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I see a lot of posts saying how their superwhites are brighter because they look brighter. Well they're not. PIAA's gone to very far lengths to try to market that it is. If you plan on purchasing one of these, they are worse than stock. HID's discharge bluish light because of its temp; PIAA's just have a blue tint. ANY color on the glass of the bulb means its STEALING light, absorbing it into the glass. So a blue tint on a bulb means its sucking up all colors except blue. To see blue on a bulb means its only reflecting blue light. There's no way any of those bulbs can be brighter than yellow stock bulbs.

Check this link out:
http://faq.auto.light.tripod.com/general-faq.htm

Can this be a sticky for a little while? So many people wrongfully assume that "blue=brighter"

-Aki

 
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I have PIAA Xtreme Whites, and I can vouch that they're brighter than stock.

 
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ive said this countless times, all aftermarket bulbs get owned by stock. and that means ALL. i dont care if your bulbs are super duper hyper godzilla bulbs. stock owns joo

 
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their so lame yellowish though

 
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I agree with aki. Stock bulbs are clear and light up yellow because your eyes can perceive objects better at night with this light. I'm using sylvania cool blue bulbs. When I first got them, I noticed my visibility was reduced a little. It was only a small amount, so I kept them since the light is whiter (although slightly dimmer) than stock. I think the cool blues are the best aftermarket bulbs because they provide a good compromise.

The PIAA bulbs are fooling you when it says 55W=85W. There is no such thing! They do something to the bulb (coating) so that the light "appears" brighter when in actuality it is not. Also, blue light is harder for us to see at night over stock yellow.

 
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Check mine out mine are a blue tint bulbs [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif[/IMG]

 
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oh BTW those are low beams [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif[/IMG]

 
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It doesn't matter at all if you *think* it looks brighter, the fact of the matter is it is not.

If your bulb lens is not 100% clear then it is diluting the light. For the bulb to be colored means it is sucking up all the colors except that color (hence its blue). A colored lens is technically not changing the light, its blocking out certain frequencies to make it look like a different color.

Get some Phillip Halogens, or Silverstars. Other than that, you're making visibility worse on your car.

-Aki

 
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They use more wattage and they look cool I dun like the dull yellowish look anyways, doesnt look sporty at all [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif[/IMG] btw all my friends say that my headlights are superbright compared to my old ones. They are made for off-road use only.[IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif[/IMG]

 
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I agree, I have xtrreme whites all around and they definitly put out more light than stock, my highbeam's lighth up the whole sky!!!

 
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I know that these aren't the same bulbs, but this should be an interesting read to most of you who think that aftermarket bulbs that are tinted blue are brighter than stock...

linky

 
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hmm..interesting article

 
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Guys think about it...

If you tint your windows, you are reducing light that gets inside your cabin;
When you wear sunglasses you are reducing the light transmitted to your eyes.

So why wouldn't tinted bulbs have less output?

I'm using Sylvannia Cool Blue right now, they aren't blue at all but there is a slight tint. I've noticed that their light output is less than my previous Philips Vision Plus -- which were totally clear, yet whiter than stock! Next time around, I'm going to order Vision Plus bulbs again.

 
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PIAA uses a different gas (usually NOT xenon) and a different filament material to produce a brighter light from the same wattage. When piaa says 55W=85W, that means their bulb puts out the equivalence of 30 watts more light than stock. Wattage is ONLY a factor of the energy the bulb uses, and has absolutely no bearing on how bright or how blue the bulb is. Now as far as a coating is concerned, it does reduce the light output, but even with that they still probably put out more intense light than stock.
If you think your PIAA's are dim, re-aim them, you ALWAYS have to re-aim lights whenever you change the bulbs because the filament location changes from bulb to bulb and thus the light is reflected in a different manner. That may be why your lights appear dim.

