S13 Silvia square-eye bulb question - searched -

[Rittmeister]

Did some searching, no good answer. I just replaced my tri-projectors with halogens, and while the beam pattern is more tolerable, they're of course not very bright.

I'd like to hear some experiences with using Silverstar H4 bulbs for the hi-lo beams on these lights - did they light the road better? I'm also concerned about heat - after what I spent on the lights I don't want to melt the housings.

If you've got other bulb recommendations, throw them out also.

TIA

[Dousan_PG]

the halogens SUCK
seroius
you have to run high beams to see 'decent'
thats why peeople (even in japan) go HID they suck

but i like HELLA bulbs quite a lot

[Rittmeister]

Well, I didn't care for the way the projectors lit the left lane and/or oncoming traffic and not much else, and to be honest, I don't think they were much brighter than the halogens are. I've read that you can take the projectors apart and re-aim the beam pattern, but I don't have the time and I'd probably ruin them.

So, anyone used the Silverstars, or whatever? What do the Hellas cost, and where can you get them? No meltage I assume?

[Dousan_PG]

hellas arent much more
google.com is your friend search

and silverstars arent bad too, good for easy to get thats about it.

[kingsol]

they all suck... i have raybrigs in both h4 and h3c and they still suck. hid's in halogens will, hopefully, make seeing what's in front of you less straining, but in the end they will suck too.

[vegita319]

Don't get Silvania Silverstar. They are blue tinted and actually not as good as any regular ones. If you want the best bulb, you should get Osram Silverstar + 50%, which is a bulb not sold in the US. If you look at Daniel Stern's site, http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/bulbs/bulb_types/bulb_types.html the h4+50% are more efficient. You can always retrofit HID projectors from a bmw, audi or using the hella 90mm projectors into the silvia projector lights to get better output. Just buying an HID kit plug and play kit not only will cause glare but it is ILLEGAL. The beam pattern of retrofitting will be really good. Check out this website http://www.hidretro.com/. Sorry for going on about lighting, but just giving you possible options. If you did decide to go with HID retroing, make sure u get a somewhat smaller type projector since the silvia housing isn't really big to accommodating BIG bi-xenon projectors. Hope that answers your questions about the Silverstar.

[vegita319]

Just in case you were curious, here's a link to the OSRAM, german version, http://www.casporttouring.com/store/merchant.mvc?store_code=CST&screen=PROD&product_code=17184 . Just in case your not sure, here's a link to a review of the product among other bulbs. http://www.electricalconnection.com/other-lighting/bulb_euro_review.htm. Those PIAA bulbs are overhype and when overboost did an experiment, The higher priced PIAA bulbs lumen output produced was less than the osram or the phillips vision plus.

You can google for comparisons and I can assure you the osram are really better than piaa since I have used both. The piaa trick you into thinking they are brighter because of the tinted look.

Just in case your curious, I'm using CIBIE headlamps with the OSRAM silverstars along with upgrade wiring harness and relays to improve my lighting output.

Either way though, they are still a great improvement over the stock sealed beam.

[vegita319]

Here's a good site about halogen and bulbs:
http://www.hidforum.com/ayh/lumen.php

[vegita319]

O yeah, forgot to mention. The hella headlamps are not worth the money if people are going to upgrade the sealed beams. Here's a graph of the light output comparing a different reflector units and how they output different beam patterns along with intensity.

http://dastern.torque.net/Photometry/isocomparo.html.

If you notice, the hellas dont' output as wide of a beam pattern as the Cibies do. The top two headlamps are one of the bests but they are no longer in production. According to Daniel stern, it would cost a lot even sourcing a marchal headlamp. Hope this helps anybody at all.

