Sylvania Silverstars inconsistent?

[Aiken Drum]

Wanting whiter light, but being unwilling to install a HID kit, I put in some Sylvania Silverstars. It seems to me that one bulb (passenger side) is not nearly as bright as the other when projected straight at the wall of my garage. I'm pretty sure it's not a beam pattern thing. You're supposed to get more light (or at least a higher beam) on the passenger side.

Has anyone else found significant differences in brightness between Sylvania bulbs?

I really wish I'd taken a close look at the brightnesses of my old bulbs.

 

[hlweyl]

I bought the Silverstars for my Honda Odyssey. One bulb lasted 2 months, the other lasted 3 months. They are a little brighter, I hope yours will last longer than mine did.

 

[dynatac]

I bought silverstars last year.
One blew out about a month ago, the other is still burning bright.

 

[Elite]

In my experience the best alternative to true HID is the PIAA line of bulbs. They are much brighter than stock. They do not look too blue like all the cheap alternatives you can get at any parts store. They have a very nice/bright pattern. And they last at least a year and counting. Trust me you will like them.

 

[CDub]

I have had my silverstars on for close to 2 years and so far, I don't notice any inconsistency and still shining bright.

May be I just don't drive at night that often. But so far, I'm happy with the results of the bulbs... knock on wood!

 

[Hiroshima]

I bought Sylvania Cool Blue bulbs back before they had the silver stars. I had previously had the PIAA Platinum Whites in the car when they were the best. This was 6ish years ago. My Cool Blues are still in, not a single problem. I switched from PIAA to the Sylvania bulbs for a few reasons.
I use high beam bulbs for my low beams. It only requires a few small modifications to the bulb and by doing so you get 10 extra watts and there is no paint on the front of the bulb like on low beam bulbs. This produces more light for very little money. I would have done this with the PIAA's but at the time they were $85 ish a pair and I did not want to screw up moding the bulb. Figured if it did not work I would just put the PIAA's back in but that was 6 years ago...

The second reason was that I wanted my high beams to look like my lows beams. However since I rarely use my high beams I did not feel bad about getting the cool blues since they are so cheap.

The color temp is lower on the cool blues but I think they look just fine.

HTH

Jeff

 

[topdaytrader]

Sylvania Silverstars is not even bright and looks yellowish. Check out http://www.motionr.com

 

[Ojas]

Sylvania Silverstars is not even bright and looks yellowish. Check out http://www.motionr.com

topdaytrader is absolutely incorrect (which is nothing new). Genuine Sylvania Silverstars are not dimmer and are definately not more yellow than stock. Here's a comparison. Obviously they do not approach HID in terms of brightness and color, but they are no worse than stock.

By the way, Aiken Drum, I have not noticed any inconsistency in brightness.

 

[nis350]

topdaytrader is absolutely incorrect (which is nothing new). Genuine Sylvania Silverstars are not dimmer and are definately not more yellow than stock. Here's a comparison. Obviously they do not approach HID in terms of brightness and color, but they are no worse than stock.

By the way, Aiken Drum, I have not noticed any inconsistency in brightness.

I second that. I just installed a set of 9006 silverstar. they are whiter and looks better than the stock. I like them a lot for the money. No inconsistency either.

 

[Aiken Drum]

Hm, I wonder if I just got one bad bulb. Or maybe it's not properly seated.

Guess I'll go ding up my knuckles some more.

 

[Aiken Drum]

Or maybe it's not properly seated.

Erm. *blush* That was it.

So now my corner/position/whatever-they're-called lights are too yellow in comparison. I guess I should have known that would happen.

 

[Hrant]

Change the corner lights to amber. You can find the bulbs which come in pair at any auto store about $3 max and they make a huge difference. HTH.

 

[Aiken Drum]

Hmm, why amber, exactly? I'm not necessarily opposed to the idea, just curious.

 

[D'Ecosse]

Hmm, why amber, exactly? I'm not necessarily opposed to the idea, just curious.

I think you guys are talking about two different things: the corner lights (turn signal, yellow lens) and the parking lights ("white", but yellow compared to the hids)
Just get some PIAA LED wedge bulbs for the combo lights Aiken - you need 168/194 type fitment. I used the PIAA super plasma; there are others available, extreme white, etc.
These are going to be super bright (no affiliation, etc. etc)

 

[Aiken Drum]

I grabbed some PIAA Xtreme White bulbs. Wow, so easy to install. Praise be to whoever scanned the service manual. I bet Acura would have charged me 80 bucks for those three minutes of work.

Anyway, what's interesting is this: even though the Sylvania Silverstars are rated at 4000K, and the PIAA Xtreme Whites are also rated at 4000K, they're so different that the Xtreme Whites make the Silverstars look rather yellow. One manufacturer or the other is lying about their rating, and I'm going to bet it's Sylvania.

So now they're as mismatched as they were before, but in the other direction. In fact, they're even more mismatched than before. Blah, I tell you, blah.

(By the way, I prefer 4000K-ish color. Any higher is getting too blue for my tastes. Just personal preference.)

