Headlamp BULBS???

I'm holding out for real HID's. Money.... Sigh...

Mike

[Aredubjay]

Originally posted by Green1995SVX
I'm holding out for real HID's. Money.... Sigh...

Mike

Money. What's money?

[kuoh]

I thought real money was abolished in favor of credit and eternal servitude to large financial corporations?

KuoH

Originally posted by Aredubjay
Money. What's money?

[Tim]

Are the silverstars 55w?

[nubs]

Check the specs Here


There is also a printable rebate form on the page.

[Tim]

Thanks, which model number is recommended?

[wasions]

Originally posted by TE1221
Thanks, which model number is recommended?

9006ST Low Beam
9005ST High Beam
(ST=Silverstar)

Fogs are regular H3-55W

There's an application finder on the site.

[James Scott]

I got Silverstars today for the low beams. They're better, but not as bright as I suspected. Probably old bulbs, I had (Yoda)!

OK: I can see further and with a whiter light beam.

[I took this diversion from my undiagnosable engine problem - see "Bad Injector" for my latest update if you've got the stomach!]

THANKS GUYS! This was an (unusual) quick fix!!!!!!!!!!!

[Aredubjay]

Originally posted by kuoh
I thought real money was abolished in favor of credit and eternal servitude to large financial corporations?

KuoH

Exactamundo!

I just replaced my low beams with 90W XENON bulbs that I got on eBay for about 12.00$

They are brilliantly blue-white and certainly cast a better light than my old stock lights. I run with my fogs all the time, so I have bought a set of XENON fog bulbs and will install them as soon as they arrive.

Given that the wattage is about double the stock bulbs and that they are a high intensity XENON bulb and the reflectors are identical, how can these fail to provide significantly better light?

This is like the synthetic oil question: totally anecdotal info at best: any optical engineers with the real scoop out there????

Hotshoe

[lee]

I'm a long way from any kind of engineer, but I could give you a physicist viewpoint.

First, watts refers to the power the bulb draws and has only a loose relationship to light output.

One important thing is the lumens (candlepower, etc) which is a direct measure of light output. However, for this to mean anything, you also have to know the spectral distribution of the light, i.e., if it was all in the ultraviolet it wouldn't be of much use to human eyes. Keep in mind almost no light source has an even distribution of color from violet to red. Color distribution is effected by the filament, the gas inside, coatings on the bulb, etc.

Also, since headlamps are most critically needed at night (duh!), one has to consider how the eye shifts in spectral response between the rods and cones we use to see the light reflected back to us. As a side note, consider the various driving conditions (along the lines of why the sky is blue), clear air, fog, rain, dust, etc., and their effect on transmission of the light out to the object we want to see, and the path back to the eye.

Finally, something should be said about light distribution on the road. On a stock SVX there's not much we can do about the headlamp design, but I have heard of people putting high beams in place of the low (just trim some tabs), thinking that the reflector at the tip of a low beam inhibits light output. I have no first hand experience with this, and must expect the designers of the headlamp took this output distribution into consideration. A related item is what effect your headlamps have on another driver's vision - this is partly aiming, and partly how the rods and cones respond after being directly illuminated by oncoming headlamps.

I'm sure there's more, but at least these things would have to be considered by a lamp designer.

Help or hurt?

[mohrds]

Originally posted by hotshoe50
I just replaced my low beams with 90W XENON bulbs that I got on eBay for about 12.00$

They are brilliantly blue-white and certainly cast a better light than my old stock lights. I run with my fogs all the time, so I have bought a set of XENON fog bulbs and will install them as soon as they arrive.

Given that the wattage is about double the stock bulbs and that they are a high intensity XENON bulb and the reflectors are identical, how can these fail to provide significantly better light?

This is like the synthetic oil question: totally anecdotal info at best: any optical engineers with the real scoop out there????

Hotshoe

Is the glass clear or is it blue? If it is blue, then you have an inferior bulb. The blue paint is used to filter out most of the spectrum except the blue light. Unfortunately halogen (even Xenon) lamps make the most visible light output not in the blue range, but in the yellower range. So basically the strongest light is being blocked out by the filter. Adding in the extra wattage helps, but the output of these bulbs merely tricks the eyes and doesn't illuminate the road any better.

Do a quick search as there have been many heated discussions on this board about this particular topic. There is a lot of technical details including lumens, light temperature and angstroms to help you fully understand what is going on.

If you are running over wattage bulbs, it is best to put in a high power relay kit like this one: http://suvlights.tripod.com/suvlight...re-harness.htm
Get the universal kit to fit the SVX.

Doug