silver star bulbs.

850 se · Post by **850 se** » 02 Feb 2006, 19:19

how good are they. do they give more light than cool blues.

[email protected]

T-5 2.3 · Post by **T-5 2.3** » 02 Feb 2006, 22:25

CURRENTLY I DO HAVE SILVER STARS (sylvania) H7 IT GIVES YOU MORE OF WHITE COLOR THEN OEM WHICH IS NOT MUCH DIFFERENCE. I HEARD THE PIAA EXTREME H7 IS A BETTER BUY CLOSE TO HIDS MAYBE?

White850Turbo · Post by **White850Turbo** » 03 Feb 2006, 02:16

T-5 2.3 wrote:CURRENTLY I DO HAVE SILVER STARS (sylvania) H7 IT GIVES YOU MORE OF WHITE COLOR THEN OEM WHICH IS NOT MUCH DIFFERENCE. I HEARD THE PIAA EXTREME H7 IS A BETTER BUY CLOSE TO HIDS MAYBE?

I've seen testing done showing that any bulb trying to replicate the appearance of HID's has dramatically reduced light output and increases glare for oncoming drivers. Some people like the silverstars and say that they give a bit of an improvement over the stock bulbs. They are known to have a rather short life though. Short of HID conversion, which most consider too costly, you may want to look into something called HIR (Halogen Infrared Reflecting) bulb technology. Toshiba has exclusive production rights at the moment on these right now, thus keeping prices relatively high and distributors few and far between. They'll typically cost you about $60 for a set. Also be sure to check out this link for some good info on lighting.

saltydog · Post by **saltydog** » 03 Feb 2006, 06:52

I've been running silverstars now for 8 months - they definately throw more light than OEM. As far as lifespan - being Canadian spec car, they're on everytime the car is on & so far, so good. Regular bulbs would last me roughly 9 months.......at roughly the same cost, I personally see an advantage to them.

Post by **matthew1** » 03 Feb 2006, 09:18

White850Turbo wrote:Short of HID conversion, which most consider too costly....

W8T, are HID conversions still around $500, and are they still a touch dicey for do-it-yourselfers?

White850Turbo · Post by **White850Turbo** » 03 Feb 2006, 15:16

matthew1 wrote:
White850Turbo wrote:Short of HID conversion, which most consider too costly....
W8T, are HID conversions still around $500, and are they still a touch dicey for do-it-yourselfers?

I did mine for about $300 from a kit I bought from Kevin Teeter (you might know him, he lives in Seattle). They can be had for as little as $250 though. After having HID's, I'd never drive a car w/ halogens again.

Installation is pretty straight forward IMO and can certainly be done by the average do-it-yourselfer.

Post by **matthew1** » 03 Feb 2006, 16:22

Thanks. Last time I looked into it, ~2001, they were 5 bills, and kinda touchy: something called ballast you had to get right, and tricky wiring

. Something about a 55+ watt draw that would shut down the lights... (sorry, foggy memory).

I guess the aftermarket HID world was still a bit immature back then.

petershen1984 · Post by **petershen1984** » 09 Feb 2006, 12:15

I think "whiter light" gives the user a more "perceived" brightness, when the actual lumens is not as great as a yellow-colored lamp. My HID lights are 4300K, and not the popular aftermarket 6000K. They are excellent on certain sections of our highways that have no lighting (because there's a good 15 km between two exit ramps). After all, there's a reason for aftermarket fogs to have the "golden" color to it...

Ok, well the basic schematic of my upgrade is, the car's power supply feeds the HID ballast input, and whose output feeds the HID bulbs. Even though the final current draw is lesser than standard halogens, the bulb failure light will not trigger when the output of both sides are equal.

But the day after my installation I added a relay to bypass the aging electronic circuit that powered my old halogens. (I had trouble starting or was starting one-sided due not enough voltage!) My ballasts now have a direct connection to the battery, with the original electronic circuit acting merely as a control switch for the new lights.