BERT-O

Does anyone know from experience which aftermarket H4 (for civic 92-00) resemble close the CLEAR HID look.

Nothing that has the lighted-blue effect.

I have the Hyper-Industry blubs which at a distance the bulbs are too blue for me.

Now, I heard the PIAA are the closest thing to being superb clear with the extreme HID look to them.

Can anyone hear might know.

Thanks again.

Briman2021

I have PIAA Platinum series H4 bulbs, they are really good. They appear brighter than stock, I don't have scientific evidence to say they are, but they do seem to light uo the road a lot better. They don't look very blue at all, they are more white than anything. I would recommend them, I have had them for about 8 months with no problems at all.

If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to ask.

JDM EX

why even buy aftermarket bulbs if they don't enhance the cars performance, they just waste money.

VTEC

http://lighting.mbz.org

What are you after? Looks? Or real lighting performance? Pick one, as they're mutually exclusive. Also, do you want to stay street legal? Let me know, and I'll help you from there. I have lots of experience with different bulbs...

BERT-O

i'm not bother with my car performance at this time, besides its alot faster than you think

BERT-O

thanks for the link.

what i'm looking for is a stock replacement>>>brighter white(s), not the blue tinted

i don't want to bother with replacing it with REAL HID units.

yes, street legal, just the bulbs itself without having the blue effects.

i believe the PIAA's will be my best bet.

however, have you tried Koito. i also hear the bulbs are just as great as the PIAA.

money is not an issue right now. just need some simple replacement,

thank you all for replying.

dwnthehatch

iTrader: (1)

My friend bought a set of these of of ebay. No blue tint at all.



[Modified by dwnthehatch, 5:51 PM 5/26/2002]

Ricey McRicerton

I picked up a set of the PIAA japanese bulbs from a friend for 20 dollars. Not sure exactly what they are but they look very very close to the HID look. Much brighter than stock and look mostly white on the road with a very light purple tint around the edges. If you have any ?s email me!

ck279

I put in a set of the PIAA Extreme White bulbs. There is a definite differece in brightness over the stock ones. They appear bright white with just a slight touch of blue. I highly recommend them

5 watt

I think we all know that bulbs don’t make your car faster.

But seeing at night is more important because it could save your life.

thashadow

my thoughts exactly, i want some hid bulbs simply becuase my stock lights suck....and going fast and seeing at night is kind of important...

forget performance, its just practical

96 SOHC VTEC

In my opinion, aftermarket bulbs are not worth it. I have tried several brands, several different sets, and different kinds of bulbs over the years and you know what? They all have not lasted more than 6 months and they cost me a crapload to purchase. Now I just get the Superblues at Wal-Mart for 1/3 the price and the best part about them is you don't have to buy them in pairs.

MugenRD1

i have koito on one of my cars and they are nice since I got them for free and in comparision to PIAA, I still prefer PIAA cause of the color.

underrated99si

I have PIAA super plams HID's bulbs in my CTR headlights hella bright get highbeamed all the time

you2envious

Piaa Platinums

VTEC

If you want to see better at night, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you stay away from wannabe-HID bulbs.

As for the original post, I recommend any of the "30%" bulbs available from Philips, Osram Sylvania, and General Electric. They are clear bulbs with a different gas mixture and tighter filament wind. They are usually marketed as being "up to 30% brighter" and have a color temperature that is about 50K (not really noticeable) higher than a standard light bulb. However, you don't get something for nothing as the bulb life is a bit shorter than a standard bulb. Look for the names Xtravision (Sylvania), High Output (GE), or HiVisibility (Philips).

Koito Whitebeam and PIAA Super White bulbs are very similar and practically indistuinguishable in color and performance. Both bulbs have a color temperature of about 3800K or so. My father has Koito Whitebeam H4 and H3C for his headlights and foglights. We did a side by side comparison, where I had one Koito and one PIAA in my headlights. The PIAA was slightly whiter and more uniform in color, but at a glance, you couldn't tell the difference.

