Interesting Consumer Reports Test

[DBMaster]

My most recent Consumer Reports magazine had a test of some of the popular "upgrade" headlight bulbs that I thought some of you might like. I remembered this because one of my Silverstars burned out after less than two years. Maybe I will get a pair of GE Nighthawks!

http://mysite.verizon.net/res1ul76/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/06010408480.pdf

[lamontlamont]

who won the contest?

[DBMaster]

That's the funny thing. Since each of the cars they used has different light assemblies than ours - and there afre probably very few of us who actually have identical H4 conversions, who knows? What I took from the article was that you can't believe the hype on the packaging, the bulbs are way overpriced (I got a set of German made Hella H4's for $8 online), and that in most cases they don't last as long as the OEM type replacements.

That being said, if you like blue, purple, yellow, etc. you may not care. The place where I buy mine has pretty good prices (Susquehanna Motor Sports) and I keep around a spare set of the Hella Long Life (1,500 hrs v. 500 hrs) for $8 each. I am just glad I only paid $26 for my Silverstars because they were not really any better than stock and they didn't last very long, either.

[A20A1]

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'A candle that burns twice as bright burns half as long'
-Blade Runner

[hyongel]

On a related note, this site http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/bulbs/bulbs.html
has a lot of information on auto bulbs and lighting. The executive summary seems to be that the headlight housing & bulbs are engineered to work together for a particular car, and upgrading any single item is hit or miss as far as performance is concerned. He's pretty set against blue bulbs.

That said, I've been pretty happy with my Autopal E-code housing + standard H4's. The sealed beams are so outdated that these make a really noticeable difference. I tried some upgraded Sylvania sealed beams from Autozone, but returned them -- the beam pattern was very blotchy on the road and they weren't that much better than the standard sealed beams. Still going fine on the cheap original bulbs after 1-1/2 yrs -- probably the best $40 I've spent on my car.

DBMaster, if I might ask, where did you find your Hella H4's? That sounds like a good price for them. Someday, my Indian-made bulbs will burn out ...

[DBMaster]

I bought a couple sets here. They have good brands and good prices. The standard H4's are only $4 each for Hella brand.

http://www.rallylights.com/