What are the best bulbs out there for foglights and headlights that are nice and bright and not blue like the cheeze brands that make the light look all blue. I need to buy new blubs and was wondering where i should get them from and which brand.

thanks,
Ken

 

Phillips Hi-Visibility 9004 headlight bulbs and Narva H3 foglight bulbs.

 

Personal experience tells me PIAA all the way around. They are expensive, however. I know Phillips are good and Sylvania are good, but only on dry roads. Only my honest opinions.

 

if u want functional visibility.
sylvania x-tra vision 9004 or the Phillips HI Vis/weather vision are good too.
85 watt Narva rally gold h3

stay away from cheap ebay blue 9004. they blow in 5 months..and blue is really bad for visibilty..u wont see jack in heavy rain.

if you want a whiter 9004, syl. silverstars, philips blue vision, are ok.

 

Piaa









56789

 

PIAA extreme white or Sylvania Silverstar.

 

I would not recommend running 85 watts through your H3 fogs. That is way too hot when they are supposed to have 55 watts running through them. Have any of you run them for a while on 55 watts and then felt the light? It is like it is on fire. I could not imagine what 85 watts would do.

I have Sylvania Silverstars. They are good bright white light. I do think they are overrated though. I mean, I think you ought to be able to get some phillips or sylvania brand from walmart that are cheaper, last longer, and do just as good of a job. I mean, $20/per bulb is kind of pricey to me. PIAA are even more expensive than that.
For the fogs, I would just get some Sylvania H3's and be done with it. They are good, and so far have lasted quite a while. Whatever you do, don't get bulbs from O'Reiley's Auto Parts. They are crap, and in a month, I had to replace two fogs....in the same housing.

 

I had a problem looking for good quality bulbs that would not burn my harness(9004). IMO there is none. Anything over 65w burn the harness i had in my car. So i just bought some hids for the headlights.

As for the fogs(H3), the harnesses aren't really a harness it's more of a wire. Right now i have NARVA rally gold 85w. They are bright, have great visiblity, and they haven't burnt out my wire yet.

 

ooooohhhh....I would be scared of that. I just don't know about upping the wattage that much. However, those Narva Yellow Fogs I have seen look good....like the IS300's.

 

PIAA's are best, END OF STORY. I have Piaa's for fogs, side-markers, and headlights. I love the look - when they say "it's the closest you can get to HID's", they mean it!

Also, as a recommendation, I would only go with the PIAA xtreme white, which are often confused with the PIAA super white. The xtreme are much, much brighter and whiter.

Also, PIAA's are expensive, as already mentioned. However, people often give you crappy prices, like say custommaxima, which charges around $60+ for the fog PIAA xtreme bulbs and $70+ for the headlight PIAA xtreme bulbs. And that's not including shipping.

Ebay has them cheapest! I never understood why people shell out 75 + 65 + 10(for sidemarkers) + approx. 15 (for shipping) = your looking at approx. $165

I bought mine brand new in the box from ebay:

1) PIAA xtreme white fog bulbs (H3 type) brand new = $35 shipped
2) PIAA xtreme white headlight bulbs (9004 type) brand new = $50 shipped
3) PIAA xtreme white side-marker bulbs (1157 type) brand new = $8 shipped

TOTAL = $93 ......... that's a saving of over $70, great deal if you ask me

...just trying to help you

 

That is a good deal for PIAA, and at least you got the same brand.
However, I paid:
1. $40 picked up at AutoZone for two 9004 head light bulbs...
2. $4 each for Sylvania fogs H3 ($8...total)
3. $1.50 for two amber blinker lights from NAPA
4. Maybe $2.50 for two amber side marker bulbs(1157)
5. TOTAL=$52.00.......that is a savings of $41 over the PIAA setup you described from ebay.

*I bet they will last longer too....but if they don't, I can almost do the whole setup again for the cost that you are at, and then again for the cost that most people are at, and still have $$$ left.

 

true, but comon, there must be a reason why PIAA's H3 xtreme white foglight bulbs go for $35 cheapest (usually around $60 though), or roughly four and a half times the price of the Sylvania's.

 

If you do up the wattage like i did make sure that you upgrade the wire as well. Upgrade the wire to 14 or 16 gauge wire and cover the wire with silcone compound, that's what i did and haven't had a problem since.

 

I've tried Silverstars, Nokyas, Eurolites, Phillips Bluevisions, Eurodezigns, MTEC and a couple other japanese brands. The ones I ended up liking the most were the Eurodezigns. I've had them in for 2 years with no problems. I hardly ever use the high beams so take that into consideration. Not only do I have them in my car, but also in my wifes Pontiac Grand Prix. I also put these in all the cars that I mod. I have yet to receive a complaint. These lights really kick *** on a Mercury Cougar, huge difference. The light is bright white, with maybe a slight tint of blue (depending on the surface the light is shining on). Wattage is 55w/65w and they run about $20 on ebay. They also have a lifetime warranty. Definitely worth a try, I think.

 

Does the word "gimmick" mean anything? I mean, just the fact that they have fooled everyone into thinking that they are better by far than a company like Sylvania (who has been making light bulbs for eons) shows that there might be something questionable.

I have always found that if something seems too good to be true, it probably is.

 

hum... the gold H3's are the best fogs. Stay away form ebay eurodesinzs or whatever, They sucks. na dyou can not go beter than with an hid kit.

 

Yeah if i were you (from experience), just stay away from ebay bulbs.

 

PIAA is one of the best for light bulbs replacement. Like we all know you get what you pay for even for this scenario. I LOVE my PIAA bulbs and have used them for years on many different cars. Would not use any other brands.