 
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There is no way around it. He is absolutely right. It doesn't matter if you THINK your xtreme hyper white bulbs seem brighter or not. If you hold the bulb in your hand and look at it does the glass look blue or not without even lighting up? If it does look blue without lighting up then its not brighter. Even the windows on a stock civic without window tint have a green kind of appearence to it. They are really tinted, but they do reduce the light ever so slightly compared to clear glass. This is something that you learn in like physics of high school.... its not rocket science.

 
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from aki's article

What is the brightest halogen bulb?
For the 55W marked segment, sorted in order of brightness:
+50%: Philips Vision Plus (achieves its extra performance by increased luminance, not lumens. See this article: http://www.eur.lighting.philips.com/press/automotive/resultsVision.shtml)
+30%: Philips Premium.
+20%: Osram/Sylvania Xtra Vision, Osram/Sylvania Silverstar.
+0%: Philips Bluevison, Osram/Sylvania Cool Blue, Osram/Sylvania Halogen Plus, and OEM bulbs like GE.
-10%: PIAA Superwite

Osram Silverstar (Euro version) is clear and has high output as well. Don't confuse it with the North American version with the same name that has light-stealing blue coloration.

PIAA Xtreme White was released ~Dec 2001. No independant tests have been conducted so far, but several positive indications has it that this can end up in the +20-30%.

 
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stupid question... those bulbs that actually improve vision, are they HID only? or are they replacement halogens for the OEM lights? Also, where do I go to buy those better bulbs?

 
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I think this article is a little bias, don't you? Look who won the competition and look at the URL...
hmmm...

 
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it may seem brighter to you because everything is more reflective at that frequency

 
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Actually, come to think of it, the Xtreme white headlamp bulbs are clear. Only the sidemarkers are blue. The headlamps are definately brighter, and they have more of a platinum look to them than anything else.

Although, more than likely you wouldn't take my word for it. You'd just have to see it in person, and make a judgement for yourself.

 
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i have hks hyperwhites and they are really bright white almost like projectors!!

 
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Thank you aki but I already knew this. (First hand expericance)

 
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I thought I read somewhere that the amount of light the blue filters out is such a small amount that your eyes really cannot tell the difference? In that case, it really shouldn't matter then what you use? Honestly, I cannot tell much of a difference between my stock ones and any blue tinted bulb I have ever used.

 
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Those posted like Philips or the Silverstar are halogens.

I keep saying it over and over again, but just because you feel its brighter or you think it looks brighter it doesn't mean a thing. Many people feel body kits make their cars go faster, does that make their claims legitamate? It doesn't.

Unless tests are made to measure lumens, you're not going to have a good measure of how good a light is. Just as you can't tell how much a header or exhaust gives unless you dyno it.

Those Xtreme Whites are NOT clear.
http://www.piaa.com/h3bulbs.html

And in the link I provided it says there are positive indications ...possibly coming from the same people who think their blue bulbs are brighter. Note also that bulbs that compensate the blue tint by extra energy have a much shorter lifespan than the regular stock lights.

PIAA makes a killing fooling teenagers into thinking their light-stealing bulbs are better.

-Aki

 
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Well first off we have h4's, but aside from that, like I said, you'd have to see it....the light output is brighter....if it were a stock bulb and you coated it with blue filament, yes it would be darker, but that's not the case. PIAA uses different gases that actually do shine brighter, and then the coating is added, which does filter out a tad bit of yellow light. But the Super Xtreme H4 bulbs from PIAA still put out the equivalent to 135/125watt as apposed to 65/55watt light output.

I have gone to car shows, and sat side by side, and not only does it go farther, but it is definately brighter, not whiter.

But, I'm not going to argue, you'd just have to see it.

 
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My Eurolite Xenon Super Plasma are not exactly what I would call "brighter". They do allow me to see much farther down the road but it is not as bright white as with the stock bulbs. They also help in rain, drizzle & foggy conditions because the light being reflected back is not as white. And yes the Eurolites do have a very slight blue tint and are DOT/SAE approved. Good bulbs especially for the money... $29.99 from Crutchfield.

