SilverStars, EuroLights, X-treme Power & other Halogen Bulbs

AA wrote:

I did take a chance with the EuroLights (on a tip from another Riviera owner), but after 3 years of operation, I'm not worried about it. The reflective coating in the lenses seems unaffected. Neither the bulbs nor the lenses felt uncomfortably warm to the touch.

Ah, I didn't catch that the Euros were the old ones, I thought they were a new experiment...

.
Drum roll please, maestro......

My Report on... The Latest & Greatest "HIR-Technology" Low-Beam Headlight Bulbs!!


... Settle in for a long read my friends, as I've spent a lot of hours on this project and this writeup, and I'm going to quote or link to much of what I found in my research... These HB4/9006-adaptable HIR2/9012 low-beam bulbs truly DO give hundreds more lumens for the same 55 watts of power consumption and external heat as a regular halogen bulb, and are rated at many times more hours than the other "premium" replacements for the 9006... especially the vaunted yet despised SilverStars. ( I stress 'rated' because it'll take a long time to personally verify, but hey, if you can't trust Philips, who can you trust? ) These bulbs are also several hundred degrees Kelvin whiter than standard clear-glass halogen bulbs, a fact I confirmed when comparing my new low-beams with my brand-new NAPA/Wagner 9005 65-Watt Halogen high-beam bulbs...

My own condensation of "HIR" is this: Halogen Infrared Reflecting bulbs were invented a decade ago by GE, and the main advancement is the coating of the inside of the glass envelope with an opalescent chemical that reflects the IR spectrum back to the filament, making it glow brighter with what would otherwise be waste-heat. Instinct says that this should make the filament life shorter, just like over-wattage bulbs, but I haven't found any evidence to that effect on the Net, so I guess they can make the filament heavier without sacrificing the extra light...

As I said, good ol' General Electric invented the technology, but in typical modern-corporate-American fashion they then failed in the execution - their bulb was a wire-supported type that was too damned delicate to stand up to the rigors of automotive use. When you look at it, it really does look idiotic. Enter Toshiba... they licensed the technology from GE and created a much stronger, tail-light-style bulb with an even larger 'globe' around the filament and a large glass base for strength. Finally, following the success of the Toshiba bulb, (even having it spec'd as an OEM low-beam for John Deere tractors,) they offset the production to China, which I believe resulted in the spotty quality of the first set of bulbs I received, and the eventual discontinuation of the bulb by Toshiba... As I mentioned earlier, the bulbs that I first received were flawed: the IR coating petered out less than halfway up the globe around the filament; purely an assembly line QC issue. Candlepower.com sent me the 3rd-Generation-HIR Philips bulbs as a replacement for the defective Toshibas...

Here is a comparison of the 3 generations of HIR bulbs (out of order in the photo,) 1st=GE, 2nd=Toshiba, and 3rd=Philips... My gut tells me that the spherical envelope around the filament was a good idea, but Philips has done a good job with the production quality on their typically-tubular capsule. And while the Toshiba's were labeled HIR2/9012 - 55Watt - P.R.C. (People's Republic of China,) the Philips units are labeled HIR2LL/9012LL (LL = LongLife) - 55Watt - Made in Germany... The Philips bulbs also have a quartz envelope instead of glass, as well as the IR coating, supposedly to further increase the infrared reflectivity.




I didn't know that Toshiba had discontinued their version when I first ordered my bulbs, especially with all the great reviews online about the John Deere OEM bulbs that people have used on their cars... This would be a good place to mention that the 9012 bulb specification merely has a taller & wider tab at the 12 O'Clock position than a 9006. The only mod necessary is to take dikes or toenail clippers (my own choice, because of their natural curve,) and trim the top and the left side of that tab to match the old bulbs you're taking out... Took me about 2 minutes per bulb to do it in small, careful bites so that it wouldn't crack the plastic, and the new bulbs then fit in easily.


Here are my own photos of the bulbs, the round Toshiba and tubular Philips side-by-side
(you can somewhat see the Infrared Reflective "purple haze" coating on them):



This is a photo, with a poor choice of background, that shows how the Toshiba IR coating peters out less than halfway up the filament:



Interestingly, this photo shows bubble-like flaws in the glass of the round Toshiba bulb, and also how the shadow of the coating stops quite low, while the Philips quartz envelope and IR coating are very uniform, with slight longitudinal striations...



