Fog Light HID Installed

[suby01]

so i was looking for a brighter and more comparable bulb to match the stock headlights.

the bulbs that i had in the fogs were sylverstar ultras the whitest and brightest halogen bulb out. it was bright but were looking a little yellow since they were only 4100k as to our hids 4300k.

so i went over and over many types and models on what to do and decided to do a hid converson for the fogs

ordered offline got it the next day.

i got the 5000k 55w kit. since going past 4300k light output is diminished thats why most hid kits are 35w to save power and better fuel economy bla bla. so the 5000k would lose a little bit of light output as if it were for the 35w but since i upgraded to the 55w id say its just as bright as the 4300k.

6000k would be too blue and with too much of a power output loss and 4300k were bright but didnt match the headlights so this is what i got.

install was super easy took about 20mins all simple plug and play the hardest part was getting my tool box out. since i got the intake all i did was unscrew the one bolt on each side of where the filter box is and there it was. thats also where i installed the hid ballasts to right ontop of the metal bracket to the intakes.

here are some pics...







installed









friends integra compared to stock headlights.



as you can see its not the bright output going straight it gives a more round reflection where the ground is lite up right in front thats what i like and was specifically looking for.

stock with the sylverstar





HID









fogs off fogs on

[audtatious]

I have them installed in my '08. For mine, I mounted one ballast to the aluminum bumper with tie wraps and the drivers side is screwed to a plastic section. They do much better than the factory halogen bulb but one of mine is not installed right and can blind oncoming traffic so I don't use them at all unless I'm alone on the road. I need to get into the housing and adjust it at some point.

[pfarmer]

I have them installed in my '08. For mine, I mounted one ballast to the aluminum bumper with tie wraps and the drivers side is screwed to a plastic section. They do much better than the factory halogen bulb but one of mine is not installed right and can blind oncoming traffic so I don't use them at all unless I'm alone on the road. I need to get into the housing and adjust it at some point.

Now the real question, since these are called 'fog' lights can you actually see better in the fog?

Perry

[suby01]

mine do

[audtatious]

Now the real question, since these are called 'fog' lights can you actually see better in the fog?

Perry

They are aimed the same way as the factory Halogen so there is no reason I can think of why they won't function the same.

[pfarmer]

They are aimed the same way as the factory Halogen so there is no reason I can think of why they won't function the same.

Certainly there is. In fog, drizzle, etc. color can drastically influence how well you see. Also too high of brightness levels can actually make things worst in various situations. So what you have here is a much brighter and whiter light. I agree that it may look better and in other conditions may provide better illumination but in foggy types of conditions I would think that a light that leans more towards the other direction of the light spectrum would provide better visibility to the driver.

Another question may be, are they legal since they work in conjuction with the low beams?

Perry

[audtatious]

From a color temp perspective a yellow would be best. I ran 6000k fogs in my Maxima for 3 years and it was MUCH better than the factory halogen or even aftermarket PIAA Ion Crystals in both fog and mist. My comment above was from simply using HID in fog housings, not color variations with fog.

[pfarmer]

From a color temp perspective a yellow would be best. I ran 6000k fogs in my Maxima for 3 years and it was MUCH better than the factory halogen or even aftermarket PIAA Ion Crystals in both fog and mist. My comment above was from simply using HID in fog housings, not color variations with fog.

My best experience with fog lamps have been with a couple of aftermarket yellows (almost orange) mounted on the bottom of a bumper as close to the pavement as possible.

From a practical standpoint however in this location they did't tend to last long.

Perry

[audtatious]

To me, lower is better. Fogs are supposed to be at a lower angle than the headlights in order to get past reflection issues that are presented via fog and main headlights. The problem I have with yellow lights is that they may help see a tad longer than white in fog (debatable based upon perception) but they do nothing to help light the road for the most part. While the 6000k HID's I had in my Maxima did pretty well as fogs in part due to them helping me see the white and yellow road markers better than the yellows.

[pfarmer]

From a color temp perspective a yellow would be best. I ran 6000k fogs in my Maxima for 3 years and it was MUCH better than the factory halogen or even aftermarket PIAA Ion Crystals in both fog and mist. My comment above was from simply using HID in fog housings, not color variations with fog.

