Sylvania Silverstar Ultra and snow reflected glare

[WildChild]

I replaced recently the headlights on my 2007 Toyota Yaris with two Sylvania Silverstar Ultra. Yet, I'm not sure about the "improvement". I drove during a night snow storm, and on high beam, there was too much light reflected on the snow. Since I did not test the stock headlight during a snow storm, I cannot tell if it is normal. Can someone tell if I'll always get this reflected glare or it only happens with bulbs like the Silverstar? Are the Osram Silverstar much better in these conditions?

Thanks

 

[-Virgil-]

There are several issues at work here.

If there is stuff in the air (raindrops, snowflakes, fog, dust) you should be on low beam, not high. There's no control of glare and upward light in the focus and formation of the high beam pattern, so you will always get more backscatter on high beam than on low beam, no matter what bulbs you're running.

There is never an actual improvement with Sylvania Silver Star/Ultra or any of the other blue-glass "whiter light" bulbs. They put out less light, because the blue tinted glass blocks a fairly significant portion of the light that would otherwise reach the road and help you see. Despite the advertising (and they're spending a great deal of money on lots of advertising for these bulbs!), the tinted ("whiter") light from these bulbs does not help you see. In addition, a lower proportion of the light that does make it past the blue glass is actually usable, because of the way our visual system works with light of different wavelengths. The way these "whiter" bulbs work is by filtering out (blocking) a portion of the yellow light coming from the filament. It is commonly but incorrectly believed that yellow, obtained by filtering out/blocking most of the blue light, is the best color for fog lights because "yellow light penetrates fog better". That's not the correct explanation; in fact, our eyes and visual system have a significantly easier time processing what we see in reduced-contrast conditions (rain, fog, snow...) when the blue wavelengths are suppressed/reduced. The opposite is also true: By suppressing the yellow light and weighting the output of the bulb more towards blue (the so called "whiter" light), you're making it much tougher on your eyes and visual system whenever the weather's less than perfect. And there's no counterbalancing benefit when the weather is perfect, either...so overall, this kind of bulb is never a benefit, and is a significant drawback in bad weather.

The Osram Silverstar is one of several "Plus 50" bulbs with colorless clear glass (no light-blocking filter). Others include Philips Vision Plus and Narva Range Power +50. As a group, this kind of bulb always gives better headlamp performance, and better seeing, than any of the blue-glass "whiter light" bulbs.

The newest development is "Plus 80" (Philips Xtreme Power) and "Plus 90" (Osram Night Breaker) bulbs. These are a step above the Plus 50 bulbs. The Night Breakers have some areas of blue-tinted glass, but there's a colorless clear ring window surrounding the low beam filament, so most of the reflector has an unfiltered view of the filament and the tinted light is mostly at the outer portions of the beam rather than the safety-critical central main area of the beam. But the high beam filament looks through blue-tinted glass, just like with the Sylvanias.

There are obviously lots of options in H4 bulbs. You can get standard bulbs, long life bulbs, +30, +50, +80/+90...and those are just the ones that tend to get advertised and marketed. It's easy to get swept up in the fancy claims and sexy packaging. If you take a look at Candlepower's H4 page (not affiliated with this forum despite the name) you'll see all the familiar options, but take a close look at the fifth bulb down. Osram 70/65w ultra high efficiency. This one has no light-blocking colored glass, puts out 2000/1350 lumens, which is more than any 60/55w bulb, but is compatible with stock unmodified wiring and costs less than the top of the (advertised) line Night Breaker. I have these in a few of my cars with H4 headlights, without upgraded wires. Zero heat problems and headlight performance is terrific.

More info (a lot more info) in this post .

Good luck!

 

[WildChild]

There are several issues at work here.

If there is stuff in the air (raindrops, snowflakes, fog, dust) you should be on low beam, not high. There's no control of glare and upward light in the focus and formation of the high beam pattern, so you will always get more backscatter on high beam than on low beam, no matter what bulbs you're running.

