• Automotive Lighting
• Halogen Bulb
• LED Bulb

• DO HEADLIGHTS DIM OVER TIME?

  • Over time things wear down - tires, brakes and headlights too. It’s important to replace your headlight bulbs as a regular part of your regular maintenance before they go dim. As headlight experts, they know that your car's headlight bulbs can lose up to 50 feet of visibility before burnout.

  HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT HEADLIGHT BULBS CAN LOSE UP TO 50 FEET OF VISIBILITY BEFORE BURNOUT?

  • Actual bulb testing using a Goniometer to measure beam patterns, using multiple bulb types and headlamp designs, confirms there is a decrease of downroad distance visibility by up to 50 feet before burnout.

  SHOULD I REPLACE MY HEADLIGHTS IN PAIRS?

  • Company always suggest replacing headlights in pairs, because it's a really good idea for a couple of reasons. Typically, headlight bulbs are the same age, so when it's time to replace one, its time to replace both. Headlights can dim up to 20-30% over time, so if you replace only one bulb, you're likely to end up with one bright headlight and one dimmer one which can really impact your downroad visibility and your field of view while driving.

  HOW OFTEN SHOULD I REPLACE MY HEADLIGHTS?

  • Headlight bulbs wear down over time, just as your tires, wipers and brakes do too. Replacement should be part of your regular vehicle maintenance routine to ensure maximum visibility on the road during the darkest months of the year.

  HOW DO I AIM MY HEADLIGHTS PROPERLY?

  • Properly aimed headlights provide optimal visibility and eliminate dangerous glare for other drivers on the road.

  HOW DO I KNOW WHICH BULB MY VEHICLE WILL TAKE?

  • Their Lamp Replacement Guide is a great place to start! Company receive the information for our Lamp Replacement Guide straight from vehicle manufacturers. They always suggest consulting your vehicle's owner manual and checking the bulb currently installed before installing a new bulb.

  I AM LOOKING FOR THE BEST HEADLIGHT BULB FOR MY CAR. WHICH LIGHT IS BEST?

  • They recommend SYLVANIA SilverStar® Ultra halogen bulbs, offering a whiter light for more clarity and the most downroad visibility, when compared to SYLVANIA Basic.

  WHY DOES THE BULB SUGGESTED BY YOUR BULB REPLACEMENT GUIDE MATCH WHAT'S IN MY VEHICLE?

  • Sometimes vehicle manufacturers make parts changes in the middle of production. Unfortunately, those changes are not always made available to us. They always suggest consulting your vehicle's owner manual or checking the bulb that is currently installed to verify part numbers.

  WHAT DOES CLARITY STAND FOR?

  • SYLVANIA defines clarity as the combination of downroad, sideroad, and white light. Increased clarity is achieved from brighter downroad, greater sideroad, and whiter light, and can improve contrast and object visibility such as street signs and road hazards.

  
  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\* Whiter light can improve contrast and object visibility such as street signs and road hazards. It can also help with peripheral visibility. More information on the study of headlights can be found here. These are reports created by the Light Research Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

  WHAT DOES RATED LIFE MEAN?

  • OSRAM Sylvania performs extensive laboratory testing on all the bulb types they manufacture. The bulbs are tested in a controlled environment to SAE and USCAR testing standards. Rated life is the expected minimum average life as determined by large scale lab testing over long production periods. Individual lifetimes may vary based on application, ambient conditions, vehicle voltage, and vehicle usage.

  
  

  • An average driver will use their low beam headlights 100 hours per year. The value can be found here, a report created by University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute.

  WHAT DOES BRIGHTNESS MEAN?

  • Brighter bulbs are designed for better downroad and sideroad performance.

• WHAT IS HALOGEN TECHNOLOGY?

  • A halogen lamp is a high pressure capsule utilizing halogen gas to improve life and performance. It is typically used for forward lighting applications.

  
  

  • How it works? -The halogen bulbs tungsten filament is heated up to the point that the tungsten actually evaporates and the tungsten molecules then cling to the halogen molecule. When lit, the halogen bulb actually burns brighter than the incandescent bulb. Once the halogen bulb is turned off, the filament cools and the tungsten molecules return to it. The halogen inside the capsule helps to increase the filament’s lifespan.

  WHAT'S THE LUMEN AND COLOR TEMPERATURE OF YOUR BULBS?

