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

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.

What if I were to tell you I'm looking to buy the Yellow Ion ones? Haha don't say rice because it matches the paint!!

I would tell you it may catch the law's attention more so than blue. Otherwise, if you're happy with them and can get away with it, you'll have that European (French) retro look.

I'm not worried about attracting the law's attention, since the lights would be the only thing that does it.

IBx1 wrote:

I'm not worried about attracting the law's attention, since the lights would be the only thing that does it.

You just jinxed yourself......

The unique color of the car, the "Si" badge, and the exhaust tip will all work against you in this regard. Yellow headlamps are icing on the cake.