There is never an actual improvement with Sylvania Silver Star/Ultra or any of the other blue-glass "whiter light" bulbs. They put out less light, because the blue tinted glass blocks a fairly significant portion of the light that would otherwise reach the road and help you see. Despite the advertising (and they're spending a great deal of money on lots of advertising for these bulbs!), the tinted ("whiter") light from these bulbs does not help you see. In addition, a lower proportion of the light that does make it past the blue glass is actually usable, because of the way our visual system works with light of different wavelengths. The way these "whiter" bulbs work is by filtering out (blocking) a portion of the yellow light coming from the filament. It is commonly but incorrectly believed that yellow, obtained by filtering out/blocking most of the blue light, is the best color for fog lights because "yellow light penetrates fog better". That's not the correct explanation; in fact, our eyes and visual system have a significantly easier time processing what we see in reduced-contrast conditions (rain, fog, snow...) when the blue wavelengths are suppressed/reduced. The opposite is also true: By suppressing the yellow light and weighting the output of the bulb more towards blue (the so called "whiter" light), you're making it much tougher on your eyes and visual system whenever the weather's less than perfect. And there's no counterbalancing benefit when the weather is perfect, either...so overall, this kind of bulb is never a benefit, and is a significant drawback in bad weather.

The Osram Silverstar is one of several "Plus 50" bulbs with colorless clear glass (no light-blocking filter). Others include Philips Vision Plus and Narva Range Power +50. As a group, this kind of bulb always gives better headlamp performance, and better seeing, than any of the blue-glass "whiter light" bulbs.

The newest development is "Plus 80" (Philips Xtreme Power) and "Plus 90" (Osram Night Breaker) bulbs. These are a step above the Plus 50 bulbs. The Night Breakers have some areas of blue-tinted glass, but there's a colorless clear ring window surrounding the low beam filament, so most of the reflector has an unfiltered view of the filament and the tinted light is mostly at the outer portions of the beam rather than the safety-critical central main area of the beam. But the high beam filament looks through blue-tinted glass, just like with the Sylvanias.

There are obviously lots of options in H4 bulbs. You can get standard bulbs, long life bulbs, +30, +50, +80/+90...and those are just the ones that tend to get advertised and marketed. It's easy to get swept up in the fancy claims and sexy packaging. If you take a look at Candlepower's H4 page (not affiliated with this forum despite the name) you'll see all the familiar options, but take a close look at the fifth bulb down. Osram 70/65w ultra high efficiency. This one has no light-blocking colored glass, puts out 2000/1350 lumens, which is more than any 60/55w bulb, but is compatible with stock unmodified wiring and costs less than the top of the (advertised) line Night Breaker. I have these in a few of my cars with H4 headlights, without upgraded wires. Zero heat problems and headlight performance is terrific.

More info (a lot more info) in this post .

Good luck!

Thanks for your reply! The good part is that I paid only half the price they are sold in store here! The Osram Silverstar looks like a nice alternative! At local Costco, they sell heavy blue tinted Phillips headlight... After reading many websites about blue tinted bulbs I will never try them. How are the Sylvania Xtravision? -

 

[a4d]

I have silverstars in my suburban, actually my 2nd set. I like em' alot. I only had one problem the socket on hte truck burned after a a year or two. Simple easy $8 reapir, but i do like the silverstars. They do glare a good amount on High Beam in snow or fog anything like that. As stated before you don't use high beam in that kind of weather, i also have the silverstar low beams and i like for driving in alot of conditions. Not to much improvment over stock in bad weather but they sure do seem alot better on clear nights.

 

[topcat39]

Scheinwerfermann:

What is the estimated life span for the Osram 70/65w ultra high efficiency bulb? Currently, I'm running the Osram Silverstar +50 bulb in my '77 Benz W123 after switching from a blue tinted bulb - big improvement.

Great info - thanks:thumbsup:

 

[Daniel Ramsey]

I live in Alaska and from first hand experience I know a bit about driving in blowing snow or whiteout conditions.
What I do is use just my fog lights that are 5000K HID and my Hella Driving lamps that are 2300K amber both are aimed low to the ground, I turn off my headlights which are also HID, actually the higher Kelvin number gives you a shorter wavelength color approaching blacklight and its a proven fact by the long haul truckers that drive to Prudhoe Bay that blue lamps create in some manner but not as well as say a 12000K HID lamp the light that minimalizes reflectivity, falling snow looks just like falling potato chips. Also reflective road signs, markers etc fluoresce much much more as well even under ice and another thing is moose eyes glow.