Link to H4 Eurolite

 
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Well I have the PIAA Xtremes all around and they are brighter then stock. I had my OEM lights and I changed them first day I bought the car. I like the look of my PIAA's way better than stock even if they don't by some people put out more light.

Nick

 
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If you want brighter / clearer lamps than stock...BUY A HID SYSTEM

If you want the "look" of HID systems...BUY $10-$80 LAMPS


DEPENDS ON WHAT YOUR LOOKING TO ACCOMPLISH
...and BTW, they are all "dimmer" than they claim

 
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Don't TOTALLY diss PIAA. Yet.

Stock lights are not neccessarly the BEST. It depends on who makes them. Different bulbs have different lighting output and lighting pattern. There are hundreds of H4 lightbulbs out there, and they all perform differently. We're talking marginal differences, but nonetheless, the differences still exist. SAE requirs 1100 lumens of output from an H4 bulb. However, bulb makers are allowed a plus or minus slack of 50 lumens, hence ranging from 1050 to 1150 lumens. So the performance gap is there.

I found out that Audi uses uses Philips bulbs (the best) for their A4's projector headlamps (the ones without HID option). But which bulbs are in Honda Civics? I'm not sure who exactly makes them, but they probably are NOT the best out there. Big brands like Philips or Sylvannia cost extra money. This means Honda can save huge amounts of money, if they chose to go with a different that are willing to sell them bulbs are a lower cost. So this could explain some people's claim to better visibility with the PIAA bulbs.

I'll tell you this much. I've had experience with *MANY* bulbs, including the PIAA SuperPlasmas. Low-beam wise, they were *SLIGHTLY* worse than stock. Due to the coloured coating. But in return, the street signs DID reflect a lot better. High-beam, on the otherhand, was definitely improved. Lighting pattern and intensity was increased.

Does it justify the outrageous price for the PIAA bulbs? No. They didn't even last 6 months. Would I buy them again? Nope. There are far more superior brands out there, like Philips & Sylvannia. Even though their bulbs do not look that "cool", they do provide more light than PIAAs and last longer.

But still--PIAA could be better than stock.

 
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"I keep saying it over and over again, but just because you feel its brighter or you think it looks brighter it doesn't mean a thing. Many people feel body kits make their cars go faster, does that make their claims legitamate? It doesn't."

Well now, the color temperature has a lot to do with that. If you sacrifice a few lumens but get a whiter (bluer) light, then visibility may be enhanced. This is especially true on well marked roads with reflective lines and signs. Also beam patterns make a great difference. The stock bulb pattern is good.

That said, I think the PIAA's are crap. There are many reports of early burn outs with them. My experience was that the blue coating faded to a pinkish color. I was on a trip home and when the lights got pink, I could hardly see the last 20 miles to home. I got rid of those PIAA's real fast. Now I carry a spare set of stock bulbs.

I have the Catz voltage increase transformers in my light system. That jacks up the voltage from 12 to 13.5. So with a higher voltage I get brighter lights and it doesn't seem to affect the life time of halogen bulbs. Right now I am running with Sylvania Silver Stars. There is no blue, just a whiter white. They have a nice flat top beam pattern along with light down on the road in front of the car and good lighting to the sides to see the edge and lane lines. I tried them with 12 volts and then hooked up the Catz and they are much brighter and do actually give much better lighting.

I'm staying with the Sylvania's until the price of HID comes down some more and they have our bulbs with hight beams too.

As for body kits. Yes, a well designed body kit can make your car go faster. As your car reaches speeds somwhere above 50 MPH, it is working hard to just buck the wind. If a body kit reduces the wind drag, it takes less power to move your car at a given speed. This will result in better gas mileage, and a faster car at a given amount of power. That's one reason why today's cars are made more aerodynamic than they used to be, to get better gas mileage. Every little bit helps.