Here is a chart of various bulb data that I've found:

Standard 9006 halogen low-beam...................1000 lumens, 800 hour rated life, $7+. (OEM Delco = $20!!. Nobody's mentioned that...)
Sylvania 9006 Xtravision low-beam..................1060 lumens, 300 hour rated life, $10+
GE 9006 Nighthawk lowbeam.........................1150 lumens, 250 hour rated life, $14+
Sylvania 9006 Silverstar low-beam..................910 lumens, 150 hour rated life, $20
Toshiba HIR2/9012 low-beam.........................1800 lumens, 800 hour rated life, $27
Philips HIR2LL/9012LL (LongLife) low-beam....1875 lumens, 1400 hour rated life, $35

As you can see, especially in a car with Twilight Sentinal turning on all the time, most of the high-output bulbs aren't gonna' last very long... One thing to note: Even thought they are actually the same company, going all the way back to the FlashBars for Polaroid SX-70 Land cameras, OSRAM SilverStars are evidently not blued, so they throw more total light on the road (albeit with similarly dismal life.) Possibly, the Sylvania SilverStar ULTRAS are the same bulb... but then you're also approaching the same price as the HIR's, at least at my local Kragen.


Here are my before & after pictures... I'll admit that I should have tried to get a higher exposure, but my 2004 digital camera is somewhat crude, and I'm not very good with it. The porch light in the upper left corner does show the consistency of the locked camera settings, though, and if the total light doesn't appear a full 80% brighter in the photos, it does in person... Please, go ahead and use your PageUp & PageDown buttons to make quick comparisons of the different bulbs.

In the second photo, notice how much clearer the weeds and the reflection on the hood are... and how well the light pattern is still contained, unlike aftermarket HID mods...

(And considering that this is the back side of a supermarket, I'm really impressed with myself for getting back into the exact same position... )


The previous Sylvania Halogen replacement bulbs...



And the new Philips HIR2LL bulbs...



In real life, the light on the ground immediately in front of the car is good enough to search for lost jewelry at night , the distance the light travels almost makes the high-beams superfluous, and the number of oncoming drivers flashing me the first night made me lower the adjusters from where they had previously been for years, without ever getting flashed...

While these bulbs don't have the little coat of black paint around the tip like regular 9006's, the only thing that really bothers me isn't the fault of the new bulbs - It is that the friggin' factory-replacement headlight ASSEMBLY I installed on the left side does not have the original black-steel tubular shield over the forward end of the bulb. So, the new unit on the driver's side of the car is now sending out more lateral light toward oncoming drivers! Dunno' why, but that's what you get for your $150... And speaking of FFU's (Factory Fuck Ups) who the hell decided that the 'threads' for the starboard headlight bulbs should be reversed?!? I've never seen that mentioned in any headlight thread, and if I hadn't taken the whole right assembly out as well (cuz the bumper cover was already off for replacing the left assy,) I'd have gone nuts trying to remove that bulb through the engine compartment while not knowing that those bulbs are righty-loosey, lefty-tighty...


Here is a review/comparison, by a disinterested third party, of SilverStars, XtremePowers, and Toshiba HIR's at Yahoo... And I would reiterate that these Philips bulbs give all this extra light for no extra heat or power consumption, and less than the price of 2 sets of quick-blow blue bulbs... Compared with the deficiencies of other halogens, and the unsuitability, illegality, expense and unreliability of aftermarket HID conversions, I would really recommend these HIR2LL bulbs... A friend of mine with a Police Interceptor is jealous because he can't buy these for his dual-beam system!

Oh, and here is where you can buy the Philips bulbs I ended up with. They backed up their product (literally) 150%: http://store.candlepower.com/ph3rdge90h.html

Excellent write up and that headlight lens assembly sounds like a back breaker of a job.
I've used that company in the past for purchasing quite a bit of inventory for the motorcycle shop. (Candlepower)
I've purchased their named product as well as the Bosch halogen upgrade kit for older bikes. Right now I notice they have that set up for sale at $22.00.
We were glad to get them for $75.00 back then to replace the OEM sealed beams with the Halogen. Actually still have one in one of my bikes, all I've done is changed the bulb to a PIAA.
But with all the new research on these other bulbs that put out more lumens, I may be testing some new stuff myself. At least on the bike it is only one bulb.
So if it doesn't work out it's not that expensive. Although the Dual Filament bulbs always cost more.