 

[-Virgil-]

the higher Kelvin number gives you a shorter wavelength color approaching blacklight and its a proven fact by the long haul truckers that drive to Prudhoe Bay that blue lamps create in some manner but not as well as say a 12000K HID lamp the light that minimalizes reflectivity

This is neither proven, nor fact.

reflective road signs, markers etc fluoresce much much more as well even under ice and another thing is moose eyes glow.

Road signs and markings are generally not fluorescent, and critter eyes do not glow more under blue light.

You mentioned in another thread that your "5000K fog lamps" are in the form of an "HID kit" in GM's toy plastic fog lites originally designed around a #880 bulb. This (together with the other hacks you describe in that thread) gives a sad but indisputable indication that you care more about bling-bling looks than about safety and lighting performance. What works and what doesn't is, to a very large degree, objectively measurable and quantifiable. And that's good, because as humans, our visual system does a lousy job of judging its own performance. It's really easy to create situations in which we feel we can see a lot better or a lot worse than we actually can. In other words, you may feel (believe, think, swear, etc.) that your hacked lights give you awesome seeing, superior safety, etc., but in fact they do not. :-( You are only as safe as you are, no matter how safe you may feel.

 

[-Virgil-]

What is the estimated life span for the Osram 70/65w ultra high efficiency bulb?

Rated lifespan is 280/280hr (B50 @ 13.2v). This is closely comparable to the rated life of the Osram Silverstar (275/275hr B50 @ 13.2v).

I'm running the Osram Silverstar +50 bulb in my '77 Benz W123 after switching from a blue tinted bulb - big improvement.

Yeah...the guys who like their blue tinted bulbs — Sylvania Silverstar or whatever other brand — are generally those who think the tinted light looks cool. They're not necessarily actively fooling themselves into thinking they can see better than they really can, it's just that marketing psychology works. Consider: In survey after survey, year after year, over 80% of people say they are not influenced by advertising. And yet, the numbers show advertising works really well, which is why companies spend as much money on it as they do. The lesson is obvious.

 

[-Virgil-]

At local Costco, they sell heavy blue tinted Phillips headlight...

The Philips Crystal Vision, yes. It's equivalent to the Sylvania Silverstar. Same scam. :-(

How are the Sylvania Xtravision? -

Definitely a decent bulb. It's a +30 variety. There are higher output bulbs (already discussed) but you can sometimes find the +30 bulbs at low prices.

 

[WildChild]

The Philips Crystal Vision, yes. It's equivalent to the Sylvania Silverstar. Same scam. :-(



Definitely a decent bulb. It's a +30 variety. There are higher output bulbs (already discussed) but you can sometimes find the +30 bulbs at low prices.

Thanks for all your replies! I think next time I'll try the Osram Silverstar (not blue tinted) and I'll see from there. They are cheap on the internet!

 

[topcat39]

Rated lifespan is 280/280hr (B50 @ 13.2v). This is closely comparable to the rated life of the Osram Silverstar (275/275hr B50 @ 13.2v).

Yeah...the guys who like their blue tinted bulbs — Sylvania Silverstar or whatever other brand — are generally those who think the tinted light looks cool. They're not necessarily actively fooling themselves into thinking they can see better than they really can, it's just that marketing psychology works. Consider: In survey after survey, year after year, over 80% of people say they are not influenced by advertising. And yet, the numbers show advertising works really well, which is why companies spend as much money on it as they do. The lesson is obvious.

True. Marketing really does have effects many do not recognize: lots of food ads resulting in an epidemic of obesity especially kids, and so on ad infinitum.

