Osram nightbreaker, or Philips ultravision +100. Neither have color on the lenses. I have the Philips in my neon and they made a huge difference.
Best Halogen Headlight Bulb?
- Thread starter barlowc
- Start date
Went back to Sylvania XtraVision on the van. I did an HIR 9012 upgrade - but the bulbs were short-lived and aftermarket TYC headlights don’t have the same tight optics as OE Toyota(Stanley and Koito/NAL).
Just put in a pair of H11 Philips CrystalVision Platinum. I'll know tonight or tomorrow how they are.
The original Philips bulbs were really dull
Was going to get LEDs but the shipping time is several weeks out on Amazon.
We'll see how long they last. Only anticipate having the vehicle for 2 years.
The original Philips bulbs were really dull
Was going to get LEDs but the shipping time is several weeks out on Amazon.
We'll see how long they last. Only anticipate having the vehicle for 2 years.
f355spider
$50 Site Donor 2025
I have tried a number of premium bulbs and they all have shorter life, typically less than two years use, sometimes less than a year. I was most impressed with HIR bulbs from Philips, but also, shorter life.
I recently discovered these Hella HIR bulbs with the same higher output but claimed longer life. I have not yet installed them, but they are inexpensive, so worth a try. The claim is higher output, yet longer life than even the stock bulb, and same stock color temperature, so no crazy blue or purple coloring.
https://www.rallylights.com/hella-9012ll-12v-55w-long-life-bulb-each.html
I actually found mine on WOOT website for only $5 each...not sure if they still have them available or not.
Sold out: https://sellout.woot.com/offers/hella-9012ll-9012ll-hir2-halogen-bulb-12z-3
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- Joined
- Oct 30, 2023
- Messages
- 81
I've got some Silverstar Ultra H7s in my BMW with projectors. I gotta say I do really love them, they're almost as bright as HIDs (I used to have an HID kit) except the beam pattern, cut off and optics are now correct because it's a halogen bulb in a halogen projector lol. Obviously they won't look exactly like HIDs but the light is definitely of high quality compared to the standard bulb.
I used to have Philips Xtremevision +130% H7s in there before and I also really liked those a lot! The SSU seem to look more like HIDs than the Philips if you care about that sort of thing.
I used to have Philips Xtremevision +130% H7s in there before and I also really liked those a lot! The SSU seem to look more like HIDs than the Philips if you care about that sort of thing.
Sylvania XtraVision.
Carlostrece
$100 Site Donor 2025
I have tried several brands in my 97 Buick Park Ave. I don't like Sylvania nor AC Delco bulbs. I like Philips Xtreme Vision. Love the PXT.
Carlostrece
$100 Site Donor 2025
I meant I love PXV.
That said, any brand of sufficiently bright slightly yellowish light bulb is good. Slightly yellow is good because it shines through rain, mist, fog much better than white, blue, or purple lights. If you want to be able to see on a rainy or foggy night, you need slightly yellowish light. It's also less offensive to oncoming motorists.
PXV gives good brightness with an ideal slightly yellow hue. Result is you and oncoming cars can see as good as possible. Proper headlight aiming helps too.
Last time I tried Sylvania the light was too white (not yellow enough). Last time I tried AC Delco the color was good, but not bright enough. Philips Xtreme Vision is good in both areas. That's why European Car and Driver Magazine repeatedly voted PXT as the best.
It was years ago when I kept myself current on headlight bulbs for cars. I don't know which bulbs Euro Car and Driver has recently voted best in 2023 or 2024, but I'm sure PXV is still good.
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- Joined
- Oct 30, 2023
- Messages
- 81
BTW, nowadays the Silverstar Ultra bulbs are the Osram Nightbreaker bulbs since Osram is Sylvania's parent company. After the lawsuit of the old Silverstar Ultra bulbs being terrible, they just import them now under the Sylvania name. A win win for everyone tbh
I had good luck with Philips VisionPlus and Philips X-treme Vision before converting to LEDs on both cars. VisionPlus gave out a bit less light but lasted longer. Both cars have projector type headlights. Had to modify Sportage bulb connector to accept H11 as opposed to original H11B.
