Bulb Comparisons
11-30-2006, 09:24 AM
#1
Teching In
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Windsor, On Canada
Posts: 16
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Bulb Comparisons
After searching many lighting threads for my '02 Sierra I contacted Daniel Stern for his opinion who provided me with some eye opening facts. I'm not trying to start a pissing match, just figured some of you might be interested in what an expert has to say. http://www.danielsternlighting.com/home.html
> What bulb do you sell for my 02 GMC Sierra and how does it compare to
> Piaa and Sylvania's bulbs?
First off, let's dispense with the false advertising claiming that
Sylvania Silverstar and PIAA bulbs are an upgrade, which they are not:
Here's manufacturer data, from internal engineering databases, for output
and lifespan at 13.2v for H1 bulbs. The numbers here are a composite of
values applicable to the products of the big three makers (Osram-Sylvania,
Philips-Narva, Tungsram-GE). Each manufacturer's product in each category
is slightly different but not significantly so. I picked H1-type bulbs
for this comparison, and while the absolute numbers differ with different
bulb types, the relative comparison patterns hold good for whatever bulb
type you consider. Lifespan is given as Tc, the hour figure at which 63.2
percent of the bulbs have failed.
H1 (regular normal):
1550 lumens, 650 hours
Long Life (or "HalogenPlus+")
1460 lumens, 1200 hours
Plus-30 High Efficacy (Osram Super, Sylvania Xtravision, Narva Rangepower,
Candlepower Bright Light, Tungsram High Output, Philips Premium):
1700 lumens, 350 hours
Plus-50 Ultra High Efficacy (Philips VisionPlus, Osram Silverstar, Narva
Rangepower+50, Tungsram Megalicht, but not Sylvania Silverstar):
1750 lumens, 350 hours
Blue coated 'extra white' (Osram CoolBlue, Narva Rangepower Blue, Philips
BlueVision or CrystalVision, Tungsram Super Blue or EuroBlue, Sylvania
Silverstar or Silverstar Ultra, which is just a rebrand of the
Silverstar product, also PIAA, Hoen, Nokya, Polarg, etc):
1380 lumens, 250 hours
Now, looking over these results, which one would you rather:
(a) Buy and drive with?
(b) Sell?
The answer to (a) depends on how well you want to see versus how often to
change the bulb. If you want the best possible seeing, you pick the
Plus-50. If you don't care as long as it works and you don't want to
hassle with it, you pick the long life.
The answer to (b) is determined by how rich your company's shareholders
want you to be, and is obvious: You want to sell the bulb with the
shortest lifespan, highest promotability and highest price. That'd be the
blue unit, e.g. Sylvania Silverstar, any of PIAA's trash, etc.
Now, how to see better in your GMC? Major, significant upgrade is
certainly possible on that truck, but you will need to swap in a different
set of headlamp assemblies. The units you've got now are mediocre at best.
They produce poorly-focused beams. Lots of glare, lots of upward stray
light that causes backglare in bad weather, not a particularly wide or
long-reaching beam. Putting high-power bulbs in these lamps only
aggravates their shortcomings unless *ALL* you want is stronger high
beams. GM makes a very much better headlamp to fit that truck; they put it
on the deluxe Denali versions of the Yukon. Direct bolt-in/plug-in swap
and the beams are MUCH better focused, wider and longer-reaching. Glare is
very much better controlled, so that upgrading the bulbs becomes feasible
without impossible levels of glare.
Fog lamps: Same deal. The factory units are called fog lamps, but in
reality they are for cosmetic and "additional dealer profit" purposes
only. They do not produce any useful light, only glare. There is no bulb
that can be fitted in them that will cause them do behave any better. If
you need fog lamps see http://www.non-sponsor.com,
you'll need to buy a set of good ones (several options exist) and adapt
them to your truck's fog lamp apertures. See attached, note beam pattern
diagram and compare to the nothing-light you get from your present "fog
lamps".
Part numbers for the better headlamps for your truck are
15218077 driver side headlamp.
15218078 passenger side headlamp.
Get 'em at a discount from http://www.non-sponsor.com. They might ask for a
VIN for "parts confirmation"; if they do, feed 'em 1GKEK63U83J294994.
Or, save $50 and get 'em from this eBay seller:
http://www.non-sponsor.com
(if you shop around, be sure to get genuine GM-made units, not the "OEM
quality" aftermarket junk from Taiwan.)
Then, from me:
-Better bulbs for new lamps, type 9011.
The new bulbs are not some tinted or overwattage version of 9005, but
rather employ a relatively new technology called HIR, Halogen Infrared.
