Rather than go thru all the (sometimes illegal) complicatiions of HID lights, has anyone tried replacing their headlight bulbs?
On my Vespa GT200 scooter I replaced the stock H4 bulb with a similar size 55/65W Sylvania SilverStar H4, and the improvement gained was truly enlightening!

Honestly tho, so far the lamps on my 2010 basic Fit are so bright and effective I have little need and no plans to replace them, until they burn out! -Then will come the SilverStars....

 

i have the brightest bulbs from autozone. it increased the distance i can see at night and it has a white with slight blue tint to them so its almost like hids

 

I'm rocking PIAA bulbs right now. I love them!

 

My Silverstars only lasted 5 months on my GD3, hopefully you'll get luckier.

 

I'm running the Philips X-Treme Power H4's that I got from PowerBulbs.com...

Philips X-Treme Power H4 from Power Bulbs | Free Worldwide Delivery

They are a noticeable improvement from the stock bulbs. They're nothing special in terms of color temp, just plain white and not HID-look. They do put out more light and in a nice pattern, though, which is ultimately the point of headlights. I don't know how longevity will be, but even if I have to replace them every couple of years, the extra light from a proper, legal halogen bulb is worth it to me.

 

These are the ones I used for headlights before I retrofitted them. Don't let the bulb color fool you, yes, the bulbs are blue, however, the output is very nice and rich white, and actually increases visibility a lot.

New PIAA Intense White 10904 H4 Headlight Bulbs:eBay Motors (item 230395812867 end time Dec-04-09 16:12:03 PST)

I still have these for my fog lights, they actually help a lot better when it's foggy/rainy/etc..., and produce a nice yellow tone. I had to get the yellows after I got the better headlight bulbs, because the white headlights with offwhite fogs just didn't look right.

PIAA Plasma Ion Yellow H11 Fog Bulb Foglights Bulbs JDM:eBay Motors (item 200409497307 end time Dec-22-09 18:42:32 PST)

 

X2 on the PIAA Intense White bulbs.

They drastically improve visibility and produce a crisp white light I can honestly say rivals factory HIDs equipped in some vehicles.

Here are a couple of cell pics of the bulbs installed; please excuse the garage.

Pic 1

Pic 2

 

I second the X-Treme power suggestion! I wasn't happy with the stock light output, so I upgraded to these and they put out a lot more light... though I still wish I could see farther with the low beams (my headlights are already aimed correctly too ).

Pretty highly rated according to Auto Express magazine too.

 

Do the PIAA bulbs operate okay with the Fit's DRLs setup? They're okay running on low current in daylight?

 

My GD3 doesn't have DRLs unfortunately, so I can't answer your questions. =/

 

I lean towards yellow all-season bulbs myself. OSRAM All-Seasons are pretty good, as well as Narva's all-season items.

I've also tried OSRAM Silverstars (I think they're badged as Sylvania in the US). While quite bright, they also burn out a little quicker. That's just how it is with halogen bulbs: the brighter they are, the less longevity they have.

Can't go wrong with OSRAM in my experience.

 

I've read that Halogens burn out quicker if you touch the glass part when you're installing them. Something to do with the oil from your fingers...

I've had the same SilverStars in my scooters for 2 years now w/o problems, but I prolly don't ride and use their headlights as much as you do with your car..

 

That's correct.

If you do by chance touch the bulb's glass, you can clean it with denatured alcohol.

 

I agree with the PIAA they make good bulbs. I like my Nokya H4 7000k Arctic White Head Light Bulbs (Stage 1) too. I currently have them in and they are drastically better than stock.


They also match my LED fogs and Parking LED's perfectly.

 

Just a note that, generally speaking, blue-tinted bulbs give off less usable light than a similar non-tinted bulb, if you care about maximum light output. If you just want the HID appearance, the blue-tinted bulbs are good for that... but I'd rather have light, myself.

More info from Daniel Stern Lighting Consultancy and Supply

 

That may be true but I personally like the reflective quality the whiter light reflects off signs and animal eyes. I find it much easier to see at night for me personally. This may not be the case for everyone though.
Also being in such a small car I like my lighting to stand out. I def. notice a big difference now that I have a strong looking HID look not as many cars pull our in front on me. With standard bulbs they tend to blend in to other lights (Street lights, house lights, other car lights). With a more prominent whiter light people notice you easier. I've been told many times people see me coming a lot easier now I have different bulbs. That alone makes it worth it to me.

 

What is the best bulb for the money? I don't care about color tint. Just something for better visibility and reasonably priced. $70 seems steep for fog or headlight bulbs. Is that reasonable? I really don't know.

 

I've gotten Silvania silverstar ultras for $50. Piaa are usually around the same price.
My Nokya's were only $25. Don't know how long they will last but I've had them for 3 months now and still going strong.

As a side note I have a set Silverstar Ultra's and a set of PIAA Plasma GT-X for my car still. I had the Silverstars in for 6 months and worked great but I wanted a different color light. I tried the PIAA GT-X but they were too purple for my taste thus I now have the Nokya's. They are the perfect color and performance I was looking for. I'm keeping the other sets as backups.

 

They operate just fine with them... still give off the yellowish glow.

I, however, disabled my DRL's, if I'm gonna run my PIAA's, I didn't wanna run em at halfsies. Took 5 min, super easy to do.

https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/2nd-...ng-lights.html

 

The Philips X-Treme power is about $35-$40 from the site posted earlier (depending on the exchange rate, because they're based in the UK), and about $45 from a US dealer (CandlePower). The Philips X-Treme power, along with the Osram NightBreaker, are pretty much the top 2 bulbs for light output at the stock wattage.

A step down from those two bulbs are the GE NightHawk, Philips Vision Plus, Narva RangePower +50, Osram Silverstar... but they're not much cheaper than the above 2.

I've had Sylvania Silverstars, GE NightHawks, and the Philips X-Treme power on different cars at different times -- I thought the Silverstars were great, until it rained; rain seems to absorb the bluish white light a lot more than the normal white light (also, they burned out in about 2 years). I was pretty happy with the GE Nighthawks, seemed almost as bright as the Silverstars but held up better in the rain (still going after a year). I think the X-Treme power are brighter than either of the others, but I'm not sure how long they're going to last.

Here's a comparison of the OEM, Philips Vision Plus, and Philips X-Treme power from a civic forum: http://www.civicforums.com/forums/19...-h4-bulbs.html