Hey folks!

I installed some nice, bright new headlights into my Element last night. The installation proceedure was a cakewalk (I didn't take install photos, but maybe I will tonight), and after an initially tepid reaction, I've decided that, yes, I do indeed love them.

I replaced the Honda factory bulbs with Sylvania Silverstars (http://www.sylvania.com/auto/silverstar.htm), size 9003 ST. The wattages line up with the Element's specs perfectly, and they were a fair bit cheaper than a set from PIAA. (Silverstars cost $50 - $10 rebate (http://www.sylvania.com/auto/pdfs/coupon.pdf) for the pair) To install, you just open up the hood, pull out the cable, take off the rubber weather seal, release the metal wire holding the bulb in, replace, and put everything back. It's as easy as... well, changing a lightbulb! The passenger side headlight has a bit more room to work, so I recommend you tackle that one first to get the proceedure down. It took about 10 minutes total, and 2 minutes of that time was trying to figure out how exactly to get the intake tip off so I could actually get to the driver's side bulb. (You just push straight down, and it comes right off)

Now I'll admit that I actually got the new lights more for looks than functionallity. No one's going to mistake them for HIDs, but I do like the look of the white lights in the acura's and civics I see driving around with them. When I first switched them on, I was actually a little bit disappointed. They definitely were whiter, and did look good, but the difference wasn't earth-shattering. I even considered taking them back to the store! (See the photo below... taken at f2.3, 1/400. The color difference is pretty accurate.) However, I did decide to spin it 'round the block a bit to see how they performed.

Holy cow! With the OEM Honda bulbs, I was carrying around a flashlight in front of my car. With the Silverstars, I was carrying a little puddle o' daylight. I don't know I'm just overly sensitive to yellow light, but the 4000K white is really purty to my eyes. I definitely felt that the clarity of the picture in front of me was much enhanced. Mind, the Silverstars aren't any brighter (again, see the photo), but they definitely provide better clarity and resolution, at least to my eyes. Overall, I'd say I'm very satisfied with the purchase, and I recommend them to anyone who wants to see better at night... and look just a little bit cooler. :cool:

Headlight comparison (split)
http://www.aykew.com/elementbg/silverstar-split.jpg

Headlight comparison (side by side)
http://www.aykew.com/elementbg/silverstar-sbs.jpg

Hard to tell from the pics, but I did the same to my old car and yes it does make a vast difference, especially on dark roads. Thanks for the info (and reminding me to do this to my new E!)
:twisted:

If anyone is interested, I went to the Sylvania website and saw that they are offering a $10 rebate on 2 SilverStars, and free shipping. They are selling them for $27.49 each. I am really considering getting them myself if they help. 8)

Is there a PIAA bulb to fit the "E"? I did not see a 9003 ST on their website.

Iskie

I was just wondering if anyone knows if it's possible to add true HID Xenon headlights to the E? If so where would I start looking?

Thanks,
NyArtist26

I purchased them from pepboys in a dual back for forty bucks.. good deals.... They work great...

You can buy Sylvania SilverStars at Wal-Mart for less than $40...I think it's $37. That's Cheap!! No rebates, sales or coupons...just $37...they also sell the SilverStar fog light bulbs...so you can match the lighting from your fog lights with your head lights.

Look here...

http://www.elementownersclub.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6635

Just want to share my past experience with Sylvania SilverStar bulbs on my previous car. It works wonder in the dark, clear night. But as soon as the pavement is wet or coated with ice, these bulbs' performance diminish greatly. There are too much glares. I barely could see the road. I exchanged them with a pair of Wagner BriteLite. The visibility in the inclement weather was much improved. BriteLite is a tiny bit yellowish but not as much as the OEM. Its brightness is almost equal to Silverstar. Let us know how they perform in the inclement weather with the relatively short beam thrown by Element head lights.

Yeah, bluish lights are trendy at the moment, but they really put out too much light at the wrong end of the spectrum. The truth is that the best lights are going to be white, or as close to white as possible. Yellowish lights (incandescent/halogen lights with insufficient voltage) can cause certain types of objects at night to be harder to see, but bluish lights are heavy in the "glare" department and cause excessive eye fatigue.

If your regular halogen lights are yellow in color, then you don't have enough supply voltage to the bulb... your battery is low, maybe your battery cables are going bad, etc... could even be a wiring problem to the lights. But getting blue-tinted bulbs is not going to fix it really, just change the problem to a different one.

FWIW you can certainly find a way to put legit HID lights in an Element (although who knows why other than just flat-out appearance and bragging rights). It would be very expensive and a big project. We're not talking a bulb swap here. The biggest advantage to HID, other than the fact that the "bulb" does not burn out and it's a consistent color regardless of battery charge state, is the amount of light output per unit of power consumption is higher than a regular halogen light. So in other words, it puts out more light per watt of power. However, this is only really a concern when you are somehow limited on power. So for bicycle lighting, this is a big deal since you have to carry around a heavy battery and you don't have a way of charging it while rolling. But in a car? Power availability is rarely a problem, at least not that of the scale that you improve with HID lighting over halogen.

I put PIAAs in my E and they look great. They came in a few colors of which I could not use as they are illegal here in Hawaii - so I opted for white. They cost around $70 but were worth it.

I changed my stock bulbs on my RSX-S to Sylvania Sylverstars and after a week one blew...so I called them, send them the burnt bulb along with the other one and within a week I got another set, now these wher H1's so the one's for the E may last longer....so anyone want some H1's cheap for your second car, I have decided not toinstall these and are still in the sealed container they came in....PM me or e.mail me..