x2 sylvania.

I just put 2 in over the weekend.

Hey does anyone know the size of the small parking light bulbs inside the headlamp? One was burned out so I removed them both. They are small, etc.

 

Standard blade bulbs, think they are 923s or something like that. Find them at any auto parts store.

 

Those are what I use in mine too...great bulbs.

I tried out the Silverstar Ultras too a while back, but the 1st bulb burned out within 6 months...they are good, but the longevity sucks...

I'd say that the Xtreme Power are as bright as the Ultras...plus, they are supposed to last a bit longer too...

 

sweet thx pc.

 

I will see your Silver Stars and raise you HIDs. The Silver Star Ultras are great. They have the widest beam I have ever seen in a H7 bulb. But mine were burning out every 6 months. Luckly I kept my receipts and Autozone gave me a new bulb. However I really wanted to upgrade to HIDs after replacing these bulbs so often. So I did. I even got pulled over at night for 32mph in a 20mph zone. No complaints from the Smokey on the headlights. Still $196 to defer the ticket in a small town in Indiana. $hit didn't think cops cared about bricks on wheels. My Radar detector was turned down but it didnt matter I was gunned. I bought the HID's from HIDExtra.com. They have been great since December.

YouTube - Discovery II HID Low Beam Test Run

 

Great post and video... I have the Silverstars and they burn out all the time too. Wanna do the HID upgrade. Which color bulbs did you use, 5000K or 6000K? Are the 6000's too blue? And which ballast did you go with, 35w or 55w, signature or stealth?

Thanks

 

Best bang for the buck that I found was Hella H-4's bulbs 55-100w for $6.91 each at Amazon.

Silverstar Ultras only have a bulb life of 250 hours.

 

I like the German-made Osram standard bulbs. They last. I also have some of the old Toshiba HIR bulbs. They're significantly brighter at standard wattage and still last (going on 9 years). But not made anymore. Xtreme Vision and Nighthawk Platinum are bright but don't last.

Brightness is over-rated. Since the human eye is very good at adapting to very low light levels, what's really important is evenness in lighting the field of view. This is because while the eye can see very well at low light levels, what it cannot do is see over a wide dynamic range of luminosity simultaneously. In essence, if you have a bright-spot, you will wash out the peripheral stuff with glare. In automotive lighting, it's easy to get a bright spot by having a bright lamp intended to be aimed way down range, hit something close range. Because of this, aiming and beam pattern are of utmost importance.

The other thing that is significant is the scotopic sensitivity of the eye. At low levels of light, the eye is more sensitive to shorter wavelengths of light and less sensitive to longer wavelengths (red). This is because as the pupil opens up, the light is hitting rods which have low sensitivity to red light (compared to the cones in the center of the retina). Therefore the eye is more sensitive to blue/green light at low light levels, especially off-axis. This is the #1 reason HID is successful for automotive forward lighting *not* because it's brighter or because Lexus is trying to save fuel on the lower wattage or something.

Since retrofitting HID capsules into reflectors made for halogen gives poor results with the #1 goal, which is evenness of illumination of the field of view, the superior scoptic response it provides is overridden by the glare problems.

A better solution is to keep stock halogen lighting for on-axis vision, and supplement that with some properly aimed LED fixtures to provide blue/green (~5500K) wavelength off-axis illumination. They should be on the modest side rather than very bright or you will get bad glare off near-field objects on the side of the road like reflective mile markers and stuff.