mugen si

I just installed the Phillips X-treme Power's. Below are a few comparison shots of the X-treme Powers(Driver Side) compared to the Sylvania Silverstars(Passenger Side).

After a test drive, I'm not too impressed with the Phillips XP's. I feel the the Silverstars shined farther down the road and were brighter with the high beams on. I am not thrilled at all with the XP's with the brights on. Although they do have exceptionally bright Dims.

Final Thoughts: If you spend alot of your time driving at night with the low beams on, get a set of Phillips XP's. If you do alot of traveling at night and utilize your birghts all the time, as I do, chose something else. My next set may have to be a set of Osram NightBreakers...I just wish they lasted longer.

simenace

good info! passenger side is def. brighter and looks alot better.

Caveman74

Silverstars suck. They burn out quick

mugen si

I've been using this pair of silverstars for roughly a year and a half. Just had the low beam driver side burn out so i opted for the XP's. Like all performance bulb, they do not last long. I expected the XP's to out perform the Silverstars by a lot, but I expected wrong.

enzomanic

its because philips has higher kelvin than sylvania the higher the kelvin the less light output

mugen si

Please explain further. What I've noticed in the light bulb market is that everything is a scamming sales pitch stating that they produce the brightest bulbs. I guess it's all up to personal preference and what type of application the bulb will be used in.

sayyoooon

kelvin is the temperature. the higher it is, the less light it puts out. i.e. 4300k vs 8000k (white vs blue), the 4300 will have far better light output because the temp is lower.

1.5Slowmatic

in mine and my parents cars, they are all running silverstars or silverstar ultras. One car has had them 4 years now, is that quick? As long as you dont touch the bulb they are fine.

builthatch

toshiba HIR bulbs ftw, honestly.

the light doesn't look cool, but those bulbs simply put out the most light. but then again you are only limited to 9005/6 fitment, and they are pretty damn expensive. i've had them in my mazda since 1/08, in my high beams and in my fogs. my fogs are on for every minute of the 20k i've driven in two years and the HIR are still going strong. my high beams are FRIGHTENINGLY bright. again, not as cool of a light as my OE HID low beams, but for high beams i want the most light without glare or dazzle, and these are it.

of the mass market bulbs, i'd use the hella performance xenon bulbs before anything else. i've had them in my wife's si since 2007 and they work wonderfully. i also have them in my e-code h4 conversions in my old montero, but they leave a slightly blue reflection in the housing when the lights are off. supposedly sylvania made the ultras to compete with these, as the hella bulbs outperformed the 'normal' silverstars.

nightbreakers are cool but the fitments are pretty limited, no?

1.5Slowmatic

HIR doesnt come in a fitment for Hondas, only Tegs since they hae 9005/9006.

builthatch

WAT!

92+ hondas that use 9005/9006- all accords, all preludes, 04-05 si, all 06+ civics and a bunch more (like pilot, later gen accord 2dr, odyssey, etc) who use h11 for low beams but 9005 for highs.

1.5Slowmatic

i meant 92-00 civic fitment since thats what 90% of this site is based on

mugen si

this wouldve been some good info to know before I installed these useless bulbs. I know temps play a big part in a bulb's lighting capabilities, just didn't know how much! Now I know what to try next.

ILS_09

Very very true. Somehow, people who tried these types of bulbs never had them last longer than a year and a half. The life expectancy of these bulbs (preferably the Sylvania Ultra Night Vision, the most expensive one, from my personal experience) tend to have a pretty decent life expectancy. Have mine for both low and high beams for about two years now and it's running fine. A possible reason for the stereotypical low life expectancy for these bulbs could be due to excessive tampering, incorrect installation, defects in installation, or other outside environmental factors. It is also due to people who miss-use these bulbs at the wrong time. I often see people have their lights on during the day time or during situation where you do not need to turn on your lights or at least not yet. So far, I haven't found any other halogen bulbs that outperform the Sylvania. I strongly believe that Sylvania has the farthest light output as well as a pretty wide width output as well. In some cases, some people can't seem to utilize these over the counter bulbs and as of a result get HID instead. Sometimes, the problem isn't the light bulb, it could be because you need to adjust your headlight. Take integra for example. Most of the tegs I had come across do not know that their headlights need adjustment. I often find them too much to the left/right or the light output is too close to the from bumper. I spent about 1-2hrs adjusting the projectors on the integra after installing the Sylvania. When I was done I was very satisfied with the overall result. Base on my headlight adjustment, my light output was farther than HID with a very clean cutoff although it is not as bright as HID in close range.

builthatch

your point that the lights being used more will decrease bulb life is true, naturally, but to call daytime use "misuse" is very questionable.

i never drive without my lights on...since the first trip i took behind the wheel in 1996. even as i eventually got cars with DRLs, i still had my low beams on in the day time. lights help contrast vs. everything else in the daytime and help alert people to you being there. seriously. it's alot harder for someone to "not see you" (like they always say after an accident) if you are coming at them with lights on. this is especially true if you have intense lights like OEM HID or some sort of "brighter" performance bulbs in your housing.

mugen si

After using these new XP's for a few weeks, here's what I think about them. They have a great low beam. They shine very bright and the output spreads widely across the road. The high beams on the other hand are a complete joke (yes, my headlights are correctly adjusted). The output of them is very dim and distant objects become difficult to see. I do a lot of traveling and night driving where my high beams are always in use. I keep contemplating whether or not I should ditch these bulbs, but once I flip on the dims...the decision becomes harder

I may try a set of Phillips Crystal Vision Ultra's next or go back to the silverstar's/silverstar ultras. Below is a pic of the output of the Phillips CVU's. First pic: Dims. Second pic: Brights.

2000EJ8

i think the light output on those are very good

mugen si

Agreed. The crystal vision ultras don't shine as bright as the xp's when comparing dims, but they are much much brighter than the xp's when utilizing the brights.

builthatch

assuming you drive an 8th gen Si-

if you like the low beams of the bulbs you currently have, keep them in the lows i strongly recommend (despite the high cost) getting Toshiba HIR bulbs for your high beams. By nature of the design, they simply put out more light than any other halogen bulb capsule.

i can give you a reference if you need them, PM me if you are interested.

mafia

I Had 2 sets on two of my cars, prelude (silverstars) and Integra (ultra) The Prelude one Lasted 7 months and Integra lasted about a year but after 6-8 months they got much dimer. So for $50 less then one year. I swaped the bulbs with a HID kit. Love it (so far). P.S. I instaled the bulds without tuching them wore rubber gloves.