  • OSRAM Sylvania designs their lamps to operate within tolerances defined by the NHTSA specification for each product type. They use a series of tests to ensure they are providing federally compliant product of the highest quality. Distance and lumen performance are dependent on the design of the headlamp, electrical system of the vehicle, and condition of the optic. The OEM car makers and their tier one suppliers design the optics of the headlamp which heavily contribute to the performance of the lamp. While they cannot provide performance specifications for each product type they offer under a particular bulb type (i.e. – H11, 9006, 9145, etc.), their high performance products (i.e.- SilverStar Ultra, SilverStar zXe, etc.) tend to be the higher range of the allowable tolerances.

  WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE DIFFERENT SYLVANIA HEADLIGHT BRANDS?

  • They offer a wide variety of products to satisfy customer needs for brightness, whiteness, clarity and budget.

  IF I USE YOUR SILVERSTAR BULBS, WILL I BLIND OTHER DRIVER'S ON THE ROAD?

  • They are drivers too, and certainly agree these types of bulbs are bothersome and distracting. Sylvania's products should not cause any glare issues when installed correctly. All of their bulbs are designed to operate within the same tolerances that are expected from the NHTSA specification for each bulb. They actively work with NHTSA to craft regulations that prevent unsafe lighting set ups and to identify non-compliant bulbs or set ups. All of their products meet or exceed Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 108 standards for safe, legal, on-road operation and should not be bothersome to oncoming traffic unless they are improperly installed or incorrectly aimed.

  WHAT ARE THE BENEFIT OF A WHITER LIGHT IN A HEADLIGHT BULB?

  • Whiter light boosts contrast which enhances reflectivity of street marketing and road signs while improving visibility of objects in and along the road.

  WHY DO MY SILVERSTAR BULBS SEEM TO HAVE A SHORTER LIFESPAN THAN STANDARD BULBS?

  • Your vehicle's electrical system is designed for a fixed power draw, so by design, they cannot draw more power out of the vehicle. As the global leader in Automotive Lighting, SYLVANIA has developed state-of-the-art components that deliver a higher performance without drawing additional power from the vehicle. This performance increase comes at the expense of a shorter lifetime when compared to OEM basic bulbs.

  WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BULB LIFE VS. PERFORMANCE

  • It's important to understand that with any high performance product, there are trade offs. In the case of bulbs, a brighter product will result in a shorter overall life. They are constantly innovating to ensure even their highest performing bulbs have an impressive lifespan. By using a premium Xenon gas mixture and filling to a higher pressure - they extend the life of their higher performing bulbs. By applying their proprietary blue coating, every SilverStar Ultra filters out some light waves to create a whiter light and provides more clarity to improve contrast and object visibility. The bulb is then laser ablated to allow more light down the road.

  
  

  • While their BASIC bulbs are economical and long-lasting - it's their high-performance bulbs that are brighter and whiter, allowing for farther down the road visibility and create better contrast for whatever is in front of you.

• WHY DO SOME OF YOUR LED BULBS SAY "FOR OFF-ROAD USE ONLY"?

  • Some LED miniature and auxiliary light bulb products are marked as “off-road use only” because they have not been tested in all vehicle applications. This does not mean the bulb will under-perform. In many instances, it will out-perform a traditional incandescent bulb. They cannot, however, guarantee some LED bulbs that are marked "off-road use only" will meet regulations in all applications.

  ARE YOUR LED BULBS WATERPROOF?

  • Their LED's are not rated for submersion in water - learn more about Sylvania ZEVO LEDs

  WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN YOUR SYLVANIA LEDS AND ZEVO® LEDS?

  • SYLVANIA LEDs are manufactured with bright, long-lasting SMD LEDs and come with a 12 month warranty from the date of purchase. ZEVO® LEDs offer brighter, sharper light that can improve performance for interior and exterior applications. ZEVO LEDs are a universal fit, with no polarity restrictions. Some LED bulbs (like SYLVANIA LEDs) need to be inserted only one way into a socket. ZEVO LEDs are compatible either way. Plus, ZEVO LEDs have a Limited Lifetime Warranty (warranty registration required).

  WHAT COLOR LED BULB SHOULD I INSTALL IN MY VEHICLE?