PIAA Super Plasmas trick the eye into thinking it's brighter because of the whiter light. They have a color temperature of about 5000K, but the on-road performance is abysmal, especially on dark asphalt and in rainy weather. I admit they look brighter, but in reality, they are not. They are illegal too, for good reason. If you want looks, go ahead and get them, but I hate driving my brother's car because it's very hard to see with those crappy bulbs. $80 is a waste of money IMO.

Also, tinted bulbs generally have a lumens output that's less than a standard bulb, due to the simple fact that the tint is subtracting some of the yellow spectrum from the total light output of the bulb.

If all you care about is real bulb performance, stick with a high-output street legal bulb available at WalMart, KMart, or any auto parts store.

If you want looks, pretty much any blue bulb will do.

If you want a compromise of decent performance and whiter light, try the street-legal FMVSS108-compliant blue bulbs available at WalMart, Kmart, or most auto parts stores. Philips BlueVision, GE Super Blue, and Sylvania Cool Blue are examples of this. They are comparable to Koito Whitebeam and PIAA Super White in terms of color (about 3550K-3800K) and are much cheaper ($17.96/pair for GE Super Blue at WalMart) and usually go for $30/pair or less. Be advised that the light is whiter than stock, and is not blue in the HID sense. The blue is merely a marketing term.

D16Z6racing

I'm using H-3 Catz bulbs in my Shark Eyes on my EG. Purplish look. I love'em. And only $45

BERT-O

yes, i also heard good things about Philips and GE bulbs as well.

again, i didn't know much about bulbs untill you supply me that link.

thank you VTEC for the supply info.

nek0

Of all the bulbs we sell at xenonhid.com Raybrig, Polarg are far popular. Yes it's expensive but using only 55w/65w stock power, it does produce close to 100w without putting strain on your vehicle. There are different output colors, some very stock looking, white, super white, plama white, blue, VERY blue, VIP purple, etc whatever you want.

KOITO...avoid those bulbs. PIAA's are ok although they aren't as white in some headlamps & applications. It's not illegal in most states as long your headlight isn't emitting excessive colors like very blue, red, green, or any color other then white/yellow. And same with the wattage, if the bulbs are using the DOT approved 55/65wattage (depending on your vehicle) it's generally not illegal. Of course if the output of the color is not the cop's likings, you can get pulled over.

It's not how much Kelvin you can get 3800K, 4300K, 5000K, it's how much of lumen intensity the bulbs produce. If you ultimately want the safety & comfort at night, I'd highly recommend HID kits...I have 'em I never wanna go back to halogen bulbs.

nek0

The store isn't open yet but I have few people that bought the Raybrig Racing Hyper Halogen personally from me & is very satisfied with the bulbs.

http://www.xenonhid.com/rayrachyphal.html

Trac226

I have the PIAA Super Plasma Blue which is definately a lot brighter than stock and it has a blueish/purplish tint (which i wasn't expecting). I bought my friend a Nokya bulb set($60), and they were alright until someone jacked 1 of them, I then bought my friend PIAA Xtreme Whites($80), and they are brighter with a slight blue tint. The PIAA Super Whites don't have the blue cap and I think they are the closest to white. I like mine a lot and I think they were worth it.

VTEC

All those claims of 55w = 110w are just that...claims. If it was true, then every bulb company would have a super bulb like that! In reality, it's just a marketing gimmick. The ads may say that the bulb's performances approaches that of HID...well, it's kinda true...it approaches but never comes close. CAVEAT EMPTOR!

From my father's experience, the Koitos are reliable. They were installed on his RX7 in September 1999. They've held up longer than any of the four PIAA sets various members of my family have used (18months was how long my PIAA Super White lasted before one burned out). Koitos supposedly manufacture a lot of OEM lights (ie Toyota Celica) so I would assume they are good. However, my only experience is with my dad's, so I really can't agree/disagree with the previous post about the Koitos.

