Sylvania Lights

[Celtic_Curse]

I looked at the sylvanias but a friend went and got me the eurolite bulbs they look really good and are way bright, no problems with them at all. The person who got them won't tell me how much, but they are called Toucan Eurolites another choice for anyone upgrading.

[ragingfish]

Never heard of that brand.

[bootleg]

i've seen 'em at circuit city. haven't seen how it looks installed.

[Jahntassa]

Don't bother with the eurolites. The neons are okay..but DON'T WASTE YOUR CASH on the headlight bulbs. My friend had them as well as the PIAA super plasmas. He said they both went within a month.

[celica girl]

I've had my eurolites in for well over a year and a half... no problems yet.

[MrMke]

I went through 2 sets of Silverstars until I realized that no matter how good of a bulb you put in, as long as the DRL's are still active, you're not gonna get good life out of them.So I finally circumcised my DRL's and all is well so far.Besides, the Sylvania website rates the average lifespan of the Silverstars at about one year. And that's not accounting for the DRL's.

[Celtic_Curse]

quote: He said they both went within a month. Mine have been in for two months and no problems and are brighter than hell.

[cohocarl]

quote:So I finally circumcised my DRL's and all is well so far..... And that's not accounting for the DRL's.If I ever get some time, I'm thinking of doing that also. I'm sure it would make them last alot longer. Any problems or hints regarding the circumcision? If I remember from the post, you just cut the yellow wire leading up to the sensor, and ground it out?

[Vibe]

I did that mod to mine last month. Works great but a real bear to get under the dash and do it. But you ground the part of the yellow wire coming OUT of the module ---the harness wire you just tape the end .I am such a stickler for details that I soldered the longer ground wire to the yellow wire so it would reach to the grounding point. I always feel better with solder rather than a twist of wire. But OUCH I burned myself with the soldering gun. Wear saftey glasses so stuff doen't fall in you eyes. I'll be happy to assist anyway I can ---James(Vibe)

[MrMke]

quote:If I remember from the post, you just cut the yellow wire leading up to the sensor, and ground it out?Yep, that's all there is to it.It's just a little tight getting under the dash to do it. But well worth it. http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=1188

[ragingfish]

Jus outta curiosity, there's a fuse in the under-dash panel marked DRL...are we sure removing that doesn't do the trick as well?

[MrMke]

It's well known that DRL's shorten bulb life & reduce fuel economy.Quote from lightsout.org website: Q. Will DRLs shorten bulb life? A. Undoubtedly. Proponents say DRLs will not shorten bulb life, but how can that be? With lights on at all times, the lifetime of the bulb is certainly shortened. Check out the number of Chevy/GMC pickups with one burned out DRL. The same can be said for the amber, turn signal DRLs used on the Camaro/Firebird. This is very unsafe as it gives the impression that the remaining amber lamp is a malfunctioning turn signal. We've also heard from people who are replacing headlamp bulbs at more frequent intervals because the headlamps are run between 50% and 90% power at all times. Q. Will DRLs reduce fuel economy? A. Yes. The energy required to power the DRLs is not free. It is not surplus energy that is just "available" from the vehicle's engine. Various estimates place the reduction in overall fuell efficiency at 0.25 - 0.5 mpg, and cost estimates range from $5 - $15 per year. GM estimates the annual cost of DRLs at less than $10 per vehicle per year. Multiply that by 200 million vehicles in the US, and you can see why we oppose mandatory DRLs. The cost of DRLs over several years cannot possibly justify the benefits, especially the the benefits are in serious doubt. Given the increasing price of gasoline, the economic impact of DRLs will only get worse. Further, the combustion of the additional gasoline required to power the nation's DRLs will result in several billion pounds of pollutants being exhausted into the atmosphere. What makes the federal government's position on DRLs seem so strange is that the Environmental Protection Agency allows GM to disconnect DRLs before testing! Why?

[dmitri]

dont f*uck with yellow wires if you dont know what your doing. One of the yellow wires in the steering column is for the airbags...if cut they will deploy. I know alot about the wires under there because i took it apart to wire my under dash neons. ask if u have questions

[ragingfish]

