I've heard a lot of mixed reviews for aftermarket headlight bulbs. People say the Sylvania is about 30 percent brighter, and the others only change the color of the light without increasing brightness. I also know there can be problems with higher wattage bulbs either with the electrical system or the plastic lenses.
Any thoughts? I'd love to be able to see farther at night. I have an '05 Escape.
I put a pair of PIAA Xtreme Whites in my '02 back in December 2007, and have been very satisfied with the brightness and whiteness (no blue tint to them, which is good). I was thinking about the Sylvania SilverStars at the time, and decided against them after reading the reviews of them having a short life, and that they faded rapidly over time. I haven't seen any noticeable difference in mine since installing them.
-- SC Tom
What about getting LEDs? I don't know the answer for this. I think you can get LEDs for tail lights and stop lights, too.
Jeff
I don't think you could get the intensity and focus using LED lights, or be able to fit it into the same area without modification. I looked on Amazon and didn't see any headlights (although most other lights could be replaced with LEDs), but maybe somebody somewhere has made them.
-- SC Tom
Yup - Put in the Sylvania's on my Vue and they were nicer...for the first 5-6 months. Then they gradually diminished until they really weren't any better than my original OEM lights. I know this because after about 11 months, one blew and the next month the other one went, and I put the originals back in and noticed there really was no difference any longer. In fact, the originals are still in there now...
The limiting factor is almost always the design of the headlight reflector/lenses, not the bulb. I've tried the brighter bulbs (all the way to 100Watt) and they made almost no difference and the socket melted. So I went back to the standard. I've got one car with the Sylvania Xtravison and I can't say that it's really any better then the OEM but it is somewhat whiter. I think people perceive the whiter color as "going further" but I'm not so sure it does, it may be just a perception but not reality. The best way to see farther at night is to buy a quality set of auxiliary driving lights and install them. The cheap stuff at walmart, pepboys, harbor freight is OK if you just want the "look" but they don't have good optics at all. I put a set of PIAA driving lights (which I've been told really aren't all the good but are way better then walmart, etc) on my Mustang and they do project better then the OEM high beams. Expect to pay over $100 for anything that works like you want.
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