I just installed a set of Sylvania SilverStar low beams (9006ST), but while I was at the store I noticed that Sylvania has a range of different 9006 light bulbs:

9006 – Standard - $6.99 ea. - 9006 halogen bulb
9006LL – Long Life - $9.99 ea. - 1500 hrs life (1.5 times the standard life)
9006XV – XtraVision - $10.99 ea. - Sylvania claims 20% brighter bulb
9006CB – Cool Blue - $14.99 ea. - Blue tint bulb, supposed to look whiter
9006ST – SilverStar - $24.99 ea. - They claim it’s their birghtest and whitest

Personally I don’t give a rat’s ass what color my lights are I’m just looking for something that will light up the road better since it seems like I spend the majority of my driving time in the dark. (I hate winter in the Northeast; I should go back to Dallas; 45 extra minutes of daylight on winter solstice.)

Sylvania’s web site ( http://www.sylvania.com )isn’t very forthcoming about the actual stats on the bulbs. As far as I can tell ALL their 9006 style light bulbs put out 1000 Lumens. Does anybody have any reliable info about these bulbs?

Should I have just gone with the XtraVision bulbs and saved myself $28? Has anybody tried the XtraVision bulbs?

What does 20% brighter really mean? Brighter than what, a match, my mini Maglite, their standard 9006 bulb (I would assume so, but they never actually say what they are comparing it to).

The lights do look whiter and brighter, but I need numbers (damn engineer mentality).

-J

I have bought those before myself. Although they shine nicely, I didn't find them any better than the ebay specials I usually get. In fact, the "xenon" variety that's always bragged about, that feature 80w or 100w output, with the same white-look (if you prefer that), seemed to shine a tad better for me. I just always buy a new set of bulbs from ebay now. Really, for their quality and price, you can't beat them.

_____________________________________
Jason ESi-T

04' BMW 325Ci
91' Nissan 240SX
98' Eagle Talon ESi (sold)

the reason the ebay ones are comparable is because they are such high wattage compared to the 55or60 watts for the normal bulbs. they also usually aren't street legal. i have heard of people melting the housing with the high wattage ones(watts is actually a measure of the amount of heat produced.)

dsm/mitsubishi service manuals https://www.mediafire.com/folder/5k14qlaulb9s1/dsm_mitsubishi

service manuals(my whole collection) https://www.mediafire.com/folder/ac51jwwa3g1n1/automotive_manuals

Well I kept on searching through Sylvania's website and the SilverStars are either up to 15 or 20 percent greater than other halogens. They can't seem to make up their mind:

up to 15%, January 4, 2003 :
http://www.sylvania.com/press/01042003b.html

up to 20%, November 5, 2002 :
http://www.sylvania.com/press/11052002b.html

Here is some interesting info I found (very good info):

http://lighting.mbz.org/home.html

Specific page regarding how legal blue bulbs function:

http://lighting.mbz.org/tech/bulbs/blue/good/good.html

I looked up the standard FMVSS No. 108 for 9006 bulbs and it must have a Luminous Flux (lm)
of 1000 +/- 15% so the comparison of the 9007 bulb is similar. The 9007 low beam has the same standard as the 9006 (9007 is a high and low beam bulb)

Seems like the Xtravision would have been a better choice over the SilverStar since my main concern is road illumination. I’m sure the SilverStar and Xtravision put out the same luminosity, but because of the blue filter on the SilverStar there might be more glare in fog or snow. I should have done my homework and saved $28.

-J

silverstars don't have a blue filter. the last paragraph on that last link says:
For those who want the BEST POSSIBLE PERFORMANCE from their headlamps and are more concerned with their ability to see rather than the appearance of their headlamps, the major bulb companies offer optimized bulbs WITHOUT the LIGHT STEALING BLUE coloration. SYLVANIA Xtravision (in the pink-and-black package), Osram Super and SILVERSTAR(outside North America); Philips High Visibility (North America), Premium and Vision Plus (outside North America); Narva RangePower ARE THE ONES TO LOOK FOR.

and your luckey you got yours for $28. i bought mine when the first came out, i paid $25 a piece.