[kingsol]

good links... but i've tried piaa, raybrig, and some ghetto bubs and they all suck. i've always been interested in retofitting hid's into my halogens, but i doubt it'll be worth it in the end

[vegita319]

Well, I'm been doing a lot of R & D into headlamps since I've considered retroing for a while. I know people do it on kouki s14 all the time since the koukis have projectors already in the housing. Retrofitting projectors into a headlamp with current projectors already is alot easier than one without. After measuring my s13, there might be some clearences issues with using a bi-xenon from a TL or so. I guess I might end up having to create a custom bracket to use hella 90mm projectors like mike did since they are shorter than most. Thats probably the reason why mike at clearcorners.com use those projectors than another type.

[kingsol]

i've been considering getting projectors to get hid's, but i never really liked them... will retrofitting hid's into halogens be next to impossible or pointless because of the scattered beam pattern?

[vegita319]

If by retrofitting you mean buying a plug in play kit, yes the beam pattern will scatter all over the place and will produce lots of glare. When i thinking of retrofitting, its replacing the whole entire beam and everything with projectors from an oem car that came with HID projectors originally. On the s13, its not impossible, just a little more work. On the s14a (kouki, 97-98), its a matter of unbolting the stock projector and sliding a bmw or audi projector in.

[vegita319]

Here's a pic of an s14a with an s2000 projectors:
http://www.skafia.com/myPix/mtk%20kommander-441357872.jpg

BTW, the s2000 projectors have one of the nicest beam patterns and are pretty bright compared to bmw and audi dot spec for projectors. Hella and bosch usually makes the projectors for the german cars and for DOT spec, they downgrade somewhat to comply with us standards. The ecodes are really nice is u decide to get the german projectors.

[kingsol]

i've been under the impression that even by retrofitting the hid's into the halogens, the lighting will still be scattered, but i guess not... time for more research.

[vegita319]

Here's pictures of the guy's s14 w/ s2000 projectors in action:
http://www.skafia.com/myPix/mtk%20kommander-628062767.jpg
http://www.skafia.com/myPix/mtk%20kommander-564944481.jpg
http://www.skafia.com/myPix/mtk%20kommander-980798435.jpg

[nrg]

I hope you understand that your headlights has a RHD cutoff. That's why it looks shitty for LHD users.
Oh yea, you're might be blinding on coming traffic too.
If I were you, I would retrofit HID projectors into your housing. www.hidplanet.com
HID kits are a joke and will cause glare on halogen projectors.

[Rittmeister]

I hope you understand that your headlights has a RHD cutoff. That's why it looks shitty for LHD users.
Oh yea, you're might be blinding on coming traffic too.
If I were you, I would retrofit HID projectors into your housing. www.hidplanet.com
HID kits are a joke and will cause glare on halogen projectors.

1. I know.

2. I'm not blinding anyone - the lights have been aimed to where that's not a problem.

3. I don't plan to retrofit projectors. If I do anything I'll pull apart the projector lights and remove/shift the plates that determine the low-beam pattern.

4. I'm concentrating on the halogens for the moment. My night vision is actually pretty good, and I live in a city where there are streetlights everywhere anyway. I'm just looking for some bulbs that are brighter than what came in the lights, but won't melt the housing.

Thanks for all the input from everyone except nrg, who apparently thinks I'm either an idiot or a n00b :D I may just have to get a few pairs of bulbs to try for better results.

FYI, I also haven't plugged in and aimed the driving lights, so they'll be a help I'm sure.

[kingsol]

from my experience, no matter which h4's you use they'll have bad output. if you want to spend money on some bulbs, i say try and get some nice h3's/h3c's.

[Rittmeister]

You mean H3's for the driving lights (inner set), right?

[kingsol]

yup
akshdahsf

[WongFeiHung]

Don't have to worry about anything melting if you are using stock wattage bulbs. Sylvania Silverstars and Sylvania Xtra Visions are readily available in the US. They actually have about the same lumens (good for US market bulbs). The Silverstars are "whiter", but the Xtra Visions last longer and are cheaper...

[derux]

I used some audi hid projectors in my dual projectors. here are some pics. I enjoy the light output now and they have a good cut off.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/beat_doggie/my_photos