Silverstars

I've tried just about all of them with my previous auto. Of all the halogens I have toyed with the Luminics Krypton and the Philips X-Treme put the most light on the road by far. Philips x-treme's are not very white as you know.

The Luminics krypton ultra white are $30 a pair, but barely lean towards the blueish (5150K) spectrum (Luminics USA - Luminics Headlight Bulbs.)

Longevity with average usage from my experience is 12-18 months with the Luminics. Halogens that are brighter have this shorter lifespan trade off. Are ya just looking for white light? If not then you already own the brightest street legal halogens as far as putting usable light on the road.

 

There are two types of Sylvania foglamps. The Silverstar and the Silverstar Ultra. The Ultras are new and are supposed to last longer and put out more light. They are also more expensive.

"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... "

Here is a link to Tom Stangl's guide to replacing the foglight bulbs. Scroll down to the middle of the page.
2004 Prius Light Upgrades

Here is a picture I took of the adjustment wheel for the foglights.

And lastly, a picture on how to adjust the headlight. Arrows show where to insert philips. You don't really need a "long" shaft. Just a regular shaft, but a #3 sized head fits best.

 

I've tried a lot of those $30ish halogen blubs and they are quite bad compared to the pricey PIAA bulbs. I have yet to have a pair of PIAAs burn out on me unlike the short lifespan of thos typical autopart store bulbs. If you are not going to HIDs then the PIAA bulbs are the next best option for brightness and longevity.

 

If you want high-power bulbs, your best bet is to get them from Europe. I've bought repeatedly from powerbulbs.com, a retailer in the United Kingdom who will ship to the states for free. Their newest high-power bulbs are the Osram Night Breaker and Philips X-Treme Power, which have superseded the Osram Silverstar and the counterpart from Philips.

I've used Osram Silverstars in a couple cars (actually transferred the bulbs when one vehicle was totalled) and they have been highly durable. But there's a big difference between them and their US counterpart, the Sylvania Silverstars, which are HID wannabe bulbs.

 

As jbdan noted, brighter halogens seem to have shorter lifespans.

See Tideland Prius' other thread regarding the Sylvania Silverstars (and also regarding the Philips X-Treme Power bulbs):

http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-m...-phillips-x-treme-power-bulbs-see-pg-2-a.html

See usbseawolf2000's thread about how to install headlight bulbs on halogen equipped Prius (and also regarding the Philips X-Treme Power bulbs):

http://priuschat.com/forums/knowled...38842-how-change-headlamp-headlight-bulb.html

I have Philips X-Treme Power bulbs on my car now. They are wonderfully bright (they do seem 80% brighter than OEM) But they wore out very fast for usbseawolf2000. If I don't get 12,000 miles out of mine, I'm going to be looking for another brighter-than-OEM halogen, but one that lasts a reasonable length of time. My guess is that I'll try the Osram Silverstars you've mentioned, or the Philips Vision Plus (supposedly 50% brighter) that usbseawolf2000 has mentioned, or the Philips Nightguide (also supposedly 50% brighter, but with slightly different colors on the left and right sides for better nightime viewing).

 

Wow, you guys have been doing your homework. I noticed a reference to Daniel Stern in that link Boo provided. Dan's a nice guy, and an honest broker. I wish he'd get a webmaster with a clue about Internet marketing.

The lighting market has more snake oil in it these days than any other part of the car, IMO. Personally, I wouldn't touch a PIAA product -- they were right out front with the Super Blue blah blah when HIDs first started showing up in upscale cars. That tells me they were more interested in a quick buck than they were in safely lighting up the road.

Tideland, I'm not sure I can be of much help regarding a new bulb -- maybe the X-Tremes will surprise you with their durability. I see that powerbulbs does give them a 4-star durability rating. Not the best, but close.

The Osram Silverstars I bought from Powerbulbs are still burning after 3-4 years, and so are a couple sets of Philips Vision Plus bulbs I got from Powerbulbs more recently. I haven't tried a set of the Philips X-Tremes or the Osram Night Breakers. If I were to buy a new set tomorrow, I'd get the Night Breakers. But that's on faith, not experience.

