When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
There really is no comparison. The Silverstar is a very good conventional bulb. The Zenarc is a specially designed High Intensity Discharge (aka Arc Light) system which puts out about 3 times the light using less electricity. The manufacturer has also designed the optics to properly control that greater light. It will last much longer since there is no filament. On the other hand, Zenarcs will cost you about 20 times what the Silverstar bulbs will cost. Not sure that can ever be apples to apples!
jessfactor: Now was this going from the factory lights or from a
previous atempt at better lighting? And has anyone been able to
compare the APC plasma white bulbs with the silverstars? What
are you guys paying for silverstars?
keep me informed fte guys turbo ted
When I first bought my Expy a few years ago, I was really disappointed in the light output, in fact I nearly ran off a "backroad" one time at about 5 mph because of the poor lighting. Hence, I hit the net to find better bulbs. I wound up getting some of the HID wannabes off Ebay for like $20/pr. These were supposed to discharge light waves the color of the sun, blah, blah, blah....They turned out to be some of those Chinese junk bulbs with a blue coating. While the light output was better than factory, it still wasn't to my liking (and I hated the cheesy blue light look). I thought about the Sylvania HID light conversion, but just couldn't force myself to spend $600. Recently went on a quest to find better replacements. I narrowed my choices down to the Silverstars and the PIAA's (I put a set of PIAA fogs down in my air dam a while back and can't believe the output from such small lights). With cost being a major determining factor, I opted for a set of Silverstars (the PIAA's are around $70/ea) and like the light output and the color is much more natural. I paid around $20/bulb.
Wow, $445. I bought mine aprroximately 2 years ago (if I remember correctly). I paid a ton more than that. I have the Xenarc for the head lights. I have the silverstar for the auxillary lights. I didn't feel like buying the auxillary Xenarc's ($$). The silverstar looks yellow in comparison to the Xenarc. But like MrBSS said, you can't really compare the two. I absolutely love my Xenarc's, wouldn't trade them for anything, incredible difference in lighting. I will tell you guys this though, after about 4 months of owning the Xenarc's I had my high beams on one night and my head lights went black. I was coming home from vacation in Florida and I was in West Virginia up in the mountains doing 65 MPH. Needless to say I had to change my undies. Turns out I flipped back to low beams and they came back on. I looked at them when I got home and found that a wire in the passenger high beam light grounded out against the transformer for the HID low beam. Wrapped it up with electrical tape and haven't had a problem since.
IMHO,I put the PIAA's that were advertised as 55 wats equals 100 watts in my '98 Expy. I spent $70 for the pair and even had the lights aimed on a real headlight aiming machine. Wasted my money on them.
I didn't notice any difference AT ALL. Now I use Silver Stars exclusively where ever possible on my vehicles.
I just replace the bulbs in my 03 Expy with the Silver Stars. Wow - What a difference!
The only problem that I have now is finding a suitable match for the fog lights. Has anyone else had any luck?
The manual calls for a 899 replacement. I found a Silver Star alternative in the 880 form factor. It looks like an identical form factor match, but the wattage is slightly less. Will this work?
Originally posted by smays I just replace the bulbs in my 03 Expy with the Silver Stars. Wow - What a difference!
The only problem that I have now is finding a suitable match for the fog lights. Has anyone else had any luck?
The manual calls for a 899 replacement. I found a Silver Star alternative in the 880 form factor. It looks like an identical form factor match, but the wattage is slightly less. Will this work?
Im wondering the EXACT same thing.....the fog lights in my 00 Nav. are also 899. Anybody?
According to Sylvania'a website the silverstar replacement for our foglights should be out soon. My suggestion would be to wait for the exact replacement as the upgrade in performance would be uniform.
I Dont Even Remember What Bulbs My People Put In My 04 Expy....i Gave Them Simple Instructions....my Whip Is Tru Blu....so I Said ...make Her Look Like A Pretty Blu Eyed Girl ....they Did ...output Coloria A Bluish White..but In The Daytime With The Lights Off...the Bulbs Reflect Off The Housing....making My Truck Look Like She Has Blu Eyes...pix Soon...