Thanks for the info. My Osram Sliverstar bulbs are 2-3 years old, so the 70/65 should last at least that long. I recall I found the Osram Silverstar after reading a thread at another web site where you were posting also. I also seem to recall your posts about helping improve the H/L on a Ferrari capable of 150+mph (or was it 180+?!?) either at the same web site or another one perhaps dedicated to Ferrari enthusiasts. For me, the desire to improve lighting came many years ago with motorcycle riding/racing at 120-130mph -- although I did have one capable of 176 (true speed by a friendly bike riding cop and his radar). Back then using Cibie H/L with quartz iodine bulbs, and then the H4 Halogen bulb came along which was much more reliable and brighter.

The blue tinted bulbs were in a package named Crystal Blue, who knows who made them, they were on sale at Western Auto at the moment one of my beams burned out, so I replaced both bulbs. Looking at them after R&R with the Osram Silverstar, the glass has a more pronounced iridescent bluish tint compared to new. I knew I needed to replace the blue tints with something better when too many cars would pull-up behind me at stop signs/lights and their H/L would cast a shadow of my front end on the road in front of me that also drowned out the light from the blue tint POS bulbs. That's when I searched and found some great info, including your posts. I'll re-check the voltage drop, as I recall it was nonexistant using an analog VOM when I R&R the Osram Silverstar bulbs for the blue tint bulbs. I now have a digital VOM which will make it easier to measure voltage drop (I needed digital to restore an old Fisher 400 vacuum tube integrated stereo receiver).

Cheers:thumbsup:

 

[RoyJ]

The Osram Silverstar is one of several "Plus 50" bulbs with colorless clear glass (no light-blocking filter). Others include Philips Vision Plus and Narva Range Power +50. As a group, this kind of bulb always gives better headlamp performance, and better seeing, than any of the blue-glass "whiter light" bulbs.

The newest development is "Plus 80" (Philips Xtreme Power) and "Plus 90" (Osram Night Breaker) bulbs. These are a step above the Plus 50 bulbs. The Night Breakers have some areas of blue-tinted glass, but there's a colorless clear ring window surrounding the low beam filament, so most of the reflector has an unfiltered view of the filament and the tinted light is mostly at the outer portions of the beam rather than the safety-critical central main area of the beam. But the high beam filament looks through blue-tinted glass, just like with the Sylvanias.

There are obviously lots of options in H4 bulbs. You can get standard bulbs, long life bulbs, +30, +50, +80/+90...and those are just the ones that tend to get advertised and marketed. It's easy to get swept up in the fancy claims and sexy packaging. If you take a look at Candlepower's H4 page (not affiliated with this forum despite the name) you'll see all the familiar options, but take a close look at the fifth bulb down. Osram 70/65w ultra high efficiency. This one has no light-blocking colored glass, puts out 2000/1350 lumens, which is more than any 60/55w bulb, but is compatible with stock unmodified wiring and costs less than the top of the (advertised) line Night Breaker. I have these in a few of my cars with H4 headlights, without upgraded wires. Zero heat problems and headlight performance is terrific.

More info (a lot more info) in this post .

Good luck!

Thanks for that very informative post. However, do you know if any of those high efficiency bulbs are available in 9006/9005 format? Seems they're all focused on H-series, as they're European.

So far, only the plus 50 bulbs (GE Nighthawk) seem to be available in 9006/9005.

Of course, the good thing about having that size is that I can always go for HIRs, @ 1700 lm / 2400 lm.

 

[-Virgil-]

Thanks for that very informative post.

Yer welcome!

do you know if any of those high efficiency bulbs are available in 9006/9005 format?

Narva now offer 9005 and 9006 Rangepower+50, Philips has VisionPlus which is also a +50. The GE NightHawk is more along the lines of a +30, from a performance standpoint. But as you mention, you can use the , which are considerably more cost-effective (much higher output, much longer life) compared to any of the +30/+50/+80/etc. bulbs.

 

[mezzman]

There is never an actual improvement with Sylvania Silver Star/Ultra or any of the other blue-glass "whiter light" bulbs. They put out less light, because the blue tinted glass blocks a fairly significant portion of the light that would otherwise reach the road and help you see.

