Upgraded the headlight H11B and reverse light 921 bulbs

Joined
Feb 19, 2009
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Location
The Woods of NY
I'll start off by saying I was never a fan of the SilverStar Ultra headlight bulbs just because of the dollar versus light output plus life – I felt like there are much better values out there.

I upgraded the Sonata low beams years ago with ultras that would blow out every 2-3 months like clockwork. :unsure: After a year of that I went with the highest quality LED H7 bulbs I could find and have not been disappointed. The sonata though has projector headlights with HID option. The LED bulbs are absolutely perfect no hotspots, OEM cut off line, no glare it really was a nice upgrade..

The Forte on the other hand has reflector type headlight housing with a H11B low beam bulb. I will not put LEDS in reflector housing and also good luck finding a H11B LED bulb that is just plug and play.

I replaced the oem smoked and faded headlight housing with new clear/chrome housing but reused the basic H11B bulbs. The light output was nice and a lot better than the smoked factory housing but the color hue made the car look old :LOL:

I bought one silverstar (blue box) to try it out. The color hue was better than the basic bulbs - I still felt there could be a little "whiter" light. So I made the decision to go try the Silverstar ultras again 2 pack at $77 from local auto store.... I have never used SS Ultras in NEW headlight housings they have anyways been installed in used with some years and miles on the headlight housing lens and I never felt they were worth the 70 dollars or more for a 2 pack. I have to say though Silverstar ultras in brand new headlight housing REALLLLY looks nice.(y) The color is modern without being artificial and light output is shockingly good for halogen headlight bulbs.

RESULTS:

IMG_2223.jpeg
IMG_2224.jpeg

You can see the "white" light in the headlights VS the more "yellow" in the fog light. Very pleased. I just hope they last longer than the 3 months I was getting out of them in the Sonata.

And I cannot forget about the reverse lights lol they are 921 bulbs, and I used Sylvania LED 1.4W bulbs 6000K.

RESULTS:
IMG_2221.jpeg
IMG_2222.jpeg

With the 921 halogen bulb light output was acceptable... $20 later and I now have these really bright Sylvania LED bulbs in the reverse lights.. Again very happy with the hue and color temperature plus the light output is so much more on ground and further behind you while only using 1.4 watts. I also like the modern look of it during the day.

Cliff notes:
Upgraded H11B Silverstar ultra headlight bulbs - recommended
Upgraded 921 Sylvania LED reverse light bulbs - recommended.

🙏

 
I did something very similar to my GEN1 Honda Pilot:
- Philips H11 VisionPlus for low beams
- SIRIUS LEDs for reverse lights
- FAHREN 9005 LEDs for high beams

This way I dont blind people when I'm driving along at night with my low beams, but the LED high beams are just amazing.
 
I'll start off by saying I was never a fan of the SilverStar Ultra headlight bulbs just because of the dollar versus light output plus life – I felt like there are much better values out there.

I upgraded the Sonata low beams years ago with ultras that would blow out every 2-3 months like clockwork. :unsure: After a year of that I went with the highest quality LED H7 bulbs I could find and have not been disappointed. The sonata though has projector headlights with HID option. The LED bulbs are absolutely perfect no hotspots, OEM cut off line, no glare it really was a nice upgrade..

The Forte on the other hand has reflector type headlight housing with a H11B low beam bulb. I will not put LEDS in reflector housing and also good luck finding a H11B LED bulb that is just plug and play.

I replaced the oem smoked and faded headlight housing with new clear/chrome housing but reused the basic H11B bulbs. The light output was nice and a lot better than the smoked factory housing but the color hue made the car look old :LOL:

I bought one silverstar (blue box) to try it out. The color hue was better than the basic bulbs - I still felt there could be a little "whiter" light. So I made the decision to go try the Silverstar ultras again 2 pack at $77 from local auto store.... I have never used SS Ultras in NEW headlight housings they have anyways been installed in used with some years and miles on the headlight housing lens and I never felt they were worth the 70 dollars or more for a 2 pack. I have to say though Silverstar ultras in brand new headlight housing REALLLLY looks nice.(y) The color is modern without being artificial and light output is shockingly good for halogen headlight bulbs.

RESULTS:

View attachment 127216View attachment 127215
You can see the "white" light in the headlights VS the more "yellow" in the fog light. Very pleased. I just hope they last longer than the 3 months I was getting out of them in the Sonata.

And I cannot forget about the reverse lights lol they are 921 bulbs, and I used Sylvania LED 1.4W bulbs 6000K.

RESULTS:
View attachment 127218View attachment 127217
With the 921 halogen bulb light output was acceptable... $20 later and I now have these really bright Sylvania LED bulbs in the reverse lights.. Again very happy with the hue and color temperature plus the light output is so much more on ground and further behind you while only using 1.4 watts. I also like the modern look of it during the day.

Cliff notes:
Upgraded H11B Silverstar ultra headlight bulbs - recommended
Upgraded 921 Sylvania LED reverse light bulbs - recommended.

🙏
Oh god, those awlful H11B bulbs...I hated those in my (former) Sorento. Who ever came up with that bulb design should be beaten. And so **** expensive compared to other bulb...even the standard H11 bulb. Not sure it is true, but I've heard the reason the H11B is more expensive than the H11 is that they are *supposed* to last longer, but they don't. At least not with my experience with the '08 Sorento...it ate them like candy. On top of that, you have to remove the headlight housing (if not more) in vehicles that use the H11B bulb because it is 'integrated' into the housing (all the bulbs are powered off 1 large connector ...maybe a smaller one for the side markers).

When I had the Sorento, I did a H11 conversion (from H11B)...it work out quit well and I was able to use some H11 LEDs (projector housing).

They do have H11B LEDs out there...but as they say...buyer beware. I tried a set (not the ones in the link) a while back...they only lasted about 6 month before they started to flicker.

 
I have always had good luck with Philips xtreme vision bulbs...They dont have a bunch of that blue tint on the bulb like others do...and they are brighter then stock..
 
I went thru a few pairs of Silverstar & Ultrastar bulbs before I figured out it was the DRL that was killing them. GM uses a pulse-width modulated circuit that dims the low beam during the day. I believe that harsh square wave is what causes the short life of these bulbs.
The ppl claiming 2 years+ on these bulbs probably have DRL on the high beams or turn signals.
 
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