A friend asked a VERY knowledgable lighting guy (Daniel Stern) some questions about bulbs for his Subaru. Here is the response.
(Some good info about bulb output, life-span and cost).
> I wanted to get some recommendations for replacement bulbs for my 2005
> Subaru WRX Sedan. I want to replace the factory fog bulbs with selective
> yellow bulbs and while I'm at it, replace my low beams also.
Your low beams take an H1 bulb.
For reference, here's manufacturer data, from internal engineering
databases, for output and lifespan at 13.2v for standard-wattage H1 bulbs.
The numbers here are a composite of values applicable to the products of
the big three makers (Osram-Sylvania, Philips-Narva, Tungsram-GE). Each
manufacturer's product in each category is slightly different but not
significantly so. I picked H1-type bulbs for this comparison, and while
the absolute numbers differ with different bulb types, the relative
comparison patterns hold good for whatever bulb type you consider.
Lifespan is given as Tc, the hour figure at which 63.2 percent of the
bulbs have failed.
H1 (regular normal):
1550 lumens, 650 hours
Long Life (or "HalogenPlus+")
1460 lumens, 1200 hours
Plus-30 High Efficacy (Osram Super, Sylvania Xtravision, Narva Rangepower,
Candlepower Bright Light, Tungsram High Output, Philips Premium):
1700 lumens, 350 hours
Plus-50 Ultra High Efficacy (Philips VisionPlus, Osram Silverstar, Narva
Rangepower+50, Tungsram Megalicht, but not Sylvania Silverstar):
1750 lumens, 350 hours
Plus-80/90 Mega High Efficacy (Philips Xtreme Power, Osram Night Breaker):
1780 lumens, 340 hours
Blue coated 'extra white' (Osram CoolBlue, Narva Rangepower Blue, Philips
BlueVision or CrystalVision, Tungsram Super Blue or EuroBlue, Sylvania
Silverstar or Silverstar Ultra, which is just a rebrand of the
Silverstar product, also PIAA, Hoen, Nokya, Polarg, etc):
1380 lumens, 250 hours
Very interesting*
Now, looking over these results, which one would you rather:
(a) Buy and drive with?
(b) Sell?
The answer to (a) depends on how well you want to see versus how often to
change the bulb. If you want the best possible seeing, you pick the
Plus-50 or Plus-90. If you don't care as long as it works and you don't
want to hassle with it, you pick the long life.
The answer to (b) is determined by how rich your company's shareholders
want you to be, and is obvious: You want to sell the bulb with the
shortest lifespan, highest promotability and highest price. That'd be the
blue unit, e.g. Sylvania Silverstar.
All H1 options can be had here:
http://store.candlepower.com/h1bulbs1.html Yellow fogs:
http://store.candlepower.com/tugoseyeh355.html Your high beams can also be significantly upgraded if you will Replace the
existing 9005 bulbs with 9011. The new bulbs are not some tinted or
overwattage version of 9005, but rather employ a relatively new technology
called HIR, Halogen Infrared Reflection. The mechanical dimensions of the
bulb are all virtually identical to the 9005, but the bulb glass is
spherical instead of tubular, with the sphere centered around the
filament. There is a "Durable IR Reflective" coating on the spherical
glass. Infrared = heat, so the coating causes heat to be reflected back to
the filament at the center of the sphere. This causes the filament to
become much hotter (producing more light) than it can by passing
electricity through it, *without* the shorter life or greater heat
production that comes with overwattage bulbs (to say nothing of
overwattage bulbs' incompatibility with stock wiring.)
Here's the comparis
Guess this would be a good place to inject that I am a Workers' Comp & Employment Compliance guy, and on occasion, need a bit more clarification before I get it!! 
