Re: Stock v/s Sylvania HV's Headlight bulbs
 

>Gentlemen,
>
>I am searching for a civilized upgrade to my Civic's stock bulbs. I ~am~
>concerned with how it would affect drivers in the oncoming traffic and am
>confident that there exists a replacement that will provide better
>illumination than my current bulbs AND keep the light below other drivers'
>eye level. I was looking for some direction in this forum, but I am instead
>being told to give up driving! A bit too harsh, wouldn't you agree?
>
>My initial question remains unanswered--has anyone come across a (civilized)
>upgrade for 9003 bulbs?
>
>Tera BAAP

As far as light below other's eyes, the Civic is almost the lowest
thing on the road, so that isn't a problem. The problem is when the
X5's and MDX's have the tiny blue headlights that point straight at
the retinas of compact car drivers. I have tried three sets of "xenon"
replacements from Ebay, two in my Civic, one in my wife's Stratus. All
three died within 6 months. My wife's went out in 3 months within 24
hours of each other, so she had no low beams!!! I would recommend
either Sylvania Silverstar or the PIAA bulbs, as I have heard of many
people running these for over a year with no problems. BTW, I was
running 65/100W bulbs on stock wiring in Oklahoma summers with no heat
issues, so unless you live in Phoenix or Tuscon, you should be fine.

Nate

Re: Stock v/s Sylvania HV's Headlight bulbs
 

>Gentlemen,
>
>I am searching for a civilized upgrade to my Civic's stock bulbs. I ~am~
>concerned with how it would affect drivers in the oncoming traffic and am
>confident that there exists a replacement that will provide better
>illumination than my current bulbs AND keep the light below other drivers'
>eye level. I was looking for some direction in this forum, but I am instead
>being told to give up driving! A bit too harsh, wouldn't you agree?
>
>My initial question remains unanswered--has anyone come across a (civilized)
>upgrade for 9003 bulbs?
>
>Tera BAAP

As far as light below other's eyes, the Civic is almost the lowest
thing on the road, so that isn't a problem. The problem is when the
X5's and MDX's have the tiny blue headlights that point straight at
the retinas of compact car drivers. I have tried three sets of "xenon"
replacements from Ebay, two in my Civic, one in my wife's Stratus. All
three died within 6 months. My wife's went out in 3 months within 24
hours of each other, so she had no low beams!!! I would recommend
either Sylvania Silverstar or the PIAA bulbs, as I have heard of many
people running these for over a year with no problems. BTW, I was
running 65/100W bulbs on stock wiring in Oklahoma summers with no heat
issues, so unless you live in Phoenix or Tuscon, you should be fine.

Nate

Re: Stock v/s Sylvania HV's Headlight bulbs
 

>Gentlemen,
>
>I am searching for a civilized upgrade to my Civic's stock bulbs. I ~am~
>concerned with how it would affect drivers in the oncoming traffic and am
>confident that there exists a replacement that will provide better
>illumination than my current bulbs AND keep the light below other drivers'
>eye level. I was looking for some direction in this forum, but I am instead
>being told to give up driving! A bit too harsh, wouldn't you agree?
>
>My initial question remains unanswered--has anyone come across a (civilized)
>upgrade for 9003 bulbs?
>
>Tera BAAP

As far as light below other's eyes, the Civic is almost the lowest
thing on the road, so that isn't a problem. The problem is when the
X5's and MDX's have the tiny blue headlights that point straight at
the retinas of compact car drivers. I have tried three sets of "xenon"
replacements from Ebay, two in my Civic, one in my wife's Stratus. All
three died within 6 months. My wife's went out in 3 months within 24
hours of each other, so she had no low beams!!! I would recommend
either Sylvania Silverstar or the PIAA bulbs, as I have heard of many
people running these for over a year with no problems. BTW, I was
running 65/100W bulbs on stock wiring in Oklahoma summers with no heat
issues, so unless you live in Phoenix or Tuscon, you should be fine.

