"Silverstar" Headlight Replacement Bulbs For Accords: Worth Doing ?

Hello;

Please see my previous post, and several answers, regarding
2004 Accord headlight illumination concern question.

Saw some posts where others have gone to "Silverstars".

My questions are:

a. anyone here make the swap, and is worth doing ?

b. are they the same electrical wattage as what's in there now ?

c. any warranty implications ?

d. life the same as the OEM bulbs ?

Any other thoughts would be most appreciated.

Thanks,
Bob

 

a. anyone here make the swap, and is worth doing ?

Done the swap from stock 9003 to Sylvania 9003 SilverStar and did see
some improvement. For me it was worth it.

Yes, they are the same wattage but somewhat more efficient.

None whatsoever

Don't know, my annual headlight expenditures ar low enough that I don't
care.

I use 9003 bulbs, I do not know what you use. Osram SilverStar H4 bulbs
are brighter than the Sylvania SilverStar 9003 bulb and the two are
otherwise interchangeable. H4 bulbs are not DOT compliant.
http://www.suvlights.com sells both kinds.

 

I do not know about these specific lights but I can comment on the "cool
blue" lights that are mady by Sylvania I think. They can be up to twice as
much and the burn out rate was more than twice as fast as the stock bulbs so
the stock bulbs were less than a quarter of the cost of the cool blues. I
no longer buy any bulbs other than the less inexpensive stock bulbs and I
make sure my lights are adjusted correctly.

I do doubt however that the bulbs are brighter than stock because there is a
federal law that limits the light output of headlights. Of course this
doesn't apply to high wattage bulbs that usually state on them "for offroad
use only." It isn't like the cops would know what kind of bulbs you had.

My two cents.

CaptainKrunch

 

I suggest you check out this site.
I found it "enlightening". (I know...bad one)

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/

Frank

 

Funny how things work out sometimes....I just replaced my PIAA lights with
the Silverstar bulbs (one PIAA was DOA & I couldn't find a replacement so I
switched both bulbs).

Now keep in mind that this was done on my 98 Accord....and I only did the
low beams.

Between the OEM bulbs and the Silverstar...the Silverstar bulbs give off a
MUCH more WHITE light. VERY noticeable when you put them side by side (OK I
was bored). The PIAA -vs- the SIlverstar...almost the same color. Both
very nice.

I perfer the light that is the most like daylight (the Silverstar are 4000K
and that's about as bright as DOT -approved lights can be folks).

Not sure what else to say... other than I bought mine at Auto Zone for $20
each and had MIR forms for another $5 off a pair.

Scott Wallace

 

Yep, just did it. 91 Accord. Very happy.

Would have prefered to get the untinted Osram Silverstars, but I really
don't want to have to special order or mail order light bulbs. Sylvanias are
available at Canadian Tire. $24CDN a bulb.

 

there is a

Which is probably why, in the US, Sylvania (which is the same company as
Osram) is selling SilverStar with 30% more light than stock and not the
European SilverStars which give off 50% more light than stock.

 

I would like to see how they are measuring light and what loophole they are
jumping through. Is it total lumens or lumens at a given distance or is it
temperature or what? Perhaps they are able to get more light from the same
wattage bulbs and they are following the wattage laws.

CaptainKrunch

 

The light appear brighter because the bulbs are coated blue. This filters
out the blue light and makes the light appear whiter as opposed to the sort
of yellowish tint of normal hallogens. They have the same lumen count as
the factory bulbs though. Both emit 1000 lumens for the low beams (2003
Accord, older models' bulbs may vary). Even though they aren't really
brighter from a lumen stand point, I still like the Silverstars in my car
because of the whiter light. I find it easier on the eyes at night.

