GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Just wondering what everyone uses. Im a foaming at the mouth PIAA user myself.

I'm still using whatever came with the car

SliverStars are my third replacement brand. The first, "Luk"s, popped in 30 days. The next, twice the $ but still cheap, lasted 60. The SilverStars (~$CAN 27 ea.) are nice and bright/white and lasted ~ 6 months When I can no longer haggle warranty replacements, I'll never buy another Sylvania! (See also numerous threads re same)

9 months on silverstars.

i'm using some cheapo lights that are xenon blue from walmart. cost me $18/pair. was using silverstars but after replacing the bulbs 2 times in less than a year... they went in the garbage can where they belong! waste of money!

HID baby!

Yea I used to work at a Partsource and they pushed silverstars down everyones throat, and every set came back burnt in less than a year. PIAA's are lots of money, but I had a set in my old S10 for nearly 2 years before I sold it, and my GTP had them for about 9 months without any problems. Besides, I find that the PIAA 4000K seems more brilliant than the Silverstars 4000k. I know it doesn't make sense but........ I guess that's why PIAA's are $100 a set!

I used to have the Sylverstar, but since they burned out, I put back the old plain yellow stock light. Not as bright, but a much better lifespan.

Same here. Had my Silverstars for about 10 months before one burnt out. I put back the stock ones for now but at 27$CAN each bulb plus tax umm no thanks!

i never found the headlights desireable to mod, so ive been kicking the stock ones for about 2.5 years now. it would be silly anyway, i have blackouts.

HID here too! (Thanks Mike!)I'm surprised that someone has success with PIAA...most stories i've heard are of them lasting 2~3 months..

some people here had a group buy for lumics, they seemed really nice too! hopefully the people who bought them will post about them I would like new bulbs soon too

Quote, originally posted by northvibe »some people here had a group buy for lumics, they seemed really nice too! hopefully the people who bought them will post about them I would like new bulbs soon tooI tried 'em, and they burned out too, like in 6 months

Quote, originally posted by Psychobroker »I tried 'em, and they burned out too, like in 6 months Me,it's been almost 4 month,and i liked very much.I like the beam light with a blue tint.

i would ike to have HID's but 300bills.. i dont think so, so ill just get silverstars

Quote, originally posted by Psychobroker »I tried 'em, and they burned out too, like in 6 months CORRECTION, I purchased them early November, and one of them burned out early March - that's FOUR MONTHS!!

actuall non of thee above. I use PIAA Rainbow for the headlight and PIAA JDM yellow for the fogs.

I remember seeing a $ilver commercial bragging about how safe those things are compared to standard halogens and I had to laugh. Sure, so they put out more light than standard halogens... But really, what puts out more light and is safer? A pair of yeller standard halogens that still actually work or a pair of overpriced "high performance" bulbs with one or hell, maybe both (like what happened to me) burned out? I'll stick with my cheap, "yellow" bulbs. Dim light is better than no light, as I learned. And costs less too. hehehe

I have the GE NightHawk headlight bulbs in mine! Over a year now and doing great!my Fogs are still stock bulbs

I had some cheap "hype white" ones from fleet farm in my sable ls, then after 2 years in there they went to my ford windstar which was sold last summer. so they were still going after 4 years. Ill have to do more research cuz these "brand" name ones seem to go out fast. piaa seem nice but expensive?

The fords do not have DRL. I think the low voltage in the DRL is what burns the bulbs out so fast.

3 years on the stock bulbs and no troubles.

Quote, originally posted by Digger »The fords do not have DRL. I think the low voltage in the DRL is what burns the bulbs out so fast. My sisters taurus (1996) has DRL and my bulbs are in them now, still working great

Quote, originally posted by zionzr2 »I have the GE NightHawk headlight bulbs in mine! Over a year now and doing great!my Fogs are still stock bulbsI updated the stock Fogs to Silver Stars and will be doing the same for my mainsnow that the Target store near me has them for dirt Cheap! BTW the Night Hawks are still going strong and there is nothing wrong with them at all. But now I have access to cheaper and Whiter SilverStars, the longevity concerns for SilverStars dont seem to matter to me now.

