headlight bulbs recommendation

Shane731

Shane731

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Looking to get some brighter bulbs for my headlights. Nothing too fancy or expensive, just something brighter than what I have now. I don't know much about this kind of stuff - what is the difference between HID and LED? Do you have any recommendations as to what I should get? Also, are headlight bulbs hard to get to and replace? Is it something I can do myself? The bulbs I have right now are 9006 bulbs for both low beam and high beam. Thanks!
 
HID stands for High Intensity Discharge. The lights use a ballast to supply a very high voltage to the bulbs, which basically form an arc of electricity to provide light. They are not just bulbs, and are a whole upgrade system which is very expensive to purchase.

LED or Light Emitting Diode, are little electronic chips (diodes) that use very low power are provide a very bright light. Only Audi is currently using these as headlights on the new A8 as they are very difficult to set up and not blinding oncoming cars. They are mostly used for tail lights as they are very bright.

what I would suggest is just a standard replacement 9006 bulb. The Sylvania Silverstars are nice and not to pricey. They can be purchased at your local auto parts store and are a bit brighter then stock halogens and are a good quality.
 
Do you have sealed beam headlights...or the inserts from the back? Be careful with the aftermarket HID kits. They are not approved by most states unless they are factory. The big thing about them that makes them work are the reflector housings.

I HIGHLY recommend the Sylvania Silver Stars. I have them in my Porsche and my Jeep Wrangler. Amazing difference in lighting. You will love them.
 
Do your homework on bulb life for the more powerful bulbs. I put Silver Stars in my wife's car and they lasted less than a year, since her car has the daytime running lights on all the time, using the headlight bulbs at reduced brightness. Considering $40 I spent for a pair of bulbs, I wasn't happy with that. Check out the Wagner line. They show some powerful bulbs with reasonable life.

Bill
 
i work in the automotive lighting industry.

My Hella Lights :: High Performance Xenon Blue Bulbs

i run these in all of my vehicles.

they were engineered to outlive sylvania silverstars...then sylvania came out with ultras, which apparently are on par with the hellas but still don't necessarily have the same bulb life.

they are a bright, white light. the class isn't coated - it's actually that color. they found the right balance between color temperature (whiteness) and output, since many tinted bulbs appear like they let off more light but in actuality they don't.

if you are looking for the absolute best light that is compatible with what i believe you have in that thing (9005/9006), then you should consider HIR bulbs. they have somewhat reduced bulb life vs. traditional capsules, but are on par with most performance bulbs. ideally, without increasing the wattage, if you want more/better light, you typically give up something, and most of the time that is bulb life.

read about them here-

9011/9005
Susquehanna MotorSports - Auto Performance Product

and here is the 9006...the toshiba "globe" style are no longer available in 9012/9006, so this is the equiv
Susquehanna MotorSports - Auto Performance Product

you asked about HID - HID is great but putting HID in light housings meant for a halogen bulbs is dumb. it is illegal, it scatters light and is dangerous/seriously annoying to oncoming traffic. Drivers | Hella USA and Canada

people claim they are able to control cut-off (which partly causes trouble with oncoming traffic) with different techniques, etc, but the only real way to integrate HID into a halogen housing is to retrofit an OE HID projector setup from cars like lexus or acura into your housing. people do this, but typically not on '95 cieras, hehe.
 
Porsche Pilot said:
I HIGHLY recommend the Sylvania Silver Stars. I have them in my Porsche and my Jeep Wrangler. Amazing difference in lighting. You will love them.
Click to expand...

I agree! I have these in my truck and they make a HUGE difference. My old lights were yellow/orange colored from age and they had dimmed over time. Now they are bright white and work awesome. They are a little expensive but not too bad.
 
+1 on the SilverStar bulbs, I went with the ultras and they are great.

Just a quick tip, make sure you do not touch the glass on the light bulb when you are installing them, or they will not last, and if you do touch it, just clean them with ISO alcohol
 
Whatever you do, stay away from GE Nighthawk bulbs. I put a set in the '02 GMC Envoy I used to have and this was the result:

burned.JPG


burned2.JPG


burned3.JPG


I now run either Sylvania Silverstars Ultra bulbs in anything I have, or in the case of my truck I bought HID kits from a vendor called "spencershids" out of (of all places) Wasilla, Alaska. Now I can see Russia from my truck! :laughing:
 
^ incidently that is one of many many vehicles that is particularly prone to burning things up if the wattage is any higher than stock, since the wire gauge and connector pins are incredibly small. small guage and connectors = higher resistance, which = more heat and destruction.

were they DOT wattage?
 
