Silverstar headlight bulbs

[KCinBR]

I replaced the bulbs in my headlights last night, trying to get more light on the road without spending mega bucks.

I bought the Silverstar by Sylvania at wal-mart, figured I could take them back if the were not as I expected, especially since they were almost $40.

Anyway, I drove to work this morning at 5am and was pleasantly surprised at the difference the new bulbs made. The light is whiter, not the blue color, and really made a big difference in being able to see the road.

Just a little info that may be of some help to others like myself who don't see as well as they used to, and dont want to do the H4 upgrade.

[DUK]

Thanx for the info KC. I was looking at these the other day and wondered if they worked. BTW How are you doing? Haven't talked to you in a while.

[911 in SC]

KC,

I put silverstars in H4s over the Christmas holidays and was also pleasantly surprised. I agree, not 'blue' at all. I was able to clean the headlight buckets at the same time. Much more focused light! Heck, I was happy to get the headlight buckets out finally! My next small project will be to install relays for the headlights.

I cleaned and replaced the bulbs in the taillights too. Very satisfying!

Later,
Mike

[JBO]

I thought 88's had H4's? These are very good bulbs and are a big improvement. I have them in my BMW.

[911 in SC]

88's came with H5s in the US. I'm not sure what the RoWs came with that year.

[Oh Haha]

You fellas have a part number for the Silverstars? I have H4's and would like to upgrade.
Thanks,

[KCinBR]

I think the number on the bulbs was 9004, if you have H4's I;m not sure if it would be the same.

Hey Duke, how's your Hot Rod project comming?

[scottb]

KC -- Are the bulbs direct (drop-in) replacements for the stock bulbs, or did you have to modify anything?

Thanks!

[Bearded Viking]

Sylvania has a few different 9004 models though. I'm using the Silverstar 9004 STs. These throw white light, but there is a model above this (XT?), but I noticed the bulb had a very slight blueish tint to it. I wanted to stay away from the wanna be HID l00k.

I cleaned the inside of my H5s using rubbing alcohol and installed new desiccant packs. Happy with the results.

No modifications needed for these bulbs. I also installed the Sucro Relay.

[KCinBR]

The bulbs are direct replacement, witn no mods. And the bulb does have a slight blue tint to it but the light it gives off is white.

[JBO]

So H5's are not as good as H4's? Since 5 is higher than 4, I would have thought that the newer H5's were better. Learn something new everyday.

I could not find the H4's in Silverstars at Wally World, though they had some bulbs with "real zenon gas" made by Pilot. I did not buy those, so don't know if they are any good.

[3.2 CAB]

I installed the SilverStars in mine last year... Amazing difference!!! No wiring mods needed, straight plug and play set-up.

[911 in SC]

My H4s were direct replacement too. I bought mine at Advanced Auto. The bulbs do have a blue tint but give a very white light. I understand that any tint is 'reducing' light output, which isn't good, but the lighting is much better, IMO.

I think the lighting will be better once I install relays too. To do list...

Later,
Mike

[Monza_dh]

Are the Silverstar's stock wattage for the H5's or higher??

[Porsche virgin]

Did a quick search on these. Take a look at this thread from Miata.net. The life of the bulbs sounds short.

http://www.miata.net/products/lights/sylvania.html

[cashflyer]

Originally posted by KCinBR
I think the number on the bulbs was 9004...

Originally posted by JBO
So H5's are not as good as H4's?

Just FYI (fwiw):
The number 9004, 9005, 9006, (etc) are not bulb part numbers from any specific manufacturer, but are rather they designate the type of bulb.

I knew that much from working at a parts store years ago, but I tried to find a good chart that shows them all. This is what I found, but it is a little lacking.

H3: 55w
H4: 60/55w
H7: 55w
9003: 65/55w (dual element, hi/lo)
9004: 65/45w (dual element, hi/lo)
9005: 60w (single element, hi)
9006: 51w (single element, lo)
9007: 65/55w (dual element, hi/lo)

Wattages shown are the designed wattages. I guess we can consider them "minimums" now since most aftermarket bulbs produce more light intensity than the original designations.


Something IMPORTANT to consider:

Sometimes, the increased light intensity is a function of better technology. But sometimes the increased light intensity is a function of having installed a higher wattage bulb.

Since WATT=AMPxVOLT, and since VOLT is a (mostly) constant value in our cars, then higher WATTS means you are pulling MORE AMPS.

Install a relay so that you don't melt your wires or set your car afire.

[911 in SC]

Just for the record, the Silverstars I installed (H4s) were stock wattage - 60/55, or at least that what they are claimed to be. I still think we all need to install relays, personally though.

Mike

[RoninLB]

Headlight utopia?

Originally posted by Chnaane
My favorite 60/55 is the Osram ultra high efficiency 60/55; I have been getting them from Candlepower . Info sheet on them is here

As far as PIAA goes, my experience matches Stern's advice (though I don't rant quite the way he does about it ): PIAA is a marketing company. Their quality and performance are poor, because they spend all their $$$ not on actual R&D but instead on fancy packaging, glossy catalogs and getting their name plastered on race cars. They price their stuff high so people will buy into the notion that they're getting "professional grade" equipment.

For what it's worth, the comparative H4 bulb tests AutoExpress recently did in England seem to validate my experience (and my choice of 60/55 H4 bulb...!) Be careful not to trip on the "name game" that Osram/Sylvania plays. They sell a blue bulb in North America and call it the "Sylvania Silver Star". In the rest of the world, that bulb is called the "Osram Cool Blue", and another bulb is available called "Osram Silver Star", which has no officially-imported equivalent in a Sylvania package (I guess Candlepower brings them in unofficially). This "Osram Silver Star" bulb has uncolored clear glass and high-output filaments, unlike the US "Sylvania Silver Star" (rest of world "Osram Cool Blue") which has blue glass.

The URLs for the AutoExpress bulb tests are

Standard and blue bulbs incl. PIAA

High efficiency "plus 30" type bulbs

Super High efficiency "plus 50" type bulbs

The site gets uppity and demands that you register if you want to view more than two pages. I just fed it phony name/address info and it swallowed it happily and let me see the third page.

I don't wanna sound like a stooge for Candlepower, but I've gotten cool stuff from them that I haven't found anywhere else. I got some super nice halogen reverse bulbs (for the back up lights) not like any I've ever seen. They're not the 55-watt cemented-together ones I've seen in parts stores; they are a 35-watt (therefore safe for stock wiring and the plastic housing) 1-piece item made in Germany, and they give an enormous help in backing up at night. Part number on those is P-796. And they have P-3496 and P-3497 high-efficiency/high-output brake/tail/park/turn bulbs that have brightened those lights up nicely. I think Stern might be working there, not sure though.

Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm a geek...

also another good one.
911 Headlight 101