Hey just wondering if you guys know of any good headlight bulbs for better visibility. I have just the stock h3/h4 ones that came with the jdm headlights and they suck *** most of the time. I would like brighter ones but none of that blue/purple crap. Any recommendations?


[Modified by dvp95, 9:51 PM 1/7/2003]

 

I use the 110W variety that have the blue colored glass works very well

 

Do I just look for something with a higher wattage? What about that kelvin reading? Is that just color?

 

higher wattage with a blue colored bulb and i high Kelvin number such as 9300. the blue tint helps give the light a softer look to on coming cars and allows you to have a lot of light to see by....

No offence here just run over to your local rice shop and they should have them in stock.

 

I use 80watts APEC super whites they are bright and good at night.
i also have for lights that are 80 watts blubs in it makes everything stands out.

Can hondas hold 80+ watts????

 

Show me if I'm wrong but I read a study that indicated that a blue tint on a bulb will only make the light less visible because it's filtering out the blue spectrum in the light where as if the blue tint wasn't there on the bulb, you'd have the full range of spectrum of light which equals out to more light. It also indicated that you actually have less vision with blue color compared to yellow. Another thing it mentioned is that blue light scatters a lot more compared to yellow. So it's actually a lot more brighter for oncoming traffice becasue the light doesn't aim down but iluminates everywhere.

So basically, getting a blue tint light bulb does no good.

 

its not the "blue" color that does the change. i always saw it as like fire. its burns a bit brighter and stronger so it has a more of blueish tint. i always thought it had to do with somethign in the blub. not just paint..

also you have to watch out. i had this problem twice... when i went with hight watt bulbs.. my little housing would start to melt and it then would become loose and the blub wouldnt connect anymore

 

I can confirm this one... My passanger side harness melted on one prong.. and the wire got all frayed out... and I was having alot of trouble with the light not coming on... i was forced to wiggle the wire everytime I wanted to drive at night.

Since then I have replaced the harness.. not with a stock one though, I bought the 30$ high watt harness.

 

any chance u can convert it to use USDM 9005/9006 bulbs and drop 9005 converted low beams in there?

 

How about the Sylvana Silverstars? has anyone had any experience with them?

 

woah it was my passenger side too and same prong.. woah lol
and i had to wiggle it at night

after i while i just drove with brights on.since it was only one light and two on the other. not to many ppl noticed

 

uhh the more the light spreads out, the LESS there is to blind you. I have had the higher wattage bulbs in my car for a while now (at least 2 years) and there has been no deformity or damage to the housing or the wiring. On coming light is annoying when it is not properly alligned and also when it has a tight pattern. The Accords have an excellent dispersal pattern compared to other cars in the same price range and even better than more higher priced ones

 

hehehe
that's funny!

I had to wiggle it EVERY night...
and it was the ground wire that frayed..

 

CarolinaAccord,

I needed better lighting so I decided to upgrade my bulbs. I did some searches and found a few people ranting and raving about the new Sylvania Silverstars. So I went and picked up a pair today, not hoping for a miracle, but expecting at least a 20% improvement in brightness. Boy was I disappointed. These bulbs were not brighter and, if anything, may have been slightly dimmer due to the bluish coating (and I'm not talking about the color temperature). For those of you seeking a higher color temperature, these bulb are still NOT for you. I was unable to find a difference compared to my stock halogens.

Bottom line is, and I regret having to say this because Sylvania is a reputable company, but THESE BULBS ARE JUNK. These bulbs don't live up to their claims. I
realize, however, that I can only speak for the 9006 low-beam version because that is what I bought. Who knows, maybe the 9003's (dual filament for Civics) have a better effect.

I am also aware of people buying the 9005 high-beam version and converting them to fit in their low-beam sockets. Then you hear of some of the same people complaining that the bulb blew out on them or had melting issues such as those mentioned above. One thing these people may not realize is that the 9005 version is, after all, a high-beam bulb and therefore operates at a higher wattage. They are simply not made to stay on and used as often as the low-beam 9006's. So, if you use them as your low-beams, chances are they will blow out.

 

OH **** MOTHER Fer. I JUST TYPED A 3 paragrpah response to this and accidently hit the back button on my mouse and lost it all. CRAP!!!!!

Here is the short summary: the hyperwhite ricer bulbs are best for night driving, and bad weather. Yellow is too weak.

 

LOL.
I would have to beg to differ unless those "hyperwhite" bulbs have as little blue as possible. I've driven at night next to people who have these "hyperwhite" bulbs in their car and I find it amusing when I look at their beam pattern on the ground and realize they can't see a thing. For one, these hyperwhite bulbs have a tint coating on them that inhibits some light produced by the bulb from passing through. This causes part of the "dimness." And second, some hyperwhites are so blue that the usable light gets absorbed into the dark asphalt. The darker the asphalt (e.g. when rain soaks the ground), the worse the effect.

