Lf:Advice on replacement bulb for 98 OBW

[Patrick]

Hi, Im not satisfied by the OEM light on my 98 Legacy Outback wagon finding
them too dark even with the foglight on . The headlight are still really
clear and clean ( not yellowish)

Anyone had success replacing them with higher wattage using OEM headlight
and harness
what is the original wattage at the moment ?

Also im thinking about putting the Fog light on a different wiring so i
could use the High beam and have the fog light on if need . Has anyone
done that ?

thanks a lot

Pat

 

[jabario]

Sylvania silverstars will let you see better than you could have
imagined

 

[BobN]

Sylvania silverstars will let you see better than you could have
imagined

Bullxxxx. I tried Sylvania Silverstar bulbs in my 98 OBW and they offered no
improvement in lighting amount or quality over the OEMs. I know this
because I replaced the first one singly and could compare the new bulb to
the old one. They are a simply a waste of money. Best bet is to get an
ordinary, clear, halogen bulb with no tint or colored covering. All the
tint does is rob you of light energy that should be going out onto the road.

I definitely would NOT consider putting a high wattage bulb in the standard
headlights. In order to get more useful light on the high beams, I just
installed a set of Hella FF50s, one on either side of the license plate.
Even with 55W bulbs they provided a massive improvement. One thing I
noticed in doing the work was how thin the standard headlight wires are -
look like 18 ga. or less. Now I understand the many stories in the archive
about how overdriven bulbs have caused fires or wiring harness meltdowns.

In fact, I am considering switching to power the headlights from the battery
with a relay, as I wonder if the stock wiring is not producing enough
voltage to light them correctly. Time to buy a multimeter, I guess.

 

[TG]

The stock harness won't even let the standard bulbs glow to their full
potential so higher wattage bulbs make no difference.... the older your car
gets the more you will notice this. Use the stock harness to activate a
relay to power a home made high amp harness. TG

 

[y_p_w]

Bullxxxx. I tried Sylvania Silverstar bulbs in my 98 OBW and they
offered no improvement in lighting amount or quality over the OEMs.
I know this because I replaced the first one singly and could compare
the new bulb to the old one. They are a simply a waste of money.
Best bet is to get an ordinary, clear, halogen bulb with no tint or
colored covering. All the tint does is rob you of light energy that
should be going out onto the road.

I personally don't think anything with a blue tint is a good idea,
especially with smaller bulbs. I recall reading a posted answer
from Sylvania tech support stating that Silverstar life would be
shorter in part due to the blue tint trapping a certain amount of
heat and thus decreasing the filiment life.

<http://www.miata.net/products/lights/sylvania.html>

I believe the OP is posting from Canada (from the headers and email
addy). Compared to the US, he should be able to find a similar
selection of bulbs in Quebec where I believe he's posting from.

The '98 Outback calls for a 9003 high/low beam combination bulb.
I'm wondering why they picked this bulb, since they don't have a
terribly long life and they don't even put out as much light as
a 9006/9005 combo. Here's Sylvania's nominal output in lumens for
their various low-beams:

9004: 700 +/- 15%
9003: 910 +/- 10%
9006: 1000 +/- 15%
9007: 1000 +/- 15%
H7: 1350 +/- 12%
H1: 1410 +/- 210 lumens

XtraVision might be the place to start. They should be reasonably
priced - especially if you can find them sold as pairs at a local
Wal-Mart. They seem to have a pretty short rated life in their
9003 version.

The new GE Nighthawk bulbs are supposedly really high output
bulbs with clear glass. There's little information on them (GE's
website has virtually no consumer info about automotive lighting
except for press releases). They might be available in 9003.

In fact, I am considering switching to power the headlights from
the battery with a relay, as I wonder if the stock wiring is not
producing enough voltage to light them correctly. Time to buy a
multimeter, I guess.

Good luck. Be careful. I hear that melted wires can be a PITA to
clean up. ;-)