The O.E.M. headlight bulbs in the HYUNDAI Accent SE ( base ) and the '25 KIA Soul LX are OSRAM that have clear glass like that of the SYLVANIA XtraVision 9003 ( H4 ) that produce white / bright light . I'm thinking they're either the OSRAM Original Line or the Ultra Life which have clear glass . Most likely the Original Line .
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Personally, the color temperature and *rendering* from a halogen is superior to everything else. If the lamp gets good lumens on the ground, you’re in great shape.
Sylvania has been repackaging Osram's "plus" headlight bulbs, for the types that have equivalents, for a while. The COO (not Mexico, Asia, or the US) make the suggestion, and the part number of the bulb reveal the model.
The first upgrade level XtraVision would be something like the old Silverstar, or +30/+50 level.
I've had good experiences with Philips' XV+130 bulbs, but that was back when they were still German. I don't know if the spinoff of the lighting business, and production shift to China, has affected their quality, but it has been close to a decade since, and they carry on.
The first upgrade level XtraVision would be something like the old Silverstar, or +30/+50 level.
I've had good experiences with Philips' XV+130 bulbs, but that was back when they were still German. I don't know if the spinoff of the lighting business, and production shift to China, has affected their quality, but it has been close to a decade since, and they carry on.
Carlostrece
$100 Site Donor 2025
In my experience, VisionPlus are good, XtremeVision are excellent. I'm just talking performance. As for longevity, I've never had either of them go bad on me. I've had XTV in my 97 Buick Park Ave for 7+ years and they still work like new. However, I don't drive at night very often. So any bulb lasts a long time for me.
I do recall on a forum about car headlight bulbs there were Europeans saying the Philips XTV bulbs last longer than Osram (Sylvania) Night Breakers.
I can't really speak with any authority about which lasts longer since they all last long for me because I don't drive much at night. I will say that I can see the best with Philips, the worst with Sylvania, and AC Delco (stock GM) is middling.
There's reasons why Philips Xtreme Vision has so often won the European Car and Driver award for best headlight bulbs. It might be because of German engineering. Philips is a German company.
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Philips is a company from the Netherlands, they do make stuff in Germany thou. I was very happy with performance of Philips Xtreme Vision too but they lasted only about a year on average for me. It made sense to go with LEDs to get better performance and what was more important to us with two cars - longevity and cost effectiveness.
Carlostrece
$100 Site Donor 2025
I'm assuming you drive at night a lot. With regard to convenience, it's easy to change bulbs. Was it easy to convert to LED? PXV bulbs are low cost, IMO. Was converting to LEDs low cost? PXV (and all halogen bulbs) put out enough heat to (usually) melt snow and ice that gets on them. LED don't put out much heat. What do you do when it's heavily snowing sticky wet snow and your LED don't melt it?
One time when I was in a 07 Jeep Wrangler LJ in Winter in a blizzard at dusk, visibility became zero. I had to stop. The heavy snowfall made near whiteout conditions, but worse still was my headlights were covered with heavy wet snow. I brushed headlights off and then continued driving. Every few miles I had to stop, get out, and brush off headlights again. It was miserable and dangerous.
That was with Wrangler stock halogen headlights. Normally stock halogen headlights melt snow faster than it can accumulate, but in a heavy wet snowfall even stock halogen bulbs can get overwhelmed. LED would have been much worse in a heavy wet snowstorm because LED make little heat. If my Jeep had LED headlights, I would have been stranded.
In my 99 Jeep Cherokee and my 97 Buick Park Ave I have Philips Xtreme Vision halogen bulbs.
My Philips Xtreme Vision bulbs put out enough heat (slightly more heat than stock AC Delco halogen) to (so far) always melt snow faster than it can accumulate. The PXV are also much brighter than ACD and same useful slightly yellowish color.
Everyone knows that halogen bulbs create some heat due to some inefficiency, but in winter conditions heated headlights can be a God send.
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