Spotted GE NightHawk bulbs at Wally!

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97tbird

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I saw the "hard-to-find" GE Night-Hawk bulbs at the Wally in Dunn. NC today for the 1st time; 9004/5/6/7 types... Has anybody used those? Those are oem wattage, but improved light distribution, along the lines of XtraVision, and Philips VisionPlus. I'm tempted to try those out, even without an upgrade harness...a pair costs $26.00
 
Whether or not a premium bulb makes any difference is dependant on reflector and/or lens design. A premium bulb has the filament aligned to tighter tolerances than a regular bulb. Only if the headlight is designed well, will a premium bulb have a noticeable effect. Premium bulbs make a difference in my Valeo headlights, which uses H7 bulbs. My favorites are Philips Vison Plus and Osram Silverstar -- the clear ones, not the silly tinted ones.
 
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Originally posted by moribundman: .......My favorites are Philips Vison Plus and Osram Silverstar -- the clear ones, not the silly tinted ones.
I like these too. But the Philips Vision Plus bulbs (H4, H3 and H1) that I have aren't totally clear. The glass capsules have a blue tinted band that extends from the end down to about half way down the glass; half is tinted, the other half is clear. The packaging looks like these are for the Japanese market. I think the Philips Vison Plus H3 bulbs have been discontinued. The source that I use to get Philips and Osram bulbs has been a little flakey lately. Does anyone have a souce for these bulbs in the States (other than eBay)?
 
I can't find Philips VisionPlus bulbs ANYWHERE!! [Frown] looked in Wal/K marts...no luck. Moribundanman & Paulo: where did/do you get the VisionPlus? any online sources that you know of? pls let us know, kind gentleman [Smile]
 
quote:
Originally posted by 97tbird: I can't find Philips VisionPlus bulbs ANYWHERE!! [Frown] looked in Wal/K marts...no luck. Moribundanman & Paulo: where did/do you get the VisionPlus? any online sources that you know of? pls let us know, kind gentleman [Smile]
Philips Vision Plus bulbs aren't sold in N. America, AFAIK. I used to get them bulbs here: http://www.suvlights.com/ But their selection of Vision Plus seems to have dried up.
 
powerbulbs.com and Autolamps-online they both carry the visionplus bulbs. I have ordered from both of them before with no problems. But, my local kmart carries philips bulbs exclusively, and supposedly they can order the visionplus bulbs for me; I haven't confirmed it yet. My autozone is starting to carry philips bulbs as well, I think all i'd need is a part number for the visionplus and you could order those.
 
The Osram Silverstar bulbs are marginally whiter than the Philips Vision Plus bulbs. For halogen bulbs, the light output is pretty white. The coated (gold/blue iridescent) Vision Plus are the "All Weather" version. The link Chris posted is very useful, as those bulbs are very difficult to find.
 
A reminder that those gold/blue bulbs that some people install (I have no idea why) are actually illegal in many jurisdictions. Might wanna check that out first... John.
 
i wrote to Powerbulbs.com a few months ago, and they wrote me back and said they do NOT carry the Philips VisionPlus in 900X styles. It's a company based in UK
 
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Originally posted by 97tbird: i wrote to Powerbulbs.com a few months ago, and they wrote me back and said they do NOT carry the Philips VisionPlus in 900X styles. It's a company based in UK
yes thats true, but, philips now does have partnumbers for 900X bulbs in the US now, its just a matter of finding a retailer that can and would order them for you. You could even contact philips of north america and get specific part numbers, give the #'s to your retailer, and see if they could get them from their distributor. I know that this is so because at my local KMart, they ahve a 2005 philips automotive lighting catalog and it lists the visionplus bulbs in almost all sizes; they just aren't there on the shelves. Philips used to only make the visionplus in H1, H4, and H7 i believe, because it was originally a european market bulb.
 
quote:
A reminder that those gold/blue bulbs that some people install (I have no idea why) are actually illegal in many jurisdictions. Might wanna check that out first...
Why do they install them? They penetrate haze and rain better and cause less glare. Whether or not a bulb is legal or not depends on if it has DOT approval. My bulbs don't have DOT aproval, but I have also e-codes (Euro lights), which are not DOT approved. E-codea are legal in some US states like Oregon and Washington. Since California doesn't have any mandatory safety check, nobody knows anyway what lights or bulbs you use. The OEM DOT lights on my Audi were dangerously dark with a pathetic beam pattern. My e-codes produce a crisp beam pattern that doesn't blind anyone and throws light where it should be. The beam appptern is essentially the same as with xenon lights, but about 20% less bright. E-codes definitely profit from premium bulbs.
 
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Originally posted by ChrisW: [QUOTE]yes thats true, but, philips now does have partnumbers for 900X bulbs in the US now, its just a matter of finding a retailer that can and would order them for you. You could even contact philips of north america and get specific part numbers, give the #'s to your retailer, and see if they could get them from their distributor. I know that this is so because at my local KMart, they ahve a 2005 philips automotive lighting catalog and it lists the visionplus bulbs in almost all sizes; they just aren't there on the shelves. Philips used to only make the visionplus in H1, H4, and H7 i believe, because it was originally a european market bulb.
chrisW, you're correct about Philips making the 900x types. I also wrote to Philips and they told me they make 900X bulbs. (I didn't get any part#, though) Just to clarify: I wrote to Powerbulbs.com AFTER I made sure that Philips 900x bulbs. exist: and they still told me yes, they know it, BUT they don't carry 900x types because Powerbulbs is in UK, and they have no need to carry the 900X types, so they just carry the "euro" H-types. My Kmart only has a 2003 Catalog [Frown] , and it has page with the VisionPlus, but with no part#s for 9006/ and 9007 . I'm sure your Kmart is ahead of the one here in Sanford, NC. Can you get the part#'s from your Kmart catalog? That would really help, then all of us can perhaps give them to Kmarts/AutoZones etc. I'll also start asking Kmarts in this area about this.
 
UPDATE: Called Philips Lighting USA: They told me that K/Wal-marts have little interest in VisionPlus, but Philips is trying to get it out there.. They gave me a number of a place where they should have VisionPlus: (909)628 8805 The person that I talked to said it would help them if we asked thses suppliers to order VisionPlus, and let them know there are people wanting to find them. I said I'd put the phone# on this website. ---------------------------- I also wrote to SUVlights.com: They e-mailed me and said they still have plenty VisionPlus in stock in all types for $36 a pair. [I dont know]
 
The GE nighthawk bulbs aren't worth their premium price. I purchased those ($26.00) and the Xtravision ($17.87) bulbs. I couldn't tell a difference between them so I returned the GE bulbs. They were installed on an accord, which has a decent beam pattern. They aren't E code's by any means, but they do the job.
 
My Grand Prix has some of the most pathetic headlights I've ever experienced. Best combination for my car was some Catz "HID" bulbs that have a kind of rainbow color tint to the glass, but illuminate a crisp, bright white color similar to that of a white LED. I scored these on eBay and haven't seen another set since. They're different in that the end of the bulb isn't painted over like most others...It's the same as the rest of the bulb so light can shine thru it as well. I also removed the metal diffusers in the headlight capsules (an ongoing debate amongst GP owners whether this is worthwhile or not) and it made them better yet. Oddly, I had to re-aim the headlights from where they were with other bulbs. They were off a ton! Shined about 5 feet in front of the car. Must have the filaments placed differently than a regular 9007 is all I can think. If I ever trash one of these, and can't find a decent replacement, then Silverstars will go back in, since these were next in line for being decent for my car.
 
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