The mechanical dimensions of the bulb are all virtually identical to the
9005, but the bulb glass is spherical instead of tubular, with the sphere
centered around the filament. There is a "Durable IR Reflective" coating
on the spherical glass. Infrared = heat, so the coating causes heat to be
reflected back to the filament at the center of the sphere. This causes
the filament to become much hotter (producing more light) than it can by
passing electricity through it, *without* the shorter life or greater heat
production that comes with overwattage bulbs (to say nothing of
overwattage bulbs' incompatibility with stock wiring.)
Here's the comparison:
stock: 9005, 12.8V, 65W, 1700 lumens, 320 hours
new: HIR1, 12.8V, 65W, 2530 lumens, 320 hours
These bulbs are spendy - $27/ea - but their cost is worth considering in
context: Any number of companies will charge you more than this for a
tarted-up 9005 with blue colored glass (PIAA and Sylvania Silverstar come
to mind) that doesn't produce more light and has a very short lifespan.
The HIR bulbs have a double-wide top ear on the plastic bulb base, this is
to comply with the law requiring different bulbs to have different bases.
The extra-wide plastic top ear is easily trimmed or filed to make the bulb
fit your headlamp's bulb receptacle. Once that's done, they go directly
into the headlamp, and the existing sockets snap on.
You can put the 9011 bulbs in your present high beams for an improvement
in intensity, but focus will still be poor. You cannot safely or
effectively run this type of bulb in your present low beams -- too much
glare and it won't solve your seeing problem.
> What bulb do you sell for my 02 GMC Sierra and how does it compare to
> Piaa and Sylvania's bulbs?
First off, let's dispense with the false advertising claiming that
Sylvania Silverstar and PIAA bulbs are an upgrade, which they are not:
Here's manufacturer data, from internal engineering databases, for output
and lifespan at 13.2v for H1 bulbs. The numbers here are a composite of
values applicable to the products of the big three makers (Osram-Sylvania,
Philips-Narva, Tungsram-GE). Each manufacturer's product in each category
is slightly different but not significantly so. I picked H1-type bulbs
for this comparison, and while the absolute numbers differ with different
bulb types, the relative comparison patterns hold good for whatever bulb
type you consider. Lifespan is given as Tc, the hour figure at which 63.2
percent of the bulbs have failed.
H1 (regular normal):
1550 lumens, 650 hours
Long Life (or "HalogenPlus+")
1460 lumens, 1200 hours
Plus-30 High Efficacy (Osram Super, Sylvania Xtravision, Narva Rangepower,
Candlepower Bright Light, Tungsram High Output, Philips Premium):
1700 lumens, 350 hours
Plus-50 Ultra High Efficacy (Philips VisionPlus, Osram Silverstar, Narva
Rangepower+50, Tungsram Megalicht, but not Sylvania Silverstar):
1750 lumens, 350 hours
Blue coated 'extra white' (Osram CoolBlue, Narva Rangepower Blue, Philips
BlueVision or CrystalVision, Tungsram Super Blue or EuroBlue, Sylvania
Silverstar or Silverstar Ultra, which is just a rebrand of the
Silverstar product, also PIAA, Hoen, Nokya, Polarg, etc):
1380 lumens, 250 hours
Now, looking over these results, which one would you rather:
(a) Buy and drive with?
(b) Sell?
The answer to (a) depends on how well you want to see versus how often to
change the bulb. If you want the best possible seeing, you pick the
Plus-50. If you don't care as long as it works and you don't want to
hassle with it, you pick the long life.
The answer to (b) is determined by how rich your company's shareholders
want you to be, and is obvious: You want to sell the bulb with the
shortest lifespan, highest promotability and highest price. That'd be the
blue unit, e.g. Sylvania Silverstar, any of PIAA's trash, etc.
Now, how to see better in your GMC? Major, significant upgrade is
certainly possible on that truck, but you will need to swap in a different
set of headlamp assemblies. The units you've got now are mediocre at best.
They produce poorly-focused beams. Lots of glare, lots of upward stray
light that causes backglare in bad weather, not a particularly wide or
long-reaching beam. Putting high-power bulbs in these lamps only
aggravates their shortcomings unless *ALL* you want is stronger high
beams. GM makes a very much better headlamp to fit that truck; they put it
on the deluxe Denali versions of the Yukon. Direct bolt-in/plug-in swap
and the beams are MUCH better focused, wider and longer-reaching. Glare is
very much better controlled, so that upgrading the bulbs becomes feasible
without impossible levels of glare.