 

Never tried the PIAA's, friend has them in his 02' fogs. They look alright to me. Either way it depends on if you want a good beam pattern or a cool looking headlight. I know some of these bulbs are the happy median. Just remember that nothing compares to true HID lighting and you'll be alright. I tried all these different bulbs because I am crazy! Buy what you want and good luck to ya. Don't be afraid of Ebay like some would say. They do have some quality stuff. Research before you buy is my advice.

 

Anyone tired the FX bulbs that are selling on Ebay? they say they are the brightest and closest to the sunlight. 5000K. They are cheap too, for some reason i dont think the best and the cheapest go together....there is a catch isnt there :P

Who knows what it is?

 

I don't think they could be 5000k unless they are HID's. If you get those, you will have to spend a couple of hundred dollars on a retro fit HID kit.

 

Anyone know of any good sites/locations where we can buy them?? I need a pair of H3 myself.

 

......

 

Philips BlueVisions or Sylvania Silverstars.

When you buy PIAA, you buy the name, you don't buy quality.

Let me find that link.

 

try...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...spagename=WDVW


the pictures are wrong, but he's selling the H3's so don't worry. I bought from him before - good seller.

if he says brand new in the box, he means it.

 

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....t=piaa+philips

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....t=piaa+philips

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....t=piaa+philips

 

I'm very sorry to be the one to tell you this clee130, but that thread is crap. First off, it doesn't prove anything because while some say that the Slyvania and Philips are better than the Piaa's, others see it the other way.

here is one response about how superior PIAA's are compared to other cheap aftermarket knock offs:

"I don't know what you guys are smoking, but those cheap Phillips and Sylvania bulbs are nowhere near as bright as PIAAs, nor as white, the PIAAs are. I currently have both PIAA headlights and driving lights (some people wrongly call them fog lights, including nissan) and they are over 100% brighter than stock....it's no comparison to those cheap aftermarkets.
"

here is one about how superior the cheap aftermarket bulbs are compared to PIAA's:

"Unfortinutly I'm sorry, but you're wrong. Shingles has pics of PIAA's next to the Philips in his car and you cant even tell. Do you understand how light bulbs work? The piaa's and the philips both give off identical wattage, so how in the hell can one be brighter? I owned PIAA's and now own Philips. To be honest if you held both of them up to the light you couldnt even tell the difference in the color of the bulb. So hmm, same color.. same wattage... I dont see how they're "nowhere near as bright". Goto KMart, pick them up for $9 and see for yourself. Call them "CHEAP" but we're not the ones who payed 7x as much as we needed to for bulbs. And I have PIAA H3 "Driving"(fog) lights in my car too and love them."

while one can choose sides here, based on my personal observations, I find the PIAA's much much brighter, whiter, and providing much better visibility both in terms of distance and the amount of light radiating out.

Before I bought my PIAA's off ebay, I went to a near-by store that sells PIAA's, Philips, Sylvania's and others. I live in Chicago and I went to MR. CUSTOM on Irving and Elston (those from around here know where that is). I agree, they are very expensive so I didn't buy from them. Regardless, they light up each bulb for you from close up and far away inside the store, where the light is very dim, barely noticable, through a headlight. The difference is tremendous. PIAA's blow the other bulbs away in every one of the above-mentioned catergories.


statements such as:

"Shingles has pics of PIAA's next to the Philips in his car and you cant even tell. Do you understand how light bulbs work? The piaa's and the philips both give off identical wattage, so how in the hell can one be brighter? I owned PIAA's and now own Philips. To be honest if you held both of them up to the light you couldnt even tell the difference in the color of the bulb"

...are extremely vague and childish.

my friend had Piaa's and my other friend had blah blah blah and we parked our cars right next to each other and took pics and you couldn't tell? -------------- Wow, that is such a lame test. Pics aren't all that accurate and beams of light are often EXTREMELY misjudged within any given picture, be it HIDS, PIAA bulbs, etc....

The piaa's and the philips both give off identical wattage, so how in the hell can one be brighter? --------------- Actually, if YOU knew anything about light source and photon particles from either your phisics or astronomy class, you would know that YOU CAN indeed achieve different brightness from SAME wattage bulbs. But I'm not going to teach you about light here, do some research urself.

lastly, "To be honest if you held both of them up to the light you couldnt even tell the difference in the color of the bulb" ---------- now that is a stupid comment, which I lack words for.

 

I think what clee and I(for another) are talking about is that Phillips and Sylvania have been making bulbs of all kinds for so many years, that there is no way anyone can call them a cheap aftermarket company. They make good stuff, and the reason they have been in business for so long is because they have good products.
Period.

 

You misunderstood me Brudaddy, I in no way bashed the Phillips and Sylvania bulbs, as opposed to others who bash PIAA's for being overpriced and not worth it because they made bad bulbs. That was the whole point of my argument above - about people who flat out say that either PIAA's suck or that Phillips or Sylvania suck, without having legitimate grounds to base their own-made theories on, saying BS such as that same wattage has no effect on brightness or that one bulb has the same color as another and therefore gives the same output. Clee gave links to a thread, which I thought was supposed to discourage others from buying PIAA's - something the thread does not.

 

Of course people want to think their PIAAs are better. They paid $50-$70 for them. You think they're gonna start bashing after they shelled out that kind of money?



Shingles is a well respected moderator whose opinion I would trust over someone who has to justify spending $60 for a pair of name-brand headlights that does not provide twice the amount of lighting that can be achieved from buying a pair of $25 headlights.

 

Oh yeah ... and I linked three threads. You only quoted from the first thread.