Look at this link. MORE testing confirms what I've said before and was criticized for!! They are all crap.<ul><li><a href="http://www.overboost.com/story.asp?id=102">Not-so-superwhite testing</a></li></ul>

nt

I will be contacting PIAA USA about this. I have PIAA Superwhite H4s on my truck and if they do not perform as advertised, I want them to do something about it. To tell you the truth, I went from crappy DOT-spec 9004s (I think) to Hella H4s, so I guess after seeing so much improvement, I was fooled. I thought the Superwhites helped, but I am a firm believer in scientific testing. It appears that they are slightly worse than the regular bulbs, although I did notice that they did not fully test E-code lighting.

TM
99.5 A4 Avant 1.8TQMS
87 Nissan PF

These are German-made, and the light output appears to be considerably higher the the H7/H1/H7 Bosch bulbs which were shipped with my E-code headlamps. The 'Superblue' name has nothing to do with the color of the light emitted, of course. It is whiter than stock and perhaps this provides the perceived difference.
I'm sure you know that Hella and Philips also produce bulbs of this type: Do they seem like fly-by-night ripoff artists?

Jahns have slightly blue tinted glass, and are 55W. If you tint, you will get less light through, I think we can agree on this. So unless xenon filled bulbs can generate significantly more light than other halogens, it probably produces less light overall - even if the color of the light is preferred.

I think the jury is still out on Superwhites and the like.

"We actually thought our $4,000 Civic's headlights performed quite admirably when compared next to the $50,000 example of German E-code engineering. Or perhaps our sensibilities are dulled, because a 14% gain in lighting power is quite significant."

What the hell is that bullsh#t? Now because an M3's headlights "ONLY" beat their civic's headlights by 14% they're doubting the worth and engineering of German cars? That's a load of garbage. It costs $50k not because of it's headlights, my friends. It costs $50k because it's one of the "ultimate driving machines" this planet has to offer. I'm so sorry if the fact that it only beats your civic's headlights by 14% that it's a waste of money, god forbid you realize that it destroys your civic in the aspects of performance and handling. That really pisses me off when they compare such trivial things and then have the nerve to question the value of their car because it's headlights only beat a $4,000 car's headlights by 14%. How ignorant can you be? Does anyone else feel this way?

Pissed off about misinformed journalists.

Marcus Frost
99.5 1.8TQM

Hi guys,
Very interesting discussion you're all having. I'm sorry, but I'm not acquainted with anyone on this Forum, but I would be very interested in seeing what happens if "TM" contacts PIAA to review my article, and their headlamp performance. I want my information to be challenged.

Follow the link for a discussion on the "SuperWhite" bulbs. There's also excellent info on European (E-code) headlights.

Andy Hedin<ul><li><a href="http://lighting.mbz.org/tech/info/superwhites/">"Superwhite" bulb info on Stern Lighting website</a></li></ul>

Scott,
I'm going to contact PIAA USA on Monday. I'm glad you're on the forum, because I wanted to ask you if it would be okay to reference your webpage. It appears that this is not a problem, so I will go ahead and contact PIAA.

I just didn't want to land anyone in hot water for my comments. It would suck to see a friendly source get sued or whatever just because he/she challenged a company's claims. If Superwhites do not live up to their billing (as it seems), I want PIAA to stand behind their product and either ship me an improved product or compensate me somehow. I'm not looking to make any money or real gain here, but I feel that if I shell out $70 for some fancy bulbs, they better work significantly better than $10 Hella bulbs of the same wattage, according to PIAA's claims.

If you like, please email me directly and we can take this off-line.

Regards,
TM
99.5 A4 Avant 1.8TQMS (non-Superwhite H7s)
Nissan Pathfinder (H4 Superwhites)