GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Do the sylvania silverstar light bulbs make any difference in comparison to the stock headlight and foglight bulbs? Are they worth the 60$ for all 4 bulbs for headlights and fog lights?thanks

let me sum it up in one word: YES!!!!! It was my very first upgrade, actually did it the day i got it from the dealership.

alrite thanks, i think ill be purchasing 2 sets of those soon...

(removed) this is the best upgrade I ever did! The color and intensity of the lights is unsurpassed...Worth every penny!

I concur.. it's worth it!

Can't wait to put in mine tomorrow!

quote:I concur.. it's worth it! I agree... They make a uge difference at night

anybody get these off of ebay http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... 2421826493 are they the same diffrence or another case of you get what you pay for

Two problems with those bulbs:(A) They're CRAP!!!(B) The wattage is too high, will overheat the wiring...Stick with Sylvanias. IMHO, you can't do better than them (aside from true HID conversion)

quote: The wattage is too high, will overheat the wiring...Absolutly!!! The wiring is not designed to handle 100/80W light.Plus, they are illegal for streat driving.

quote:actually did it the day i got it from the dealership.The dealership had them?

Can someone please post a demostration as to how bright these Sylvania lights are ? thanks

I've had them in for about 6 months now and I like them. Especially the high beams!. I had to make a 120 mile trip (each way) Sunday evening and it was dark on my way home. The trip took me on roads I'm not real familiar with, somewhat hilly for the l.p. of MI, and deer everywhere. The high beams are like daylight. I also went through a section of road construction with alot of orange barrels with reflectors on them. The reflection off of the reflectors with the highs on is almost blinding.Yes I'd buy them again. In fact I need to tomorrow. I noticed yesterday one of my low beams burned out. I'm VERY careful not to touch the bulb, or let the bulb rub against anything while installing it, so I know it wasn't my fault. Anyone else have a silverstar burn out so soon?

Here's the best I can do for you:Low beams w/ fogs (Silverstars , Stock )

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High Beams (Silverstar , Stock )

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Stock bulbs = yellow-orangeSylvania Silverstars = bright-clear-crisp-clean

A "big" difference!

quote:Anyone else have a silverstar burn out so soon?I had a fog explode...but I think the service department did it at the dealer. Other than that, no problems!The Sylvania site says they expect them to last around a year.

quote:Anyone else have a silverstar burn out so soon?Nope! Installed them 10/01/02.

Okay..i've been thinking of getting some HID Conversions from Hella. Granted..I don't have the $500 to get them. Very cool though, they do both Lo/Hi in HID.Anyway...I noticed some PIAA H4s that were super-white..anyone play with these yet?

I had the PIAA Super Plasma GT, allegedly the brightest bulbs they have...and compared to the Silverstars, they SUCKED!!!Stick with Sylvania... best investment you can make!

someone mentioned the silverstars were crisp-clean-blue. from the pix it looks like foglites were still a lil yellowish. rite/wrong?

quote:someone mentioned the silverstars were crisp-clean-blue. from the pix it looks like foglites were still a lil yellowish. rite/wrong?I wouldn't say they have a blue tint to them, but they definately are white. I haven't noticed any yellowish color to them at all.

Keep in mind, the pictures show the driver side as silverstars, and the passenger side as stocks.But no, there is a DEFINITE difference!

i got sylvania cool blue headlights. I like them alot. Kind of a blue/white light, low beam is alot better then stock, high beam makes it look like daytime

again, i notice the headlites are clear & white. but i'm asking about the FOGLITES. are the foglite silverstars yellowish?

No. Again, driver side is silverstars, passenger is stock.The fogs are the exact same color temperature as the headlamps -- not as much light output, but same color temperature.

OIC hadn't realized the fogs were on in the pix. noticed it now. many thanx! another ?, as far as changing headlamp bulbs, do u need to remove entire headlamp or can you change them w/ lamp where it is?

Nope, the bulbs pop out and change that way.Here's a walkthrough I wrote up last year: http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id ... ge=2#15999

many thanks for all your imput r'fish! i was truly set on buying some PIAAs this month. well over $100 for all four. ashamed w/ myself. i thought all my fellow Vibe owners were cheap a$$e$ who preferred to spend less on some silvania's at the local wal-mart instead of more $ for "better" brand. from your pix it looks like silvania's are good deal though and i'll take your word that the piaa plasma sucked.

That's my feeling. The PIAAs sucked.

nice!thanks ragingfish

No prob bobs!

