Is there an aftermarket bulb that is brighter than stock?

Thanks, T

 

I tried the Sylvania brightstar. It runs about US$ 18.00 /bulb at Advanced Auto Parts. Short of converting to HID, I think this may be the brightest I've seen.

 

I've had PIAA Xtreme Whites and I was very happy with them.

 

i second the piaa xtreme whites which is what i have in my 00...another option would be sylvania cool blue...

 

PIAA xtreme .... expensive but really nice brightness.... watch out for reliabilty

 

so far I see the PIAA Xtreme Whites and the Sylvania brightstar... so which one is better if anyone had both in experience... I would like to see some differences too! thanx!

 

Slyvania SliverStars sold in the United States are actually different than the ones sold in Europe and Canada. Over there, Slyvania Osram SliverStars are brighter than the ones sold in the United States.

The ones sold in the U.S. are actually the same brightness as the lower-priced Slyvania XtraVision, but they have a blue filter on the bulbs to change the color temperature, making the color appear 'whiter.' And to make things worst, the U.S. SliverStars have a shorter life than the XtraVision, not to mention they are almost twice as expensive.

If you want bulbs that last longer, go with standard halogen that are OEM spec. If you want brighter than stock and with good life, you may want to try something like the Slyvania XtraVision. If you want a 'whiter' color light, not neccessarily brighter, with a short life, go with things like the U.S. Slyvania SliverStars or PIAAs.

I bought the SliverStars, but after reading up on them, I'll just switch to XtraVisions (twin pack for about $18 at Wal-Mart) when they burn out.

 

I bought two of the sylvanias to replace my OEMs. I replaced the front left and did not notice any difference between the sylvania and the OEM. I asked my wife and neighbor which one was brighter, and both of them picked the OEM. When I Switched the bulbs to make sure that it was not a socket issue, they both agreed that the OEM was brighter. Waste of money if you aske me. I have not tried the PIAA.

 

Sylvania Silverstars are much brighter than the oem bulbs that were in my 2000 no yellow hue at all. I have no exp with PIAA bulbs but I have the Silverstars in my headlights & fogs & they look great aswell as light up the road beautifuly. My 2 cents

 

I have PIAA. Love em. Get em off ebay cheaper.

 

PIAA are really nice. I have them and have had no problems for over a year and a half. Ebay sells them pretty cheap, but I chose a local store and paid 85 bucks but they come with a lifetime warratny through that store all I have to do is bring them back if they blow, break, etc. and exchange on the spot for new bulbs. Anyways, they are the brightest thing I have tried yet short of converting to HID this is probably your best bet.

 

www.autolamps-online.com

so you're lookin' for brighter eh? go with either visionplus by philips or megalight by GE. they're both '50%' brighter. I was very pleased with the visionplus, the output was much brighter than oem. they burnt out after 2 years, and i recently purchased the GE iteration. I am pleased as well. I might have to re-aim the lamps lower as they are illuminating highway signs from afar. There's also a 'blue' version of the '50%' brighter bulbs.

so go here:

www.autolamps-online.com
free shipping from europe, and for a limited time they're offering buy a pair and get the 2nd pair half off. I bought some allweather bulbs. Just in time too, we have a lot of rain in the islands...

hope this helps some...
-bryan

 

I got PIAA Star White's and I think they are the brightest and whitest you'll find. No blue or pulple at all and they do a great job lighting up the road.

 

Anyone have any expierence with the PIAA GT-X Super Plasma's?

 

so are the PIAA Extreme Whites whiter or the PIAA Star Whites whiter? How about the new PIAA GT-X Super Plasma now too?

 

super plasmas are more purple in color....very light purp, kinda like the color you see on the 7 series when it bumps up and down. i used to have those, they were really good, but hard to match coloring with signal/parking lights. I ran that and super plasma fogs, those two looked really nice together. but if you dont want any color, just white, follow what those people said above.

 

I think I am about to buy the MTEC's (4750K) that DongTran has listed over on the GD forum. I know that one of the org'ers got em and has been very happy with them so far.

 

Well, I used to have a pair of Sylvania Silverstars in the car up until 2 weeks ago. I installed the PIAA Super Plasma GTX 5000k bulbs and the difference is incredible. The color is a crystal clear white with a slight hue of blue. The output is gorgeous and gives it a very HID like look. The wattage is within spec so no melting harnesses. The difference between the colors can be noted by comparing the fog light output to the headlights -- it really is like night and day. Fantastic product. Go with PIAA and drive happy.

 

Hey NYPD Arnold,

Is the description of your bulbs for the low beams and/or high beams. The official PIAA GTX description states: "The new GT-X provides an exclusive purple low beam and an Xtreme White high beam."

Kind of confused, T

 

Yea and two reviews of the GT-x conflict. one says slight purple and the other is only white. anyone else?

how about if you run 5000K HID fogs? What headlight would match the best?

 

Super Plasma GTX mos def, bright but expensive.

 

are you saying the super plasma GTX is a good match for the 5000K HID fogs based on color and/or brightness?

it seems that some say the super plasma is not white but slightly purple which would mean that it Doesn't match the 5000K fogs in color output but maybe the brightness is good.

 

most of you reported the shorter life of aftermarket bulbs. How much do the OEM bulbs cost? I have an impression that most of you are putting the aftermarket bulbs just becuase they are aftermarket. The OEM bulbs light up the road enough, but most importantly, they last!

 

Yes, because of the brightness of the GTX's it will match the 5000k fogs pretty damn well. No, its not just "purple" it has a slight purple hue to it but it is an extremely bright white

 

IMO...cost is not a factor when it comes to me being able to see at night and OEMs halogens weren't enough for someone that's somewhat nightblind/drives in unlit areas at the speeds I travel.

OEM and PIAA SW in H4 housings were okay, but *NOTHING* compared to the OEM HIDs.

IMO...leave the stock H4s alone unless you just want to change the color or retrofit HIDs and spend the money on a good pair of PIAA or similar driving lamps for a worthwhile increase in output.

 

The GTX

The HID

 

agree with IceY2K1. There's nothing better than HIDs.

 

It depends what kelvin rating you buy. 5000k will be a pure white with a very slight blue. And also note that Super Plasma GTX and Xtreme White are two different bulbs. I'm very satisfied with my GTX. They're not HIDs, but at least they get rid of the nasty yellow OEM look.

 

any more pictures of the GT-X... I assume the GTX is brighter than the Extreme Whites and Star Whites?

 

i understand the idea of a slight purple hugh as i have seen this before and you're saying that the brightness will be similar to the HID. the difference is that the 5000K HID has a SLIGHT blue hue and the 6000K HID has the SLIGHT purple hue so i think the GTX would better match the 6000K HID color and not the 5000K color.

further thoughts?...

 

it is also possible to have two different color hues at the same K rating.

 

i just found out that the GTX actually has a purple tinted bulb which of course adds to the slight purple tint this bulb produces.

 

I've tried Sylvania SilverStar and was unimpressed--While the overall light output was decent, they burned out within 3-4 months or so if I'm not mistaken. Not acceptable. The bluer output of SilverStar was annoying too. I really hate bluish light, it's harder on my eyes.

I would like to try out the Philips or GE's knockoff though, from one review I saw on a website, the Philips Visionplus was superior to SilverStar, which is actually a nice bulb over in Europe, but not in the USA.

 

Colors differ company to company. McCulloh 6000K is blue/white while Kops 6000K is purple/white

 

Silverstar.

 

i should have specified that i was talking only about the Xtec 5000K and 6000K HID's.

 

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you say it has a slight blue tint. how can this be if the bulb itself is tinted purple?