dsm/mitsubishi service manuals https://www.mediafire.com/folder/5k14qlaulb9s1/dsm_mitsubishi

service manuals(my whole collection) https://www.mediafire.com/folder/ac51jwwa3g1n1/automotive_manuals

I just bought some a couple months ago for 19.99 apiece and I swear by them. I had horrible night vision with the stock bulbs, it was almost dangerous to drive. I guess its just what your preference is.

if you have doubts about them put a regular bulb in one light and a silverstar in the other. go to say...autozone at night and look at the reflection in the windows. you will not think that you wasted 28$ after that.

dsm/mitsubishi service manuals https://www.mediafire.com/folder/5k14qlaulb9s1/dsm_mitsubishi

service manuals(my whole collection) https://www.mediafire.com/folder/ac51jwwa3g1n1/automotive_manuals

get some HID's
i love mine. bright as hell. look hella nice too...

I paid $25 a piece at PepBoys. The reason why I said $28 is that is difference between the XtraVision and SilverStar bulbs.

> silverstars don't have a blue filter.

I don’t know where you got your SilverStars, but as far as I know all the SilverStar bulbs sold in North America are tinted blue.

> SILVERSTAR(outside North America)
Hence the once sold here are not the ones they are recommending.

Fog lights are yellow for a reason; the yellow light doesn’t scatter as much as blue light causing glare. Although the SilverStar’s light isn’t blue; the blue tint eliminates some of the yellow light emitted by the bulb (remember white light is an equal mixture of all shades of light). The XtraVision bulbs emit more yellow than blue which when it comes to fog or snow driving is better.

As far as brightness goes; in order for the bulbs to be DOT approved they must put out at least 850 Lumens, but no more than 1150 Lumens. I’m guessing their claim of 20% brighter comes from comparing to barely DOT approved bulb of 850 Lumens because if it were 20% more than 1000 Lumens it would be too bright to get the DOT approval. So their 20% brighter bulb is probably putting out somewhere around 1020 Lumens (20% more than 850).

I thought I read someone mention replacing the 9006 (low beam) with a 9005 (high beam) bulb. The high beam puts out 1700 Lumens and people seem to be getting away with using HIDs with their stock reflectors which but out about 3200 Lumens. Has anyone done this? Are the connectors the same for 9006 and 9005?

EDIT: However the 9005 bulb uses 65 Watts compared to the 9006’s 55Watts. Not as bad as an 80W bulb and you get a 70% brighter bulb.

-J

Well I have had my headlight housing melt from using those high watt bulbs so I will never use them again. It got so bad that when the time came to sell my headlights the headlight bulb would not come out of the harness, it melted and became one solid plastic piece. Id say you did good getting the lo watt bulbs over the high watt kind.

Toney
'97 RS 5 Speed (totaled)
15.4606@88.42 Mph
96 Toyota Celica GT
88 Toyota Supra NA-T (w/ sports package)
Got Boost?? Hell yeah I-6 turbo powah baby!

some other links on these lights:


http://suvlights.tripod.com/suvlightscom/html/faq-qa.htm#3

What is the difference between the Sylvania Silverstar and the Osram Silverstar?

Osram Sylvania is one and the same company, within the US they use both Osram and Sylvania, outside the US its Osram. The Osram Silverstar is a clear bulb with Xenon gas boost to increase brightness up to 50% color is similar to standard halogen though it is slightly whiter. The Sylvania Silverstar is the same bulb but with an amethyst blue coating with 30% more light than standard halogen and 4000K light color which is comparable to Xenon/High Intensity Discharge Light Systems as seen on high end cars from Acura, Audi, BMW, Cadillac, Lexus, Mercedes Benz, Porsche to name a few.

Sylvania Silverstar is currently available in 9003/H4, 9004, 9005, 9006, 9007 & sealed beam sizes, the Sylvania Silverstar is the Super White (blue/grey coated) version of the Osram Silverstar (clear) which is available in H1, H4, & H7. Osram Silverstar color is slightly whiter (very slightly) than regular halogen. We also have the Narva Range Power Blue bulbs are made in Germany and DOT compliant. The Osram Silverstar is E code (ECE Reg 37) but not tested for DOT compliance (FMVSS 108) since the bulb is made for the European market, but most likely meets US DOT standards if tested. All these bulbs are stock wattage so it will not have any effect on wiring.