Rickw wrote:

But with all the new research on these other bulbs that put out more lumens, I may be testing some new stuff myself. At least on the bike it is only one bulb.
So if it doesn't work out it's not that expensive. Although the Dual Filament bulbs always cost more.

I forgot to point out that the HIR's only come in 9012 and 9011, analogous to our 9006 and 9005's. They don't make a dual-filament bulb... yet.

Gee, I'm kinda' hurt - as long and involved as this thread has been, and no
one has any comments or questions about my new writeup of the HIR bulbs?

I'm gonna' kick the kids, ground the dog, and go sulk...

Eldo wrote:

Gee, I'm kinda' hurt - as long and involved as this thread has been, and no
one has any comments or questions about my new writeup of the HIR bulbs?

I'm gonna' kick the kids, ground the dog, and go sulk...

It's all OK, as long as you do it quietly.
The work you perform on your car is for your enjoyment and sense of accomplishment.
Now if you want to come over here and do the same to mine I'll get very excited for you.
Besides I think i already commented on your work and your write up. The write up is appreciated. Just don't need to sulk and whine at the same time. j/k

Rickw wrote:

It's all OK, as long as you do it quietly.
The work you perform on your car is for your enjoyment and sense of accomplishment.
Now if you want to come over here and do the same to mine I'll get very excited for you.

BTW, you did catch my little role reversal with the dog & the kids, right?

Yeh, I did catch that. But after some thought I realized that was the order I would have done it. If I had some ankle biters around.('')

Rickw wrote:

Yeh, I did catch that. But after some thought I realized that was the order I would have done it. If I had some ankle biters around.('')

Eldo wrote:

Gee, I'm kinda' hurt - as long and involved as this thread has been, and no
one has any comments or questions about my new writeup of the HIR bulbs?

I'm gonna' kick the kids, ground the dog, and go sulk...

Hey, it's the first post on this board I found worthy of voting on.

I just didn't say anything.

Sweepspear wrote:

Hey, it's the first post on this board I found worthy of voting on.
I just didn't say anything.

I stand corrected... Thank you, Dale

OK, this thread has been dead for 6 months, so I thought I'd mention that the new-fangled Philips HIR2LL bulbs are still burning...

Hasn't anyone else tried them yet? If I'd bought SilverStars, I think I'd be buying new ones by now...

Eldo wrote:

OK, this thread has been dead for 6 months, so I thought I'd mention that the new-fangled Philips HIR2LL bulbs are still burning...

Hasn't anyone else tried them yet? If I'd bought SilverStars, I think I'd be buying new ones by now...

The only real way to know if you would have been replacing another type bulb would be to have an hour meter on the headlight circuit.

I was re-reading the post and have to admit I had forgotten about your experiment, but it also brought to mind that I have had the PIAA's installed for a very long time now without requiring any replacement. I do not know how many hours are on them as I don't do a real lot of night driving, at least not as much as say 5 or 6 years ago. So, I cannot quantify the lifespan other than to say they have been in the car so long I forget when I put them in, wish I wrote it down.
But, an hour-meter would be the final device, other than the subjective lighting output, to determine the efficiency of all these various bulbs.

Before closing this out I looked for the PIAA plastic case they came in, which has my original bulbs in it and found it. Wouldn't you know, I am anal enough to have written the date of install on it. It was 12/19/08 when I installed the PIAA's. Soon to be 2 years.

Thanks for bringing the thread back to life though, has instigated some thought on my part. Lately that can be difficult.

I think tracking by days of use is a relevant form measurement when it comes to daily driver vehicles. It averages out after a while. I have tracked days of use and found some bulbs are consistent within +/- 10 days per year. Almost always, very cold days are harder on bulbs than warmer days. Most every bulb failure I've seen with this car has happened in the dead of winter.

Service hours might be technically more precise in a lab environment, but in vehicle use we would need to create a formula for cold operating hours vs. hot operating hours. Also, the rate of turning bulbs on/off makes an impact as well, so in order to gauge how long a bulb will last, we need to factor in the number of times a bulb is activated per day in our specific vehicle, including lock/unlock cycles.