I agree with everyone else here! The Silverstars are the ticket unless you go with an HID setup :)
 
builthatch said:
^ incidently that is one of many many vehicles that is particularly prone to burning things up if the wattage is any higher than stock, since the wire gauge and connector pins are incredibly small. small guage and connectors = higher resistance, which = more heat and destruction.

were they DOT wattage?
Click to expand...

Yes, they were exactly the same wattage and rating as the factory bulbs.

As it ended up, I replaced the entire wiring harness with heavier gauge wire and used ceramic connectors instead of plastic ones when I rebuilt the light assemblies.
 
PIAA , Hella, or Silverstars .... dont go fake blue or purple, look for a clear bulb.
 
builthatch said:
i work in the automotive lighting industry.

My Hella Lights :: High Performance Xenon Blue Bulbs

i run these in all of my vehicles.

they were engineered to outlive sylvania silverstars...then sylvania came out with ultras, which apparently are on par with the hellas but still don't necessarily have the same bulb life.

they are a bright, white light. the class isn't coated - it's actually that color. they found the right balance between color temperature (whiteness) and output, since many tinted bulbs appear like they let off more light but in actuality they don't.

if you are looking for the absolute best light that is compatible with what i believe you have in that thing (9005/9006), then you should consider HIR bulbs. they have somewhat reduced bulb life vs. traditional capsules, but are on par with most performance bulbs. ideally, without increasing the wattage, if you want more/better light, you typically give up something, and most of the time that is bulb life.

read about them here-

9011/9005
Susquehanna MotorSports - Auto Performance Product

and here is the 9006...the toshiba "globe" style are no longer available in 9012/9006, so this is the equiv
Susquehanna MotorSports - Auto Performance Product

you asked about HID - HID is great but putting HID in light housings meant for a halogen bulbs is dumb. it is illegal, it scatters light and is dangerous/seriously annoying to oncoming traffic. Drivers | Hella USA and Canada

people claim they are able to control cut-off (which partly causes trouble with oncoming traffic) with different techniques, etc, but the only real way to integrate HID into a halogen housing is to retrofit an OE HID projector setup from cars like lexus or acura into your housing. people do this, but typically not on '95 cieras, hehe.
Click to expand...

BillyJack said:
Here's another link worth a read for a more powerful stock replacement bulb:
HIR Headlights 9011 9012 bulbs

Bill
Click to expand...

This. Don't put HIDs in your stock housings. You will blind the hell out of everybody, and get flashed often. You cannot use LEDs in your headlights, simply because they are not powerful enough, and the housings don't reflect the light properly. If you have a 9006 or 9005 bulb, look into the HIRs.
 
1MZsLastForever said:
This. Don't put HIDs in your stock housings. You will blind the hell out of everybody, and get flashed often. You cannot use LEDs in your headlights, simply because they are not powerful enough, and the housings don't reflect the light properly. If you have a 9006 or 9005 bulb, look into the HIRs.
Click to expand...

I tend to disagree, Maybe beacuse I am in a different state but I dont get flashed at all. I put 6500k HIDs in my 05 MDX and never get flashed and I love the brightness of them. I got them off DDM tuning. I think it might be because HID is becoming the norm coming out on more and more cars, or like I said maybe I have been lucky and the states I have driven to dont care much.
 
Cman8 said:
I tend to disagree, Maybe beacuse I am in a different state but I dont get flashed at all. I put 6500k HIDs in my 05 MDX and never get flashed and I love the brightness of them. I got them off DDM tuning. I think it might be because HID is becoming the norm coming out on more and more cars, or like I said maybe I have been lucky and the states I have driven to dont care much.
Click to expand...

Your MDX probably has projectors, right?
 
It does. I know some people in other forums say they used to get flashed and now not as much.
 
I put some on my civic too though and I still dont get flashed. about the only person that I know has ever complained was my sister in law one time when I was driving behind her and she said my lights were bright. hahaha
 
Measure the voltage at the headlight plug. Some cars will only give 12 - 12.5v at the plug. If you run a fog lamp style relay setup using the stock headlight plug as the trigger for the relay, you can increase the voltage to the light to the alternator's output, 13.5-14.5v. This will make the bulbs burn brighter, without using a higher wattage bulb.
 
MonoPed said:
Measure the voltage at the headlight plug. Some cars will only give 12 - 12.5v at the plug. If you run a fog lamp style relay setup using the stock headlight plug as the trigger for the relay, you can increase the voltage to the light to the alternator's output, 13.5-14.5v. This will make the bulbs burn brighter, without using a higher wattage bulb.
Click to expand...

this is totally true. most people are not interested in setting up a relay setup for bulbs though, hehe.

here is a nice guide - • Sensible Automotive Wiring
 
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