GE NightHawk headlight bulbs (pics fixed)

jT · Post by jT » Sun Nov 18, 2007 11:06 am

I bought the GE NightHawks yesterday for $30 at Wal-Mart.. I'll be getting my $30 back today.

Disclaimers:

a) I'm not good at taking night pictures.

b) I don't know how to take a good night picture.

c1) I used the "Auto" mode on my camera for one set of photos
c2) I used the "Night" mode on my camera for one set of photos
c3) Because of these modes each set of pictures looks different

d) In the photoshoot of the GE NightHawks I had a small street light on behind me that had not been on in the stock photoshoot, this may have affected the Nighthawk shots slightly (adding more light to the scene).

e) Yes, some might be blurry, thats because I was sticking the camera out the drivers window while I was at work trying to take the same scenes. don't use the blurryness as a factor.

Here we go.. as long as I remember how I did everything and in what order, lol..

Sylvania low beam, auto mode vs Nighthawk low beam, auto mode

<<--|-->>

Sylvania low beam, night mode vs Nighthawk low beam, night mode

<<--|-->>

Sylvania high beam, auto mode vs Nighthawk high beam, auto mode

<<--|-->>

Sylvania high beam, night mode vs Nighthawk high beam, night mode

<<--|-->>

Sylvania front shots, auto and night mode

Nighthawk front shots, auto and night mode

Drivers side bulb is Sylvania low beam, high beam, front shot
Passenger side bulb Nighthawk low beam, high beam, front shot

my opinion is the light is the same from these Nighthawks and year+ old Sylvanias... definately not the wow I was expecting.. definately not worth $30

Hudson_Neon · Post by **Hudson_Neon** » Sun Nov 18, 2007 11:14 am

Silverstar's FTW. the ONLY down side i've had with them is that they're hot enough to turn the thing that hangs down, that i matched to the car, black. no big deal though. unless you color match EVERYTHING in your headlight they're the best thing shy of HIDs

jT · Post by jT » Sun Nov 18, 2007 11:24 am

yeah i tried Nighthawks because of many people saying that the silverstar's burn out real quick... like within a few months.. or dim out enough to equal a nighthawk..

Hudson_Neon · Post by **Hudson_Neon** » Sun Nov 18, 2007 11:27 am

mine are still bright as hell. this pair has been in for 3-4 months. the pair before that was in for well over a year. and i only changed cause ONE of them burned out. i keep the other around just in case. and i ALWAYS drive with my lights on. just out of habit

kevo · Post by **kevo** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 11:40 am

sadly, i cant see any of the pics

MyNeonSaysHi · Post by **MyNeonSaysHi** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 11:58 am

kevo wrote:sadly, i cant see any of the pics

Use photobucket, its better.

I have GE Nighthawks installed in my car for the past 3-4 months too and I love em.

optlo · Post by **optlo** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 12:03 pm

cant see em.

NeonOn19s · Post by **NeonOn19s** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 12:20 pm

I can't see them also... use photobucket

jT · Post by jT » Mon Nov 19, 2007 5:18 pm

somehow the pics got deleted out of my account.......... stupid ass picserver has never been the same since it got bought

ill get the pics up somewhere else and fix the images

MyNeonSaysHi · Post by **MyNeonSaysHi** » Tue Nov 20, 2007 12:26 am

Well they are only $30, what do you expect?

I know I didn't expect much. If I want bright lights I will go true HID.

juicyjay504 · Post by **juicyjay504** » Tue Nov 20, 2007 12:27 am

Nighthawks for me for 2 plus years now, best bulbs ive ever had and I had 2 sets of silverstars

jT · Post by jT » Wed Nov 21, 2007 12:25 am

there must be something wrong with my eyes or my car because i returned the nighthawks and got silverstars, i just put them in, and the light output seems even less than the sylvanias that were in

the only difference i can see is now there is a slight blue spot in the headlight housing from the tint on the bulb

i forgot to bring my cam with me tonight but ill leave them in until tomorrow and get pics for comparison

Arro · Post by **Arro** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 2:53 am

lol These over the counter "premium" bulbs are a bunch of bullshit. The only real difference is seen when you go with an H4 bulb (big, very noticable difference) or an HID kit (huge difference).

Silverstar, NightHawk, whatever. They're limited on how bright they can go, because of Federal DOT requirements.

Of the truely brighter-than-partstore bulbs, H4's are usually imported (my H4's are German Phillips bulbs, for instance), and HID's are a conversion kit (not an over-the-counter bulb) or come with some expensive cars from the factory (Mercedes, Caddillac, etc.).

jT · Post by jT » Wed Nov 21, 2007 3:08 am

yeah i was planning to do a hid conversion sometime in the future, and this was going to be a sort of holdover until then... i work at night and wanted brighter/whiter headlights and so far these SS are not standing up to what everyone claims they are.. i have a feeling they are going back also.. ill take that $40 and save it towards hid

my next pics might look a little different because i did some adjustments to my headlights... they probably still arent properly aligned but are better than what they were... ill have to properly align them one of these nights with a ruler and everything.. heh

GTS · Post by **GTS** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 11:15 am

you guys do realize that you can get the HID kits for about 70$ shipped these days... I just want to point this out.

glasswars · Post by **glasswars** » Thu Nov 22, 2007 1:11 am

GTS wrote:you guys do realize that you can get the HID kits for about 70$ shipped these days... I just want to point this out.

hid kits for that price don't come with a real wiring harness and will probably stop working after a month..

just save up for some true quality HIDs and you will be happy in the long run...

