# Best replacement bulbs?



## Zachlava (Aug 1, 2013)

I'm looking for replacement halogen bulbs to put in my Cruze. I'm looking for a nice bright blueish/whiteish color. I'm leaning towards sylvania zxe bulbs which apparently are 4200k. Wondering if I could get a higher number from other bulbs. Anyone got any ideas? I'm open to any brand 


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

Put in a headlight harness and Philips Xtreme Power bulbs. That will give you good, usable light. Chasing blue-tinted light is counter to what you need to actually see. 

Sylvania bulbs are not as good as Philips bulbs, in my experience.


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## Zachlava (Aug 1, 2013)

How difficult is putting a new harness in 


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## Dragonsys (May 27, 2013)

http://www.cruzetalk.com/forum/57-how-library/5767-how-upgrade-your-headlight-wiring-harness.html


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## AutumnCruzeRS (Sep 10, 2012)

yep do the harness upgrade and go with Philips CrystalVision Ultra bulbs


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## trevor_geiger (Nov 29, 2012)

Look in my build thread and you'll see the Phillips x-treme vision lights I put in my Cruze just earlier this week, they are a lot brighter to me, mainly because I drive country roads.


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## AutumnCruzeRS (Sep 10, 2012)

I think the CrystalVision Ultras are the brightest available from Philips. I checked there website.


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## Tomko (Jun 1, 2013)

I've had good success with GE Nighthawk bulbs.

i could never get Sylvania Silver Star bulbs to last. They seem sensitive to vibration. And they weren't as bright as the Nighthawks.


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## newsguy99 (May 24, 2013)

BLUE H13 9008 Xenon HID High/Low Headlights Bulbs 7500K WHITE WITH BLUE TINT


And ordered them on Ebay..
Hyper Blue H13 9008 Xenon HID High Low Beam Headlights Bulbs 7500K Brand New | eBay


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

AutumnCruzeRS said:


> I think the CrystalVision Ultras are the brightest available from Philips. I checked there website.


False. The Xtreme Power is the brightest bulb that Philips makes in the H13 socket. Any bulb that has a blue tint on the lens will have inferior output. Refer to the following (scroll down):

Osram Night Breakers

CrystalVision Bulbs are 1380 lumens, while Xtreme Power bulbs are 1780 lumens. It's actually quite a big difference. 




newsguy99 said:


> BLUE H13 9008 Xenon HID High/Low Headlights Bulbs 7500K WHITE WITH BLUE TINT
> 
> 
> And ordered them on Ebay..
> Hyper Blue H13 9008 Xenon HID High Low Beam Headlights Bulbs 7500K Brand New | eBay


Illegal per NHTSA, unsafe on many accounts, and severely alters the beam reflected out of the factory housing. This "option" is recommended against by the CruzeTalk staff. For more information, refer to:

Are HID Kits Legal or Safe - The Xtreme Revolution


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## tecollins1 (Nov 6, 2011)

This vid actually covers everything that you need to know.

http://youtu.be/bPNk-qdpvHw


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## Zachlava (Aug 1, 2013)

Thanks alot guys you helped alot. Probably gonna go with the ultras


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

Do not get Sylvania bulbs. You will regret it when they do not live up to the hype, and then have a short lifespan on top of everything.

Give these a shot. I have been very happy with these bulbs in several different cars: Amazon.com: Philips H13 9008 X-treme Power Headlight Bulb, Pack of 2: Automotive


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

Zachlava said:


> Thanks alot guys you helped alot. Probably gonna go with the ultras
> 
> 
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Which ones?


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## AutumnCruzeRS (Sep 10, 2012)

XtremeRevolution said:


> False. The Xtreme Power is the brightest bulb that Philips makes in the H13 socket. Any bulb that has a blue tint on the lens will have inferior output. Refer to the following (scroll down):
> 
> Osram Night Breakers


Im sorry they are the whitest halogen available from Philips. I was going on whiter is brighter.


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## newsguy99 (May 24, 2013)

XtremeRevolution said:


> False. The Xtreme Power is the brightest bulb that Philips makes in the H13 socket. Any bulb that has a blue tint on the lens will have inferior output. Refer to the following (scroll down):
> 
> Osram Night Breakers
> 
> ...


Are you talking about the ones I've got? They are Standard H13 bulbs.. Just stronger, with a blue hue.. And you only see the blue, when you're far a ways from the car... Otherwise, its white. 

They are working great.. And, I do not ever have people flashing high beams at me.. So, to me, thats a good sign as well. If I started seeing people flash high beams at me, it would tell me they are incorrectly installed, or have too much glare.. Just my personal opinion.. I'm happy with them..


should not be used.


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## tecollins1 (Nov 6, 2011)

newsguy99 said:


> Are you talking about the ones I've got? They are Standard H13 bulbs.. Just stronger, with a blue hue.. And you only see the blue, when you're far a ways from the car... Otherwise, its white.
> 
> They are working great.. And, I do not ever have people flashing high beams at me.. So, to me, thats a good sign as well. If I started seeing people flash high beams at me, it would tell me they are incorrectly installed, or have too much glare.. Just my personal opinion.. I'm happy with them..
> 
> ...


