Crazychopstick

I can't seem to find a set of GE Nighthawks locally anywhere. All of the automotive stores are Sylvania carriers only. Ace's didn't have them, and Wal-MArt stopped carrying them.

In fact, the representative I spoke with at Wal-Mart stated that they had recalled all their current Nighthawks and will not be stocking them in the future.

So...is there a site where I can order the Nighthawks from or is there a reasoning behind this so called "recall?"

mikes19984x4

are you sure that your local autozone does not carry them? just askin, b/c my local autozone does carry them, along with the silverstars. if i was you, i'd just go with the silverstars, as that's what i did and it was a HUGE difference over the stock H-4 bulbs. just my 2 cents...

wordsareforplay

Buy Osrams from across the lake.

http://www.powerbulbs.com/

Crazychopstick

Positive that they don't.

I'm NOT going with Sylvania Silverstars. Less light=bad.

mikes19984x4

what do you mean by "less light"? i am positive that they were and still are a big improvement over stock, as i've had the same pair for over 1.5 years now, and they're just as bright as when i bought them...no lie! and btw, from reading up on HID kits and what-not, the best light output is produced in the 4000k-4300k range, which is exactly where the silverstars are at. so why did you say this, as now you have me thinking about these "nighthawks"...

Crazychopstick

Yeah, that's what I thought too when I saw the lights on a friend's Subaru. But a little researching yielded this: http://www.danielsternlighting.com/t...good/good.html

Sylvania Silverstars have have the "blue" tint on the bulb which makes the light "whiter" but in reality it's juts filtering out the color.

mikes19984x4

nice article that you have found there, but i still don't see why my silverstar ARE brighter and definitely produce MORE light, espescially with the high beams, than the CLEAR H-4 bulbs that i replaced. and the CLEAR H-4s i replaced were less than 1 year old, so its not like it wasn't a fair compairison. but i know that these "HID" poser H-4 bulbs that are nothing but blue glass aren't worth a crap, as i've rode i vehicles with them and said i'd never own them. so why do i see more light?

Crazychopstick

Well according to Stern, "whiter" doesn't actually mean more light.

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/t...uperwhite.html

mikes19984x4

yeah, once again, great link ya got there. i still don't quite understand, as the silverstars are built to produce in the 4000-4300k range, which all sites say is the best. but, i'm not gonna sit here and beat a dead horse or anything...haha! but did you find anywhere that they still sell these lights?

superjoe83

the reason that they are brighter is that Sylvania overdrives the filament to provide more output for the same amount of draw, that is why they have a shorter life, the coloring is just for looks, it does filter some light, the nighthawks probably use similar methods to increase output but use clear glass so you get the most output (lumens)

Crazychopstick

That last link will explain it better. Silverstars burn a lot hotter because they have to make up for the light lost through the blue filter. So in reality they're wasting more energy for the same amount of light, but just in a "white" color.

I'm still looking. Amazon has them, but I dunno...

EDIT: ^^^Superjoe. Quick on the draw.

mikes19984x4

okay, i gotcha. well, mine are still shinin bright even after 1.5 years of using them quite a bit, so i guess now the question may be when mine will have to be replaced?....

superjoe83

if you want the best h4 that uses stock wattages (55w/60w) this is your answer:

http://www.powerbulbs.com/product_detail.asp?prod=43

mikes19984x4

once again, nice link. but what makes those philips bulbs so great? and BTW, whenever you pull up that link, on the right hand side of the screen, it shows recommended products and there are some osram "night breaker" bulbs. when i checked these out, they say they are osram's most "powerful" bulb, and if you look closely, there are coated EXACTLY like my silverstars. something sounds odd here...

ErikJeanna

iTrader: (2)

I bought mine at Wal-Mart right off the shelf for $20/each. FYI, I was visiting a friend in Palmdale, CA and that's the Wal-Mart I went to because my local one didn't have them.

superjoe83

i bet that they are identical to your silverstars, but boxed OSRAM instead of Sylvania because AFAIK the Sylvania name is only used in the states

mikes19984x4

that's what i'm thinking, and as you stated, they just swap the names depending on where they are being sold at, b/c it looks the EXACT same as my silverstars. hmm, this makes me wonder if all these people saying osram silverstars are better than sylvania silverstars have been wrong the whole time...

isaac338

i was looking at sylvania bulbs at my local canadian tire just last week.

RacerX

The non-US OSRAM line ,for the most part, doesn't have the coated bulbs they just use a different gas mixture providing a different tone tot he light its less yellow and much brighter...

if you want something better check out the link for Daniel Stern lighting above and look at the available listing of H4 bulbs some of them offer a serious increase in Lumens plus a slightly whiter light via the gas used in the bulb without any bulb tinting...

There is a great chart on that site that offers multiple options and has the bulbs ratings...

casey225

Bought mine at Advance B&M, much whiter and brighter than my oem's (although they were 5 years old). Great upgrade for about $37 (they have a 2-pack which is a couple bucks cheaper than two individual bulbs).