Alright gearheads/those with car knowledge...

[AK907]

I own a 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt LS. My job requires me to drive a lot and the majority of my driving is at night and I have horrible night vision. A couple months ago I "upgraded" from my stock headlights to Sylvania XtraVision 9007 3200K lights. The improvement was minor at best and I can already tell a major difference in their brightness. Now that the days are even shorter that means I'll be spending even more time on the roads at night. I need new headlight bulbs. I am not looking to spend a fortune, but I do want something exceptionally bright. I don't need a fancy set of HID's to make me look cool driving around town since most of my driving is on dark country roads. I also don't care if I make a few enemies with my excessively bright lights because I honestly don't pass many people on these roads. I need something that is going to be as bright as possible and offer good contrast for spotting deer and reading signs.

I've been around town looking and the selection is limited, so I might as well just order online. Every last salesman in town seems to know jack about headlights and is just trying to sell me the most expensive headlights they have, most of which, from what I gather online and from packaging, have very short lifespans and are mostly suited for driving around town looking cool with bright blue lights.

So please, any help would be appreciated.

[dart]

Ultra white or super white bulbs by Xenon

[kylerimb]

i have not personally seen anything brighter than HID's. if you don't want blue, get a white color temp. 6000k i think is white, or at least only slightly blue. not 100% on that. i know i put 8000k on my wife's car and they were fairly blue. but they lit up the road VERY well.

the prices have come down significantly in the past year also. but if you don't want HID, i do not have any advice since i only have experience with them.

[Freakie_frog]

Also having your headlight's polished helps sometime. all those little scratches and crack's from bugs and what not defuse the light..so get your lens polished..

[pbjtime8908]

HIDs are pretty much the brightest you can get. kylerimb is right that 6000k is a tinted blue but 5000k is usually the whitest in my experience. you can get either 35w or 55w where 55w burns a little hotter and brighter and will wash out the colors a little but if your going for as bright as possible then 5000k bulb temp with a 55w ballast is your best bet. youll wanna check first that your headlight assembly wont melt from the 55w though as thin plastic has been known to melt a bit with the 55w.

you can get either a regular ballast or the slim digital. the slim ballast has been known to go out over time but its a lot easier to fit under your hood as its somewhere around 30% smaller then the regular.

with HIDs you've gotta kinda know your way around wiring as everything is labeled usually but its still slightly confusing.

here's a link to a really quality and cheap set of HIDs. i have a set of highs and lows on my car and they've been there for over a year with no problems, my roommate has a hi/low set on his truck and i put a hi set on my brothers car. none of us have ever had a problem with this company and one ballast has gone through 2 accidents on my roommate's truck where he hit it pretty much square on so they're pretty durable.

ive used the sylvania bulbs before and there is a major difference between them and HIDs.

http://www.ddmtuning.com/Products/Ap...Raptor-HID-Kit

and this is the digital ballast.

http://www.ddmtuning.com/Products/DD...ast-35W-or-55W

now for a disclaimer. i am in no way affiliated with this company and only have personal experience from half a dozen sets ive ordered through this site. in my experience they worked great but some kits might be a little faulty as everything can be.

hope this helps with your decision.

[abrunsen]

HIDs are pretty much the brightest you can get. kylerimb is right that 6000k is a tinted blue but 5000k is usually the whitest in my experience. you can get either 35w or 55w where 55w burns a little hotter and brighter and will wash out the colors a little but if your going for as bright as possible then 5000k bulb temp with a 55w ballast is your best bet. youll wanna check first that your headlight assembly wont melt from the 55w though as thin plastic has been known to melt a bit with the 55w.

you can get either a regular ballast or the slim digital. the slim ballast has been known to go out over time but its a lot easier to fit under your hood as its somewhere around 30% smaller then the regular.

with HIDs you've gotta kinda know your way around wiring as everything is labeled usually but its still slightly confusing.

here's a link to a really quality and cheap set of HIDs. i have a set of highs and lows on my car and they've been there for over a year with no problems, my roommate has a hi/low set on his truck and i put a hi set on my brothers car. none of us have ever had a problem with this company and one ballast has gone through 2 accidents on my roommate's truck where he hit it pretty much square on so they're pretty durable.

ive used the sylvania bulbs before and there is a major difference between them and HIDs.

http://www.ddmtuning.com/Products/Ap...Raptor-HID-Kit

and this is the digital ballast.

http://www.ddmtuning.com/Products/DD...ast-35W-or-55W

now for a disclaimer. i am in no way affiliated with this company and only have personal experience from half a dozen sets ive ordered through this site. in my experience they worked great but some kits might be a little faulty as everything can be.

hope this helps with your decision.

This^

I bought my 35w 5000k HIDs (which is almost all white with a tint of blue) from ddm tuning. They were a great price (like 30 bucks) and they are still running perfectly. They will last you much longer than regular bulbs. I would definitely suggest them. I think they offer free warranty as well.