HIDs FTW!HAha... much better then stock, just need projectors now

I'm still using the stock lights too. And I've gotten many compliments from friends aoubt how nice lights look. lol, particularly the High Beams. but, I'm wanting to go ahead and replace the High Beams, Low Beams, and Fog Lights with PIAA's. But I was wondering, do I just buy 3 sets of the same light, or do I need different type lights for all these applications? (This seems like a really dumb question, but I'm confused about it)

in my fire im using sylvania silverstars

tcam,Look at http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=6871The high and low beam is in 1 bulb, the H4/9003. It has 2 filaments in the 1 bulb for both high and low beam. The fogs are 9006. So, a pair of H4/9003 and a pair of 9006 would do it.Dave

great, thanks for that link

headlights- 9003- silverstarsfoglights- 9005 converted silverstars

Hey all...I voted on this some time ago so I can't really change my vote or add my bulbs but I was running Silverstars a while ago, switched to Eurolites Fusions. Neither lasted all that long (6 months at best) but the Fusions were very cool and half the price of the Silverstars. After that I switched to Eurolites Super Plasma. Didn't like the broadcast width of the beam so I put those on my mother's car. Then bought Hella Optilux Purple bulbs. They were ok, slightly less light than Silverstars and Fusions but a very slight purple cast. They were cool But also didn't last. Lastly I bought some Hella Xenon Blue (new) in August of '06. Had a Fog light go out 2 weeks ago! So not so happy with that. And the light seems a bit less bright than both the Silverstars and Fusions.I know, a lot of bulbs but I drive extended trips (13+ hours) several times a year and I have it set so my headlights are on Full all the time (unless I 1 click the P-Brake). I don't expect bulbs to last to long though I do expect em to last longer than those last fog lights I bought!Dave

wow only 6 months out of the silverstars? must have had a bad package, i've had mine in my car for over 3 years now and they've never burnt out yet

Silverstars do usually burn out in under a year. Those that don't know, your xenon bulbs burn out MUCH faster when you touch them with bare hands or get any kind of dirt on them. I've seen too many people go out to the parking lot with silverstars, grab them by the bulb with their fingers, and plop them in. Sure fire way to kill them fast. It'll burn a hole right through the bulb.

Can you add a choice for GE NightHawks.. I just had one of the stock bulbs burn out.. and my experience with Silverstars are that they are awesome.. except they last only 1-2 years max so I'm going to give NightHawks a try

well right now im using the Cool Blue lights for fog and head lights and they are doing really good.

HID low beams,stock high beams and fogs...SOMEDAY to be HIDs all around.

cool blue headlights, stock fog/driving.

SilverStars on both Headlamps and Fogs. Only had one lamp burn out on me after 14 months, the other 3 are still goin strong.

I currently have SS had for 10 months now.I had GE NightHawks. Lasted about 22 months before one went.

Quote, originally posted by Mrizzle05 »HIDs FTW!HAha... much better then stock, just need projectors nowx2See the sig for mine. Just need a set of 9005 HID high beams

I use Eurolite and no issues. They are brighter than Silvestar (tried them too) and you get two for the price of one Silverstar.

using whatever came with the vibe for now..once one burns out..then i'll change them all over to either silverstars or go HID

