Upgrading headlight bulbs to Philips Xtreme Power

Discussion in 'Chai' started by Chai, Jan 31, 2011.

  1. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    Hmm.. That reminds me. The one I switched to is the Philips Premium H1 bulb which promises 30% brighter light.

    I can't say if it's really 30% brighter, but it sure is much brighter than my original lightbulbs.

    Yeah, the new lights are definitely brighter. I wonder how they improve the brightness without increasing the power consumption...
     
  2. Chai

    Chai Administrator Staff Member

    I'm not sure it is really 80% better than my previous bulbs, but the beam is definitely longer, which is very important if you travel at highway speed. In terms of brightness, it is not very obvious. And of course, the life span is much shorter.

    It has slighter whiter color temperature.
     
  3. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    Did you read about the new LED headlights in the Audi A6?

    Looks like LED lights are the future!

    BTW, PsYkHoTiK, the Audi A6 2.0T costs RM 335,000 (US$ 112K) over here, and that's without the new all-LED headlight. That's a mark-up of 2.7x!!! You can buy a nice condo with that kind of money! :wall: :wall
     
    Last edited: Feb 20, 2011
  4. PsYkHoTiK

    PsYkHoTiK Admin nerd

    Wait what? They have a 2.0T there? :faint:

    Here smallest is the 3.0T (downtuned version of the motor in my car), the 3.2 V6 (this is actually the least powerful) and the 4.2 V8...

    Audi of America > 2011 Audi A6 Sedan > Audi A6 Sedan Features and Specifications > Engines

    And then of course, there is the S6 with the nice 5.2 V10 (simillar to that on the Gallardo)... :wicked:

    I believe the R8 V10 was the first production car to offer LED headlights as an option. The new A8 was the first to have it as standard.
     
    Last edited: Feb 21, 2011
  5. Chai

    Chai Administrator Staff Member

    I'm surprised they don't have 1.8T! :haha: Damn...that's only as much power as the Golf TSI twincharge 1.4! But look at Camry, Accord... 140PS+... :haha:
     
  6. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    LOL!! Yes, just be glad they didn't offer a 1.8T option for those who cannot afford the 2.0T's high price tag... :haha: :haha:

    They have the 3.0T but that's the "high-end" model. The road tax for the 3.0L engine would be RM 2,145 (US$ 715) per year. The 2.0L engine's road tax, in comparison is just RM 395 (US$ 132) per year.

    Just imagine how much the road tax would cost for a 5.2L engine... Okay, no need to imagine. It's RM 12,045 (US$ 4,015) per year!!! :mad: :mad: :mad: In other words, we will need to pay about RM 1,000 (US$ 335) per month just to drive the car! :wall: :wall:
     
  7. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    Well, the Accords and Camrys are using naturally-aspirated engines what.. :D

    But back to topic... the Malaysian government is probably going to crack down on HID lights. I wonder what they are going to do about factory-fitted HID lights. Surely they cannot force them to go back to halogen lamps, right?

    I don't mind if they force manufacturers to "upgrade" to LED lights! :haha: :haha: But I think the technology is still a few years from filtering down to Honda / Toyota / Hyundai, etc.
     
  8. Chai

    Chai Administrator Staff Member

    Japanese cars sold here are so underpowered. 2.4L is the "high end", while the lowest end A6 is even more powerful. Europeans are not even bother about developing such models.

    The problem with these HID lights are those illegal modifications, not the factory fitted ones. I hope they are not so stupid. Reminds me of the OEM black tinted rear windows.
     
  9. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    Well, they have the 3.5L V6 Accord if you can afford it... :wicked: :wicked:

    Hmm.. I read that they are looking into factory-installed ones too. :think:

    Well, I hope not because I just booked the Hyundai Sonata 2.4L and it comes with HID lamps!
     
  10. PsYkHoTiK

    PsYkHoTiK Admin nerd

    In countries (such as Malaysia) that levy the tax based on displacement, forced induction is definitely the way to go. A replacement for displacement (heresy I know).

    For countries like the US, forced induction is mainly used for better fuel economy (economy of a lower sized motor - but has the power of a larger motor - case in point, the motor in my car - 1 liter smaller than the previous S4, 2 less cylinders, but more power, and more fuel economy *not that it mattered to me :angel: ).

    But man, LED lights sure are nice. I only have LED DRLs and rear lights but even then I think they're awesome! :mrgreen: HIDs are pretty standard here (even our family "mini" van has it).

