Led bulb install

Not to keep on beating a dead horse, and I'm not.. but I wanna throw something out there to see if anyone else has had the same thought since we are on the topic of "optimal night illumination".

I have not been too keen on the LED headlights trend, and even to a degree thought that halogen Sylvania Silverstars had a flaw. Bluer/cooler lights (4000K and higher) are absolute shit at night when it's raining and you are driving in an area with street lights. Something about the reflections from the wet road, overhead lights, street sights, other cars headlights.. and it looks like your own vehicle isn't even shining any light forward.

But yellower bulbs work great in those conditions and will illuminate even the blackest asphalt that is wet. The OEM fog lamps work great in this regard.

There has even been research on it. At one time in history, France mandated very yellow headlamp bulbs although the reason is not certain. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_yellow

I'm curoius if anyone here has deliberately run yellower lamps/lenses?

 

The advice is: You're doing it wrong. The bulbs you're using are not meant for the housing you put them in. Simple fact.

Imagine turning on a hose and pointing it at the concave section of a spoon... what happens? You get water splashing everywhere in a useless and chaotic pattern. Now imagine putting a nozzle on that hose. What happens? You get a directed stream of useful water. This is the difference between putting LED bulbs in a reflector housing designed for halogen bulbs versus purpose-built projectors.

 

So take it from a guy who is completely blind on one side. I run sylvania silverstars in the headlight and dd pros yellow in my fogs. Yes the yellow is perfect for rainy roads. At night the drive with the fogs on all the time and they make it so much easier to see.

 

PIAA used to make some but they do not anymore. Also not claiming those specific bulbs were an improvement over oem however if a reputable manufacturer had quality yellow bulbs I would consider them. Of course output would be reduced compared to an equivalent standard halogen but I’d imagine if Osram made a 100w selective yellow and you were running a harness it would outperform the standard oem bulb.

I have the SS3 pros in yellow and they are great in inclement conditions.

Selective yellow is popular on GT cars while running in poor conditions or at night as well.

 

With all due respect for those of you running Silverstar bulbs, you should really look at the test data provided by @crashnburn80. The Silverstars just aren't all that good - particularly when compared with some of the newer bulbs he recommends. They never were what their advertising said they were and test data from numerous sources backs that up. Do yourself a favor and look at the data and / or try a set of the recommended bulbs. You will be rewarded with better performance and longer bulb life.

 

Osram actually did make a high performance 85/80 watt "All Season" bulb which is no longer available. It utilized a yellow tint to supposedly improve one's vision in inclement weather. I used to run them in my Tacoma with the HD harness and they were actually pretty decent. I still have a pair in my basement stash.

 

Are they plug and play or require harness modifications

 

They require a heavy-duty harness - if you could even find a pair.