FYI, H4 bulbs (PIAA, Raybrig, etc) are technically illegal. Why? H4 is a bulb regulated for motorcycle use. In reality, it's not a big deal...I myself use H4 bulbs. In fact, some companies label their bulbs with both HB2/9003 (car designation) and H4 (motorcycle designation). They are somewhat compatible...a true H4 will fit a 9003 housing, but a true 9003 won't fit a true H4 housing. But it's to a point where there isn't any "true" housings any more...either bulb will fit the other housing.

I don't see how a Super Plasma Blue bulb is brighter than stock (unless it's really high wattage). The whiteness plays tricks on your eyes, further stimulating them and making you think they are brighter. However, reflective viewing (ie, behind the wheel) will show that the actual lumens output of a stock wattage PIAA Super Plasma bulb is less than stock, and you don't need any special equipment to verify this. Just take a drive, especially in the rain, and you will see the difference.

HID retrofits are illegal, and don't believe the ebay hype about 10,000K or whatever. There is no such thing as a Philips kit. There are kits utilizing Philips components, but they're not endorsed by Philips.

HIDs generally don't work well in a housing designed for a filament-sourced light. The housing's dispersal (reflector or projector) design wasn't designed for it. However, it is possible to have an HID with a good beam pattern and no stray lights, but usually, you'll have to buy many kits or modify your housings...it's a trial and error thing.

I'm not knocking anyone...I'm stating the somewhat negative stuff about aftermarket headlighting...it's up to you to decide if you want to do it or not. Do your research. I myself use PIAA Xtreme White H4 and H3, which is technically illegal.

http://lighting.mbz.org

http://fmvss108.tripod.com

http://www.lighting.philips.com (click on Automotive Forum near the bottom of the left-hand menu)

Caveat emptor!

civicgsr19

I have a o-t question, i bought the PIAA xtreme whites about 3 mounth ago and one of the low beams burned out (thank god) i hated those things but i paid 45$$ new so i figured i better put them in my car so i didnt feel like i spent the money, i hated them because if you look at the headlight at night or even in the day you could see the buld glass was blue, well a long story shot i bought the sylvia xtra vision which i am really happy with, <U>ALOT</U> brighter than my PIAA's but the question is is thewre a warrentee, the low beam burned out and you can see the filiment inside f'ed up, and i made sure that i cleaned them with alcohol before i put them in, will anyone warentee them???

nek0

True, no after-market HID kits are DOT compliant, therefore it is ILLEGAL, not street legal, only for off-road/showroom use only BUT we all know that It really helps if you have projector headlights since beam pattern is fixed, the cutoff is not as sharp as the OEM HID's on Benz and other cars but the glare is not as bad as fixing the ones on non-projectors. I have 4300K kit with Philips ballast but it's a pain adjusting and making a shield for a non-projector headlamps. If there was a way to get a e-code headlamps for my Integra, I know the cutoff would be more sharper & reduce some glares.

Ok. The 10,000K kits, it's all about the color. Whether you like it or not, 7,000K kits and 9,000K kits do exist. I'm not saying they're brighter but the color is what they say it is. It's what they put in the HID bulbs, some of the newers 2nd & 3rd generation HID bulbs inject other gases then Xenon. "K" simply stands for Kelvin (measure of color temperature) so if they say it's a 9,000K blue kit, I believe it, I've seen them but if they claim "Philips" kit, the other member's right about this. It's either they utilize the Philips ballast or the bulbs. This is the reason why I like the HID Plus made by SPW. They utilize Hella ballasts (from Germany) and Philips bulbs with quality heavy-duty wiring. The color they claim is true. Of course the lumen intensity varies depending on the model *and wish I knew for all of them* but if you have a light meter it's pretty easy to measure them.

FifthGearOnline

i have the phillips Super White bulbs....they are a little whiter, and they work.....