Bob D Posted December 7, 2004 Report Share Posted December 7, 2004 [Hey Bob, Yes, the Silverstars are a good light upgrade to make. As you know Cameron Park drive has gotten very busy. I drive on it often at night and I have not had any problem with oncoming drivers flashing me, indicating they are not being blinded by my lights. When I need to use the high beams there is a definite improvement in distance and brighter color. Easy to recommend this to others who would like to improve their vision at night. -George You can take it one step further, and REALLY light up our dark country roads. I don’t know if any of you read this some time back, but I’ll cut and paste from some posts I authored on this subject, and see if it's an attractive idea for any of you with pre-projection lights. It’s using high beam bulbs in all four sockets ,and then installing a relay to light them all up at once. The kit is made by 'KC Hilites', 'Quad Beam' part#6314. You can get it at any good aftermarket performance or 4WD store locally, or on the internet for around twenty bucks. The kit includes everything you'll need including instructions and a pictorial and takes about 10 minutes. Keep in mind this application may not work on 1999 and newer models that use a negatively switched headlight systems. The result is a vast improvement IMO, especially out in the country where I live. You not only get your (high beam) long distance lighting, but retain the shorter distance broader lighting pattern. For some reason that escapes me, most auto manufactures chose cancel the low beams when the highs are on, a few years back now. The result is a dark area immediately in front of you at all times with the high beams on. To see the difference, (or what it would be like with this relay installed), drive at night down a dark road with only the low beams on. Gently pull the high beam actuator towards you without 'clicking' the switch. You will have all four lights on in this temporary mode. Hold it for a bit, then continue to engage the high beams with a click. The amount of lost lighting as a result is remarkable... I recently made the conversion on my '93 STS to all 4 Silverstar #9005 65 watt high beam bulbs. (That's replacing the standard #9006 55w low beam, and standard #9005 65w high beam.) The modification is simple, and changes only the bulb base, not the socket, so no harm is done in any case. The result is very clear bright white light, which of course when aimed properly does not bother oncoming drivers. I replaced them in early January '04, so we'll see how long they last. ** To date I've had no problems with overheating sockets or lens areas. I've not had one flash from an unhappy oncoming driver either, (on low beam). I've had friends in front of me at night on cell phones, and asked if my light behind them was a nuisance. "Not at all", "but they do appear to be very white". I got the same reply when I drove at them. The overall improvement is really valuable, especially on these dark country roads in the winter. '93 STS.. opened, dropped, wide...fast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAB Posted December 7, 2004 Report Share Posted December 7, 2004 I installed the 880 Silverstar bulbs on my 2001 STS back in Feb/2004. I have the HID headlamps and wanted the fogs to look closer to the color of the HID lamps. The stock fog lights look yellow when they are on with the HID lamps. Anyways, the ST bulbs did give the fogs a better match to the HID lamps. The only problem is that the ST bulbs only lasted 4 months! I called Sylvania and they said these bulbs do not last as long as regular Halogens. I do run my fogs during the day with the Daytime running lamps when it is cloudy out. I like the look! I know I shouldn't, but the Caddy looks good that way and stands out from the crowd! Sylvania told me that they won't last long if you run them all of the time! I mentioned that most GM products use Daytime running lamps, and that they are on all of the time during the day. My STS uses the High Beam at a reduced wattage during the day, and my Envoy uses the low beam for it's DRL. Sylvania recommended not to use the Silverstars for DRL due to it's short life span. So I took the ST bulbs back to Advance Auto and they gave me another set. I now use the fogs only at night when needed. So far... so good, still working. I put Phillips Vision Plus bulbs on my Envoy which gives a whiter light wthout the blue tint on the bulb and it projects the light 20 - 40 percent further down the road. I will see if the Phillips have the same longevity issues as the ST's since the lows on the Envoy are DRL. You can go to the Sylvania Website and they have a chart that shows the life expectancy of all of their bulbs along with the color temp of each. You will notice that the ST have almost half the life of their regular Halogen bulbs.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
67coupedeville Posted December 7, 2004 Report Share Posted December 7, 2004 Here's what I have found for those DUMB fog light numbers: 893 = 880, 884, 885, 890, 899 894 = 881, 886, 889, 898, 898 The 894's all have the 90 degree bend in them, the 893's do not. Spence Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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