Recently, I became interested in achieving HID like quality lighting without paying the high price. I knew that nothing would truely compare, but you never know how close you can get.
I did some online shopping and found a site that sold Falcon Xenon energized xtreme super white HID 100/80 watt bulbs. Being that there are a million brands out there like this and it was online, I had no way to know if it was a scam or not, but the they were only $19.99 for a pair. Here's a pic:
According to the packaging, these bulbs are rated at 4300 k.
Now, one of the claims on the website I purchased these from was "THESE LIGHTS ARE NOT PAINTED ON CHEAPOS THAT HAVE A BLUEISH TINT". When I swapped out my stock bulbs, I was, of course, quickly dissappointed to find out that they did infact cast blue light onto the road. Nevertheless the color temp was high so I left them in for over month.
What I found is that in normal driving conditions these bulbs function fine, but I wouldn't say any better than stock. However, in adverse weather such as rain or snow, they are terrible. I found that visibility of the road was impossible at times. Also, because of the blueish tint, road signs were difficult to read, especially ones with white backgrounds.
Having experienced all this, I read more reviews and time and time again Sylvania Silverstars came up as the best way to go, so I picked up a pair.
I swapped out the drivers side bulb with a silverstar and left the Falcon Hyper white in the passenger side. Here's a pic with low beams:
Here's the highs:
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I took the remaining Falcon bulb out and put a stock back in to truely assess the difference in the silverstar. (Silverstar in drivers side, stock in passenger):
With the highs:
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Sorry, no pics with stock and Falcon's...
While the Falcon's color temp is slightly higher than that of the silverstar (4300 to 4100 k) the silverstar must put out more Lumens because it's brighter.
The bottom line is that the silverstars are better than both stcck and cool blue like bulbs. I would say the difference between stock and silverstars is very marginal, and, in most cases, certainly not worth $50 (approx. cost os silverstars).
Just wanted to post some pics to give you guys an idea if you're thinking about anything like this.
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