headlight bulbs, where is the best place to get bulbs? Options

[garin]

i was wonder where the best place is to buy headlight bulbs for celicas. pepboys and advanced auto parts seem so expensive. i want 800k (or super white) my friend told mw about his shop teacher and how het got bulbs off of ebay that lasted for 3 days. just wanted to get an idea. on ebay they're like under $20 for 2 sets (1 high and 1 low beam) in stores it's like $50 for a single set. also on ebay the sets of 4 are like 500k not 800k.

thanks

[Galcobar]

Colour is measured by temperature, on the Calvin scale. 3200K is the typical colour of a standard halogen bulb, 4000K the colour of a blue-tinted bulb such as the true crap you get on Ebay, the less crappy Philips BlueVision or the expensive Sylvania Silverstars. And here's a trick -- full sunlight is a lot brighter than an overcast day, but has a lower colour temperature. It's like saying Metallica is louder than Bach because of the type of music, when how loud the music plays is determined by the volume knog -- entirely separate issues.

Here's a reality check: tinting a bulb makes it dimmer. Blue tints to not make it brighter. A tint is a filter, meaning it cuts out some of the light to change the colour. Less yellow light from a white source means less total light.

Moreover, blue light at night is bad. Human eyes work best in low light situations with red and yellow frequencies. Ever driven by a flashing yellow warning light at night? Notice it doesn't cause glare or leave an afterimage.

Blue light is also bad in rain, snow, fog -- any conditions with water in the air. Because of its narrower wavelength, blue light gets bounced around by water and turns a fog bank into a glowing wall which you cannot see beyond. Lower colour temps cut through the water so you can actually see the road.

HID is a great lighting technology that still has issues with its colour temperature, but because the colour is due to more production of blue wavelengths it still offers the benefits of the yellow light that is filtered out by tints on "HID-look" halogens.

For more light on the road, get a high or ultra-high efficiency bulb in the standard halogen colour output. Philips Premium/Osram Super at 30%, Philips VisionPlus/Osram Silverstar (Sylvania Silverstars are Osrams with a blue tint) at 50%, or the even higher output bulbs from 60% to 80% more usable light. Just keep in mind that going over 30% means you start losing life expectancy on the bulb -- at 50%, the rated life drops to 150 hours, compared to 800 for a standard halogen.

EDIT: Best dealer I've found for quality bulbs is powerbulbs.com. Decent prices, free shipping worldwide, huge selection.

This post has been edited by Galcobar: Aug 7, 2008 - 6:16 PM