SweetHondaCivic

Hey guys, I know this topic has been talked about a few times but how do you guys feel about the sylvania silverstar bulbs? Are they worth the cost in upgrading if my stock bulbs work? How much brighter are they than stock?

Basically I want something brighter than stock, possibly with a slight blue tint.

I have searched the forums and have found a few things that describe the bulbs, but no real comments on them. I would appreciate any help on the subject.

mani_is_kool

Its time u switch to HIDS now ~*~

miami_em2

iTrader: (7)

agreed^^^

SweetHondaCivic

Are the HIDs hard to install? How about cost?

I bought the silverstars tonight, but haven't installed them because I wanted to hear what you guys had to say about the improvement over stock they make and it they are worth the cost.

ronaldo9

iTrader: (6)

I bought silverstars last week. Bigger improvement over stock especially with visibility at night. I hear they don't last long though but that's yet to be seen. Whenever or if they blow time for HID's.

SweetHondaCivic

It sounds like a lot of people are going for HIDs instead, I don't have the cash to get HID's if they are super expensive.

Do the silverstars have a blue or white tint to them?

miami_em2

iTrader: (7)

HID's are plug and play. They're so simple to install. IMO, don't get those blue blue blue HID's. They look to fake. Go for a more simple look, like 6000k or 8000k

SweetHondaCivic

where can you get HIDs for our cars?

miami_em2

iTrader: (7)

search....any local shop should have them. I pad $200

miami_em2

iTrader: (7)

This was just a quick search. I know you could find them cheaper

http://www.xtralights.com/index.asp?...ROD&ProdID=241

mugenman

iTrader: (12)

i had silverstars and i loved em nuff said. but hids are wayyyy better

SweetHondaCivic

HIDs sound and look like a good option, but I don't wanna put that much money in it right now lol. Do the silverstars look bright white, or do they have any blue in them?

EggRollBandit05

iTrader: (7)

for even better light output do a complete retrofit. you actually get less light output and more glare by putting hid bulbs in halogen headlights

edit:retrofit not for you then... costs a lot

SweetHondaCivic

yeah, it sounds like HIDs are a future project for me, right now, I'm gonna stick with the silverstars. I was just curious how bright they were and if they are worth the money.

redrocket600

I'm running Nokya Hyper Whites and love 'em. You can only use HID if you have PROJECTOR HEADLIGHTS...otherwise the beam is ALL OVER the road...

eekicks

Seeing as how you dont want to but HID's right now the silverstars are a good choice. I put them in my g/f car and they have lasted for two years with dramatic improvement over stock. They do help a ton at night. Good Luck

ultimatetuner10

iTrader: (5)

I had stock, then silverstar, and put HID in today. I paid 90 dollars for the HID kit (very cheap), and its better than the silverstars, but it wont be as precise. If you just want a small improvement, silverstars are the way to go. They are brighter, whiter, and overall better than stockers are. Im putting my old silverstars in my moms rav4 tomorrow she has wanted them for quite some time now. I used mine for about 5-6 months and they worked great, no fading, never cut out, nothing. I got mine on sale for 27.99 on sale. Great bulbs

SweetHondaCivic

I'm pretty sure they won't because they don't pull any more current I think, but can the silverstars harm the wiring connecting them? Sorry, I'm a bit of a noob when it comes to lighting.

buckshizzo

iTrader: (2)

No the silverstars will not harm the harness. It only occurs when you put a higher wattage bulb in place of them. If you do decide to go HIDs in the future, be sure to get a wiring harness too.

SweetHondaCivic

thanks for the help guys. I normally find good help on the forums here.

DsevenEm2

iTrader: (6)

i didnt like the silverstars.. pick up sum arctic white nokya bulbs for 35 bucks at a specialty shop... WAY WORTH IT.. better output than the silverstars, brighter, nice blue tint to them and at night the road is a nice color and eveyrthing is visible.. totally worth the 35$

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

sylvania silverstar is junk pure and simple. it has dark coated bulb with overdriven filament which barely makes it put out as much light as a clear stock bulb, with a slight whiter tint. average lifespan is less than 6 months.

