sylvania silverstar lights

[saturnsc2]

i read a lot of posts about those "high performance" silverstar lights & i even seen them on display at my local auto parts store. they cost 3 times as much as the original bulbs, & the display shows a pic of the silverstar lights vs the regular halogen bulbs, & it's like compairing hid to regular halogen. i was skeptical about this so i e-mailed stern lighting & they're supposed to be an expert on automotive lighting & here is their reply: do you have any opinion on these sylvania silverstar bulbs?

Yep: They're garbage! Despite the heavy "Whitest! Brightest!" advertising
hype, they put out much LESS light than a standard bulb and have a
horrendously short lifespan, because of the blue glass.

Here's manufacturer data, from internal engineering databases, for output
and lifespan at 13.2v for H1 bulbs. The numbers here are a composite of
values applicable to the products of the big three makers (Osram-Sylvania,
Philips-Narva, Tungsram-GE). Each manufacturer's product in each category
is slightly different but not significantly so. I picked H1-type bulbs
for this comparison, and while the absolute numbers differ with different
bulb types, the relative comparison patterns hold good for whatever bulb
type you consider. Lifespan is given as Tc, the hour figure at which 63.2
percent of the bulbs have failed.

H1 (regular normal):
1550 lumens, 650 hours

Long Life (or "HalogenPlus+")
1460 lumens, 1200 hours

Plus-30 High Efficacy (Osram Super, Sylvania Xtravision, Narva Rangepower,
Candlepower Bright Light, Tungsram High Output, Philips Premium):
1700 lumens, 350 hours

Plus-50 Ultra High Efficacy (Philips VisionPlus, Osram Silverstar, Narva
Rangepower+50, Tungsram Megalicht, but not Sylvania Silverstar):
1750 lumens, 350 hours

Blue coated 'extra white' (Osram CoolBlue, Narva Rangepower Blue, Philips
BlueVision, Tungsram Super Blue or EuroBlue, Sylvania Silverstar):
1380 lumens, 250 hours

Now, looking over these results, which one would you rather:

(a) Buy and drive with?
(b) Sell?

The answer to (a) depends on how well you want to see versus how often to
change the bulb. If you want the best possible seeing, you pick the
Plus-50. If you don't care as long as it works and you don't want to
hassle with it, you pick the long life.

The answer to (b) is determined by how rich your company's shareholders
want you to be, and is obvious: You want to sell the bulb with the
shortest lifespan, highest promotability and highest price. That'd be the
blue unit, e.g. Sylvania Silverstar.

> astounding at least in the photo, but i know pics lie!

Yep! Pics lie.

> are these lights
> really that much brighter?

Nope! Dimmer. The "improvement" is an optical illusion.

> their made by a reputable company too.

Sylvania is pissing away their reputation with Silverstar and some of
their other products. People are getting peeved at buying into the hype,
finding they can't really see better and the bulbs pop like popcorn...


> another question, those sylania halogen + bulbs are supposed to last
> much longer than a regular halogen bulb & they're supposed to be
> brighter too.

No, they're longer-lived but produce LESS light, see above.

What is the year and model of your car?

DS

[daveshapellSVT]

my experience with silverstars tells me they are much better then standard bulbs. i've had them on three cars i've owned and the lighting is crisp and covers a greater area then the factory bulbs. so i disagree with what was said about them having less power output. to me thats impossible. many ppl that sell head bulbs aften are bias tords a certain brand and often put down everything else. Sure they aren't even close to being as good as HID's but they are deffinatly an improvment over stock. take it from me i've had them on many cars.

[Paddy Whacker]

I replaced the stock bulbs in my '98 SL with Silverstars from Walmart. The difference was very obvious...could see a heck of a lot better, especially on rainy nights. I did hear they will burn out faster than stock bulbs, but I'll deal with it when it happens.

[daveshapellSVT]

plus thats something you would expect from any after market bulb. i garantee anything other than the stock bulb will burn out faster. in my opinion it's a good bulb for the money. a lot of other bulbs just have a color to them and do nothing, but everyone loves those cause they are HID wanna be's. Silverstars