After driving in the rainstorm last night I realised that my headlight bulbs suck, they are the stockies that came in the car back in 96 so I can see how they are now sub-par.

So, is there a good bulb replacement for me? Its a 96 Civic EX. I have done research on HID kits and Retro-fits and it seems that the Retro-fit is the way to go, but I don't feel like doing that right now.

Also, I'd prefer just a nice white bulb instead of blue, but visibility is key here. Thanks.

 

i think sylvania has the silverstar "HID" or whatever they call it. i heard its pretty bright. I am still undecided as to whether i want to retrofit HID, i see mixed results all the time. Clear cut off lines, terribly hazey cut offs, no cut off at all. I have to do some more research before i consider it.

 

in my experience, the honda lights on a civic, at least the euro stock style, suck in rain... they really suck... you cannot see anything on the road, and I have silver stars... Now I love theses in dry weather... but wet is no no...

I once had a pair of light blue tint.. they blew, because of whwere I got them more than likely... but, when I had them, they were both brighter, and the tint gave me the ability to see the road lines when raining or just covered in rain, even with street lights overhead...

Draw your own conclusions.. Id like to hear a direct comparison of adding fog lights in rain, but.. eh, youve heard my experience.

 

silverstars are the best in my opinion....unless you go hid

 

Sylvabia Cool Blue or Sylvania Silverstars. I have the Cool Blue, for some reason, people flash me when I'm facing them on my low beams.

 

If your looking for replacement for stock bulbs, and want something brighter, sylvania silverstar's are the way to go.

I bought ~$100 Piaa's couple years ago (still have them) and feel like they are not as bright as stock bulbs. Since I've only heard good things regarding silverstar's, they will be my next bulbs whenever my Piaa's blow out.

 

i hear the Philips Vision Plus are supposed to be really good.

i have the silverstars. they are ok. any filament bulb is going to suck after you have been in any hid equipped car at night...

 

the silverstars i had didnt last more than 7 months, but while they lasted they were awesome. people always thought i had my high beams on...oh wait i did

 

i had 100w superwhites, then switched to drop-in hid's. man, were they bright & blinding. I eventually gave them to my bro (who put them in his euro GTi lights, with suprising goood pattern and low glare).

now im running stock lights with regular wattage sylvania bulbs (regular, not silver star) and depo fogs. properly aimed, i have to say that the lighting is really decent. it's been raining for a week straight up here and i've been fine.

 

I have SilverStars on my EM1. They work awesome.

Had them for almost 5 months now. Expensive but worth the money in my opinion.

 

Looks like The silverstars are the way to go. What bulbs do need? (never even bothered to look it up, sorry) Is it an H4 bulb?

 

I put the SilverStars in last summer in my 94. They are whiter than stock and take some getting used too if you are used to stock bulbs. It is very difficult without tests to know how much brighter they are because bulbs naturally lose brightness as they age, so replacing any old bulb with a new one will be an improvement. A few years ago I tried some of the supposed bright bulbs from a company called Eiko. Bulbs sold at O'Reilly's. They are junk, stay away from them. Sylvania makes very good quality automotive bulbs and I work for a lighting distributor that sells Philips bulbs as our main line. The Philips automotive bulbs are most likely made in Germany so they may be good, but Sylvania has the reputation. Silverstars are expensive.

 

one of my silverstars blew tonight after just about a year on the car... i'm currently looking at hid kits as the output with silverstars is still miserable.

 

idk if you missed my post but my silverstars lasted like 7 months and were like 40 for the pair i think.

silvania cool blue arent actually blue and they are what im rocking for half the price of silverstars. they are really bright and provide a clear view of the road.

 

I may try those cool blues next time because the Silverstars are very expensive and hard to prove how much brighter they really are. Thanks for the tip.

 

I had Sylvania Silverstars and cool blues, and personally I didn't think they lasted long at all. I didn't notice much difference at all, until I got new headlights. The old headlights were a little hazey, not very noticable until I put them next to my new set. With the exact same bulb I noticed a world of difference. I think maybe thats why I wasn't impressed with the output on the sylvania bulbs, because my headlights were dirty, I don't know.

 

hey bro i don't know if anyone hear has tried the raybrig bulbs in there car but i have and there damn good. my eg6 harness doesn't even go to high temps, there plasma bulbs there color rating is equal to a 5000k hid w/ half the intensity. drive behind your friends and there gonna bitch slap u in other words.last me 9 months and going w/o 1 problem. they run bought $85. i got them at wired electronics in linden,nj for bought 70. four of my friends and 1 ricer i know bought them and on 1 occasion in an ef9 they melted his harness. but great in my book.oh and stay away from nokya bulbs unless u hate ur car,and want it to set ablaze.

 

Those of you getting short life from your headlights, it may be because you touched the glass bulb when you installed it. Never touch the glass part of halogen bulbs. Always use paper or something else if you have to grab the bulb by the glass. Halogen bulbs get so hot that normally special quartz glass is used. If the natural oils from your hands get on the glass, always wipe it off, because if you don't the glass will not heat up and cool correctly where those oils are and before long the glass will fail and kill your bulb.

