Looking for Enlightenment!

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Folks,

I've got this SUV....'05 Xterra, with plain round headlights, standard halogen bulbs, and running lights down near the bumper. The headlights sit up so high that it's hard to see them lighting up the road much. They do light things up down the road a bit, like reflective signs and such, but I'm finding myself using the extra low running lights more often than I think I should have to!?

So...I was shopping at the local volume discount store like SAM's, and they had this bin of Philips Crystal Vision 4000K frequency halogen bulbs, a pair for $29.99. I went online and was trying to do some research on these new type of bulbs that are supposed to provide 30-50% more light, like Sylvania Silverstar ULTRA and such.

My question is has anyone used these fancy high priced super white halogen bulbs, and did you really see a marked improvement in visibility?
T.C.

[hamjam]

(motorcycle content)
I used a 100 W bulb in my XS11 , does that count ?

My Jeep does the same thing my hi beams are way out there and the lo beams are somewhat high as well but with the fog/driving/running, lights on as well I get a nice close view of the road as well
perhaps aiming the lights lower might help??

[Montreux_Blue]

I've put the Sylvania Silverstar ULTRA in a few vehicles and noticed a difference. It's more of a bright blue/white light than the standard yellow. It make more of a brighter glow. You'll be able to tell.

[Ken Talbot]

I tried some of the fancy bulbs on my last car, and they did make a difference. Still not as much difference as I got when I replaced the old car with one of these:



Waaaaayyy better light!

[Montreux_Blue]

Ken, steel wheels? What happened to the rims??? The projector headlights are way better.

[fredintoon]

Ken, steel wheels? What happened to the rims??? The projector headlights are way better.

Hi 'Blue,
never been to the Okanagan, eh? Betcha those steel rims are running winter tires and the bling awaits next summer's salt free roads. While I dunno how much better one can see with the blue-tinted super-bright headlamps I do know they really work well in dazzling oncoming traffic.

[Ken Talbot]

Fred's got it right, those are some high-tech snows on steel rims.

TC - the HIDs are fantastic lights. The cut-off from dark to light is an amazing, crisp line. Try a bit of google searching for HID conversion kits like this one. Costs quite a bit more than the brighter halogen replacement bulbs, but might be what you're after.

[psycoreefer]

I've not yet tried the silverstar ultra's but I'm a huge fan of the regular silver star bulbs. I run them in everything and as soon as I have to buy some bulbs again I'll be trying the ultras. I'm not sure that the standard silver star bulbs are any brighter, it just seems that they do a much better job at putting the light on the road.

I assume you've already checked that your headlights are aligned properly? Could be that they are actually pointed high.

Be careful with those conversion kits, most are not DOT approved and therefore not street legal. If your area requires "inspections" you could get in trouble or have to swap the old lights back in everytime.

[Montreux_Blue]

Hi 'Blue,
never been to the Okanagan, eh? Betcha those steel rims are running winter tires and the bling awaits next summer's salt free roads. While I dunno how much better one can see with the blue-tinted super-bright headlamps I do know they really work well in dazzling oncoming traffic.

I thought about that after I posted it, but never being north of Kansas, I don't know what real snow looks like!

[81xsproject]

I am going to have to be the seconder here. Try adjusting those lights down first. Your brights should illuminate those road signs, but not your low beams.

[yamahansolo]

go buy a set of nokya hyper white. they burn at 7000k way brighter than the rest! it makes the fog line glow in the dark!!! and it is as close to hid as you can get. the stage 2's are like 20 bucks!

[hamjam]

7000 K is the sun at noon
bright
have to look at those
Jim

[psycoreefer]

It's always been my understanding that the "k" number describes the "color" of the light not the brightness of that light. I believe the system is indexed by heating a carbon "wire" to the some specific temperature, in this case 7000 Kelvin and observing the spectrum of light produced. The higher the number to "bluer" the light is. We can then match the spectrum output of some other light source (like your head light) to a Kelvin color. So a 7000K bulb could be very dim and yet still be 7000K as long as its output was the right color.

Daylight is about 5600K
The sky is said to be about 28000K - very blue
A candle is said to be about 1800K - very red/orange

That said I'd think the ideal color for headlights would be around 5600K, because our eyes are adapted to see best in sunlight. Anything different is just to "look cool"

Output is described as Watts or lumens or Candle power. Headlights specifically are rated in Watts but depending on the technology and reflector used a 55 watt bulb may or may not be brighter then a 35 Watt bulb. For example a 55 watt halogen bulb will be no where near as bright as a 35 Watt HID bulb because HID is a more efficient technology.

[yamahansolo]

the box claims 90 watt/100 watt output. it lights up the signs a mile away at least! i do all my riding at night they have other colors but the 7k is the coolest. if you look at my bike photo you can see the bulb in the headlight. during the day with the light off it has a blue hue to it.

[CatatonicBug]

It's always been my understanding that the "k" number describes the "color" of the light not the brightness of that light.

You are exactly correct. I recently discovered that this information is critical for fish aquarium bulbs. Certain colors are better for freshwater, while others are better for saltwater. Even more specific colors are best when growing real plants, then even more specifics are needed for the hard corals in saltwater. The higher the Kelvin rating, the more Blue the light. The lower Kelvin rating gives a more yellow light.