Philips 9007 X-treme Power Headlight Bulb, Pack of 2

I bought the Philips X-treme Power 9007 to replace the OEM Sylvanias in my wife's '01 Mustang GT. She was complaining about being unable to see well at night. The headlights definitely were dimmer than when the car was new. Her first reaction to these bulbs was "woohoo", and we both agree the headlights are as good as new. The low beams look white, not blue or yellow, and do not bother other drivers.The rest of this review is a little technical, and it may help some readers understand why other reviewers report that these bulb aren't so great.I had 3 options that I could have taken separately or together to improve the headlights:1. Replace the headlight wiring with a heavy duty harness switched by relays and delivering about 14.2 volts directly from the alternator. This would have driven the OEM bulbs harder than the stock setup which was delivering 13.05 volts to the low beams. But I figured 13.05 volts should be adequate, knew my electrical skills were only average, and didn't like the risk of a relay failure. At 14.2 volts my OEM bulbs would have been 33% brighter, and I'm sure that would have been enough. Upgrading the wiring is a good option for some cars and mandatory for cars that have a more significant voltage drop than mine. If my electrical system was delivering only 12 volts to my bulbs, then these higher performing bulbs would not have helped enough.2. Refinish the polycarbonate lenses of my headlight fixtures. I might do this some day because the lenses are moderately sandblasted and slightly cloudy. Refinishing would have consisted of two or more steps of wet sanding followed by polishing to remove sanding scratches and sealing to protect the refinished lenses against UV light. I chose not to do this because the car isn't driven much and stays in a garage where the UV exposure is minimal, plus I'm not impressed by the durability of the sealants on the market. I think the best of the bunch is the sealant that comes with Glassylite's restoration kit, and I hope there will be something better in a few years when I really need it for this car.3. Replace the OEM bulbs with high performance aftermarket bulbs. This is what I did, and it involved some guesswork. I knew that to be DOT legal 9007 bulbs must produce between 850 and 1150 lumens at 12.8 volts in the low beam position. I knew that due to the halogen regenerative cycle the car's OEM bulbs were about as good as they were when new; the loss of output was due to the deteriorated condition of the lenses and possibly to an increase in the voltage drop of the headlight circuit. I guessed that the OEM bulbs were somewhere near the low end of the DOT scale for 9007 bulbs, and that the Philips X-treme Power bulbs were somewhere near the high end. My hope was that the difference would be great enough for me to put off doing step 2 or step 1 above. I guessed correctly.I did nothing else to my headlights other than backprobing with a multitester to measure the voltage drop and cleaning the lenses. Cleaning the lenses helped a little, but major credit goes to these bulbs.If your headlights are dim due to a serious voltage drop, then buying these bulbs will be like solving the wrong problem. The same is true if your lenses are very cloudy. However, if you have decent voltage, reasonably clear lenses, and average or below average performing 9007s, then you will appreciate the difference these bulbs make. Compared to my car's OEM Sylvanias these are brighter, whiter, reach out farther, and spread light wide enough to make cornering easier and safer. Other drivers are not offended by these bulbs, so the bulbs are a win-win. Installing them was far easier than changing the wiring harness or refinishing the lenses. So they deserve 5 stars.

Don't bother looking at other headlights, these are the best halogen lightbulbs available and at a good price at Amazon. These are better than any Sylvania Silverstar or any GE Nighthawk or any Osram Night Breakers. These are +80 halogens which means at their brightest point, they are 80% brighter than an average bulb at it's dullest point. These are on the shorter end of lifespan, averaging about 250+ hours. Although this is less than an OEM bulb, that is because these bulbs burn brighter. There is no perfect trade off because these bulbs lean of the side of performance, and away from longevity. Of course you can expect to see much better life than that considering the 250 hour number is achieved in a test lab being used non stop for 250 hours. Personally, I think it is a very worth while trade off because these bulbs are quite cheap then the Sylvanias you can buy at your local store, and they are noticeably brighter. The closest competitor (another popular +80 bulb) to these bulbs are the Osram Night Breakers which are very similar with the low lamps, but the Philips high beams are much better. Another reason the Philips bulbs are scientifically better than any other bulb is that they have very little blue filter applied to them, only at the tip of the bulb. This means that less light is being filtered away and being absorbed by the filter, and you are getting all the light the bulb is producing. This also means that the light these bulbs produce isn't very blue, which is good or bad depending on your personal taste. I personally like the super white look of these bulbs because in the back of my mind I know that they are scientifically better than those obnoxious blue bulbs you see. After having these bulbs for a little while on two cars, I really can tell a difference between brand new headlights on a 2011 brand new car, and my headlights in a 94' Honda Civic. My headlights are whiter, and they almost look like HID light from the drivers seat. I would describe the light color as very very white with a hint of blue and maybe purple, depending on the road surface. They do really look fantastic and I plan on using them in the future.Basically what I'm trying to say is that if you want the best performing bulb at a competitive cost, look no further.