Searching for an inexpensive alternative to installing ballast-oriented HID lighting kits, we decided to test several sets of inexpensive LED and Xenon replacement bulbs for the Saturn Sky. After contacting five different vendors, we decided to purchase seven different pairs of white zenon and LED replacement bulbs for our test. Our goal was get closer to a cooler white/blue color without loosing illumination. In the end, after trying more than a dozen combinations of lights, the results ranged from totally useless to fairly good, although certainly nothing close to what we have see with true HID lighting.

The photo to the left shows the soft yellow hallogen stock lights that come with the SKY, and the photo to the right is of a Xenon low-beam bulb and a 6-LED driving light. We were hoping for a more modern whiter look, and I think we achieved it.

We learned a few important lessons installing these lights. First and foremost, thesy burn REALLY hot, so turn them off for awhile before attempting to remove them. Second, current needs to travel in a specific direction to illuminate LED bulbs, so if they don't work at first, maybe you have them installed backwards (this does not apply to H11 fog lights). And third, we also learned that even the slightest angle off center might make one light look much brighter than another (in our case, the stock lights on the left appear brighter because our camera was placed a fraction of an inch too far to the left).

We also learned that while LED lights might never need to be replaced, they simply don't produce enough light to be used in nighttime street driving conditions. In the end, we used a set of LED lights for the top driving lights because it matched the white color well, but it wasn't nearly as bright as the stock yellow hallogen driving lights. In fact, we noticed such a huge difference in intensity that we will probably end up tossing all of the LED lights as unusable in road illumination applications.

BULB TYPES: The model numbers of the bulbs for the front of the Saturn SKY are H11 bulbs for low beam and fog lights, H9 bulbs for high beam, and W5W bulbs for the upper driving lights.

DO NOT TRY THESE: Do not try mirrorred W5W bulbs for the driving lights. They are designed to deflect light and product almost no light forward. Also, don't mess with LED lights at all for the front of the car, but especially as fog lights or low beams. H11 LED bulbs are availalbe (and are somewhat expensive), but I am certain that using them for low-beams is NOT street-legal because they produce so little light.

BRIGHTNESS: The stock soft-yellow Halogen lights appeared a bit brighter than the Xenon lights we tested, at least when looking at then directly. When looking at their reflection (see side photos) however, the white xenon bulbs seemed to reflect more off the floor. In the end, it was a toss-up.

SUMMARY: We were happy with the H9 and H11 Xenon bulbs, although one of the six bulbs in the set didn't fit properly in the socket. We were disappointed with all of the LED or mirrored xenon solutions for the fog lights or driving lights, and we will continue to shop for an ultra-bright white xenon W5W replacement lamp for the top fog lights, just so we can get our brightness back.

The photo below was taken with high beams on with OEM lights on the passenger side and the Xenon/LED lights on the drivers side. The differnece in brightness was caused by the camera angle, so it is not representative of comparative brightness. This photo does, however, clearly show the different color spectrums and halos, the yellow & green OEM lights compared to the blue and red xenon bulbs.

CAMERA WORK: To get the photos used in this article, we did the testing in a garage with a camera on a tripod 20 feet away. The camera was set as shutter priority for a 1/60th second exposure for all shots.