 

[topdaytrader]

You comment is worthless, since you never tried MotionR bulbs.
Here's Testimonials from MotionR bulbs users (many of them tried Sylvania Silverstars and hate them):

http://hyundaiperformance.com/forums/topic.php?t=8938

http://www.cardomain.com/member_pages/view_guestbook.pl?page_id=374204

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=19415

http://www.sonataspeed.com/yabbse/i...display;threadid=1246;start=msg17225#msg17225

http://www.j-body.org/forums/read.php?f=7&i=207861&t=207861

http://www.topendmotorsports.com/members/search.php?searchid=11937

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/archive/topic/19071-1.html

topdaytrader is absolutely incorrect (which is nothing new). Genuine Sylvania Silverstars are not dimmer and are definately not more yellow than stock. Here's a comparison. Obviously they do not approach HID in terms of brightness and color, but they are no worse than stock.

By the way, Aiken Drum, I have not noticed any inconsistency in brightness.

 

[Ojas]

You comment is worthless, since you never tried MotionR bulbs.

I made no statement about your bulbs at all.

You wrote "Sylvania Silverstars is not even bright and looks yellowish." The comparisons made in the previous posts were to stock bulbs. Since you did not state otherwise, the natual assumption is that you are making a comparison to stock, as well. If this was not what you meant, well... I’ll ask you to clarify before I reply next time.

BTW: One of your links does not work. Also, I’m sure how to gauge the quality of a product based on testimonials made exclusively by Camry, Calavier, Sunfire, Elantra, and Sonata enthusiasts. (You can give me a negative mark, if you’d like.)

 

[nis350]

I grabbed some PIAA Xtreme White bulbs. Wow, so easy to install. Praise be to whoever scanned the service manual. I bet Acura would have charged me 80 bucks for those three minutes of work.

Anyway, what's interesting is this: even though the Sylvania Silverstars are rated at 4000K, and the PIAA Xtreme Whites are also rated at 4000K, they're so different that the Xtreme Whites make the Silverstars look rather yellow. One manufacturer or the other is lying about their rating, and I'm going to bet it's Sylvania.

So now they're as mismatched as they were before, but in the other direction. In fact, they're even more mismatched than before. Blah, I tell you, blah.

(By the way, I prefer 4000K-ish color. Any higher is getting too blue for my tastes. Just personal preference.)

The installation of either brand of bulbs should be the same. Not sure why the PIAA is easier?

Why don't post some pics. of the PIAA and silverstar comparison? I think most people would be interested.

 

[Aiken Drum]

The installation of either brand of bulbs should be the same. Not sure why the PIAA is easier?

Why don't post some pics. of the PIAA and silverstar comparison? I think most people would be interested.

Ah, because the PIAAs were installed in the marker lights (168 socket), and the Silverstars were for the actual headlights (9006 socket). Thus the difference in difficulty. The markers are dead easy, the headlights less so.

Technically, you can install a headlight in about a minute, but that assumes you get all the little tabs in the right places before you try to turn the spring clips and the caps when you're putting things back together. It actually takes me about 10 minutes of swearing and retrying to get it right.

But, since you asked, here's a picture of the headlights and markers next to each other, both supposedly 4000K. I checked in Photoshop, and the headlights are very close to white, with just the slightest blue tinge, whereas the markers are rather blue.

 

[spyderman33]

Have had them on NSX for over 1 year and loving them.. Cheap alternative to the HIDs..

 

[nis350]

Ah, because the PIAAs were installed in the marker lights (168 socket), and the Silverstars were for the actual headlights (9006 socket). Thus the difference in difficulty. The markers are dead easy, the headlights less so.

Technically, you can install a headlight in about a minute, but that assumes you get all the little tabs in the right places before you try to turn the spring clips and the caps when you're putting things back together. It actually takes me about 10 minutes of swearing and retrying to get it right.

But, since you asked, here's a picture of the headlights and markers next to each other, both supposedly 4000K. I checked in Photoshop, and the headlights are very close to white, with just the slightest blue tinge, whereas the markers are rather blue.

I see. I misunderstood your comparison was between headlights. Parking light sure looks nice. How much is the PIAA parking light (168)?

 

[GHOSTRIDER]

I have the PIAA ones and they are much better then the cheaper alternatives.

 

[Aiken Drum]

I see. I misunderstood your comparison was between headlights. Parking light sure looks nice. How much is the PIAA parking light (168)?

It was about $15 for the pair (part 19172) at Car Toys.

I'm going to try the other PIAAs (Super White, or something like that, part 19168) to see if they're a better match. I'll save the Extreme Whites in case I ever get HID. I think they'd be a good match for most near-white HIDs.

 

[nis350]

I have the PIAA ones and they are much better then the cheaper alternatives.

are you referring to highlight or parking light? how are the PIAA's better than the silverstar? I haven't seen any comparison between the two. Since I don't know if I would like them, I got the silverstar for less than $30. I like the silverstar a lot for the money. I think the PIAA is between $65 to $80. If the PIAA is much better, I would try it next time.

Please provide comparison details.

 

[Aiken Drum]

I grabbed some PIAA Super White wedge bulbs to try instead of the Extreme Whites next to the Silverstar headlights. The Super Whites are a very close match. Not quite perfect, but better than the sky blue Extreme Whites and the original ones, which looked downright tan next to the Silverstars. They're what I'll leave in, unless I decide to switch the headlights to HID some day.

For reference, here are both of the PIAA wedge bulbs next to the Silverstar headlights: