GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

I am getting ready to replace my factory bulbs. For brightness and road illumination (I don't really care how they look from the outside being as I will never usually see them.... .....just the illumination counts) which would you buy PIAA bulbs or Sylvania Silverstars?

I bought the Silverstars the first day i got the car. They are my fav's and ever since they came out, I have had them in my cars.

Which model did you get for the Vibe....is it the 9003s?Jim

PIAA's both in my Vibe and my GA. Love em, and they have a 1 year warranty against blowout. Vibe headlights are H4's.

I replaced mine with the Sylvania Silverstars as well. They are awesome! I did both the headlights and foglights.Foglight number: 9006Headlight number: H4/9003

I tried Luks first, and they both snuffed in exactly 30 days (30 day warranty, from ORDER date.) I've got Max super whites now, which seem really good, but I haven't compared to Sylvania, Piaa, etc.

I should have done bulbs before my CAI - I think I'm going to have to take it off or move it aside to change the headlight, and at a minimum, remove the filter to do the fog lights. If I do bulbs, It won't be until 10-15 K miles when its time to service the filter.

So, how many people who voted actually tried both, and how many just picked the ones they bought? I tried both and voted accordingly.

quote:So, how many people who voted actually tried both, and how many just picked the ones they bought? I tried both and voted accordingly.I didn't vote cause I have the Silverstar and never saw PIAA yet.So I want to stay impartial

Stupid question, but do they really make a difference or do you think they make a difference because of the money you have spent on them?

When I changed out my bulbs, I did a test drive down both straight and winding dark back roads, then changed one bulb and repeated, then the other. BIG difference, even with the "No life Luks"

I had both PIAA Super Plasma GT's and Silverstars. The Silverstars are cheaper, brighter, and whiter. I was really disappointed with my $80 US PIAAs, which sucked big time. The PIAAs had a cool reddish tint to them, but that was it. Other than that, they blow IMHO.Definitely Sylvania, hands down.

quote:I had both PIAA Super Plasma GT's and Silverstars. The Silverstars are cheaper, brighter, and whiter. I was really disappointed with my $80 US PIAAs, which sucked big time. The PIAAs had a cool reddish tint to them, but that was it. Other than that, they blow IMHO.Definitely Sylvania, hands down.Then you had a defective set. LoL I tried both, and the Super Plasma bulbs won. When you pull up along side a true HID and your lights are all but as bright, the $70 I payed was well worth it. Mine have a purplish glow to them, same as the newer HID's. All comes down to price, quality, performance, preference and looks. I paid a little more $ for a better bulb.

We have a Super Walmart here that just started stocking Silverstars for $36/pair.

Sweet!Jim

quote:We have a Super Walmart here that just started stocking Silverstars for $36/pair.Good deal!

quote:Rasermon was talking about when you service the filter, to maybe disconnect the pig tail to the bulb and then take the whole assembly out. that might work...I dunno dude...I tried to remove the assembly when I installed the CAi, thinking it would help....darn thing would NOT come out! I never even thought about replacing bulbs...that's gonna be a nightmare...UGH!!!!

I tried Silverstars, the life of the bulb sucked (4 months), I replaced them with XV's. Brighter light than original, not as blue/white as the Silverstars, but I've had them over 2 yrs now. (On the S10, not the Vibe)Never tried PIAA, the price scared me away.

Quote, originally posted by tnpartsguy »Never tried PIAA, the price scared me away.Don't worry.They sucked.

Quote, originally posted by ragingfish »Don't worry.They sucked.No, they dont. I have PIAA's in my headlights and Silverstars in my driving lights. Also, they last longer than the Silverstars. I've replaced both Silverstars to my one PIAA. I tried Silverstars in the headlights and compared to the PIAA's, they're not as bright by far. PIAA's cost more, but are all around better bulbs, IMHE.

Quote, originally posted by DopeVibeGT »No, they dont. I have PIAA's in my headlights and Silverstars in my driving lights. Also, they last longer than the Silverstars. I've replaced both Silverstars to my one PIAA. I tried Silverstars in the headlights and compared to the PIAA's, they're not as bright by far. PIAA's cost more, but are all around better bulbs, IMHE.IMHE? Which PIAAs did you go with?I had the super plasma GTs, and was very unimpressed. I quickly ebayed them to recover my $80 investment. Perhaps they have a different model bulb that performed better?

I was using the cool blues for a while but I got the ****s of replacing one like evry three months, so I have switched to the silverstars and am liking them so far!!

Quote, originally posted by DopeVibeGT »No, they dont. I have PIAA's in my headlights and Silverstars in my driving lights. Also, they last longer than the Silverstars. I've replaced both Silverstars to my one PIAA. I tried Silverstars in the headlights and compared to the PIAA's, they're not as bright by far. PIAA's cost more, but are all around better bulbs, IMHE.I don't get quit understand that you have PIAA's in your headlights and Silverstars in your driving lights. How could fit two different brand blubs in one headlight?

silverstars suck in the rain, especially at night.also, they look really yellow during the daytime

The Philips collection seem's good.

5 month update on my NightHawk bulbs by GE.They are still doing great!! No issues at all....

Guy's a question what is the different about the colour tempeture,like 4300k,and the lumens(luminosity),like 800,1000,...?I have a dilemma between the philips crystal vision,blue vision and vision plus.

Color temperature represents how white the light is. The temperature has to do with the color of platinum when heated to a certain temperature....The higher the number, the whiter the light. This chart gives you some common color temps: 5500°K is about daylight. Anything above that becomes blueish...My HID kits were 6500°K and 7000°K (heads/fogs respectively). I liked the output of the 7000's better...Lumens has to do with light output. The higher the lumens, the more light the bulb puts out.An example (thanks to ask jeeves): Get a birthday cake candle. Get a ruler. Stick the candle on one end of the ruler. Light the candle. Turn out the lights. One foot-candle of light is the amount of light that birthday cake candle generates one foot away.A LUMEN is a unit of measurement of light. It measures light much the same way. Remember, a foot-candle is how bright the light is one foot away from the source. A lumen is a way of measuring how much light gets to what you want to light! A LUMEN is equal to one foot-candle falling on one square foot of area.