My understanding of the Ion Crystals is that they don't really remove the blue component so much as scattering it. What few may realize is that in reality color in the case of fog has little to do with penetration. The fog will pretty much equally reflect all wavelengths in this area. What it has to do with is how we see it. Pictures are nearly impossible to use to show this.

Also the factory fogs in our case are most likely too high and if you change them they become too bright. Too high since what really is desired is to have a flat beam that skirts under the fog for the purpose of illumination of the area just in front and to the sides of the car. Too bright since your eyes will adjust to the higher brightness levels and not allow you to see as well, especially detail in the area of concern, the area just in front and to the sides of the car.

One of the differences between blue and yellow at the extremes is that we have a hard time focusing on blue and you can lose the ability of deciphering detail of anything lit with it. As you move towards the yellow end of the spectrum you can more easily focus on the color and so details are easier to see.

I see the stock 'fog' light as more of a driving light than a true fog light. So in reality adding the brighter whiter light is really not an issue unless the intent is to use it as a 'fog' light.

Since some laws state you need to leave your low beams on if using a fog light (or other auxillary light) then what I see is that ideally one needs to add a low mounted 'fog' light and have a switch that switches between the 'driving' light of the car and the aftermarket 'fog' light (assuming one wants to stay legal). One way of doing this may be to actually allow the 'driving' light to come on with the low beam (and go out with the high) and use the stock switch to turn off the 'driving' light and turn on the fog while still following the idea of turning it off with the highs. Fairly easy wiring change.

Perry

[audtatious]

Beam quality has more to do with it than anything as you need a wide beam pattern (70 degrees to 120 degrees) with a sharp, flat cutoff on top. In effect, the usefulness of fog lamps relys on the relationship of the angle between your line of sight and the angle of your car's lights. Yes, the fogs are high in the G but are angled down at a far steeper angle than the standard headlight which helps reduce whiteout glare from fog, mist, etc. They do have an effect but not as well as lower-mounted fogs, IMO.

From a color perspective, sure, 6000k has some negative aspects, but so do yellow bulbs as yellow does not throw out a full spectrum of light either, thus it has issues lighting darker objects. Using bulbs which are colored to the yellow range will also diminish light output by 15% to as much as 50% as well.

In tests I've run accross concerning fog lights and colors it seems only 50% thought that use of the fog lights mattered in bad weather tests and out of those it was again a 50/50 split as to what color.

Good conversation

[pfarmer]

Beam quality has more to do with it than anything as you need a wide beam pattern (70 degrees to 120 degrees) with a sharp, flat cutoff on top. In effect, the usefulness of fog lamps relys on the relationship of the angle between your line of sight and the angle of your car's lights. Yes, the fogs are high in the G but are angled down at a far steeper angle than the standard headlight which helps reduce whiteout glare from fog, mist, etc. They do have an effect but not as well as lower-mounted fogs, IMO.

From a color perspective, sure, 6000k has some negative aspects, but so do yellow bulbs as yellow does not throw out a full spectrum of light either, thus it has issues lighting darker objects. Using bulbs which are colored to the yellow range will also diminish light output by 15% to as much as 50% as well.

In tests I've run accross concerning fog lights and colors it seems only 50% thought that use of the fog lights mattered in bad weather tests and out of those it was again a 50/50 split as to what color.

Good conversation

That applies to light colored to yellow since in those cases the light is actually white.

One of the issues with a high mounted light that projects low is that of glare from the road surface, especially for oncoming traffic. I've read a lot of these tests but I think a lot of this has to do with type of lights, mounting locations, and of course the fog. To work effectively the light would have to project basically at road level under the fog which occurs at 12-15" in many cases and then have a very sharp cutoff so as to not illuminated the fog. In the cases I have read the consensus seems to be that a fog light is really most useful at fairly low speeds and if possible without any other lighting. As far as objects go the idea should be purely to light the path..

One demo I saw involved ultra-violet light with a heads up display. Same location very low with a sharp cutoff. In the demo it seemed to work very well even on fairly long distances since fog essentially was penetrated by the cmos for the heads up. Interesting concept as it presented something interesting in that under normal conditions regular lights were used basically to make the car visible to humans and animals, the driver didn't need them.

