Bad blue, good blue... a definite read.

[GrayCar]

Bad blue

Good blue

Good quote:
"Osram bought the well-established American lampmaker Sylvania in the early 1990s, so Osram is now Sylvania's parent company. Sylvania also sells a line of automotive bulbs they call "SilverStar", but it's not the same product at all. These bulbs have a blue coating on them. Light output is of legal levels, but as with all blue-filtered bulbs, you do not get more light from them. The Sylvania SilverStar bulbs have a very short lifetime, because the filament is selected so as to be overdriven. This is necessary because the blue filtration coating "steals" so much light that only an overdriven filament can push enough light through the filter to be legal. The Sylvania SilverStar bulbs are also priced quite high. This is not because they cost a lot to make, and not because they're based on some exotic new technology. It's because the goal with this product is to take market share away from other overpriced bulbs like the PIAA line.

For best headlamp performance and best value, choose only bulbs with clear glass."

[Bluejayde]

Good find!

[phatdoughnut]

Yeah i just go to high school pharmacy and buy 7 dollar oem sylvania bulbs

[deckeda]

Required reading

I had been to Stern's site before but never saw any of that. Interesting about the U.S-market Silverstars.

Just installed a set myself, and like them. To me they don't look blue at all, so I think that even with the blue tint they've hit a decent color balance --- indeed, they are not a super-high kelvin lamp at all.

They also shine more light than whatever I had before; I can definitely see a little better now. It's not a huge difference, and in the whole scheme of things probably aren't worth the $40/pr but so far I just don't see how they are worse than what I had.

He doesn't mention why the "good" Osram Silvarstars aren't available in the U.S., or where to buy any of the "good" halogens --- obvious questions. Maybe those have European-spec patterns, and are thus illegal here or would look worse in our DOT headlights?

[GrayCar]

Wow, that guy has a lot on there...

I wonder if somebody on eBay would have the Euro SilverStars...

[GrayCar]

Aha!

Here's your Euro SilverStars:
http://motors.search.ebay.com/_W0QQg...sortpropertyZ1

[deckeda]

Oh, gawd, I can see it now: fake Osram SilverStars on eBay will be the "new JDM"!

[GrayCar]

I point you to this thread: http://www.cb7tuner.com/vbb/showthre...threadid=11045

Euro-spec is the new thing baby!!!

But seriously, guys it would definitely help for people to read up on these things with your lights.

[J-specCb4]

good find

[deckeda]

I just put the H4 Osram Silverstars on my Element, and it makes a very nice improvement. Recommended for anyone running H4 housings on their CB7. Makes me wanna seek some out now ...

[GrayCar]

Are these the Euro-Osram SilverStars?

[deckeda]

Yep. You have a GOOD headlight assembly that takes H4s? I think if I had that I'd no longer worry about HID on this car so much.

[GrayCar]

Nah, I have the standard CB7 headlights. They did have some Osram SS in 9006/HB4 on EBay for awhile, I'll have to keep an eye out.

I did pop some Philips High Visibilty bulbs in my high beams though. So far so good. I live downtown, so there hasn't been too much opportunity to use them.

[Bluejayde]

Not to sound like a complete newbie, but what ARE the best headlights for visibility? I don't care so much about looks, just being able to see, 'cuz I live way out in ButtFuckEgypt, and it's dark in the boonies. I had done research and thought that Sylvania's were the best. Apparently I was wrong, so what is the best for visibility?

[deckeda]

MizzouMan, you are not necessarily wrong. I am not an lighting expert, but pay attention to two things: lumens and color temp.

With standard halogen technology, there isn't a whole lot that can be done utilizing a bulb designed for 55w or whatever it is most normal car lights use. Note that when you see "85w" or "100w" bulbs they are generally inferior bulbs that won't last as long, put stress on the electrical system (and might melt the harness!) and might not be any "brighter" anyway. I gather that you already know this.

In recent years, makers of halogen lights have been filling the bulb with Xenon gas, which does something good. I can't remember what. But don't confuse that with "Xenon HID" or any other kind of HID. Xenon halogens are today normal cheapo (but decent quality) lights.

The other thing that enhances visibility is the color temp of the bulb --- i.e. the color of the light that comes out of the bulb. HID is closest to sunshine; one reason why it looks so damn bright. This is somewhere around 4000 kelvin.

Re-read my disclaimer above re: I'm not an expert, so my numbers are off a tad here.

Sylvania Silverstars are the closest-to-4000k DOT-approved halogen lights you can buy. However, they have a dirty little secret. They achieve this higher kelvin by having a pale blue tint on the glass, which of course reduces overall light output (lumens). Anything that covers the glass (non-clear) HAS to reduce lumens, all else being equal.

So, with Sylvania Silverstars you get more of the "HID look" --- i.e. higher color temp (less yellowness) but reduced output compared to, say, Osram Silverstars. And any light, halogen or HID, that has higher-than-4000k color temp will continue this trend: more blueish light, less light output. Remember that the sun is not blue for a reason!

Osram Silverstars are made by the same parent company (Osram) but are not for sale here in the U.S. for U.S. cars. They are not DOT-approved, which probably just means that they either haven't been made available to the DOT for testing, or there's some mysterious reason they aren't "safe" for our roads.

Damn if I know what that would be however. Consider that Osram Silverstars are NOT high-wattage nasty bulbs that will damage your car or have so much nasty light as to blind on-coming traffic. Also, they have better light for the driver. If anyone knows what I'm leaving out please let me know. In my opinion, Osram Silverstars are win-win all around.

But there are problems. I have only found the H4 (aka 9003) style bulb for sale here, and only at ONE online place (besides eBay) --- and that place caters to motorcyclists. But again, if they are "legal" for use in a U.S. bike, why not cars? The 9003 (H4) is the combo hi/lo light for cars that have only one "headlight" --- i.e. none of the '90-current Accords with stock headlight assemblies.

The last problem may be bigger still. The U.S.-branch of the company, Sylvania, has been paying attention to all of the ricers who just luvs those bling-bling-y blue lights. Their Silverstars pay a little homage to that in that they have a slight blue tint, but not so much as to really appear blue.

The Sylvania Silverstar is the "thinking man's" light upgrade but as Daniel Stern's site mentions, they don't really put out much more, if any light beyond normal quality halogens. Blame that damn blue tint on them.

I may be wrong about Sylvania's intentions. It may very well be that the only way they can get the higher-kelvin in a DOT light is to tint them, whereas the Osram achieves this not with tint, but with floobie dust.

Sorry, I don't know what it is about Osrams (and the similar Philips mentioned in the Daniel Stern site) that allow them to be "brigher". All I know is that they are great. If you know anyone with a car that takes 9003 lights buy them a set of the Osrams. They will thank you.

Re-read the Daniel Stern links provided by GrayCar above.

See also k-mart's link about converting to H4/H1 lights.
http://www.cb7tuner.com/vbb/showthre...threadid=12861

That might be the cheapest way to convert so that you (we) can use Osram Silverstars in our CB7s.

And finally, since you mentioned being out in the boonies, if you have cash to spend and want HID, but don't want the hassle of doing it right with new (quality) projector housings and some sort of kit or junkyard parts from a wrecked luxury auto, consider Sylvania's HID universal kit for $300.

http://www.cb7tuner.com/vbb/showthre...threadid=12980

It's also mentioned in the Daniel Stern site as having a less-then-perfect light pattern but great output. Might be just the thing for cruising along those country roads at night.