How are the Toshiba HIR? What size, how many do I need? High / low different?Help, I'm a noob, I just want to see better.This is a good article:LThere are a lot of bulbs being sold on eBay - and in local stores - that are advertised as "Xenon", "HID simulation", "Plasma", whatever they are called, that promise "Brighter light!", "55w -> 90w", "Improved visibility", "more efficient", etc.Are any of these claims true?After both reading about the bulbs (www.danielsternlighting.com , a very informative site, among others) and trying them out in my own vehicle, I have a pretty good idea what these bulbs really do. First off, they do not use "Plasma" as they are sometimes called.Here's a quick lesson: True HID (high-intensity discharge) systems use an arc of plasma to create the white, bright light they are famous for, producing light above 4000 Kelvin in temperature usually up to about 6000K, although there are some systems that produce light upwards of 10,000K (although this produces a violet-colored light which is very dangerous). HID systems put out MUCH more light than a halogen system and because of it, they have more focused optics to avoid throwing light all over the road and blinding drivers. While improving illumination in the immediate foreground, the sharp cutoff makes it more difficult to see objects farther down the road, out of the light's projection.Halogen systems have a bulb that produces light around 3200K, which is the familiar yellowish-white we are accustomed to seeing. Halogens are not as efficient as HID systems, with a typical 55 watt halogen bulb producing around 1000 lumens. In contrast, the HID bulb puts out around 3000 lumens and only consumes about 35 watts, making them tremendously more efficient.So here's where the "Xenon" or "Plasma" bulbs come in. They promise a higher color temperature and the increased visibility of HID, at the price of a regular halogen bulb. Look, there is no free lunch, and if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. These "Xenon" bulbs just have a bluish layer added to a regular halogen bulb's glass, filtering out the yellowish rays and making the light whiter. The problem here is, because its filtering out some of the light, the amount of light projected onto the road is decreased significantly.So how can they be advertised as "Brighter" and "greater visibility"? Simple, because "brighter" is ambiguious and subjective, just like "louder" or "better". "greater visibility" is pretty much a lie no matter how its sliced, but its also subjective. Pure white light does have the advantage of improving contrast and, given the same light output, will improve visibility in clear conditions. The problem is that the bulbs with coating on them have a heavily reduced light output. I can guarantee that using a "Xenon" bulb will NOT make you see better, although maybe you will be convinced it has because you just spent money on them.Also, the "before and after" shots that seem to "prove" how much brighter these new bulbs are should be ignored. Cameras can skew contrast and brightness very readily, and even the photos themselves can easily be manipulated to show the blue Xenon bulb as much brighter. In some of the shots you can even tell that the entire picture had been brightened because objects outside of the beam pattern are much brighter as well.Another problem with the bluish color of the light is that it scatters more readily in poor visibility conditions. This is why some cars have (or used to have) yellow fog lights - the yellow is better illuminating through bad weather. The blue color is also more irritating to the human eye which is why true HID systems can be annoying to drivers. The natural yellowish tint of halogens is not as bad as its made out to be.Also avoid all higher-wattage bulbs for obvious reasons - they put off more heat, they consume more power. Your car was not meant to use a 100 watt headlight bulb, and you might suffer electrical problems due to overcurrent or headlight housing issues because they put out so much heat.You cannot put a HID retrofit kit into a car with halogen headlamps safely. For one, the halogen reflectors are not precise enough to control the HID light output and you'll be blinding other drivers, but also the HID bulb is a different shape than the regular one and the light is not going to be aimed correctly. The headlamp is a precise instrument and was designed with a single focal point, and if the bulb's filament or arc is not in the exact same position as the original one, the beam is going to be skewed. Some vehicles, especially those that came with HID systems as factory options, have entire headlight housings that can often be swapped into non-HID vehicle with minimal effort and will have the focusing characteristics appropriate for a HID bulb. At this point it would be safe and advantageous to use a true HID system.The only thing I'd recommend doing to improve nighttime visibility with a halogen system is to get higher-efficiency bulbs such as Osram Silverstar (NOT Sylvania Silverstar), Sylvania Xtravision, Wagner BriteLite, and especially GE Nighthawk bulbs. These bulbs have clear glass and do not filter out any light, they simply have a more efficient filament that is more lumenous. The downside is that they probably won't last quite as long and they cost more (around $35-40 for a pair). For reference, a standard H3 halogen bulb puts out 1000 lumens on the low beam. a GE Nighthawk bulb puts out approximately 1150 lumens with the same power consumption. Not a huge increase, but still significant.One other high-efficiency bulb that is difficult to find is something called "HIR" - halogen infrared reflecting. I've only seen these in 9005 and 9006 guises, and only a couple of times on eBay. You might be able to find them on Google. They work by reflecting the invisible infrared rays that all halogen bulbs produce back into the filament, making it burn brighter than a regular bulb. The seller claimed a huge improvement to lumenous properties with basically zero compromises. I have not personally tried these but I did find a review a while ago that favorably compared them to other non-HIR bulbs. The specs on them say that they produce almost 100% more light than a standard halogen! These are probably worth a shot, however they are pretty expensive for halogen bulbs ($60 for a pair).It's easy to fall into the "Xenon" bulb trap because even reputable manufacturers make them. The Sylvania Silverstar is an example and is a ripoff (not only are they expensive, they put out less light than a standard halogen and also they only last for 150 hours instead of the standard 1000). Wagner TrueVision, LazerBlue, PIAA's stuff, and CoolBlue are all similar and should be avoided, unless having blue headlights and trying to look cool is worth driving blind at night.So, in summary, here is some data to think about:Standard 9006 halogen (low beam): 1000 lumens, 800 hour rated life $6Sylvania 9006 Xtravision (low beam): 1060 lumens, 300 hour rated life $10GE 9006 Nighthawk (low beam): 1150 lumens, 250 hour rated life $14Toshiba HIR 9006 (low beam): 1800 lumens, 800 hour rated life $27Sylvania 9006 Silverstar (low beam): 910 lumens, 150 hour rated life $20If the glass on the bulb isn't clear, don't buy it.Update, October 29, 2006: Sylvania has just released a new headlamp bulb, the "Sylvania Silverstar Ultra". I have not tried these yet but the general concensus among forum users seems positive. The specs on these new bulbs are decent: 1000 lumens (H3 low beam), 30% longer life than a regular Silverstar, and a 4000k color temperature. Be warned though that 30% longer than a regular Silverstar is still not very long and that these bulbs are expensive, retailing for about $50 for a pair, but fair weather visibility should be somewhat better than a regular halogen.