    The prices there are kinda sad. :( They even use older engines to try and bring the price lower in some cases (well compared to places like the US).
     
  11. Chai

    Chai Administrator Staff Member

    Honda Malaysia

    I can't find it anymore. :haha: Thanks to the Malaysian. Want cheap and big. When I told my family I might be considering Golf TSI, insane or idiot came out from their mouth! :roll:
     
  12. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    Is forced induction really so expensive to implement? :think:

    Even the newer GDI/CGI technology is said to be pretty expensive. :think:

    Hmm.. With the exception of higher-end cars like Audi and BMW, do any other brands currently use LED lights? :think:
     
  13. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    I think they dropped it about the same time when they brought in the Accord 2.0L VTi-L.

    But I saw one example of the 3.5L Accord in my condo. That was the only one I ever saw. Due to the high price and high road tax, I'm not surprised! :D
     
  14. zy

    zy zynine.com Staff Member

    LOL... Well thanks to the stupid roadtax :nuts:

    in New York State, road tax is based on the weight of the car :mrgreen: My road tax is about $50 USD for 2 years :lol:
     
  15. Chai

    Chai Administrator Staff Member

    Toyota, Nissan, Mazda are not new to turbos. Many of their family cars used to have turbos. It's really unfortunate that all Japanese manufacturers are moving towards underpowered, hybrid technology.

    Take Toyota for example, their last turbo charged all-wheel drive car was the Caldina, which I was very interested in, but unfortunately, it is too old (last production model 2007) for me to consider.

    Nissan makes turbo-charged engine from K-cars to supercars like GTR. But I don't recall any turbo-charged models for the family sedan.

    Mazda makes high performance models like Mazda 3 MPS, but fuel consumption was not their main concern.

    Oh well. I doubt I will have any interest in Jap cars.
     
  16. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    They should tax cars based on fuel usage or emission levels. Instead of a "road tax", they could just tax fuel. The more you burn, the more you pay.
     
  17. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    I know, but at least in Malaysia, they are not offering turbo-charged engines.

    DYKT : We should split out these general car posts into a separate thread! :haha:
     
  18. Chai

    Chai Administrator Staff Member

    The car models offered here do not have turbo engines option even in Japan.

    Back to topic. After some usage, I think the headlights are quite a good upgrade. Brightness didn't really improve, but the longer beam is noticable. But whether it is 80% improvement, I doubt so.

    Longer beam is really important if you drive at highway speed.
     
  19. jay cee

    jay cee Newbie

    I did read an article years ago about the benefits and pitfalls of these aftermarket replacements. Basically you need to look at the manufacturer specs. Compare the Lumens and bulb life for extra cost. For instance the silverstars are brighter but last considerably less that the standard OEM and cost more. So If cost plays a roll then most of the time the brighter bulb may not be the ideal choice as you will be replacing it more often..

    here is an old response from the manufacturer's tech support....Thank you for your inquiry, and please accept my apologies for any inconvenience the failure of these SilverStars may have caused you. Due to the performance of the SilverStar, it does have the shortest life of any of our product upgrades. The shorter life span is directly related to the performance nature of the lamps. The blue absorption coating on the glass contributes to the crisp white light emitted, but also traps heat inside the capsule, causing the filament to burn out more quickly, thus decreasing the life. As with most high performance products, there is a trade-off between the higher performance and the life hours, unfortunately. The SilverStar product works harder (not burns hotter, however) to give the whiter, brighter light and this impacts the life hours. The life expectancy of a SilverStar halogen light source is dependent on the driver's use of the lights, which vary by season, time of day and number of miles driven. We estimate the SilverStar halogen light! s to have a life span of up to one year under average driving conditions. The life of the SilverStar is further decreased if being used in a day-time running light application.

    for instance the Long Life standard bulb and the brighter/wider Silverstars I would use are
    9007LL..............................1500hrs
    9007ST Silverstar.................150hrs

    the cost locally is $21.99 for the silverstars and $10.99 for the LL's so basically you pay twice the amount for 1/10 the life.

    I live in the city and most roads have too much lighting anyway, but if I were in the country, then I might want to upgrade so I dont hit a cow or stray goat. :pray:
     
    Last edited: Feb 25, 2011
  20. zy

    zy zynine.com Staff Member

    Funny thing is my silverstars have never blown before even after 3 years :lol: It was so hot it melted my H4 socket :lol: but my friend blow his every few months.
     

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