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Alternative Lighting Solutions

Besides the Philips Visionplus lamp, have anyone tried any other lamps out there?

I recently came across these new lamps and wonder if they are any good.

GE - xenon filled "high output" lamp 9006ho with lumen ~1070 and temp of 3170

Sylvania Silverstar - lumen of 1000 and temp of 4000
http://www.sylvania.com/auto/silverstar.htm

I'm just looking around for the cheapest way to get better light out of my car. Wonder if you can stick the 9005 (hi beam)lumens of 1700 into the low beam side??? Is that going to blind oncoming drivers?

How about fog lamps?? Anyone has any experience with aftermarket fog lamps? The fog is as thick as pea soup here in the central valley. I need to open the door to look for the line where I need to stop and listen for cars coming...








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    Alternative Lighting Solutions

    Sylvania is owned by Philips.

    Both Osram and Philips sell DOT approved 'Premium' or 'Super' bulbs in the US as well which have a +30% rated light output at the stock wattage. Similar to the VisionPlus bulbs, just a tad lower output rating (VisionPLus is not available in 900x AFAIK). Clear glass, no 'blue' stuff.

    The 9005 doesn't fit in the 9006 socket in the headlight, but... Look at them side by side and you will see that they are very similar and some creative work with a dremel tool and some O-rings from an old 9006 bulb should make it possible to fit them.

    Glare-wise you may run into a problem. Not really because of the slightly higher wattage for the 9005's, but because the 9006 has a blacked-out tip, but the 9005 is clear all the way.

    One thing you can do to get more light from your existing bulbs is to get an auxilliary (and heavy gague) wiring harness for the headlights directly from the battery. Most bulbs are designed to run at 13.8V, but most stock wiring will have a high enough resistance that you may only see 12V (or less) at the bulb connector.

    Lower voltage directly translates into lower light output. *But* it also lenghtens the lifespan. Cranking up the voltage to the full 13.8V will make them burn brighter (probably noticably so), but will also reduce the lifespan.

    No 'free lunch'. There's always a tradeoff!

    Bye, Arno.







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