Need help deciding on Headlight Upgrade

Despite popular belief, Sylvania Silverstars actually produce less light than stock bulbs and are a performance downgrade. The light is 'whiter' but not brighter. If you actually take time to look at the lumen spec it is lower and bulb life is shorter, while the color temp is higher. Note that fully coated American Sylvania Silverstars are completely different than uncoated German Osram Silverstars, which are a true performance bulb.

Sylvania Silverstars are a performance downgrade from stock.

Read this:
http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/bulbs/blue/bad/bad.html

 

Either cheap chinese kit or bad install. I have been running HID's since 2010. None of those issues????

 

I have tried about every kit out there over the years. Using OEM reflectors, the BEST option in a GOOD H4-4 HID kit. They are down to about $300 I believe. First kit I bought was $200 per bulb and $100 per ballast. That was many years ago.

2x bulbs = $400
4x ballast = $400
---------------------------
$800

The H4-4 kits have TWO SEPERATE HID filaments. So 2 ballast per bulb. They don't use 1 bulb that wiggles for HI/LO beam or uses halogen for HI beam.

Just my opinion from experience.

The single undisputable fact is color temperature. If you want pure white light, that produces the most visible light, wether you go with HID or LED, make sure the color temp. is true 5000K

 

I didn't read the article, but most people don't realize that the blue coating that makes the light appear whiter, reduces the light output. The more blueish or even purplish (6000k+), produces even less output. Most bulbs try to make up for it by being high wattage. This reduces bulb life, and potentially ruins the wiring.

I used to like a brand called PIT. They produced a color what I've seen called "metal white". I used to have them in 9007s. Never had an issue with them other than they last only 3 months. My brother used them in his car, the same 9007s. They melted his wiring. (Both cars were GM from the same time period) I tried a set of PIT H4s on the Taco, burnt out in 3 months.

 

Any idea about how long the bulb life for these Voslas are compared to just the standard H4, im thinking of going the Vosla route, it makes the most sense of all the other upgrades for a DD Truck.

 

Don't waste your money on silerstars or voslas. The only way a halogen bulb can be brighter is over powering it, so they die quick. The only way they can change in color temp is with tinted glass, which reduces the amount of visible light.

H4-4 with dual HID filament work well. I have tried, 4200k, 4300k, 4500k, 5000k, 5400k, 6000k, 7000k, and 10,000k HID bulbs.

Results...

4200k produce halogen 'yellow' light. Very dim visiable light because alot of the light produced is in the IR range. The visable white light gets greater as you approach 5000k, after 5000k a greater and greater amount of the light produced enters the UV range. Hense, less visible light, but you get that 'kool' rice burner honda civil blue then purple affect.

 

Oh, forgot 8000k too

 

About how long did the 5000k last? I'm not so much worried about the light output as I am the color and life of the lights..

 

If your only concern is color and life, get the silver stars. They look cool and they last as long as a stock bulb. I use em, the color looks good and living/working in the city I don't really care about the lower performance. If I'm out on the highway at night, that's what hi beams are for.

If you put hids in your stock housings, you may not mind the lower performance, the light may have the desired cool tint, but the oncoming driver's will not appreciate the "scattered" light going straight up into their eyes. I know I dont..

The cutoff on my factory housings is top notch. It looks just as good as my buddies Honda s2000 with factory hid. As soon. As you start putting non halogen bulbs in a halogen reflector, the cutoff goes to crap, the oncoming driver's are flipping you off and you have just over-complicated an already well designed/simple setup

Check out crashnburn80's ultimate headlight thread. Very well written and informative, lots of comparison pics..

 

Thanks man, Ill check it out ! think this may be the route i go!

 

Good HID's will last a long time! Ive never had one actually burn out. Just change for testing and upgrades. The longest I ever left a set installed was a little over 3 years, still have them, they are still good. With good ballasts and proper wiring, should last as long as your truck.