Real world Update for me:Headlight: 11 months now on SS. Previous 18 Months on GE-NH. Stocks are stored in rear storage just in case.FogBeams: Replaced Stocks with SS about 8 months ago Stocks are in Storage in rear.

Low BeamsToshiba HIR's (Halogen Infra Red) High BeamsStock 9005s, never use emFoglampsCurrently stock 9006, switching to HIR when they blowPlease remember I drive a Trix so I have 9006 low and 9005 high lamps. And unfortunately they do not make an HIR for the 9003 bulb.HIR's produce 80% of the light output of an HID lamp, using only the standard 50-55W of power. The bulbous lens has an infrared coating on it that reflects light back onto the filament making it burn brighter. Therefore you still get the longevity of a stock bulb but the brightness of...well...let me put it this way; A standard OEM halogen produces 800 Lumens of light, your standard OEM high beam produces 1700-1800 Lumens. An HIR low beam produces 1750 Lumens, the high beam version 2150 Lumens. Nuff said.

mmmm new bulbs... Ill have to check for HIR's..where you get them at?

HIRs are only available for 9006/9005 style bulbs. The 9003 used in the hi/lo for the Vibe will not accept them without some refitting. However you could get a set for your fogs.

Well I just lost the Driverside SS today. It lasted about 3 weeks short of a full year.I replaced both with original stock bulbs that I held onto just in case.I may go back to GE NIghtHawks as my cheap source of SS changed their price so its no longer a deal.I would like to find a brighter than stock and long life bulb that dont cost a million bucks. Is that too much to ask???

me too. my ss's lasted about 8 months. just replaced with wagner truviews. anyone have any experience with these? if not, i guess i'm the test vibe

Personally never heard of them. But I have heard of Wagner brand. Hopefully they work well for you.