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So I finished buffing out the haze on my '02 "bug eyes" WRX headlight lenses and things got a little bit brighter driving at night but it occurred to me, since I bought this car new, that I have the original headlights in this car! That seems almost crazy to me, DRLs on all the time- we had a couple of Volvos that burned out headlights every couple of years, (in fact not one bulb has burned out in this car- gotta love Subaru for using some good suppliers). Don't standard halogen headlights loose their effectiveness after a while?
It seems I should be prepared to, and actually preemptive in changing these suckers out before I'm driving on some nice mountain road (although that's fairly rare since I live in the city) and they fail. Are the Sylvannia Silverstar headlights or equivalent competitors worth it, and is it true they tend to fail pretty quickly, like 24 months max life expectancy?
Since I would be changing them myself- and I'm sure it's pretty easy but still these things always take a little more time and effort than you predict with the inevitable screws falling into some crevice, weak brackets or wiring harness not connecting as completely with 10 years of gunk around it- I probably would not be too pleased with having to do this frequently.
Any reviews or experience from you city-data experts?
I've always heard the Silverstars burn out quick, but that's just what I heard. Do the bug-eyes have projectors in the housings? If so, perhaps spending the money for a HID kit wouldn't be a bad idea. Of course, I ONLY recommend this if the housing has a projector built in (otherwise you become just another guy blinding everyone going down the street), but the difference between HID and an incandescent is night and day (pun intended).
For the price of silverstars, you can buy a HID kit, if you dont have a projector lens, just make sure you aim the light correctly(a bit lower then normal), from DDM tuning or VVME. Silverstars do have a shorter life span then regular bulbs.
I had silverstars in non DRL cars... they are a little brighter. Enough to notice. However, I have been hesitant to put them in any DRL equipped cars I have owned due to widespread reports of short longevities.
Even still, projectors for halogen bulbs are designed differently the nprojectors for HID bulbs. It won't have near the focus r quality of an OEM setup if you just go with an HID kit. But it will look pretty.
I used silverstars once a long time agao and I never had an issue with them burning out. I suspect that people are just accidentally touching them. Even the tiniest bit of oil from a finger print will shorten the life.
Since I've never gone into the headlights I'm not sure that they are projector type- I want to guess probably not since I know our Tribeca has them and the lights look distinctly different. I wish I had the additional setting on the light switch to not have DRL on as on some cars because that definitely would be the setting I think I would use with the more expensive lightbulbs.
Even still, projectors for halogen bulbs are designed differently the nprojectors for HID bulbs. It won't have near the focus r quality of an OEM setup if you just go with an HID kit. But it will look pretty.
HID's in a factory housing will be better then halogen lights. It will also be brighter, put out more useable light(depending on color temp) and you will be able to see better at night.
I changed out the original 2001 Subie bulbs in my OBW for a set of Silverstars and saw noticeably better lighting performance. Can't say that the service life is any shorter, they've been in there for awhile and haven't burned out.
Changed out the conventional halogen sealed beams in my 1993 Dodge van for a set of Silverstars and went from marginal lighting to very statisfactory lighting. Only had them in service for 9 months now, so don't know about the service life.
At the price points for these units, I don't see anybody offering an HID kit for anything close to that price.
I have a set of Osram Silverstars from Germany. Osram and Sylvania are the same company, but they are actually different bulbs!
The Sylvanias I looked at were made in China and had a blue bulb to get that really lame "super white" look (my S2000 already has real HID's). The Osrams are made in Germany, are higher output, and have a clear bulb. The blue tint on the Sylvanias actually impedes light - it's a tint, no matter how you want to look at it!
This is a pretty solid explanation from a lightbulb-geek forum: Osram vs. Sylvania
In any case: I have the Osram Silverstars for the high beams in my S2000. They work great - I night race in the canyons and hills above Los Angeles and around the East Bay near SF a lot, where it's pitch black out and there are zero street lights. They are a HUGE help... HUGE help! The next step would be a set of monster spotlights behind the grille. My friend had the blue-tint Sylvania Silverstars in his Evo X, and we both agreed after a group run that the Osrams were the best versus those and then stock.
In terms of lifespan, again, I have mine as high beams, so they aren't on consistently. I'm sure they'd burn out more quickly as a DRL. However, they've been in there for the last year and a half and no issues. I also had a chance encounter with a deer, and then a tree, and then a fence, and finally a mound of dirt Though my car needed new bodywork all around, the bumper had been sheared clear off, and the driver's headlight bracket cracked and the light was hanging off, they still worked fine on the way back, and I pulled the bulb out and put it in my new headlight, where it sits to this day.
In regards to HID: again, my S2000 has HID's. They're awesome, but they don't carry as far as a high-powered beam like the Silverstars.
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Though my car needed new bodywork all around, the bumper had been sheared clear off, and the driver's headlight bracket cracked and the light was hanging off, they still worked fine on the way back, and I pulled the bulb out and put it in my new headlight, where it sits to this day.
