Okay, I have received and evaluated the bulbs against the standard Sylvania 9007 (HB5 type) headlight bulbs.

POWER TEST

I measured the drain on stock headlights by removing the high beam fuse and inserting an ammeter with one headlight connector removed. The stock headlight bulb drew 5.71 amps more or less. System voltage at the battery was about 13.1 volts. Estmated wattage: 74.8 watts, slightly above the 65 watt "nominal" rating.

I next put one of the Arctic White replacement lamps in place and measured the drain on the high beam. The Arctic took 5.65 amps or so resulting a wattage of 74 watts.

Low beams were similar, with the Arctic using about 2 watts more then the Sylvania. Still equivalent.

Conclusion: Their wattage is equivalent. No need for temperature test.


VISIBLE WHITENESS/BRIGHTNESS

There is absolutelly no visible difference in these headlights and the stock Sylvania's. There are 6 pictures at the bottom. Due to focusing of the headlight beams being different a bit, the left hand (drivers side) light always looks brighter.

The first 3 pictures are the stock light on the left, Arctic White on the right. Picture 1 shows both, picture 2 is the stock light, picture 3 is the Arctic whilte.

The next 3 pictures are the Arctic White's alone. They have the same general light distribution and again the drivers side looks better focused and brighter.

There is no discernible difference in color to either my eyes or my wife's. Driving looks about the same as well. No difference in color or visibility.

Conclusion: These headlights are the same as the Sylvania standard 9007's in all but name and country of origin (Germany vs. USA for the Sylvania's).


Final Summation: An adequate replacement headlight at a normal price, but nothing special compared to commodity headlights. No discernible difference in any way. I'll keep them as I'm getting to the end of my stock lights probably anyway, and send in the $20. However, these are not an enhancement in any way that I could measure or see in either color or effectiveness.


Note that the pictures are taken with locked in tungsten white balance. The exposure of the both headlights at the same time was F4.5 at 1/80 sec for both shots. The individual lights were shot at F6.3 at 1/80 for all four pictures. ISO100 for all photos.

 

Well done John..

 

well done good sir...

 

I'm surprised at how clear those pictures turned out. Very nice.

 

very nice report john

at least those lights look white....mine seem yellow...i guess now i'll have to shell out the $$$ for silverstars....

 

Sylvania's have always seemed a bit whiter to me than other brands anyway. Keep in mind that those pictures were taken in "tungsten" mode, which compensates for the "yellowness" of incandescent lamps to some extent. The idea was to compare the bulbs in the same camera mode, and eliminate automatic camera adjustments that might change picture to picture. They are not quite that white to the eye, either the Arctic's or the Sylvania's.

I'd like to point out that these do appear to be a high quality bulb in construction. Whether they are an enhancement over the Sylvania bulbs I had, they are definitely NOT a "cheap" bulb to my mind.

Doc has had his Silverstars 2 years, yet others have reported premature failures. I guess you just take your chances.

Edit: I want to add a few things on reflection.

First, I have no problem with 03Mazda's passion for selling these. He sincerely believes in their quality, and he is correct from what I can see. Sylvania's are well made lamps and these are at LEAST as good. There are many low quality replacements out there and these are NOT like that.

The fact that they are not such an enhancement over my Sylvania's means nothing so much. I've always found my headlights very good (though with my driving and fog lamps even better) as they arrived and they have not deteriorated.

However, it IS possible that many Rangers got inferior bulbs, or have had inferior aftermarket replacements along the way. In such cases, these would be an upgrade, and this may account for the perception of improvement.

This does prove what I was trying to say in my other posts on headlights: there is no cheap way to get more light out of an incandescent light with the technology as it stands. High pressure gases and better filament designs already make todays headlights brighter (and hotter) than past designs.

To get whiter (and possibly more) light you must increase the surface temperature of the filament. That requires more current to make more heat, or to reduce the filament surface area to concentrated the heat. You can also "filter out" the longer wavelengths with a blue coating to "balance" the color -- but only at the expense of total brightness.

To get MORE light in general, you need either to increase the efficiency of the light (get more usable light and less heat), or increase the overall wattage. This approach is what cheap high wattage headlights with blue coatings do. They ARE brighter, so they have "room" to filter the light and still be bright enough.

There is no cheap "secret" lighting technology out there for incandescent lamps! This is a mature technology that doesn't appear to have many "breakthoughs" left in it.

Buy quality lights, and accept the limitations of your vehicles wiring. If you want higher wattage, you generally need better wiring all the way back to the fuse (and that includes the high/low beam switch and headlight switch) OR you need to "relay" the lights and replace the headlight connectors with a better one with heavier wire as far as the relay.

Perhaps I'll do a how-to on "relaying" your headlights. Any interest?

 

yah, that would be cool!

dont the PIAA headlights pull a lot more energy? thats what i heard...how they're so bright...

 

Yes, there are other people who have had a problem from them.

 

i have silverstars and i luv dem

 

John,

Thanks for your review of the headlights. I appreciate the honesty and the time to compare them, you even made me realize that my lights aren't that great and that I may need to lower my prices in order to generate a few more sales.

 

While you are in there playing with relays, you might as well tell people how to get lows and highs on at the same time. I did that to my '92 and it was quite useful at times.

 

Not too bad an idea with '92's. I've been in them and they have heavier wires.

But the late models have very small gauge wires, including the ground wire. I'm not sure it's a great idea with the later model trucks. It can be useful, but I'd need to make some tests before I recommended it for later generation trucks.

Although, if you were going to heavier gauge wire when relaying, that would not be such a problem.

 

u can have high AND low beams on? how? we have one bulb?

 

There are two "filaments" (the parts that electricity flows through and makes hot and glowing) in each bulb: one for high beams, and one for low beams.

With both on, however, the power requirement (and heat load) is the same as using 120 watt headlight bulbs -- which can be a no-no with modern Rangers and their barely adequate wiring.

 

well I got some Silverstars and they look like regular yellow beams not the blue import look I want :( they cost $39 so I took them back and want to try Phillips Blue Vision which Ive heard are better cost is the same

 

Remember this: blue incandescent headlights are dimmer. Unless they are much higher wattage, which will damage your headlight sockets or wiring.

Also, your 93 Ranger has yellowed headlight glass, even if it doesn't appear that way. You may find the blue ones even dimmer with the additional filtering.

Just a heads up in case you haven't read my previous posts about incandescent lamp technology. There are trade offs and to get blue you either get less light, more heat, and/or shorter lifespan. No exceptions.

 

Yeah becareful with high wattage bulbs... Mine smoked my wires and sockets once and that was enough for me.....