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http://www.hondasuv.com/forum_element/viewtopic.php?t=402

link has side-by-side pics.

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http://faq.auto.light.tripod.com/headlamp-faq.htm

What is the brightest halogen bulb?
For the 55W marked segment, sorted in order of brightness:
+50%: Philips Vision Plus (achieves its extra performance by increased luminance, not lumens. See this article: http://www.eur.lighting.philips.com/press/automotive/resultsVision.shtml)
+30%: Philips Premium, Osram Silverstar (European marked only - see note below)
+20%: Osram/Sylvania Xtra Vision, Osram/Sylvania Silverstar (North american marked only - see note below)
+0%: Philips Bluevison, Osram/Sylvania Cool Blue, Osram/Sylvania Halogen Plus, and OEM bulbs like GE.
-10%: PIAA Superwite

Silverstar: Do not confuse the European (clear glass) Silverstar with the North american (slightly blue tinted) Silverstar. The blue tint steals light!

Bosch Plus 50/60 was released in Europe in Sept 2002. The bulb does not have any blue tint, claims to not have any reduction in life, and give up to 20 meters longer view. It has been seem in H4.

PIAA "Xtreme White" was released ~Dec 2001. No independant tests have been conducted so far, but several positive indications has it that this can end up in the +20-30%.

Note that many cars sold after year 2000 already have premium bulbs installed and therefore buying any of the above bulbs might not give any or only minor improvement. Among H7 applications, there should be hard to find non-premium bulbs.

If your car is set up for higher wattage bulbs, Philips Rally bulbs will give more lumens than most asian overwatts. Be aware that lifetime of a Philips Rally bulb is ~100hours - so keep some spares in the glove compartment. Philips bulbs are availble from http://www.powerbulbs.com or www.autolamps-online.com
Narva bulbs are also top notch. Narva is a daughter company of Philips with one intention: compete with top notch products on the aftermarked. Philips themself are OEM oriented.

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I'm gonna get the XTraVisions then. Cheaper too.

juan

they are also coming out with H3 series bulb by the end of may for us projector peeps. too bad i'll already have my piaa' maybe after all my training i'll pop them in. we'll see.
later

2GNT #1865
2006 Yamaha YZF R6 (Blue/Black)
2005 Honda CBR 600 RR (Blue REPSOL)
2003 BMW 325I Premium/Sport Package
2003 Honda CBR 600 RR (sold)
1998 Mitsubishi Eclipse RS (sold)
Shuwa's links:
http://www.facebook.com/Shuwa29
http://s16.photobucket.com/albums/b50/shuwa29/



DarkOne> but we all have that inner ricer that is just dying to come out sometimes...

i put a set in my gf's jeep and their brighter than mine and mine are xenons, plus i melted a harness with my xenons and it's really hard to find that harness hehehehehe. i'm going to get the silverstars when i get the cash. i work at advance and when i bought them for my gf's jeep, they were 45.99 with my discount instead of like 56-57 bucks that you'd guys pay. hehehehhehe

bedlam, www.nopionline.com has the wiring harnesses for almost all the bulb sizes for like $5-7. thought you might like to know.

http://www.nopionline.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=dsppartdetail&vmakeid=001&vmodelid=100&vcatyear=9999&vnopinum=908%2B0234&vTitle=Lighting%20Headlight%20Wiring%20Harness%20HIPER%209006&vaffid=0

later

2GNT #1865
2006 Yamaha YZF R6 (Blue/Black)
2005 Honda CBR 600 RR (Blue REPSOL)
2003 BMW 325I Premium/Sport Package
2003 Honda CBR 600 RR (sold)
1998 Mitsubishi Eclipse RS (sold)
Shuwa's links:
http://www.facebook.com/Shuwa29
http://s16.photobucket.com/albums/b50/shuwa29/



DarkOne> but we all have that inner ricer that is just dying to come out sometimes...

>http://www.hondasuv.com/forum_element/viewtopic.php?t=402
>
>link has side-by-side pics.

That's a nice comparison pictures.
>
>I'm gonna get the XTraVisions then. Cheaper too.
>
>juan

If I had to do it ove again I would just get the XtraVision because I have no issues with yellowish light and just wanted soemthing brighter.

-J