Yellow, on the other hand, is proven to be better for bad weather. This is the reason companies such as PIAA and Catz make yellow fog/driving lights. This effect is also applied to yellow streetlights/lightposts outside your home, and the yellow lenses on glasses worn by athletes.


[Modified by Caramel Turtle, 7:14 PM 1/7/2003]

 

actually thats the completely wrong advice. rain/ snow/ fog you want yellow. (like is300 fog lights) for just night driving, you want white, but not hyperwhite bulbs, because as far as I know every single brand uses a blue film to get the color, reducing the output.

 

i have the 9006 sylvania silverstars, and found an improvment over the 'Laser White' bulbs i got a ricer a shop. they put more light out, and i can see my light on the road, even when its raining. i could not do that with the 'laser white' bulbs. so if u want a good bulb, dont go with hyper white, there just not good. as for sylvania silverstars, there is a little blue/purplish tint, but not as much as the ricer bulbs. personally, i like the silverstars better.

 

I am not going to type the big response again. But my information is based on both formal lab testing in science, and real world testing.

ok, well, here is some of it...

The reason yellow is more effective in weather, is because you can filter out only yellow much easier than a lot of other colors in the spectrum. Yellow cuts thru rain well because it is so pure. White light, or unfilitered light will difract when it hits the rain droplet because of the prism effect. Therefore, yellow is better, right?

Wrong!

Yellow compromises a comparably small portion of the light spectrum emited by the average halogen bulb. When you filter out all the other colors, you are left with a bulb that emites a very pure, but comparitivly weak light output.

On the other hand, the ricer hyperwhite bulbs(the good ones, the 100w ones) which have blue tint on the glass, are only filtering out yellow light. The result is an extreemly large output of light, composed of mostly white light(the blue is there to filter out the yellowish colors, the goal is white light, which provides superior contrast, and better night driving).

Because of the greater output, even tho the light defracts more, it is much brighter, which is what we all want.

Conclusion is: You want hyperwhite bulbs for headlights, but yellow fogs AND hyperwhite headlights combined is probably the best bet.

 

9005 GE Superblues from wallmart, $18 for a pair and shines white light, very light blue tint on it so it doesnt reduce that much light, street legal on the package.

If the bulb blows since I'm sure the life expectancy is lower w/ the 10w extra, I'll just buy another pair. btw, I too do not want to jump into the sylvania silverstar hype. I don't see how they really claim to get so much more light, esp considering they are much more expensive (was $25/bulb, now i think its $15-20/bulb) than the bluevision/cool blues/GE superblues.

btw, about hte light temperature thing... you are wrong. standard halogens have clear glass, thus NO light is filtered out and the resultant light from the complete mixture of all emitted light is yellow. The spetrum of light is broader than the hyperwhite/white bulbs that filter light colors.

The hyperwhite bulbs filter out light colors and thus the resultant mixture is white/blue (depending on the bulb), thus there is less total light output.

I agree that the white light has a contrast more to my liking at night, but it does NOT emit more light output than standard halogens (all else equal). And in the rain, hyperwhite/white light sucks, get yellow, the yellow light shows up in the rain wheres the white/hyperwhite/blue bulbs just suck cuz u cant make **** out in the rain w/ those.


[Modified by TypeSH, 4:17 AM 1/8/2003]

 

Yes, I agree that part of the goal is white light, but let's not forget that the main goal is achieving BRIGHTER light, as in, LUMENS. Let me reiterate that the problem with most "hyperwhite" bulbs is that they aim to achieve that pure white color at the expense of output in lumens. That is precisely why, in order to regain the lumens lost by the blue coating, people such as yourself find it a nesessity to buy a 100w bulb. This is to compensate for the energy lost, which leads to the aspect of efficiency.

Truthfully, I don't understand how a 100w "ricer hyperwhite bulb," as you put it, can be considered among the "good ones" if it requires more wattage (energy) to put out nearly the same lumens as a stock halogen bulb. And let's not forget that the intense heat generated by a 100w bulb is further evidence of energy lost. Think of HID systems. These "ricer hyperwhites" are merely trying to imitate the brightness AND efficiency of HID systems. Time after time, these hyperwhites simply do not compare.

 

Thanks for all your inputs guys! Any recommendations on a brand and bulb for me? PIAA? Anything? I would rather not go with something that is too blue or purple. A little goes a long way. My lights are the h3/h4 from the jdm "style" headlights. Kinda gay because the ONLY way to change the bulb is to freaking remove my bumper AND headlight assembly!!!!!!!

 

I have those hid looks 110watts bullshit too..
I am switching over to hid(hopefully soon )
mcculloch 330shipped.

 

Thing is, my ricer white 100w bulbs are nearly double the brightness of my stock bulbs. And I am referring to lumens, NOT whiteness. I also did the brights conversion, where you put the 9006 hi beam bulbs in your low beams. I constantly get comments like "how did you get your HIDs to look that good without a projector housing."

 

PIAA = overpriced. get any reasonable priced ones, GE superblues work fine for me. Sylvania and phillips have cheaper bulbs than PIAA