Nate

Re: Stock v/s Sylvania HV's Headlight bulbs
 

>Gentlemen,
>
>I am searching for a civilized upgrade to my Civic's stock bulbs. I ~am~
>concerned with how it would affect drivers in the oncoming traffic and am
>confident that there exists a replacement that will provide better
>illumination than my current bulbs AND keep the light below other drivers'
>eye level. I was looking for some direction in this forum, but I am instead
>being told to give up driving! A bit too harsh, wouldn't you agree?
>
>My initial question remains unanswered--has anyone come across a (civilized)
>upgrade for 9003 bulbs?
>
>Tera BAAP

As far as light below other's eyes, the Civic is almost the lowest
thing on the road, so that isn't a problem. The problem is when the
X5's and MDX's have the tiny blue headlights that point straight at
the retinas of compact car drivers. I have tried three sets of "xenon"
replacements from Ebay, two in my Civic, one in my wife's Stratus. All
three died within 6 months. My wife's went out in 3 months within 24
hours of each other, so she had no low beams!!! I would recommend
either Sylvania Silverstar or the PIAA bulbs, as I have heard of many
people running these for over a year with no problems. BTW, I was
running 65/100W bulbs on stock wiring in Oklahoma summers with no heat
issues, so unless you live in Phoenix or Tuscon, you should be fine.

Nate

Re: Stock v/s Sylvania HV's Headlight bulbs
 

On Wed, 17 Dec 2003 17:46:56 GMT, IT_Doc <no@spam.com > wrote:

>I researched this question on the Internet including the excellent site
>associated with Daniel Stern. There is nothing >legal< available that
>will improve the performance of 9005 high beam bulbs. The extra cost
>extreme white sort of bulbs will actually supply fewer lumens and have a
>shorter life expectancy (though they do look "cool").
>
>http://www.overboost.com/story.asp?id=102
>
>There is additional output available for the 9006 Xtravision, but 1030
>lumens as opposed to the standard 1000 lumens is not worth the drive to
>Pep Boys.
>
>http://lighting.mbz.org/tech/bulbs/b...ulb_types.html

I would agree in principle with the lumens except for one issue. The
human eye does not absorb all colors equally. I can tell you from
personal experience that color of the light DRAMATICALLY affects
visibility. I used to live on the USS Harry S. Truman, and they used
sodium-arc lamps at night because the yellow light would not be as
visible far away, so they could use roughly the same amount of lumens
as the sun gave in the daytime in the hangar bay. You still couldn't
see a thing, it was all washed out and things would fade into the
background. The human eye sees contrast better with light similar in
characteristics to sunlight on overcast days, which in the 6500-8500
Kelvin range. Most headlights are in the 3200K area, with the HID's
being in the 4100K range. The closer to overcast sunlight you can get,
the better you will see, but unfortunately modern technology hasn't
gotten there yet. So, as you can see, lumens is just the tip of the
iceburg. Check out some of the photography sites to see what I mean.
Remember, even though the DIRECT measurement of the headlight might be
at maximum when using a "human eye based" photodetector, that does NOT
mean that the REFLECTED light is at maximum!!!!

http://www.photo.net/photo/edscott/cf000030.htm

Nate

Re: Stock v/s Sylvania HV's Headlight bulbs
 

On Wed, 17 Dec 2003 17:46:56 GMT, IT_Doc <no@spam.com > wrote:

>I researched this question on the Internet including the excellent site
>associated with Daniel Stern. There is nothing >legal< available that
>will improve the performance of 9005 high beam bulbs. The extra cost
>extreme white sort of bulbs will actually supply fewer lumens and have a
>shorter life expectancy (though they do look "cool").
>
>http://www.overboost.com/story.asp?id=102
>
>There is additional output available for the 9006 Xtravision, but 1030
>lumens as opposed to the standard 1000 lumens is not worth the drive to
>Pep Boys.
>
>http://lighting.mbz.org/tech/bulbs/b...ulb_types.html

I would agree in principle with the lumens except for one issue. The
human eye does not absorb all colors equally. I can tell you from
personal experience that color of the light DRAMATICALLY affects
visibility. I used to live on the USS Harry S. Truman, and they used
sodium-arc lamps at night because the yellow light would not be as
visible far away, so they could use roughly the same amount of lumens
as the sun gave in the daytime in the hangar bay. You still couldn't
see a thing, it was all washed out and things would fade into the
background. The human eye sees contrast better with light similar in
characteristics to sunlight on overcast days, which in the 6500-8500
Kelvin range. Most headlights are in the 3200K area, with the HID's
being in the 4100K range. The closer to overcast sunlight you can get,
the better you will see, but unfortunately modern technology hasn't
gotten there yet. So, as you can see, lumens is just the tip of the
iceburg. Check out some of the photography sites to see what I mean.
Remember, even though the DIRECT measurement of the headlight might be
at maximum when using a "human eye based" photodetector, that does NOT
mean that the REFLECTED light is at maximum!!!!