  • The color spectrum of an incandescent bulb is different than color spectrum of a white LED. This impacts the color LED you should purchase, but the easy general rule is that the bulb should match the color of the lens that covers the bulb.

  
  

  • Clear Lens: Depending on the application, either a white or an amber bulb can be used behind a clear lens.

  
  

  • Red Lens: Always choose a red LED bulb behind a red lens. If you place a white LED behind a red tail/brake lens, there will be too much orange/yellow and the light will appear pink/orange.

  
  

  • Amber Lens: Always choose an amber LED bulb behind an amber lens. If you place a white LED behind an amber lens, the light will appear greenish.

  ARE THEIR LED BULBS ERROR PROOF?

  • They offer LED replacement bulbs for most automotive applications, including interior lights, license plate, directionals, brake lights and fog lights. Occasionally, replacing traditional incandescent bulbs with advanced technology LED bulbs can trigger dashboard warning lights or unexpected hyperflash. These can usually be corrected quickly and easily with the addition of a load equalizer or flasher module.

  I INSTALLED YOUR LED BULBS FOR MY TURN SIGNAL, BUT THE LIGHT IS STILL FLASHING.

  • Some vehicle computers are programmed to "look" for a standard incandescent bulb, by sending out a low voltage pulse. It's not enough current to light the bulb, but it is enough to tell the computer a bulb is installed. When you install a LED bulb, the low voltage pulse can sometimes be strong enough to trigger the bulb to blink. Installing a SYLVANIA Load Equalizer will usually resolve this issue.

  I INSTALLED YOUR LED BULBS IN MY VEHICLE, BUT NOW THERE IS A WARNING MESSAGE ON MY DASHBOARD. ARE THEY INSTALLED INCORRECTLY?

  • Some vehicle computers are programmed to "look" for a standard, incandescent bulb. When you install a LED bulb, the computer thinks that no bulb is present and triggers the dashboard warning light. Installing a SYLVANIA Load Equalizer will usually resolve this issue.

  HOW DO I INSTALL YOUR SYLVANIA LOAD EQUALIZER?

  • Installing a SYLVANIA Load Equalizer is easy and straightforward. It clamps right on to the existing wiring. There is no need to cut or splice wires.

  I INSTALLED YOUR LED BULBS IN MY VEHICLE. WHY DO THEY STAY DIMLY LIT AFTER THE CAR IS SWITCHED OFF?

  • First, this will not cause damage to the LED bulb or your vehicle. Second, a SYLVANIA Load Equalizer will usually prevent this from happening. Many modern vehicles use "electronic" switches instead of mechanical contact switches. Electronic switches often "leak" a tiny amount of electrical current that passes through the LED bulb and causes it to glow, even when it's off. The amount of current is so tiny that it cannot cause an incandescent bulb to glow when the car is off.

  I INSTALLED YOUR LED BULBS IN MY BRAKE/TAIL LIGHT AND NOW EITHER ONLY THE BRAKE LIGHT WORKS OR ONLY THE TAIL LIGHT WORKS.

  • Some vehicles have a different type of bulb socket design called a "CK Socket", which can cause cause some LEDs to behave this way. SYLVANIA ZEVO LEDs are engineered to work with this style of socket.

  WHY DO SOME OF YOUR LED BULBS HAVE MULTIPLE PART NUMBERS LISTED?

  • Incandescent lamps originally installed in OEM light fixtures have standardized bases and these bases are shared among different lamp types and numbers. These lamp bases are designed with standardized electrical connections to make sure they are compatible with the mating connectors in the fixtures. The various incandescent lamp numbers may share a common base but could have differences of rated life, output, color, etc. “Also fits” means the LED lamp should fit and operate within the intended light fixture.

  DO YOU SELL LED LOW BEAM REPLACEMENT BULBS

  • LEDs that are currently being sold for low beam applications are not designed to be used in headlight assemblies built specifically for traditional light technology (such as HID or halogen bulbs). Light emits very differently from an LED, compared to a halogen bulb, and because this is often not accounted for in the design of unregulated LEDs, there tends to be a mismatch between the replacement bulb and the reflector of the headlight assembly. This mismatch casts a powerful glare that can be blinding to oncoming drivers. They encourage everyone to replace bulbs with compliant, DOT-approved, SYLVANIA headlight bulbs, for optimal visibility.