I've decided to go with some Silverstar's to give me some better visibility. I've got the part numbers, 9006 low, 9005 high.

These are the same bulbs my Contour SVT used. What I did on the Contour is replaced all four of them with 9005's. The 9005 just has an extra tab on the inside of the housing that can be shaved off with a razorblade and fits just fine in the 9006 spot. Worked great in my Contour, and provided high beam brightness at the low beam angle so as to not annoy other cars.

Has anyone done this to the EVO? The wiring for the low beam and high beam should be the same, so it's not like the extra load will burn up the wires or anything. Does anyone know of a reason it worked in the Contour but wouldn't work on the EVO?

 

ive done that on my old 3000GT. i used the 9005 high beam bulb in place of the low beam 9006 bulb with no problems. although technically its not recommended. just get HID.

 

HID = More expensive than Silverstars

Trying to find the cost effective solution.

 

Hella 80w low beams and 100w highs $30 from summit racing.
They make a big difference.

 

get PIAA or RAZO 9005 bulbs. they are whiter and brighter. to specifically answer your question - no. to the best of my knowledge using the 9005 on the 9006 socket did not cause me problems. i ran that setup for three years on my 3000GT before and didnt have any burned connectors. you should be fine

 

I'll do some more research on exactly what bulbs to get. I had a positive experience with the Silverstars before and I'm a brand loyalty kind of guy.

Macky, I have also heard it's not "technically" recommended, but I've never really seen a good explanation of why.

 

Sorry to go a bit off here, but am I missing something? Are HID's an option on the newer EVO's?

 

In my experience, Silverstars have been trash in terms of bulb life. I've never had a bulb that lasted more than a year (although I've heard of people who've had Silverstars last longer), which is about what Sylvania expects. IMO, paying $30 every year to replace a set of bulbs isn't *too* bad, since overall it's still cheaper than HIDs. The problem I had is that the bulbs could go out spontaneously while I'm driving, which is a big no-no for me due to the obvious problems with regards to poor lighting/police until I got them replaced. Plus it's a hassle to drive down to the local Pep Boys/Wal-Mart everytime they went out. Eventually I just retrofitted some HIDs+projectors into my car.

 

Yes, if you upgrade to the SSL package (leather, sunroof, upgraded stereo, HID's) I didn't do that.

 

Thanks.

 

I had Silverstars on my previous car for about 1.5 years, then it got rear ended and totalled, but as of that point they were still working perfectly. I'm not contradicting you or anything, I've heard many people with that same story. Just putting the word out there that they can last a normal lifetime. Oh, and the car they were on was an '02 Sentra SE-R Spec V.

 

Bulbs should be replaced every two years anyways, they get dimmer as they age (filaments thin).

9005 conversion from 9006 is fine, but the 9005 is a shorter life bulb but much brighter.

Whiter than silverstars:
www.hoen-usa.com

 

its just because using the 9005 over the 9006 (60W vs 55W) at a constant rate can (theoretically) burn off either your connectors and/or drain your battery much faster.

besides that, all you have to do to make them fit is chip off with a plier the tabs to make it look like the 9006 fins and the 9005 bulb will fit to the 9006 socket. oh and before plugging the power socket, if you look into the socket of the 9005 and compare it to the 9006, you will also need to trim two smaller tabs inside the socket itself (just use a pairing knife or small swiss knife) so that the 9006 power socket will go in with no problems.

other than that you should be fine. good luck

 

I'd stay away from PIAA. I got them on my Montero, and they're still yellow.

 

PIAA make a quality product, but its not very white at all as you found out.