Okay, so after much deliberation (and seeing a $30 price difference for the better), I went out and bought a pair of Silverstars for the Lo/His..I was about to ask what the fogs were, when I remembered the search tool and found the answer! So now I just need another paycheck, and it'll be silverstar all the way! Thanks for everyone's opinions!

I have had the Silver Star's in my almost since I got the car. But it was a big difference when I switched. I love them! You can see the difference when you are next to a car that has standard halogen's. A really nice upgrade.

open up the owners manual and go to the headlights section theres pictures there.

Pictures of what?

quote:open up the owners manual and go to the headlights section theres pictures there.If you were referring to me...funny thing is, I don't have one yet! That's right..my Vibe had no user manual, so they have it on order for me.. At least it had the NAV disc! (No, not the updated one, still need to call about that.)

And also, my neighbor said he had PIAAs in his Nissan SE-R for about four weeks before they blew, I showed him the sylvanias, and he was mucho impressed!

I had the PIAA's in my other car, and they only lasted 3 months, even thought they had a 1 yr warranty on them. Now I've silver stars al l around.

I'm hoping this was just a fluke, but I was behind someone the other day and noticed that I had one headlight was on...Pulled into a parking lot, and sure enough - the passenger's side light was out. Shelled out another $20 for a Silverstar... I've had Silverstars in the headlights and fogs since February or so. It seems these bulbs are rather long lived, in comparison to many other replacement bulbs out there... But I wonder what killed mine after 10,000 miles? I can't say that it was banged around too much on the way in, the glass never was touched, etc. Luckily it was just the passenger's side, as I had a heck of a time with replacing driver's side light...

quote:I'm hoping this was just a fluke, ...I'm beginning to think not. I had to replace my passanger side last week....guess what? My driver's side is out now. (right behind my Injen CAI I put on a couple weeks ago.) I'll replace it with yet another Silverstar, but after these blow in a few months, it's back to yellow for me.

Actually, my low-beam on driver's side blew the other day..I pulled up to a store, and noticed in the window the reflection of only the passenger headlight...but the high beam still worked right...It's under a year, so I'd like to think it's still under warranty...It made me mad, it's the third silverstar I'm replacing this month. First one mysteriously exploded after a visit to the dealer. Then I accidentally drove over one when I had taken it out to do the side by side shot of silverstar vs. stock bulbs...then this low beam went out...though I htink the constant opening and slamming of the hood might've made the filament break...But I have a friend who sells them where he works, he told me buy a new one, then bring back the blown one in the same package, and exchange it for yet another new one (as a backup). Boom. Warranty exchange. Nice to know low people in high places.

are u using latex gloves when you install the bulbs, or making sure that your not touching the glass?

quote:Shelled out another $20 for a Silverstar...Where are you finding them for that cheap? I see a few here and there on eBay, but they're still ~$45/pair. What major auto parts stores carry them?quote:But I have a friend who sells them where he works, he told me buy a new one, then bring back the blown one in the same package, and exchange it for yet another new one (as a backup). Boom. Warranty exchange.Very cool, now can he do cross-country hook-ups? hehe

quote:Shelled out another $20 for a Silverstar...Where are you finding them for that cheap? I see a few here and there on eBay, but they're still ~$45/pair. What major auto parts stores carry them?That was for an individual bulb. It's about $35 for a pair at Wal Mart.quote:But I have a friend who sells them where he works, he told me buy a new one, then bring back the blown one in the same package, and exchange it for yet another new one (as a backup). Boom. Warranty exchange.Very cool, now can he do cross-country hook-ups? heheHe works for a store who's name starts with Wal and ends with Mart. He said they really don't give two craps about returns, and he said buy a set, replace your bulb, and exchange them giving them back the one that blew.I'm never a dishonest person like this...but he offered, so hey, (removed), ya know? hehe...

I haven't tried them in my Vibe, but I had them in my bike and I also have them in my truck. I love them. They look just like the Sylvania bulb color wise.I work in a speed shop so I get all my parts for really cheap, but I just haven't bought the Piaa's for my Vibe yet.

Just had my passenger side burn out after 6 months or so in the car... I'm not sure it wasn't my fault though - I'm going to put the stock ones back in and see if they burn out too. I was carefull not to touch the bulb, but I probably touched the bulb to the housing while installing it. Will let you know if the stock ones burn out too.

Can anyone please post a picture of what Sylvania SilverStars look like from some distance?Say, maybe 3 or 4 cars away.thank you very much

It looks the same as it does up close.