The Phillips X-treme Power bulbs I installed in Feb this year are still running, still very bright.

AA wrote:

Also, the rate of turning bulbs on/off makes an impact as well, so in order to gauge how long a bulb will last, we need to factor in the number of times a bulb is activated per day in our specific vehicle, including lock/unlock cycles.

You're absolutely right about the number of times those filaments gets 'banged' with turn-on voltage. I mentioned in my write-up that those of us with the non-defeatable Twilight Sentinel are using our bulbs a lot more than someone with a manual switch, such as every time I start the car in the garage...

Your cold-weather observation makes sense along the same lines. There's going to be a bigger shock to the filaments when they are starting from a lower temperature.

The lock/unlock only triggers my DRL's, so that's not a problem, but you made we wonder: What lights up at unlock on a pre-'97?

Eldo wrote:

The lock/unlock only triggers my DRL's, so that's not a problem, but you made we wonder: What lights up at unlock on a pre-'97?

I had to go out and try my '96 since I don't carry the remote during the summer.

Unlocking using the remote lights the low beam headlights & cornering lamps.
Pretty much every bulb outside and inside the car with exception to the high beams.
A Christmas tree.

Thanks Dale!

Sweepspear wrote:

Pretty much every bulb outside and inside the car with exception to the high beams.
A Christmas tree.

It is cool lookin ain't it

[quote="Eldo"]

AA wrote:

......... The lock/unlock only triggers my DRL's, so that's not a problem, but you made we wonder: What lights up at unlock on a pre-'97?

Interesting, on my 98 that pretty much lights up all the lights on the back, including the reverse lights.

[quote="1998 Riv"]

Eldo wrote:

AA wrote:

......... The lock/unlock only triggers my DRL's, so that's not a problem, but you made we wonder: What lights up at unlock on a pre-'97?

Interesting, on my 98 that pretty much lights up all the lights on the back, including the reverse lights.

Yes, the tail-lights, marker lights, back-up lights and the high-beams on 1/2-power (DRL's)... and evidently on the pre-'97's the low-beams instead of the DRL's.

Hey guys, I have a question. Are the Riv's headlight lenses glass or plastic? If memory serves they were glass and that's why we could run these 80W headlights. I'm asking because I'm considering getting a pair of lights for my new car and there are 55W and 80W choices, but I don't know if the higher wattage will be safe for my car. I think the headlight lenses are plastic but I haven't really checked.

You guys are smart enough on the subject, so would running 80W headlights in a plastic lens housing start to warp or scorch the lens?

Riv lenses are plastic.
An 80W low beam bulb is just stupid. That's just asking for people to swerve at you from head-on. I know I would if you were blinding me and couldn't turn 'em off. IMO the higher the wattage, the less of a life span they have. Silverstars are notorious for lasting 3 months......

Our headlight lenses are plastic. "Plastic" can mean a lot of things, since there are dozens of types of plastics that could be used for a headlight lens. It's obvious that some companies have different standards for the lens design, and so the materials used. I'm not sure about your particular Honda.

It depends on a lot of things: the design, the size, ventilation, the plastic material, and reflective coatings used. Mine held up fine with 80W bulbs (not SilverStars, which are 55W like stock). I don't think the plastic will actually melt, as it's probably a thermoset type, not a thermoplastic (not all plastic melts!). I think the problem is in how robust the metallic coating is that reflects the light through the lens. If the coating detaches or becomes blackened, you have a problem.

Surely someone in the Honda world has tried this and reported the results.

Alright, thanks. The Eurolights were supposed to last a longer time though, and I was very satisfied with them as an alternative to HID's on my Riv. AA claims almost exactly one year of use with his. My Si has a good light projection cutoff line, so the added wattage wouldn't be blinding.

AA, I'll keep looking into any experience on Honda's, I've asked on the one forum I have on tap but noone there has tried it yet.

You're correct, the Eurolamps should last about 1 year. I wouldn't worry about blinding anyone; the blue coating on the bulbs lowers their output (Lumens) to a level close to a 65W white Silverstar. Difference is, Eurolamps are brighter than other 65W blue tinted bulbs, which are not much brighter than stock.