6000K 50W H1 HIDs:

jT · Post by jT » Thu Nov 22, 2007 2:21 am

youd have to try and figure out which kit is "true quality" though.. theres so many to choose from

and personally id want something that would still allow me to use halogen high beams or any high beams period

Anonymous User · Post by **Anonymous User** » Thu Nov 22, 2007 2:23 am

glasswars wrote:
GTS wrote:you guys do realize that you can get the HID kits for about 70$ shipped these days... I just want to point this out.
hid kits for that price don't come with a real wiring harness and will probably stop working after a month..

just save up for some true quality HIDs and you will be happy in the long run...

6000K 50W H1 HIDs:

I bought a kit that was basically $43 brand new, but came out to $93 b/c of the 2day select shipping the guy did. So i basically got it over night.

The cheaper kits all you have to do is tap into the power & ground on your headlights, or you can be real fancy & get the adapters they have out there.

I had 8000K HID's & went back to silverstars, & I must say its like im driving with no light on compared to the HIDs. I didnt get to see the real output because I never adjusted my headlights downwards.

MyNeonSaysHi · Post by **MyNeonSaysHi** » Thu Nov 22, 2007 11:10 am

[/quote]

Thats an awesome picture! Turning night into day!

I want HID's, but there are a bunch of BETTER mods that I will do before going that route. HIDS are on the end of my list.

Arro · Post by **Arro** » Thu Nov 22, 2007 11:12 am

I have HID's in my truck.... the "cheap" kit. My buddy installed them in the rain with a tarp and a flashlight. They've worked now for over a year. I love them!

My Neon projectors use german H4 bulbs.... not as bright as the HID's in my truck, but FAR brighter than regular over-the-counter bulbs. They don't require special wiring kits or converter boxes. If all you want is a brighter bulb, GET AN H4.

Technically, both H4's and HID's aren't legal on cars that didn't come equipped with them from the factory.... but H4's are at least similar to normal bulbs.

Post by **Canada** » Mon Nov 26, 2007 9:02 pm

Your projectors take H1 bulbs, unless you modified the housings.

Thats according to everyone who has them. Including glasswars

Andpto · Post by **Andpto** » Mon Nov 26, 2007 9:05 pm

and also we use 9007 socket not h4

Wizzard~Of~Ozz · Post by **Wizzard~Of~Ozz** » Mon Nov 26, 2007 10:18 pm

In the pics. I don't know if it's your camera, or the type of light, but the lines on the road are in focus w/ the nighthawks, but not the sylvanias... Can't explain it, just noticed it.

03sxt · Post by **03sxt** » Mon Nov 26, 2007 10:32 pm

If you don't have HID's, SilverStars are the way to go.

jT · Post by jT » Mon Nov 26, 2007 11:11 pm

Wizzard~Of~Ozz wrote:In the pics. I don't know if it's your camera, or the type of light, but the lines on the road are in focus w/ the nighthawks, but not the sylvanias... Can't explain it, just noticed it.

it was the camera.. or more so my hand holding the camera.. didnt get a steady shot..

i wasnt able to get any pics of the silverstars because the first 2 nights were rainy and then after the rain stopped it was a full moon.. so those nights werent anywhere close to being the same lighting conditions.. ive already returned the silverstars to walmart and got my $40 back..

GTS · Post by **GTS** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 5:21 pm

the 50W kits are deffinetly bright... i think they score somewhere in the high 4K in the lumens output compared to the 3200lumens for the 35W ones but I bought a set of the so called good ones a while ago and paid 150 plus shipping... then a year later I got the same kit for 66$ and both of them are exactly identical its just that the price is dropping due to oversaturation on the market... a year ago there were a few offers in the HB5 bulbs and now there are thousands... and also the technology is improving also I talked to some of those suppliers from work and they assured me that these pass just about all the tests you can think of just ask the supplier and he will show you the results... if they dont then back out of the deal...

66$ for HID is way better deal then the 40$ silverstars that will likely burn in the a year or so and in fact the silverstars dont make any more light then the regular bulbs do its just a higher Kelvin so they seem like they do...

The XtraVisions actually produce about 20% more light then the silverstars because they are the same things except they lack the stupid filter on there that reduces light output...

I am deffinetly getting a 4300K or 5000K kit for my Fog Lights for Christmas.

I will take some pictures of the ones in my Neon but from my personal observations they are brighter then the OEM ones you see out there when it comes to light brightness on the road...