Sylvania Silverstar headlamps DO NOT use a blue tinted lamp like many others. They utilize a different filament design that actually produces more lumens but at a cost of shorter lamp life.

 

[MichaelW]

The US Silverstars do have a blue filter. Even the silverstar 'ultra' still have a blue look to them, though it is lighter then regular silverstars. If I remember correctly, they maybe neodymium filtered.

If truckers want an improvement, they should fit twin dual beam headlamps, to older model trucks that have four headlights.
Have the inner lamps be e-code with a selective yellow filter.
http://store.candlepower.com/clyeba.html
Then they can switch to the inner low beam under adverse conditions.

Heck, up north no one would really fault you if you had dual low beam running at the same time.
http://www.rallylights.com/useful_info/Vision_Plus.htm
http://www.rallylights.com/hella/150mm.asp
http://www.rallylights.com/hella/165mm_lo.asp
http://www.rallylights.com/hella/200mm.asp

 

[pedalinbob]

I have been quite happy with the inexpensive Sylvania Xtravisions.
I believe the model that I have also touts a very long lifespan (850 hours? Can't remember...)

Anyway, I keep my eyes open for the Osram Silverstars or the Philips VisionPlus.
But, I have found that headlight alignment and good clear lenses are just as important as super-bright light.
Just had a minor fender-bender, and had to replace the left headlight assembly in my 1997 Monte Carlo.

WOW, is the new assembly CLEAR! There are definitely more lumens getting through the plastic lens. Funny, I have always kept the lenses clean, but the micro-pitting is obvious when compared with the new lens.
Not sure if I can polish the other lens...

I will be taking the car in on Friday to have the headlights aligned (I could do it myself...in fact, I think I have them pretty close, but I know an excellent mechanic with an aiming system--the results are PERFECT every time).

 

[-Virgil-]

Sylvania Silverstar headlamps DO NOT use a blue tint

Yes, they do.

 

[-Virgil-]

I have been quite happy with the inexpensive Sylvania Xtravisions.

That's a good bulb. It's a +30 type with colorless clear glass. You might be even happier with the HIR 9011-9012 bulbs; they cost more but they last longer and produce a great deal more light. Which factor balances-out the other, only you can decide.

I have found that headlight alignment and good clear lenses are just as important

Absolutely!

WOW, is the new assembly CLEAR! There are definitely more lumens getting through the plastic lens. Funny, I have always kept the lenses clean, but the micro-pitting is obvious when compared with the new lens.

Yup...plastic headlamp lenses really are not all they're cracked (ha ha) up to be.

I will be taking the car in on Friday to have the headlights aligned (I could do it myself...in fact, I think I have them pretty close, but I know an excellent mechanic with an aiming system--the results are PERFECT every time).

Great! That's a tough service to find these days, done properly.

 

[jzmtl]

Sylvania Silverstar headlamps DO NOT use a blue tinted lamp like many others. They utilize a different filament design that actually produces more lumens but at a cost of shorter lamp life.

+1.

I have silverstar (regular, not ultra or anything) on my jeep and it's whiter and brighter than stock sealed lamp, no hint of blue. I know some of you won't agree but this is what I see.

Wildchild, if you really want brighter lights you need to upgrade headlight wiring and get a higher wattage bulb, or HID altogether.

 

[Pellidon]

Just had a minor fender-bender, and had to replace the left headlight assembly in my 1997 Monte Carlo.

WOW, is the new assembly CLEAR! There are definitely more lumens getting through the plastic lens. Funny, I have always kept the lenses clean, but the micro-pitting is obvious when compared with the new lens.
Not sure if I can polish the other lens...

I will be taking the car in on Friday to have the headlights aligned (I could do it myself...in fact, I think I have them pretty close, but I know an excellent mechanic with an aiming system--the results are PERFECT every time).

My new to me Kia Rio had pitted, yellowed and cloudy lens assemblies. Wally World had a $20 polish kit. Very fine grit emery paper (2000 and 3200 grit I think) and a chemical to reseal the plastic when done. Yellow tint is all gone and lens is not cloudy anymore. It has held up for six months so far.