http://www.photo.net/photo/edscott/cf000030.htm

Nate

Re: Stock v/s Sylvania HV's Headlight bulbs
 

On Wed, 17 Dec 2003 17:46:56 GMT, IT_Doc <no@spam.com > wrote:

>I researched this question on the Internet including the excellent site
>associated with Daniel Stern. There is nothing >legal< available that
>will improve the performance of 9005 high beam bulbs. The extra cost
>extreme white sort of bulbs will actually supply fewer lumens and have a
>shorter life expectancy (though they do look "cool").
>
>http://www.overboost.com/story.asp?id=102
>
>There is additional output available for the 9006 Xtravision, but 1030
>lumens as opposed to the standard 1000 lumens is not worth the drive to
>Pep Boys.
>
>http://lighting.mbz.org/tech/bulbs/b...ulb_types.html

I would agree in principle with the lumens except for one issue. The
human eye does not absorb all colors equally. I can tell you from
personal experience that color of the light DRAMATICALLY affects
visibility. I used to live on the USS Harry S. Truman, and they used
sodium-arc lamps at night because the yellow light would not be as
visible far away, so they could use roughly the same amount of lumens
as the sun gave in the daytime in the hangar bay. You still couldn't
see a thing, it was all washed out and things would fade into the
background. The human eye sees contrast better with light similar in
characteristics to sunlight on overcast days, which in the 6500-8500
Kelvin range. Most headlights are in the 3200K area, with the HID's
being in the 4100K range. The closer to overcast sunlight you can get,
the better you will see, but unfortunately modern technology hasn't
gotten there yet. So, as you can see, lumens is just the tip of the
iceburg. Check out some of the photography sites to see what I mean.
Remember, even though the DIRECT measurement of the headlight might be
at maximum when using a "human eye based" photodetector, that does NOT
mean that the REFLECTED light is at maximum!!!!

http://www.photo.net/photo/edscott/cf000030.htm

Nate

Re: Stock v/s Sylvania HV's Headlight bulbs
 

On Wed, 17 Dec 2003 17:46:56 GMT, IT_Doc <no@spam.com > wrote:

>I researched this question on the Internet including the excellent site
>associated with Daniel Stern. There is nothing >legal< available that
>will improve the performance of 9005 high beam bulbs. The extra cost
>extreme white sort of bulbs will actually supply fewer lumens and have a
>shorter life expectancy (though they do look "cool").
>
>http://www.overboost.com/story.asp?id=102
>
>There is additional output available for the 9006 Xtravision, but 1030
>lumens as opposed to the standard 1000 lumens is not worth the drive to
>Pep Boys.
>
>http://lighting.mbz.org/tech/bulbs/b...ulb_types.html

I would agree in principle with the lumens except for one issue. The
human eye does not absorb all colors equally. I can tell you from
personal experience that color of the light DRAMATICALLY affects
visibility. I used to live on the USS Harry S. Truman, and they used
sodium-arc lamps at night because the yellow light would not be as
visible far away, so they could use roughly the same amount of lumens
as the sun gave in the daytime in the hangar bay. You still couldn't
see a thing, it was all washed out and things would fade into the
background. The human eye sees contrast better with light similar in
characteristics to sunlight on overcast days, which in the 6500-8500
Kelvin range. Most headlights are in the 3200K area, with the HID's
being in the 4100K range. The closer to overcast sunlight you can get,
the better you will see, but unfortunately modern technology hasn't
gotten there yet. So, as you can see, lumens is just the tip of the
iceburg. Check out some of the photography sites to see what I mean.
Remember, even though the DIRECT measurement of the headlight might be
at maximum when using a "human eye based" photodetector, that does NOT
mean that the REFLECTED light is at maximum!!!!

http://www.photo.net/photo/edscott/cf000030.htm

Nate