Here's what I base that on: European countries' transportation industries are highly regulated. They are serious about safety. Vehicles get stringent annual inspections, and they aren't just revenue sources for the local mechanic. Sucker come-ons are not permitted.

In this country, the powers that be don't have a problem with fishbait like Slick 50 and blue bulbs. They weren't concerned that Toyota put narrow, low-traction tires on my 2001 to inflate mileage claims, even if it compromised safety. I've read elsewhere on this forum that European Prii got wider tires than the US models. Not surprising.

I suppose a motorist who wants to turn night into day could tap the postive post on the alternator for 14 volts and relay that power to a set of 100w-130 H4 bulbs. Dan Stern has them, and will tell you how to wire it up.

 

My point was, if people are having reliability issues with the cheap bulbs then PIAA was an alternative as I rarely have issues with these bulbs and I sell a lot of them. They have always increased visibility unless you buy one of the beauty bulbs that are simply too blue or purple. So I'm not sure how your statement really applies. If they light up the road, they light up the road. It's pretty simple.

 

At my job, my co-workers would describe my prior post as OAO:
"one a--hole's opinion."

Furthermore, It's offered from behind an anonymous username, compounding its credibility.

 

LOL!

I'm simply offering AAO (another a--hole's opinion) from the perspective of a retailer and customer.

 

I hadn't noticed that link to Daniel Stern Lighting before. He has an interesting comment regarding brighter replacements for the Prius OEM's H4 P43t base bulb, specifically:

"The H4 +50 bulbs from the big four reputable European bulb makers (Philips VisionPlus, Osram SilverStar, Narva RangePower+50, Tungsram Megalicht) are functionally identical." (emphasis added)

Based on Daniel Stern's and several Priuschatters' recommendations, if it turns out that my Philips X-Treme Power bulbs do not last 12,000 miles, then I'm going to switch to one of the big four's H4 +50 bulbs. Here's the entire section from Daniel Stern's website about replacement H4 with P43t base bulbs:

"H4 bulbs

These 2-filament bulbs with P43t base are for high/low beam headlamps and Cibie BiOscar fog/drive beam lamps. Fun facts: The H4 was the world's first 2-filament halogen automotive bulb. It was introduced in Europe in 1971, and was used in many millions of European and Japanese headlamps starting in that year, but wasn't legalized in the US (where it was designated HB2 or 9003) until over two decades later, in 1992!

• 60/55W Ultra High Output Plus 50 [SIZE=-2](Narva Rangepower+50[SIZE=+1]*[/SIZE])[/SIZE]: $19/ea
• 60/55W Narva Rangepower High Output Plus 30: $13/ea
• 70/65W Osram Plus 50: $22/ea
• 85/80W Osram Plus 50: $24/ea
• 100/55W Narva: $17/ea
• 100/90W Narva: $20/ea
• 130/100W Narva: $22/ea

[SIZE=+1]*- About H4 +50 Bulb Brands:[/SIZE]
The H4 +50 bulbs from the big four reputable European bulb makers (Philips VisionPlus, Osram SilverStar, Narva RangePower+50, Tungsram Megalicht) are functionally identical. When we pick ten samples of each and put each one through photometric, optical comparator and life tests, there's a very narrow range of performance and life differences, and those differences are randomized among the four brands."

* * * * * * * * *

As the US transportation regulators do not seem to be doing much, I wish that the European transportation regulators would require European automotive bulb makers to post the life expectancies of their bulbs.

Before I purchased the Philips X-Treme Power bulbs, I had tried like heck to get life expectancy information about the bulb, and the only thing I found was that powerbulbs.com rating of 4 stars --- but who the heck knows what that means, and what protocol (if any) powerbulbs.com employed to come up with that rating? I went thoroughly through Philips Automotive website, but the only life expectancies it gave was for typical OEM halogen bulbs (500 hours) and Philips' own extended life halogen bulb (1000 hours). I even emailed Philips customer service asking what the life expectancy was for the X-Treme Power bulbs, but they never responded (and since it's been around 5 months now, I guess they never will).