both the head and foglights. The headlight kit has a HID low beam and a halogen high beam. The headlight kit was $185 and the foglight kit was $165. I will install them this weekend.

The easiest way to do these is just to pull the front bumper cover off-very easy on all of these new cars with bumper covers. Typically a few bolts that are very easy to get to and then the cover just pops off. Allows you to mount the ballasts nicely. I used 3M double stick molding tape and zip-ties. That way I do not have to drill any holes. As a note of caution, make sure to have a blanket or moving pad on the ground to set your bumper cover on so you do not scratch it by accident.

If you want the bright, real light, you have to go HID. Good luck.

 

I don't know how people can say that the silverstars are "white", they really do look very blue to me.. I have night contrast issues, so I can't see at night if the light is too blue, and oncoming cars with blue tinted light cause me an undue amount of glare..

Also, go and look at the datasheets on the Sylvania web site, the Silverstars have shorter lifetimes by a factor of 10 or more (ie, a Silverstar has lifetime rated in tens of hours, a "high brightness" halogen such as the XtraVision (which is supposedly the same as the European "non-blue" Silverstar) in hundreds of hours, and a standard halogen in thousands of hours.. This is not suprising in any ways because if you think about how these things work, they are increasing the blue content by blocking the transmission of the other wavelengths of light, so the bulbs have to burn hotter to make up for the lost output and thus have commensurately shorter lives.. The only ones benefitting from these bulbs are the manufacturers- they don't cost any more to make than a standard bulb, but they can charge double the retail price, and they have to be replaced much more often- Sylvania is laughing all the way to the bank..

If you want a brighter bulb, both the XV and the competing GE Nighthawk bulbs are slightly higher in color temperature, but without the annoying blue tint on the glass.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(c4 @ Nov 14 2006, 11:32 AM) [snapback]348730[/snapback]</div>

It's funny how something becomes hip because status cars have it (HID lights) and then the folks who don't have it (but want other people to *think* that they do) rush out and spend additional money to replace something that works fine (but isn't cool), just to impress others who may or may not even care in the first place...

Oh, but this is really about night-driving safety...and has nothing to do with that...right...?
[smile]

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Pinto Girl @ Nov 14 2006, 05:36 PM) [snapback]349091[/snapback]</div>

I think you have hit the nail on the head.
It's so obvious that it's hard for some to see,
kinda like the forest being hidden because of all the trees.

 

Traded up from '04 Pkg 8 to '07 Touring Pkg 6 in November.

I do like the HID's very much because of the wide field of light - they light both 'curb sides' of the road or street very well. I've had no 'flashing' for blinding oncoming cars, so the alignment must be OK. The contrast with the Halogen fogs is rather strange - the Halogens look almost orange in comparison - no big deal since I really don't see much likelyhood of using the fogs. I find it interesting that the HIDs consume only 35 watts, while the Haolgens run 60 watts bright/ 55 dim.

My reservations on the HIDs: Cost or replacement bulbs and Toyota's sending you to a dealer to replace them when they burn out.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ Jan 11 2007, 05:33 PM) [snapback]374359[/snapback]</div>

Burnaby Auto Parts? Princess Auto?

 

I've got an '06 Prius with HID headlights. I, too, hate those anemic foglights! By comparison, they need improving.

I picked up some of those HIR halogens. Big waste of money! Couldn't tell any difference.

Figured that I would now have to bring out some 'bigger guns'. I next picked up some PIAA Xtreme Super Whites, 125 watts. (I found a pretty good deal by using Google's Froggle.) Those made a DIFFERENCE! In fact, oncoming cars were flashing their high beams at me. (Found out later that one bulb wasn't mounted correctly.)

Then another prob. surfaced. They quit working! I checked the fuse - it was OK. I am at a loss, now.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ Jan 12 2007, 02:19 AM) [snapback]374576[/snapback]</div>

I know you've recently had an "adventure" with the garage door, but try this:

Either drive into the garage or back in, it depends on where you prefer to apply masking tape. Briefly turn on the headlights, you'll notice the Prius has a very sharp low beam cut-off. Apply a strip of masking tape along each cut-off line. Turn the headlights off, save the battery.

Now pop the hood - bonnet - and turn the headlights back on again. Crank the headlights down about two cm.

If you routinely drive with passengers, especially husky ones in the rear, you may want to crank the beams down further.

And *very* carefully back out of that garage.

 

Just a Phillips, but it's got to have a *long* shaft to reach the adjustment; nothing I had would reach and I checked every hardware store around and they didn't sell cheapies in that length, and I wasn't about to spend $10 on a long "premium" screwdriver, or $50 for a set, for just one adjustment, so I ended up grabbing a $0.50 bit from the drywall bit bin and brazing it to a long piece of bar stock (because a magnetic bit holder is too thick to get past the plastic guides), which worked very well for the purpose..

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(c4 @ Jan 15 2007, 10:26 AM) [snapback]375813[/snapback]</div>

I also don't have a super-long Philips, and refused to buy one just for a once-or-twice use.

However, I have a great assortment of socket sets, and a 1/4 ratchet and either a 6mm or 8mm socket - I forget now which is was - worked just fine. It's a bit of a tight fit onto the adjuster bolt but once you have the socket on, very easy to crank the aim up and down.

 

I just saw the commercial on TV for the silverstar bulbs. It showed a display of how much further one should be able to see down the road with these head lights, and how much wider they would illuminate the road. It made no mention, of course, that they would burn out in just a few months!! I guess they are counting on people not realizing that at the time of purchase. Is there any warranty with them that would allow for replacements within say a 12 month period or so??

They sure look like a good idea, but I'm not going to be changing bulbs every 6 months.

 

Re: HID Foglight Replacement....

Can anyone or does anyone know/have a diagram on how to replace bulbs or get to them should I say? While Im thinking about it, Thanks again for all the info...