Cutting through the dark
SYLVANIA, Hella offer products designed to light the way
Your car's headlight bulbs are something you may not pay a whole lot of attention to. Many drivers traveling at night are content with whatever lighting setup they happen to be sitting behind- and without a reference point often don't realize they could experience improved visibility and safety with a better set of bulbs.
Anyone who has ever driven a twisty highway after dark knows the importance of a decent lighting setup, especially in the spring and summertime when wild animals frequently cross the roadway at random. Personally, I drive the stretch between Sudbury and Toronto once a week and rarely one goes by when I don't have to suddenly brake and swerve to avoid some sort of wildlife. Imagine your headlights are dim, out of aim, or at worst even burned out- you could be in serious trouble.
Drivers need to have the absolute best lighting possible to guide them through hazardous nighttime driving, and many products are available to help them see better in the dark. Hella and SYLVANIA are both well-recognized names in the performance automotive lighting market, so I recently put some of their products to the test in everyday vehicles.
Original factory-spec bulbs were evaluated, then replaced with bulbs from Hella or SYLVANIA. After professionally aiming the bulbs and analyzing their performance based upon some pre-defined parameters, the results proved remarkable.
OEM bulbs tended to show similar weaknesses in the same areas. Their light output was yellowed and dim. It was also generally patchy, with dark spots appearing throughout the beam pattern.
Improvements were marked after installing performance bulbs. I set up Holly D'Antonio with a set of SYLVANIA SilverStar performance bulbs on her 1993 Honda Civic. The SilverStar line of bulbs is available for most applications- including fog lamps and even signal bulbs.
Installation of the new headlight bulbs took about 4 minutes. Most noticeable initially was the amount of light directed out to the sides of the car and into the woods- great news if you live in an area with a high wildlife population where hiding Bambi's or Bullwinkles may not look both ways before crossing the street.
SYLVANIA, Hella offer products designed to light the way
Your car's headlight bulbs are something you may not pay a whole lot of attention to. Many drivers traveling at night are content with whatever lighting setup they happen to be sitting behind- and without a reference point often don't realize they could experience improved visibility and safety with a better set of bulbs.
 |
Anyone who has ever driven a twisty highway after dark knows the importance of a decent lighting setup, especially in the spring and summertime when wild animals frequently cross the roadway at random. Personally, I drive the stretch between Sudbury and Toronto once a week and rarely one goes by when I don't have to suddenly brake and swerve to avoid some sort of wildlife. Imagine your headlights are dim, out of aim, or at worst even burned out- you could be in serious trouble.
Drivers need to have the absolute best lighting possible to guide them through hazardous nighttime driving, and many products are available to help them see better in the dark. Hella and SYLVANIA are both well-recognized names in the performance automotive lighting market, so I recently put some of their products to the test in everyday vehicles.
Original factory-spec bulbs were evaluated, then replaced with bulbs from Hella or SYLVANIA. After professionally aiming the bulbs and analyzing their performance based upon some pre-defined parameters, the results proved remarkable.
OEM bulbs tended to show similar weaknesses in the same areas. Their light output was yellowed and dim. It was also generally patchy, with dark spots appearing throughout the beam pattern.
Improvements were marked after installing performance bulbs. I set up Holly D'Antonio with a set of SYLVANIA SilverStar performance bulbs on her 1993 Honda Civic. The SilverStar line of bulbs is available for most applications- including fog lamps and even signal bulbs.
Installation of the new headlight bulbs took about 4 minutes. Most noticeable initially was the amount of light directed out to the sides of the car and into the woods- great news if you live in an area with a high wildlife population where hiding Bambi's or Bullwinkles may not look both ways before crossing the street.
 |
| Honda Civic (After) |