Factory Fog Lights any good?

[FirstNissan]

Hey guys, a coworker was asking me today about whether to invest some money in factory fog lights for her civic. I havent ever had them on my car so i couldnt say, what is your opinion, do they help in bad conditions or at night in general or not?
Factory lights are usually so small anyways, i have always wondered. Thanks!

 

[gathermewool]

From my '05 Focus to my '06 Subaru WRX to my '07 Civic SI to my current '08 Subaru WRX STI, I've yet to see a set of foglights offer any benefit. IMO, they're more show than go. I know some poeople leave them on all the time, but I ONLY turn my foglights on to make my car more visible to others in inclement weather.

 

[Volvo_ST1]

Fog lights should be mounted as low as possible, meaning under the front bumper. Fog hovers usually a foot or so above the ground, and the purpose of the fog lights is to to get light on the road under the layer of fog.

Integrated fog lights function on most cars better as curve lights. Rarely do fog lights blind oncoming drivers, because fog light beams aim low, wide, and have little range.YMMV.

 

[wrcsixeight]

In my experience they only help increase the light 5 to 20 feet in front of the vehicle, and off to the sides somewhat.

They've only been beneficial to me when driving in tight spots, offroad.

Sometimes, and only when safe, so as to not blind pedestrians or shine my lights into neighbors houses, I turn off the headlights and just use the fog lights.

 

[Volvo_ST1]

Fog lights have typically a range of about 80 feet. That's less than half the range of low beams. Because of their short range, it is not legal to use fog lights instead of low beams. Fog lights help a lot with illuminating the edge of the road, which is critical when driving in fog. The quality of fog lights varies widely. Those that blind people are lousy designs, or they have not been adjusted properly. Using an optical beam setter is required for best results.

 

[The_Jeff]

I have to chuck in a link for http://www.danielsternlighting.com so there you go. Compare the price of the stockers to Dan's Cibies.

If she gets factory lights with factory wiring, the factory nanny controls will be there, like not letting her use them with high beams. FWIW.

Also the factory wiring is usually garbage thin gauge that will lead to dimmer lights.

 

[Smokescreen]

FirstNissan:

If she wants them for looks...sure, I guess.

If she wants them for performance...save her money and upgrade the bulbs in her headlamps for the most bang for the buck actual performance upgrade. Nearly all factory fog lights are cosmetic toys.

 

[rslifkin]

Once I got them aimed correctly (about 2" down of center at 15 feet), my factory fog lights let me see about 70% as well (on their own) as my low beams. They don't give much benefit when combined though. Basically, they're good for heavy rain, snow or fog only, not for use in good weather.

 

[Hokiefyd]

There are some good factory fog lamp setups. The factory fog lamps on my former 2007 Corolla were pretty lame. Even with the "big" 9006 bulbs in there (instead of the 8xx series that some fog lamps use), the housings just didn't seem very efficient. Conversely, the factory fog lamps on my 2005 MDX are outstanding, and REALLY light up the side of the road. There's too much foreground light when driving at night with them on, so I normally leave them off. But driving in the neighborhood and in slower areas in town, they really add a lot of foreground light and contrast.

I'm fixing to add the factory fog lamps to my 2011 Camry, so we'll see how those do.

 

[BigBuck]

The factory fogs on my Sonata seem to help. I use them all the time. They are projectors and have a nice cutoff and the light goes where the headlights don't. They help a bit in nasty weather, but something is better than nothing.

 

[meep]

only oem vehicle I've where they did what they should is my wife's mdx. beyond that, the big, amber/chrome rectangles with bulb shields you used to find at wal-mart, aimed right, were the best bang for the buck out there. bigger optics can be more efficient for a given price point. but nobody wants to put big-ugly on a pretty front fascia. a good bit of the aftermarket stuff is junk.

I just purchased pilot 360C set on amazon - surprisingly good beam shape, shielded bulb, sharp cutoff, solid metal and glass. the reflectors will likely rot out before the rest of the lamp, but it's a decent lamp. bosch tends to make nice stuff even on the low end though the plastic will break at some point-- slightly more light out of their products than the pilots I have.

m

 

[kdgrayson]

The factory fogs on my 2001 Wrangler are really good. They are made in Germany ("E1" coded). Very wide and even beam with sharp cutoff.

 

[Craig in Canada]

It depends on the vehicle. Even at that it might depend on the version.

Two European cars I've had, a 1992 Porsche 968 and a 1998 BMW 528 (which I still have) have great fog lights. They're just what fog lights are supposed to be - low, sharp cutoff, nearly 180 degree light pattern. I have Philips AllWeather+/WeatherVision bulbs in there since 2001 and they work really well.

