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Silverstars on sale at Advance Auto
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Is that offer for the US only?
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Ouch I hope not, I just got them a couple months ago on my sedan. So far so good. A friend of mine has had them in his truck lights for a long time, never heard any bad news from him so far. I did notice that they run hot as hell, maybe your friends somehow got some dirt / finger oil on them. :?:jfrolang said:
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I've had the same issue. I got the bulbs as a pair (as opposed to two individual bulbs) and noticed that one's filter color seemed to be just a hair different than the other. I chalked it up to manufacture variations and installed them (being meticulously careful not to touch the glass to anything, blah blah blah). Once they were in, I noticed the color was a little different as well. One bulb looked sorta blue while the other looked slightly red in comparison... Not yellow, red. Anyway, the plain blue bulb died after 6 or 7 months while the other has been going strong (this was about 3 months ago).Ragnaarok said:
It makes me wonder if the individual bulbs are more or less designed to fail. The package states that the bulb life is significantly shorter than a standard bulb, which means Sylvania could get away with that kind of thing. They could then package a single short-lived individual bulb along with a longer life version (only found in the sets) so that when one only one bulb blows, the owner is more likely to buy another expensive replacement. Not only have they now sold 3 bulbs at around $25 a pop, but they've got the start of a habit in the consumer.
Anyway, I simply re-installed the old standard bulb instead of flushing another $25. When the second bulb dies, I'll go pick up a pair of cool blue bulbs. They're $20 cheaper a set and have better light output IMO (I had a set in my last 'rex).
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Okay, I liked the look and performance and bought 4 bulbs for my CRX and a pair for my Protege. Everything was fine. I was convinced they were well worth the money, considering the other blue bulb **** thats out there.
Then the driver side light popped within a year. I thought it was a fluke. Replaced it. Than I caught a thread on the Protege board about a lot of people experiencing the same thing.
Did a little research on Sylvanias website...not immediately obvious/available is the rated hours. You have to dig for it but its there (I'll bet thats intentional).
In this case specifically a 9006...expected life in hours:
Silverstars: 150 hrs
Xtra Vision: 850 hrs
Halogen Long Life: 1500 hrs
...anybody else have a problem with that?
I can just picture the pitch at the Osram/Sylvania board meeting:
"Our target demographic is the "car enthusiast" because they're always looking to improve their vehicle and will spend large quantities of money doing so. We'll charge three times the regular bulb price and make it last a fraction of the time. This will generate repeat sales.
By the time the consumer has gotten frustrated from purchasing several sets, and are looking for something that will last longer, the target demographic will be conditioned to high bulb prices. From that perspective, the price on our Xenarc system will make for a much easier sell."
Then the driver side light popped within a year. I thought it was a fluke. Replaced it. Than I caught a thread on the Protege board about a lot of people experiencing the same thing.
Did a little research on Sylvanias website...not immediately obvious/available is the rated hours. You have to dig for it but its there (I'll bet thats intentional).
In this case specifically a 9006...expected life in hours:
Silverstars: 150 hrs
Xtra Vision: 850 hrs
Halogen Long Life: 1500 hrs
...anybody else have a problem with that?
I can just picture the pitch at the Osram/Sylvania board meeting:
"Our target demographic is the "car enthusiast" because they're always looking to improve their vehicle and will spend large quantities of money doing so. We'll charge three times the regular bulb price and make it last a fraction of the time. This will generate repeat sales.
By the time the consumer has gotten frustrated from purchasing several sets, and are looking for something that will last longer, the target demographic will be conditioned to high bulb prices. From that perspective, the price on our Xenarc system will make for a much easier sell."
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I personally have silverstars for my low beams (9006). I like them a lot, the low beams still suck, just like every EF, but they are better than they were. I've had the same ones in since I got the car in May. My roommate has some in his RSX-S as well, and he likes them too. He was having issues with headlights blowing, but when he put silverstars in it seemed to stop (though I think it was his ghetto stereo wiring). So I can personally say that they have been good for me and for my roommate. No, I don't work for Sylvania.
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The better solution for sucky low beams is to do the 9005 conversion and run regular, decent life bulbs. Its hard to estimate how much brighter your low beams are...maybe a real 20%, but whatever, its noticeable.
And oncoming traffic is not bothered. It probably looks more like a real car than a midget running down the road with two flashlights in outstretched arms.
And oncoming traffic is not bothered. It probably looks more like a real car than a midget running down the road with two flashlights in outstretched arms.
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Removing the 9006 low beams and replacing them with 9005 high beams.
And before anyone assumes that this is going to be like running 4 highbeams in terms of illumination, its not. Because of the shape of the low beam housing and its orientation, its more like running a bulb thats (like I said) maybe 20% brighter. It doesn't shine up or glare into oncoming traffic like your high beams do.
Now, the 9005 bulbs have a slightly lower life expectancy than 9006, but still way longer than the Silverstars.
There are several ways to do this conversion...
I clipped some high beam plugs at a junkyard (which are also available at auto stores)...then clipped off my low beams plugs, stripped the wire ends and soldered them together. Plugged in 9005 bulb just like stock.
And before anyone assumes that this is going to be like running 4 highbeams in terms of illumination, its not. Because of the shape of the low beam housing and its orientation, its more like running a bulb thats (like I said) maybe 20% brighter. It doesn't shine up or glare into oncoming traffic like your high beams do.
Now, the 9005 bulbs have a slightly lower life expectancy than 9006, but still way longer than the Silverstars.
There are several ways to do this conversion...
I clipped some high beam plugs at a junkyard (which are also available at auto stores)...then clipped off my low beams plugs, stripped the wire ends and soldered them together. Plugged in 9005 bulb just like stock.
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http://www.gutterslide.com/fourthgenhatch_mirror/9005.htmlRagnaarok said:
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Sylvania makes pretty crappy AC lightbulbs too. I never but them as they blow after a short time.
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