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PIAA SuperWhites; Myths Debunked (archive)
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Posted by Bart B. on December 26, 2000 at 06:43:01:

In Reply to: Re: Xenon HID retrofit kit (i.e. brighter head lig posted by Ann on December 24, 2000 at 21:41:32:

Those PIAA super whites are a great example of marketing hype. They put out the same amount of light as a Sylvania 6005 bulb (about 1700 lumens spherically measured) costing 7 bucks. They have to in order to be DOT legal and so marked.

What PIAA does is make the filaments shorter and fatter so more light goes in the middle of the beam. But the only way this can happen is to remove light from the edges of the beam. So, the compromise is made by taking light away from the sides of the road and putting down the middle.

Having tried a borrowed pair of these PIAA bulbs and them to a pair of new Sylvania ones, I decided the PIAA bulbs were a ripoff. I couldn't see for miles with the PIAA bulbs. They only about doubled the light in the bright beam center; a distance gain of about 40%. And the road edge lighting was noticeably reduced. To say nothing of the increased glare those superwhites have in mist and fog.

Check out this web site on automotive lighting:

http://lighting.mbz.org/tech/info/

Drive smart. . . .


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