Fog lamps: Same deal. The factory units are called fog lamps, but in
reality they are for cosmetic and "additional dealer profit" purposes
only. They do not produce any useful light, only glare. There is no bulb
that can be fitted in them that will cause them do behave any better. If
you need fog lamps see http://www.non-sponsor.com,
you'll need to buy a set of good ones (several options exist) and adapt
them to your truck's fog lamp apertures. See attached, note beam pattern
diagram and compare to the nothing-light you get from your present "fog
lamps".
Part numbers for the better headlamps for your truck are
15218077 driver side headlamp.
15218078 passenger side headlamp.
Get 'em at a discount from http://www.non-sponsor.com. They might ask for a
VIN for "parts confirmation"; if they do, feed 'em 1GKEK63U83J294994.
Or, save $50 and get 'em from this eBay seller:
http://www.non-sponsor.com
(if you shop around, be sure to get genuine GM-made units, not the "OEM
quality" aftermarket junk from Taiwan.)
Then, from me:
-Better bulbs for new lamps, type 9011.
The new bulbs are not some tinted or overwattage version of 9005, but
rather employ a relatively new technology called HIR, Halogen Infrared.
The mechanical dimensions of the bulb are all virtually identical to the
9005, but the bulb glass is spherical instead of tubular, with the sphere
centered around the filament. There is a "Durable IR Reflective" coating
on the spherical glass. Infrared = heat, so the coating causes heat to be
reflected back to the filament at the center of the sphere. This causes
the filament to become much hotter (producing more light) than it can by
passing electricity through it, *without* the shorter life or greater heat
production that comes with overwattage bulbs (to say nothing of
overwattage bulbs' incompatibility with stock wiring.)
Here's the comparison:
stock: 9005, 12.8V, 65W, 1700 lumens, 320 hours
new: HIR1, 12.8V, 65W, 2530 lumens, 320 hours
These bulbs are spendy - $27/ea - but their cost is worth considering in
context: Any number of companies will charge you more than this for a
tarted-up 9005 with blue colored glass (PIAA and Sylvania Silverstar come
to mind) that doesn't produce more light and has a very short lifespan.
The HIR bulbs have a double-wide top ear on the plastic bulb base, this is
to comply with the law requiring different bulbs to have different bases.
The extra-wide plastic top ear is easily trimmed or filed to make the bulb
fit your headlamp's bulb receptacle. Once that's done, they go directly
into the headlamp, and the existing sockets snap on.
You can put the 9011 bulbs in your present high beams for an improvement
in intensity, but focus will still be poor. You cannot safely or
effectively run this type of bulb in your present low beams -- too much
glare and it won't solve your seeing problem.
Last edited by JSmith; 12-26-2006 at 10:02 AM. Reason: Non-sponsor links
12-03-2006, 09:34 AM
#5
Teching In
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Windsor, On Canada
Posts: 16
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Why upgrading to HID's may not be the best thing to do.
http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/bulbs/Hid/HID.html
http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/bulbs/Hid/HID.html
Last edited by JSmith; 12-26-2006 at 10:03 AM. Reason: Non-sponsor links
12-03-2006, 11:30 AM
#7
Originally Posted by Dave68RT
dont listen to that guy. HID's are the ****.
Trending Topics
12-24-2006, 02:31 AM
#9
TECH Enthusiast
iTrader: (3)
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 526
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
installed some denali projectors in my sierra, for those people considering the swap just do it. The improvement is amazing. Picked up my hid kit on friday, I'll be installing it later today
12-24-2006, 04:23 PM
#10
Xenarcs were and still are the ****!!
Id put an HID kit in my non-HID headlight any day of the week.. Im not afraid of that. Not legal, cry babies hate it, not Bill Gates approved.. Whatever! Most of the Acuras and whatever HID will give out a glare to oncoming drivers thats bad enough to make you look away. How is that any different than slapping an HID retro into a Silverado's headlight? IMHO it isnt. And im no goddam expert. Alot of you guys know dam well what cars im talking about! You have encountered them on the road.
Id put an HID kit in my non-HID headlight any day of the week.. Im not afraid of that. Not legal, cry babies hate it, not Bill Gates approved.. Whatever! Most of the Acuras and whatever HID will give out a glare to oncoming drivers thats bad enough to make you look away. How is that any different than slapping an HID retro into a Silverado's headlight? IMHO it isnt. And im no goddam expert. Alot of you guys know dam well what cars im talking about! You have encountered them on the road.
Last edited by 99Silver6.0; 12-24-2006 at 04:30 PM.