These:


or These:


My autozone only has the second version (orange packaging), and they are $50. Looked around online for them, and it appears there are 2 different Silverstar "Ultra"

 

I didnt know they have a second ultra. IMO, they are highly overrated and burn out fairly quick. Not really worth the money.

 

First off, your nomenclature is different in both pictures. One you show 9006, the other 9004.

Could be just different packaging there.

And the first one, the blueish one, has been around a while, so perhaps there's a change in packaging...

 

Disregard the bulb types, was just being lazy and didnt want to find 2 9006's. 9006 exists in both packaging. And it obviously isn't just different packaging for the same bulb considering one has blue tint and the other doesn't.

I agree that they are somewhat overrated, but they are better than stock and cheaper than HID. Regardless, there are plenty of threads dealing with their performance, this thread is intended to discern between these potentially different versions of Ultra.

edit: pics now display different packaging for the 9006

 

That's odd that there's no blue...

I've used these in my old car, Wish I'd have taken them out when I traded them in. And you're right about performance, they are far better then OEM, and much cheaper then the HID alternative. I'd get them again if I didn't have HID's.

Have you been to their website, maybe research it a bit more there.
http://www.sylvania.com/ConsumerProd...ar/default.htm

perhaps they don't use the blue tint to achieve the same white result...

 

checked the Sylvania sight, you can't even find the blue packaging on there...anyone know if the blue packaging might be the Osram version???

 

I don't know why they use the same name for two different bulbs but perhaps you can email Sylvania.

The first bulbs are tinted and will inherently provide less visible light than the clear bulbs.

 

They are the same. I work at an auto parts store and they recently changed the packaging to the orange box.

Both bulbs are tinted. The orange boxed one doesnt look so because of the angle that the picture is at.

Any sylvania bulb with a part number that ends in "SU" is the is the silverstar ultras.

ST= regular silverstars
CB = cool blue
XV = xtra vision

The number 2 after the part number in the upper right just designates it being a 2 pack.

And as far as them being cheaper than HIDs....

http://forums.maxima.org/group-deals...ard-right.html

 

The Osram silverstars aren't tinted, and aren't sold in the US. The Sylvania ones are blue-tinted, and available all over the place.

 

Something that puzzles me is that how can a tinted bulb produces "brighter" light at the same wattage as the stock bulb. Hella is a good brand too and they lasted longer than the Silverstars in my personal experience.

Anyways... I think all the ultras have gold tips.

 

The tint does reduce the output significantly. In order to compensate, Sylvania makes the filament burn hotter, to increase output, at the cost of lifespan. Silverstars have the same output as regular bulbs, but it's whiter light, and they have less of a lifespan. If you're into performance, not looks, most manufacturers offer +30 or +50 bulbs that have the hotter filaments (and more output), but no blue coating.

 

Very true...however I was told that these do not come with a relay, kinda sketches me out.

And you are correct about the bulbs also, here is the email I received from Sylvania:

Thank you for your query. SilverStar Ultra are coated lamps. One
picture shows this clearly while the orange package picture is not
nearly as clear as the actual product. The orange package is our new
package which was just updated last fall. The blue package is just the
original packaging we used to have.

There is no difference in the product itself.

Regards,
Customer Service

 

what he said ^

and FYI, i have both the "normal" Silverstars & the Ultras in my R34 headlights; the regular Silverstars look decidedly better (whiter) than the Ultras, although the Ultras are bright as hell, but (unfortunately) closer to the stock buttery yellow output.

 

can you post a pic of that?

 

don't really have any pix that show it definitively...

 

not bad. i been waiting to see some r34's with silverstars.

 

that pic is of the "normal" Silverstars? Thats a nice white light. I've used the Ultras for the past 5months or so and I'm satisfied with the color, friends always tell me they are extremely bright when driving, but road illumination is nothing to brag about.

 

the low-beams (1st pic) are the regular 9006 silverstars ($40/pair); the hi-beams are 9005 Silverstar Ultras ($50/pair)...it's just tht in the second pic, with both the lows & his on, the his completely drown out the lows so u can't see any color difference.

just in my view, at night, the ultras are not nearly as "clear-white" as the reg silvers....but they are retardedly bright.

 

Off-topic, but I'm wondering if anyone's ever run high output bulbs with the stock wiring. I've got a line on some 100w/85w off-road 9004's and am wondering if the oe harness can handle the increased wattage.

 

I'd be wary... When I did my retrofit and was fooling around with the wiring, I was amazed how thin it is. It's like 18 ga at best.

 

super chris, how did you wire up both bulbs to run at the same time?

 

lol, i didn't; set the timer on the camera, ran back to the car, got in, and pulled the signal stalk far enuff to get all 4 bulbs on, just in time for the pic.

i have been investigating how to redo the hi-beams so they don't cancel out the lows when u turn them on...but it's not a big priority right now.

 

I have silverstars. They is expensive

Good light output I guess.....for 9004, I get flashed pretty often on the highway when I don't have my hi's on. or on back country roads. But then I just flash my high beams to them. It feels cool.

 

It's possible to do with a relay harness. AFAIK, no one has found a simple mod to do it yet. Most cars that come 9005/9006 OEM from the factory keep both on together, but since ours are 9004, which is dual filament, it turns the lows off when the highs come on. A relay harness can be designed to keep both on, which isn't that hard, especially if you know how to solder.

 

I recently tried some of the Ultra's (orange packaging) in my '04 and was far from impressed. Not only were they not as bright as the original 9012's, but road illumination was minimal at best. I put some 9011's in there until I convert to HID.

 

i had silverstars ultras, and i was not impressed. just get HIDs

 

9006 Silverstars?

9011 and 9012 are HIR. They are significantly brighter than any 9005/9006 bulbs, whether they're normal 9006, Silverstar 9006, 100w 9006, whatever. The 9011 is like 2500+ lumens, which is getting into 35w HID kit range.

 

for the sake of argument, i thought most stock HIDs in any car that comes with them run 6000k

 

OEM HID bulbs are 4300k color temperature, ~3200 lumens.

6000k is a popular aftermarket color temperature, puts out ~2400 lumens (less than HIR)

 

correct. 9006. the 9012's that were in my car went out (well, one did anyway) and instead of driving around with 1 headlight I picked up some of the 9006 ultras and installed them. Visibility was complete crap, I have a 120LED flashlight that lit up the road better.

I figured I'd drive with the 9006 ultra's until I could get in some replacement 9012's...however it seems that the 9012's are getting pretty hard to find (one place said they weren't even made anymore and to try a phillips alternative, the other place was backordered) and I hated the 9006 ultra's so much that I just ordered the 9011's.

As for HIR's being brighter than 6000K HID's....I find that somewhat hard to believe just from what I've seen. I know the 9011's are bright....but they certainly don't light up the road like the HID's I've seen on any vehicle...aftermarket or OEM.