I was reading up on replacing headlight bulbs with those such as the SilverStar or the PIAAs. I wanted to pass on what I have learned from working with photographic studio lights. This information may or may not be of value to you:

Upgrading your bulbs does not neccessarily mean that you'll get greater output. Unless you have a Photographic Light Meter to measure your output, you won't be able to eye it. When you are upgrading to your bulbs, the greatest change you are making is in the color temperature. Daylight color temperature is 5200k, and when you hear about HID bulbs, you're looking at around 7000k - 8500k.

What does this translate to? 5200k is within our eye's visible color temperature. When you start hitting 8500k, you're veering away from the visible spectrum and despite having higher output capacity your illumination color temperature is so towards the cool side, you end up losing visibility.

Same thing with computer monitors, the ISO standard is 6500k, if you switch it to 9000k, you will see it turn bluer..

So when you are buying bulbs, consider the color temperature, and consider the light ouput as well. Standard terminology used for light output are: Lux, Lumens, or Candles Per Square Foot.

Personally, I would never exceed 7000k in color temperature. Any cooler and I usually start getting a headache and on rainy days, it ends up reflecting that spectrum off the ground instead of illuminating it, so you see buildings and signs above being lit, yet your visibility is down the drain.

This can be well illustrated with a regular flashlight vs an LED flashlight. On LED you get a lot of output, but the light is pretty useless. Try illuminating your engine and you will see yourself putting the flashlight so close to get the proper illumination. Then compare it with a standard bulb of equal brightness.

 

Yes color temputure is one thing, but additional foot candels are another. Just because 2 lights are the same wattage and color temp doesn't mean they have the same "brightness"

 

Bulbs like Philips Vision Plus and Osram Silverstar had been tested to put out more light than stock. I tried a set of Philips Vision Plus on my previous car with H7. Light output was noticeably brighter compared to stock.

Check out http://www.powerbulbs.co.uk/ THey offer free shipping too!

-Sherman

 

I personally dont believe that "performance" bulbs are worth the price and the fact they need to be replaced more often than stock.

 

with halogen bulbs.. theres a tendency with higher kelvin rated bulbs like phillips etc.. to show a brighter/nicer color but really... emits less light onto the road than standard bulbs...

 

not sure about that

i have silverstars in all my cars and i haven't had to replace them for 2-4 years now

-joe

 

That's just you. I am going from what I have read from multiple forum members on different forums.

 

so you still are using hearsay to support your claim..

enough people say the same lie over and over and it becomes the truth on the internet

-joe

 

So why would people lie about Silverstars burning out prematurely? What do they have to gain by this? Do they have stock in PIAA bulbs?

 

nobody forcing you to use silverstars

i have 4 cars and none of them needed a replacement. my mechanic puts them in his customers cars (over 100 cars) and none had burn out

-joe

 

GUYS!! THEY'RE JUST BULBS!

Just git over and admit the fact that you just like the whiter light that you get with premium bulbs!

You aren't getting more output out of an equivalent wattage bulb.
If you want more output you HAVE to put more into the + side of the equation to have more coming out the = side.

 

Eh

As long as they look cool, who cares, LOL. I use www.luminicsbulbs.com myself, (scott) the owner has got some GREAT bulbs and i love em!