quote:It's well known that DRL's shorten bulb life & reduce fuel economy.Quote from lightsout.org website: Q. Will DRLs shorten bulb life? A. Undoubtedly. Proponents say DRLs will not shorten bulb life, but how can that be? With lights on at all times, the lifetime of the bulb is certainly shortened. Check out the number of Chevy/GMC pickups with one burned out DRL. The same can be said for the amber, turn signal DRLs used on the Camaro/Firebird. This is very unsafe as it gives the impression that the remaining amber lamp is a malfunctioning turn signal. We've also heard from people who are replacing headlamp bulbs at more frequent intervals because the headlamps are run between 50% and 90% power at all times. Q. Will DRLs reduce fuel economy? A. Yes. The energy required to power the DRLs is not free. It is not surplus energy that is just "available" from the vehicle's engine. Various estimates place the reduction in overall fuell efficiency at 0.25 - 0.5 mpg, and cost estimates range from $5 - $15 per year. GM estimates the annual cost of DRLs at less than $10 per vehicle per year. Multiply that by 200 million vehicles in the US, and you can see why we oppose mandatory DRLs. The cost of DRLs over several years cannot possibly justify the benefits, especially the the benefits are in serious doubt. Given the increasing price of gasoline, the economic impact of DRLs will only get worse. Further, the combustion of the additional gasoline required to power the nation's DRLs will result in several billion pounds of pollutants being exhausted into the atmosphere. What makes the federal government's position on DRLs seem so strange is that the Environmental Protection Agency allows GM to disconnect DRLs before testing! Why? That is not credible information. That site is run by people who, for unknown reasons, adamantly despise Daytime Running Lights. OF COURSE they're going to write up a whole load of BS that sounds horrendous, and will most likely sway the reader to agree with them.As to the whole "look at the cars with one burned out DRL" line...who's to say that wasn't a bad batch of bulbs? Could be a malfunction. A problem that's being investigated for recalls. There is NO proof there that DRL's burn out bulbs faster.Realistically, yes, the bulb life IS shortened..but my first car didn't have DRL's, and I drove with my lights on low beam, all the time, and for over 3 years had not one bulb burn out. That's right. 3 years. Lights on all the time. No burned out bulbs.And that's not taking into account how many years prior to that it had been since the bulbs had been changed.To the owner's of that site: don't patronize me with your pompous, unjustifiable, bullsh*t lines...

[MrMke]

Mike,Point well taken.But for myself having gone through 1 set of those cheap Xenon bulbs as well as now being on my 3rd set of Silverstars, I have a tendency to believe in some of that bullsh*t they are shoveling.Now that I disabled my DRL's, we'll just have to see how long my Silverstars last.

[MadBill]

quote:Mike,....as well as now being on my 3rd set of Silverstars, I have a tendency to believe in some of that bullsh*t they are shoveling.Now that I disabled my DRL's, we'll just have to see how long my Silverstars last.Hmmm... Having snuffed cheap power bulbs in 30 days, and moderate cost ones in 60, I was ready to bite the bullet for the big buck Silverstars, but it doesn't sound like they're much better! BTW, my wife's 8 year old, DRL-equipped Buick went 6 years on the originals with no failures, and 2 so far on high wattage conventional colour Phillips. [and my '87 non-DRL Firefly(Suzuki) went its entire life , 360,000 Km, with no electrical failure of bulbs(cracked headlight let in water and popped one)

[rasermon]

quote:Hmmm... Having snuffed cheap power bulbs in 30 days, and moderate cost ones in 60, I was ready to bite the bullet for the big buck Silverstars, but it doesn't sound like they're much better! I'm going on 10 Mo. (headlamps of fogs) and both are SilverStars.

[millster]

quote:I'm going on 10 Mo. (headlamps of fogs) and both are SilverStars. Is that with the DRL or without? Reason I ask is, I'm not disabling my DRL system. There are a lost of long, open two-lane highways in this state and they're certainly not without their share of incidents. I'm counting on the DRL to possibly make me a little more visible and help me to avoid such accidents. However, these highways are also very dark and everyone is, I'm sure, familiar with the Vibe's lack of sufficient light. I would like to get the Silverstars (when and if I ever find work) but don't want to have to replace them every month.

[MrMke]

Don't get me wrong, the Silverstars are fantastic bulbs with a bright white light.Like I said previously, we'll have to see what happens with the DRL's disabled.

[rasermon]

quote:Is that with the DRL or without? Reason I ask is, I'm not disabling my DRL system.I did not disable my DRL's, but thinking about it.

[millster]

Now the override I might do. There are times it would be nice to be able to shut it off. It is good to hear that someone has made it a long time with the DRL enabled and no failure though!

[Jahntassa]

quote:Yup, put a switch where that empty space is near the security light and there ya go.. Just if I knew how to do wiring.. I've got a few switches in that little pocket right under that space, two for neon, one for my sub amp, and the remote level control for the sub amp... I use little Radio Shack toggle switches.. What I was thinking of doing was getting a STDP switch (I think that's right), so that in one position, the DRL system will be grounded, and in the other, it will run normally.Here's my gripe with DRLs.. My fiancee and I go out to WAHO (Wafflehouse) a lot, usually at like..midnight. It'd be nice if I could pull up her driveway and be able to turn off the headlights so I don't wake up half the household! (I already unplugged the sentinel sensor.. It's a brand new car, I don't want to do "unreversable things" just yet..)I don't need to disable the DRL system altogether. But there're definitely times when I don't want them on. I've also been considering getting headlight neon, and that wouldn't do much if the DRLs are on all the time! The neon's for show and play..I wouldn't have it on while driving..

[Yoda]

Two weeks after my Pass side Headlamp went out, my drivers side burned out too. I had a lot of 1.5 hour drives last month, so I think you guys are on the right track with this DRL theory. That's 2 headlamps burned out in 6 months. I know I didn't misinstall both of them. I'm going to try to go through their warranty system. I've got the stock ones back in now - I'm willing to bet that they will last a couple years.