From just reading the link; it looked like you had HIDs installed. Just by reading it. 
But I see why they say it (refers to hid "look", not actually real hids)


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

AutumnCruzeRS said:


> Im sorry they are the whitest halogen available from Philips. I was going on whiter is brighter.


Whiter is not brighter. Whiter in fact is worse, by a long shot. You have the false impression that the lights are brighter because the light is whiter, and when it comes to halogen, the lights yellow as they become dimmer. When you make the bulbs artificially white by coating them with a blue tint, you reduce output, as demonstrated in the link I provided. You reflect some surfaces more, but your overall viewing distance is reduced.

This is the same case with the Sylvania Silverstar bulbs. The Silverstar bulbs are actually blue tinted XtraVision bulbs with a higher price tag and a lower actual output. It's all marketing there. 



newsguy99 said:


> Are you talking about the ones I've got? They are Standard H13 bulbs.. Just stronger, with a blue hue.. And you only see the blue, when you're far a ways from the car... Otherwise, its white.
> 
> They are working great.. And, I do not ever have people flashing high beams at me.. So, to me, thats a good sign as well. If I started seeing people flash high beams at me, it would tell me they are incorrectly installed, or have too much glare.. Just my personal opinion.. I'm happy with them..
> 
> ...


I should have clicked on the link. The link indicates an actual HID bulb. Instead, they incorrectly marketed a tinted halogen bulb as an HID Xenon. Not only is that bulb not an HID (high intensity discharge) bulb, but the gas inside the capsule is almost guaranteed to be halogen at that price point, not Xenon. They marketed as Xenon because that's what real HID capsules use. You're not using HIDs, so at least you maintain the factory housing calibration, but one of three things are happening here:

1. you have a *higher wattage* bulb (to compensate for the reduced output from the tint) producing additional heat, which will cook your H13 harness connectors in short order due to resistance like this:










2. you have a *higher efficiency *bulb producing additional output, to compensate for the reduced output from the tint, with a consequentially lower life (which would then be falsely advertised)

3. you have a standard H13 bulb with fancy marketing and less actual output than an OEM bulb. Given the price point and the fact that there is false advertising plastered across that entire listing, this is actually quite plausible. 

I mean if you're happy with them, by all means, but I wouldn't consider them anywhere near something one could recommend as a "best replacement bulb." I don't know if you knew about all of the science behind bulbs and lighting before this thread, but the truth is that any bulb that relies on a blue tint on the capsule to create a "whiter" look is "bluing" that light at the expense of actual output.


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## SkullCruzeRS (Nov 3, 2011)

Another downside to blue tinted bulbs in my experience is they are horrible in rain. The blue tint filters out the yellow spectrum and water absorbs blue/white light which greatly reduces visibility. Having the Philips Xtreme Power bulbs with the upgraded in harness I see excellent at night with little reduction during bad weather.


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

SkullCruzeRS said:


> Another downside to blue tinted bulbs in my experience is they are horrible in rain. The blue tint filters out the yellow spectrum and water absorbs blue/white light which greatly reduces visibility. Having the Philips Xtreme Power bulbs with the upgraded in harness I see excellent at night with little reduction during bad weather.


This is because blue tinted bulbs actually remove part of the light spectrum being created, which ends up reflecting fewer surfaces than a halogen without that coating. Definitely a good point to bring up that I had completely forgotten about.

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## Zachlava (Aug 1, 2013)

Hey guys! I'm gonna buy some Phillips crystal vision ultras. Our car needs part number 9008 right?


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

Yes, our cars take 9008/H13 bulbs.


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## ninjah (Nov 27, 2013)

HI,

Here is a dumb question, what would happen if I upgrade to the Philips H13 9008 X-treme Power Headlight Bulb, but don't upgrade the wiring harness?. Would that be worth it? and safe? since I understand that the Philips buls use more power than the stock ones, so will something happen to my stock wiring harness?...

The main purpose of changing the bulbs is improving a little bit the color and output, I don't mind that it isn't much, and I would like them to last.
My concern is that I could safely use the Philips bulbs with the stock harness.


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

ninjah said:


> HI,
> 
> Here is a dumb question, what would happen if I upgrade to the Philips H13 9008 X-treme Power Headlight Bulb, but don't upgrade the wiring harness?. Would that be worth it? and safe? since I understand that the Philips buls use more power than the stock ones, so will something happen to my stock wiring harness?...
> 
> ...


They don't use more power; they are more efficient. The efficiency also reduces life. Expect them to last 1/3-1/2 as long as the factory bulbs. It will still be worth it. Definitely. I'd say at least 25k miles. 

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## boraz (Aug 29, 2013)

phillips x-treme power.


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## n1philli (Sep 9, 2013)

Why upgrade the harness? It it really going to be that big a of difference?


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

n1philli said:


> Why upgrade the harness? It it really going to be that big a of difference?


There's a 0.5V drop at the passenger side and 0.15V drop at the driver side. That voltage drop results in a significant reduction in output no matter what lamp you use. 

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