Lighting - Bulb Upgrades

For an excellent explanation of how to make your vehicle's lights work better, please read Dan Stern's lighting post on the SlantSix.org forum. A summary of Dan's bulb upgrade recommendations is summarized below. The PNs are correct and there are no typos.

Do NOT use a 2057 bulb to replace a 1157 bulb! The 2057 bulb is dimmer on the "minor" (dim parking or tail) filament, thereby making your tail lamps less bright.

The 3496 bulb produces 43 candlepower from the bright (brake or turn) filament and 3.5 candlepower on the dim (tail or parking) filament compared with 32 and 3 candlepower respectively from the 1157 bulb and both bulbs draw the same current. The 3497 bulb produces 45 candlepower compared with 32 candlepower for the 1156 bulb. The Honda bulbs have a nickel-plated base that is much more corrosion resistant than the plain brass base of an 1157 (less likely to stick in the socket) and are generally higher quality than the 3496 & 3497 bulbs from a parts store, which are usually much poorer quality and don't last as long.