My dad's 2002 540i (same chassis) has different lights because they updated the bumper and they're useless - if the headlights are on you can't even tell when you switch on the fog lights.

My 1990 Integra had an extra set of lights and it wasn't even clear what they were supposed to be - driving or fog. You could tell that more light was shining on the road but it probably wasn't anything that couldn't be accomplished by slightly brighter bulbs in the headlights. The late 80s/early 90s did not seem to be an impressive era in lighting for the Japanese because the main beams sucked too.

"Driving lights" are a whole other matter and are supposed to have beams focused straight ahead down the road.

You can't lump "factory fog lights" into one category.

 

[SuzukiOldTimer]

I'm appalled, by just how few drivers even know what a FOG light is supposed to be. Super bright Blue or White lights are NOT FOG LIGHTS! Period! They are either Rally Lights or Driving Lights.

FOG Lights are Amber (Yellow) so they cut through fog instead of reflecting back at you, off of it. They must be mounted low, like below the front bumper and aimed low so they illuminate the road directly in front of you. Also, to be effective, when the Fog Lights are turned on, the headlights should be OFF.

JFYI

 

[rslifkin]

^ Yup. Of course, most states make it illegal to run the fogs with the headlights off

 

[Craig in Canada]

Originally Posted By: SuzukiOldTimer
I'm appalled, by just how few drivers even know what a FOG light is supposed to be. Super bright Blue or White lights are NOT FOG LIGHTS! Period! They are either Rally Lights or Driving Lights.

FOG Lights are Amber (Yellow) so they cut through fog instead of reflecting back at you, off of it. They must be mounted low, like below the front bumper and aimed low so they illuminate the road directly in front of you. Also, to be effective, when the Fog Lights are turned on, the headlights should be OFF.

JFYI



From all of my reading and experience over the years, the colour does not determine if it's a "fog" light or a "driving" light - the beam pattern does. I'm not arguing that warmer colours scatter less in fog and improve visibility - I agree in that regard.

A "fog" light is typically low on the vehicle and is aimed with less declination than most headlights. It has a WIDE beam pattern with a sharp cutoff. It should not shine in the eyes of oncoming traffic whatsoever and is meant to shine flat along the road surface and off to the shoulders.

A driving light can be high or low and has a narrower beam. It may have no cutoff whatsoever like a high beam lighting pattern. A "driving light" is just another light that shines ahead of the vehicle with no specific purpose.

Daniel Stern lighting has info on aiming foglights at here. It also has the following commentary on fog lights:

Quote:
Fog lamps produce a wide, bar-shaped beam of light. Horizontal aim is much less critical than it is with headlamps. The fog lamps should be pointed straight ahead, not leftward or rightward.


So, if a vehicles extra lights produce a very wide, uniform light pattern with a very sharp, level cutoff at the top - they are FOG LIGHTS. Otherwise, they are something else.

 

[bmwjohn]

The amber in fog lights is a debateable issue. Amber produces less light, possibly less glare to oncoming drivers, and might reflect less light from rain and fog particles vs white light. All french cars had amber lights at one time. Amber per se, without a fog light low and wide light pattern, is just a yellow pumpkin. The euro fogs, esp. Cibie and Marchal, are usually especially good. If it is possible to buy a Cibie OEM fog that is a good choice.And yes, most regs require fogs be off when high beams on, even in Europe. A bright foreground also draws the eye close to the car, when the need might be to see far away, as in high beam.

 

[Jim 5]

I have/had factory fog lights on the following vehicles:

- 1991 VW Corrado
- 2000 Ford Explorer
- 2003 Acura 3.2 TL
- 2002 BMW 330ci
- 2004 Chev Avalanche
- 2007 GMC Sierra
- 2011 BMW 5er

My experience (in a place that seldom gets any fog, but gets lots of snow) is that they do almost nothing for illuminating the road. I have turned them on a few times just to see if they worked, and I had difficulty telling if they were even on. I think they maybe added a 5% improvement at best. But there is then the downside of looking like one of those guys that drives around with his pep boys fog-lights on. Seems like that category of drivers is dominated by 16 year olds with their "fast" honda civic DXs. For me that image is not something I want to cultivate.

In my opinion manufacturers put them on their higher trim level cars for styling reasons rather than for any useful lighting function.

 

[Smokescreen]

Originally Posted By: Jim 5

In my opinion manufacturers put them on their higher trim level cars for styling reasons rather than for any useful lighting function.



+1

 

[ffhdriver]

I bet most of you that say the fogs are useless have never checked to see if they're aimed properly. Right??