In lighting, what's most important is beam pattern and light output NOT color. People are often fooled into buying "colored bulbs" like bluish PIAA bulbs or Eurolite or other bulbs like that. The reason they are fooled is because they see those bluish/purpleish HID lights and think "blue is bright". But the Blue/purple that HID lights produce is just a BYPRODUCT. The light they really produce is about 4000-6000K color--very white. If you look straight on into an HID light the color is actually very white--it isn't until you look at them at an angle do you actually see the blue color.

Colored bulbs are bad because they use a filter to produce the color. If you put a filter over a bulb you ALWAYS reduce light output. So what do you think the light output of those colored bulbs are? They are very low--it's simply the color that decieves people into thinking they are actually bright.

There are a couple of light tests on PIAA bulbs, and they generally say the same thing. That the PIAA bulb has lower light output at every point in it's pattern compared to a STOCK bulb. They put a blue filter over the bulb to make it look blue, then they fool around with the filament placement to try to make it brighter--screwing up the whole beam pattern. Is that $80 well spent?

So the choice is up to you--do you want a bulb that looks "cool" and blue? Or do you want one that truly puts out more useable light? If you want a blue bulb you can shell out $80 for a PIAA bulb or $10 for a no name bulb... they'll be the same.

After doing some research there aren't too many good options for halogen bulbs. You can always do an HID conversion which is great, but you must be VERY careful with the beam pattern that it puts out, not to mention that it costs $500+ for a conversion. You don't want light all over the place, you want it where it belongs. Your other option is to get a new bulb. After talking to a lot off people, I've come to the conclusion that there are only 2 bulbs worth buying. The Philips VisionPlus bulbs, and the Osram SilverStar bulbs.

These 2 bulbs put out roughly 50% more light than stock. They have a great beam pattern (nice and wide), project light a farther distance, and have a pretty sharp cutoff line. The Philips VP bulbs are not availble in the US, but you can get them very cheap from http://www.autolamps-online.com ($28 shipped for a pair of H4 bulbs). They only come in H4 and H7 sizes.

I believe there are Osram SilverStar bulbs in the US, but they are DIFFERENT than the European version--the European version is much better I hear so don't buy the US version. They come in sizes 9004, 9005, 9006, and 9007 and are cheap too.

When you first install these bulbs, the difference will not be noticible at first because they don't have that really white/blue/purple color that you are expecting. But if you drive around at night, you will really notice the difference.

Another product that I really like is the Catz Zeta kit. What they do is bump up the voltage to make the bulbs brighter. The advantage is that you will have significantly brighter bulbs with the same beam pattern. But the disadvantage is that your bulbs will burn out faster. I am using these with my VisionPlus bulbs and it looks GREAT. It can compare to a HID light system in light output, beam pattern, and cutoff line (not color--again, don't get fooled). I suppose that cheaper means of doing this will have the same effect, ie. heavy duty headlight harness (www.suvlights.com) but I have not personally tried this.

A compromise bulb of color/light output would be the Philips BlueVision bulb. They will put out a slight bluish tint without sacrificing light output. They will basically put out the stock light output with a blue tint. Don't underestimate the stock light output, it is actually quite decent.

---EDIT---
Oh, and if you want to see a REAL good example of excellent headlights, check out the S2000 headlights. They are supposedly the best in the entire auto industry. Very bright, minimal byproduct color (not as blue as audis, bmws), and EXTREMELY sharp cutoff line.



[Modified by electronspeeder, 1:19 AM 4/10/2002]

 

Nice research

I bought these bulbs a while ago and they have been working great:

http://www.sylvania.com/auto/silverstar.htm

I believe they are the ones you are refering to, and they are just as you explained, bright, but this brightness is noticable on the road and not so much on the light housing. Beam pattern is good but not exceptional...


[Modified by SOMEguyFROMoregon, 8:54 PM 4/9/2002]

 

well stated speedy !, good work. thanks for the link on the bulbs, not a bad idea.

Joey

 

Do you own a DC2 Integra?

Mattj

 

No, you can probably tell that I have a car with H4 bulbs. I have a 00 Si.





[Modified by electronspeeder, 1:14 AM 4/10/2002]

 

Thats what I gathered. Does everything above apply in all situations? The reason I question it is, the PIAA bulbs seem to produce a brighter light/have more output and provide better visability than the stock bulbs in the projectors of a DC2/94+integra.

Mattj

 

Everything should apply. Though, I'm not quite sure how the lens in the integra housing effects the beam pattern of a bad bulb.

 

Just curious, did you buy them in the US, or did you have them ordered from Europe, I hear that the european version is quite different and much better.

 

I bought them in the US. What is the difference?

 

I believe the US ones are color coated, and that the European ones are not and have more light output. I'm not sure if the beam pattern is different or not.


[Modified by electronspeeder, 1:22 AM 4/10/2002]

 

i can vouche for the s2k lights, when I was driving it back to LA from Ohio, in the midddle of nowhere at 4am it was SO AMAZING to see just how sharp the cut off of the light was, it was scary, but cool


fais

 

What is the power draw of the two bulbs you mentioned? I don't want to crack or damage my headlight housings.

 

Yeah, being behind the wheel of an S2000 driving at night is a one-of-a-kind experience. I love driving it around in a dark neighborhood and watching the cutoff line being projected sharply against houses and stuff.

 

^^^

 

Good point, I forgot to mention that. I believe they are stock bulb wattage. Something like 55-60W.

 

Hmmm... my stock bulbs (HB4) are made by Philips (Dutch company!!!). What kind are those then?

 

Catz Zetas.. LOL! I've seen those compared to HIDs and they absolutely SUCK *** in comparision. We'll also compared a set locally against a DC2 with PIAAs and the cats barely put out any extra light output (but looked "cooler"...)


As long as the s2k is not following you.. they are VERY blue when they are in my rear view mirrors and bounce around like a ****. very annoying car to roll at night.

[Modified by electronspeeder, 1:19 AM 4/10/2002][/QUOTE]

 

That was kind of confusing, but I think i know what you meant. The PIAA bulbs SUCK so bad. If you think that the PIAA output was the same as the CATZ output, or even with the STOCK light output, your judgement is severly impaired.


The reason they do that is because of the very very very sharp cutoff line. That's the only downfall to the s2k headlights, if you are in front of them, it sometimes looks like they are flashing you.