Perry

[audtatious]

Road conditions change constantly and no fog is alike thus while fogs may work well in "X" number of conditions there are far more conditions where it won't help at all. The truth with fogs is that the majority use the lights as driving lights and for looks more than for their possible help in bad weather conditions. I probably fall somewhat in the "driving light" category when it came to the Maxima as I had them on all the time. I've only used the HID fogs in the G once at this point since I do have an alignment issue with one light and it was during heavy rain (and did help at that time) and not a time of fog.

Real world experience over the years tells me that most aftermarket cheap fogs don't do crap. Halogen bulbs in the Maxima didn't do much of anything. HID in the Maxima fogs did a great job as driving lights and a decent job in bad weather conditions. Coated yellow bulbs in the Maxima helped less than the HID's. Halogen fogs in the wifes G and my G don't do crap that I can tell and HID in my G seems to have been useful the one time I used them. I prefer white fogs to yellow fogs. I prefer 6000k to factory 4300k. Finally, the only time I have been high-beamed was by a raised 4x4 which is comical, after 3 years of constant driving in the Maxima.

Maybe I will make the time to fix the one in the G soon and see if it does help or not. It's been a year since the upgrade and I don't use them due to the alignment issue

[pfarmer]

Road conditions change constantly and no fog is alike thus while fogs may work well in "X" number of conditions there are far more conditions where it won't help at all. The truth with fogs is that the majority use the lights as driving lights and for looks more than for their possible help in bad weather conditions. I probably fall somewhat in the "driving light" category when it came to the Maxima as I had them on all the time. I've only used the HID fogs in the G once at this point since I do have an alignment issue with one light and it was during heavy rain (and did help at that time) and not a time of fog.

Real world experience over the years tells me that most aftermarket cheap fogs don't do crap. Halogen bulbs in the Maxima didn't do much of anything. HID in the Maxima fogs did a great job as driving lights and a decent job in bad weather conditions. Coated yellow bulbs in the Maxima helped less than the HID's. Halogen fogs in the wifes G and my G don't do crap that I can tell and HID in my G seems to have been useful the one time I used them. I prefer white fogs to yellow fogs. I prefer 6000k to factory 4300k. Finally, the only time I have been high-beamed was by a raised 4x4 which is comical, after 3 years of constant driving in the Maxima.

Maybe I will make the time to fix the one in the G soon and see if it does help or not. It's been a year since the upgrade and I don't use them due to the alignment issue

I agree that most of the time they are simply used for looks, as is the case of changing color temperature from stock for any lights. Blue lights are a known offender as indicated by cop cars initially getting rear ended when first going from red to blue prior to adding red back in.

What many may find as an interesting read is the lighting laws of other countries, especially those northern countries on the other side of the globe.

I believe they work but only in certain conditions. I say the same with driving lights especially the aircraft landing lights we used to use in the late 60s when you could get away with them (as long as you turned them off). But with the traffic we normally encounter many of these cause more hazards then they solve which is what I like about the newer ideas coming out about lighting up the road for the vehicle without visually lighting up the road.

Perry

[audtatious]

Kinda depends on how blue (insert other color here) they are. I drove around in my Maxima with 6000k HID headlights and fogs for years without a cop even looking at me funny (that I'm aware of). The major issue with HID upgrades is when people put HID's in non-HID reflector systems which can cause issues with other drivers. From a fog perspective they are usually aimed low enough to not add additional glare.

I remember people using aircraft lights as well.

[pfarmer]

Kinda depends on how blue (insert other color here) they are. I drove around in my Maxima with 6000k HID headlights and fogs for years without a cop even looking at me funny (that I'm aware of). The major issue with HID upgrades is when people put HID's in non-HID reflector systems which can cause issues with other drivers. From a fog perspective they are usually aimed low enough to not add additional glare.

I remember people using aircraft lights as well.

The glare I am talking about is higher mounted lights aimed low which produce glare to the oncoming driver off of the pavement.

The problems with blue is you can focus on blue. I would tend to believe this could also result in a driver getting tired more easily, although 6000 isn't in the area where a lot of ricers aim for

Perry.