 

i had Silverstars on my 93 coupe before I sold it. I got the pair of bulbs from Walmart for like $40. I believe that's what I paid for them then. Last time I went to AutoZone to get oil for my oil change, i saw the Silverstars on sale for like $25

I changed it right there in the Walmart parking lot, and when i stepped back you could deffinitly see the Silverstars were actually white light compared to the stock yellowish/white light.

if you are looking for the best bang for your dollar, i think silverstars are the way to go.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 94CoupeEJ1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Those of you getting short life from your headlights, it may be because you touched the glass bulb when you installed it. Never touch the glass part of halogen bulbs. Always use paper or something else if you have to grab the bulb by the glass. Halogen bulbs get so hot that normally special quartz glass is used. If the natural oils from your hands get on the glass, always wipe it off, because if you don't the glass will not heat up and cool correctly where those oils are and before long the glass will fail and kill your bulb. </TD></TR></TABLE>

the oil on the surface of the bulb causes quick failure, not a reduction in life. trust me. i've seen bulbs shatter b/c they were touched. the oil is super heated and basically frys the glass in one spot

 

you my want to try a bulb with a yellow color to it. I know in foul weather i can see and i heard that it was a proven fact the yellow light can provide better visablity in bad weather (fog/heavey Rain/snow). Make sure that you lights are aim correctly as that might make a big diferance in how far down the road you can see. n I plan on running and HID High Beam PiAAm H3 low beam and Yellow foul weather light on EG HB. HID have the most light out put hands down. yellow (IMO) is the best in foul weather and if your drving in the city you really don't need a really good low beam (mostly for looks from where i am from)

 

Silverstar's are the shiz-nizzle-bam-snip-snap!

But seriously, I have the Silverstar lights and turn signals and I love them.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 94CoupeEJ1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I put the SilverStars in last summer in my 94. They are whiter than stock and take some getting used too if you are used to stock bulbs. It is very difficult without tests to know how much brighter they are because bulbs naturally lose brightness as they age, so replacing any old bulb with a new one will be an improvement. A few years ago I tried some of the supposed bright bulbs from a company called Eiko. Bulbs sold at O'Reilly's. They are junk, stay away from them. Sylvania makes very good quality automotive bulbs and I work for a lighting distributor that sells Philips bulbs as our main line. The Philips automotive bulbs are most likely made in Germany so they may be good, but Sylvania has the reputation. Silverstars are expensive. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Just get Sylvania Cool Blues, $17.87 a pair at Wal-Mart. My girl had my old Cool Blues, and one burnt out (after bout a year and a half of use). So I had her buy Silverstars, and I decided to put one in where the burnt out Cool Blue was. Turned them on, brand new Silverstar bulb and year and half old Cool Blue. Couldn't even see a difference. They looked the same. Shined them on the garage door, couldn't even tell the difference. After much scrutiny, I can see the Silverstar was BARELY whiter and brighter. I called my bro out (he's an expert with bulbs, and has tested many kinds) and it took him awhile to figure out which one was the Silverstar bulb. Anyways, those Silverstars lasted about a year. Expect approximately the same life span from Cool Blues. And no I didn't touch the glass on the bulbs.

I find foglights to help a little bit. I use amber foglights and they help out in the rain and fog. Try to get OEM foglights. They may be too pricey for you. Another option is to get OEM "style" foglights. They're cheaper, and their design is based on the real OEM product, which have extensive research and development behind the design as opposed to regular aftermarket foglights that have a basic generic design (notice how Pilot, Blazer, Rally etc. have the exact same designs?).

 

If its visibility in rain you want then you want PIAA GT-X H4 bulbs. Trust me I'm from the rainest city in the U.S. The good thing about the bulbs is that it is half purple half blue. For the low beam the purple color helps light reflect so you can see it the road better in the rain. The blue high beam is more of a really bright color. Also the thread earlier about yellow being used is VERY TRUE. Yellow will make driving in the rain/damp road conditons a whole lot easier. The setup in my own 96 coupe is H4 GT-X in headlight and some PIAA yellow bulbs in some round for light I got for free. Only down fall is fog lights are behind a besh grill that cuts some of the light from reaching the pavement. I have a picture of how the fog ights look from the front. Could also take a picture of lights at night. If you want, but I will need some good instrutions of how to post these pictures, read earlier ones and I'm still not too clear.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by itrhatchling &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">you my want to try a bulb with a yellow color to it. I know in foul weather i can see and i heard that it was a proven fact the yellow light can provide better visablity in bad weather (fog/heavey Rain/snow). Make sure that you lights are aim correctly as that might make a big diferance in how far down the road you can see. </TD></TR></TABLE>

I agree with the yellow light output. The human eye can discern more in yellow light than white light. All these guys running white/blue lights are doing it primarily for looks. They *think* that it's higher light output, but it's the yellow light that will be "brighter" in the sense that it's more useful.

As for HID's, I don't condone running HID's in a halogen housing. Light dispersion is not concentrated and you end up being the guy with the obnoxious headlights on the road.

If you MUST use a whiter light, try Osram Silverstars...basically the same as Sylvania, but I feel that Osram makes a better bulb.