 

Me too, so I contacted Sylvania, asking about the differences between
standard, XtraVision, CoolBlue and SilverStar. This is what they
replied:

"The XtraVision is a brighter product in terms of lumen output. The
increase in output on the XtraVision is by gaining a wider beam pattern
for better peripheral vision. The Cool Blue is a slightly higher color
temperature than the standard version, which gives it a whiter
appearance. A standard product is 3200 degrees Kelvin and Cool Blue is
at 3500
degrees Kelvin. The higher the color temperature the whiter the light
will be. The SilverStar has a color temperature of 4000 degrees Kelvin
and as I mentioned in the previous email, SilverStar also has the
redesigned filament and gas mixture to maintain a fuller beam pattern.
Down
road distance on all these products are the same. The difference is in
how intense the light output will be and the color of the light output."

 

Good info... What you should do is pick up the OSRAM Silverstars (Made in
Germany). These are different from the Sylvania Silverstars even though
Osram and Sylvania are the same company. I got mine from
DanielSternlighting.com. I changed my Civic's bulbs (stock) to these ones
and I was pleasantly surprised.

It;s a good investment

 

Lumens are a bad measures of automobiles lighting. Here is why:

lumen [n] a unit of luminous flux equal to the amount of light given
out through a solid angle of 1 steradian by a point source of 1
candela intensity radiating uniformly in all directions

candela [n] the basic unit of luminous intensity adopted under the
System International d'Unites; equal to 1/60 of the luminous intensity
per square centimeter of a black body radiating at the temperature of
2,046 degrees Kelvin

One lumen is the equivalent of 1.46 milliwatt (1.46 x 10-3 W) of
radiant electromagnetic (EM) power at a frequency of 540 terahertz
(540 THz or 5.40 x 1014 Hz). Reduced to SI base units, one lumen is
equal to 0.00146 kilogram meter squared per second cubed (1.46 x 10-3
kg multiplied by m2 / s3).

Therefore, depending on how you measure, a lumen is is only the light
output at 2046 Kelvin OR the equivilent or the equivalent light output
a 2046 Kelvin body would have.

Since the human eye does not absorb all frequencies with the same
sensitivity, this is a moot measurement. On top of that, lumens are a
measure of DIRECT light. Since as drivers we don't stand 40 feet in
front of our cars looking at our own headlights, it is also stupid to
measure the light from that point. What SHOULD be measured is the
amount of light reflected back to the driver's eye from a known
reflective body (i.e. a green road sign, a red stop sign, etc) in a
frequency-dependant manner based on the human eye. No one has EVER
used this type of measurement that I know, and as such, all talk of
lumens and "illegal" bulbs is a pointless endeavor.

Nate

 

Since the human eye does not absorb all frequencies with the same

Not true. For light sources that are not 555 nm monochromatic, a
standardized weighting curve is used. The human eye perceives x lumens
to be equally bright regardless of what color the light is, but 1 lumen
at 600 nm corresponds to more than the 1.45 mW it corresponds to at 555
nm.

 

I replaced the OEM bulbs in my Element with Silverstars....Great
light, color, etc.

Only problem is that they burnt out after only six months. Both
headlights went out within three days of each other.

I replaced them with Silverstars again (giving Sylvania the benefit of
the doubt)-- will be watching the clock closely this time.

Saturn

 

I was considering the Silverstars until I saw the comparison charts for
Silverstars vs standard and longlife halogen bulbs on the Sylvania website.
My Prelude uses H1 bulbs (T-2 1/2 style) and Sylvania's charts showed a 100
hr life for H1 Silverstars vs 225 hr for their standard halogen. Digging
into their definitions yielded some interesting insights. The life rating
is basically where statistically 50% of the bulbs are expected to die, but
the range varies widely.

Also, the actual light output was about 25% LESS for the Silverstars even
though the wattage is upped from 55W to 65W. Presumably, the 4000 degree
color of the Silverstars allows the eye to see (or perceive to see) more
light.

I found the comparisons on their website by searching for details on the
bulb STYLE, once I got the style from the basic bulb number. Other
Silverstar bulbs (has an "ST" suffix) sometimes matched the same light
output as standard halogens, but I think all had significantly less rated
life.

see http://www.sylvaniaautocatalog.com/sylvania/halogenhead.asp


J.