oem bulbs are good, but there are decent upgrades. they have +50 clear bulb like osram silverstar, philips vision plus, and a few others that give maybe 100-200 extra lumen per bulb. not too great. there is also the catz zeta kit, which works extremely well as i can attest to. it wires directly to the bulb wiring and feeds the bulb a constant 15.4v which is a huge increase over what stock wires can give. even for our cars, with an upgrade harness, the bulb will never get more than 14v from alternator. and for $75, the zeta is well worth it imo. i tried it with the vision plus bulbs, but currently im using the special catz rev white H4-K bulbs which last 2x longer and have a light coating to make ground light pure white but keep the light above the cutoff yellow for less glare to traffic. now if you dont care about traffic, just throw an hid kit in. but if you do, its a different alternative.

here is zeta enhanced philips H4 VP+50 clear bulbs. please note, these pic are using Catz zeta enhancement, not stock output. Each time you turn the lights on, you will see the stock output for 2 secs before the boost kicks them brighter. you can really appreciate the difference it makes.



and here are the new bulbs im trying out from catz. im sure they are a tad dimmer than a clear bulb, but i love the way they look and the enhanced output still makes them pretty bright.









all pic are in the stock 01-03 H4 reflector housing with no additional mods. once you try the catz zeta, you'll wonder how you ever drove without it.

ex2k3

gearbox is the authority on lighting, listen to him

i got the silverstars almost 2 years ago when one of my stocks went out. they definitely look whiter but i don't know if they're any brighter. i couldn't really tell a difference.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

they are prolly +30 or +50 bulb but the coating robs any extra light they put out. this is so they can pass dot and be legal. i would say they are around same brightness as stock.

there is tons of info at danielsternlighting.com its where i learned alot of my info. he is like god of lights. and www.powerbulbs.com has alot of the good quality bulb i was talking about. if you must have a whiter light, then get something from reputable companies like osram cool blue, philips blue vision, etc. but keep in mind you will have slightly less light output since some is filtered out. the reason i went with those catz is they have alot less glare at the cutoff than oem, which allowed me to raise them a bit higher for more distance light.

here are some more pics i have around.

this is a stock unboosted H4 clear bulb



and unboosted philips XP +80 new bulb. i would not recommend boosting this due to the smaller capsule size and hotter filament. it might explode.





and some unboosted VP+50 bulbs



and finally pics of old catz rising white 4300k HID kit for stock H4 housing. prolly the best kit ever made. its pretty bright, but there are spots where light is missing or not evenly spread.

DsevenEm2

iTrader: (6)

gear u ever used nokya bulbs? whats ur take on them..

i lost 60 bucks on silverstars and another 70 on sum other "SUPER HYPER WHITE" brand, i know theyre crap. theyre just like oem. my friend put them on his 04 mustang after a wreck and i swear his output has since been worse..

LiKEaFeRiO

iTrader: (29)

Nokya bulbs are not that great compared to stock bulbs.

Cool color? Yeah.
Better Visibility? Nope.

Most tinted bulbs are like tinted windows.
How many of us tint our windows for brighter sunlight?

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

true, the best compromise is find one with light coating if you want whiter light. i really like the catz bulbs. i was driving next to brand new bmw on a dark road and our color was pretty much the same until he got up to my bumper and you could see his beam outshine mine. so i mean dont expect hid brightness, but its still great for halogen setup. i also tried the yellow capsule over H4 clear bulb and it wasnt too bad, but obviously less bright than stock. without the boosted output, i would say its almost too dangerous to drive with.

cwo715

iTrader: (13)

yea silverstars are good and all but they suck *** in the rain, like a heavy downpour, then wont show up. I had them and now i have McCulloch HID from a group by on honda-tech, i paid 189 shipped for them (5500K), like miami em2 said. 5000k to 6400k is the best because its whats used in lexus, infiniti, acura etc, color looks cool but why not look good and have something practical.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

wow you overpaid. its all the same stuff and one brand is the same as the next. anything over $125 is too much. and oems use 4100-4200k color temp. anything above and you start to lose output. oem 4200k is 3400 lumen per bulb, 6000k drops down to 2400 lumen. a good halogen setup can push 2000 lumen per bulb, so youre not gaining anything going with a higher kelvin color. and 8000k and above will be dimmer, yes dimmer, than halogen depending on the car.

LiKEaFeRiO

iTrader: (29)

Hey Gearbox do you have any experience with HIR headlights?
www.hirheadlights.com

I know they don't have H4 but this is for my tC.