Foglight recommendation

Headlights to tailights and everything in between.

Moderators: Helpinators, Moderators

Post Reply
THAWA
Knowledgeable
Knowledgeable
Posts: 6829
Joined: Thu Aug 21, 2003 7:44 pm
Location: Sacramento, CA
Contact:

Foglight recommendation

Post by THAWA »

Well I'm lookin for some foglights but not really sure which brand are good. I don't really like the way the ones that are yellowish look. Also where is a good place to mount them? I liked how someone put them in the grill area. Seems it would be better under the bumper between the turn signals though. There's always the rs/gc8 bumper conversion though :D
Rio Red 90 Legacy LS AWD 174k
Liquid Silver 92 SVX LS-L 88k
[url=http://folding.amdmbpond.com/FoldingForOurFuture.html]Do you fold?[/url]

I'm on First and First. How can the same street intersect with itself? I must be at the nexus of the universe.
vrg3
Vikash
Posts: 12517
Joined: Sun Nov 03, 2002 2:13 am
Location: USA, OH, Cleveland (sometimes visiting DC though)
Contact:

Post by vrg3 »

On my old 91 Legacy I mounted them under the bumper between the turn signals and it worked pretty well. That's where the elusive dealer-installed fog light option was installed too.

You just want to be careful not to drown out your turn signals. I had converted my corner lights to also function as turn signals so it wasn't a big deal for me.

Remember that the lower you can mount them, the better. But, you don't want them to be low enough that they get "adjusted" when you go over speed bumps. You also don't want them to be too far forward, or else they become bumpers. :)

Projector fog lights usually give the best beam patterns; a hemispherical pattern is about perfect. There may not be enough room to fit projectors, though, because they tend to be deep.

Be sure that the lights you get are fog lights and not driving lights. The two are practically opposites. Yellow's a good color for fog lights but clear can work well too. Blue's the absolute worst color. Be aware, though, that some lenses that look blue are actually dichroic and the lamps will emit yellow light (the coating reflects blue and transmits yellow, so only the yellow portion of the bulb's output gets through the lens).

I used the semi-generic Blazer brand lights at my local auto parts store and they worked pretty darn well. But that was back in the day before all this HID-lookalike rice lighting crap became popular. Today it's hard to find any semi-decent lights at most stores. If you look long enough I'm sure you can find something, though. Blazer and Rally brand lights used to be common and can still be found sometimes, and I think they're pretty close to the bang-for-buck peak. Just be sure to use a decent relay setup to power them.
"Just reading vrg3's convoluted, information-packed posts made me feel better all over again." -- subyluvr2212
123c
Second Gear
Posts: 396
Joined: Sat Jan 04, 2003 1:44 am
Location: WASHINGTON STATE
Contact:

Post by 123c »

Hella and PIAA make some good fog light, but they are spendy. The good things about these though is that they are easier to find replacement lenses if the originals get broken. Bosch makes some decent ones too. Whatever you deciede on, make sure that it fits your application. Also the relay is important, as well as having the switch wired correctly...

I have used some cheap ones (blazer), and I had a good set of Bosch's on my old Audi.
[color=red][b]1993 Subaru BC Turbo Legacy (193k miles)
1971 VW Super Beetle
1989 Honda Elite 50
[/color][/b]
HomeSlice
Third Gear
Posts: 836
Joined: Wed Oct 16, 2002 4:47 am
Location: ny

Post by HomeSlice »

hella-raybrig-piaa i recomend----i also recomend the jdm front end but we all know which is cheaper- boostjunkie-or adam at z1s old car-put the fog where the turn signals were and it looks nice.
MY93BC Legacy Sonora Sand---> black plasti-dip?
MY93GC Impreza Amethyst--> Glacier/aspen/pd White
93BC"edm" 93GC 90BC R.I.P.
czo79
Second Gear
Posts: 466
Joined: Mon Jan 20, 2003 9:11 am
Location: Montpelier, VT

Post by czo79 »

Do you guys think that projector fogs are better than quality round or square reflector fogs? I definately like a warmer light, more yellow etc...
and a good true fog beam pattern....
Thanks
Micum
Micum
91 Legacy Turbo Sport - 94 JDM EJ20G
97 Legacy 2.5 GT - mod'd
93 Impreza L AWD (sold)
97 Legacy 2.5 GT (deceased)
98 Legacy Outback (sold)
evolutionmovement
Knowledgeable
Knowledgeable
Posts: 9809
Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2003 11:20 pm
Location: Beverly, MA

Post by evolutionmovement »

I have a set of Hella 500 fog lights over mt bumper and couldn't be happier (they're the big round yellow ones). I set them up to show corners at night and cut through bad weather. I made some adyustable stoppers behind them to keep them pointed and solid (I hate the idiot ricer aux. light bounce). The yellow even looks great with the medium blue paint. They were only like $100 bucks. Five years and no problems. Replacement bulbs, if needed, can be found anywhere. No problems with cops, but they do mess up a sleeper look just a little.

Steve
Midnight in a Perfect World on Amazon or order anywhere. The first book in a quartet chronicling the rise of a man from angry criminal to philanthropist. Midnight... is a distopic noirish novel featuring 'Duchess', a modified 1990 Subaru Legacy wagon.
vrg3
Vikash
Posts: 12517
Joined: Sun Nov 03, 2002 2:13 am
Location: USA, OH, Cleveland (sometimes visiting DC though)
Contact:

Post by vrg3 »

Projectors are more efficient and allow for more precise control of the beam pattern. With fog lights you want a good upper cutoff, and projectors get you those more easily while still maintaining good lateral spread.

But any good quality fog light is good quality. :)

Note that the projector/reflector issue doesn't mean anything with regard to light color. More yellow is good for reducing glare off fog, so yellow is an ideal color for fog lights. But even if your lamp has a clear lens you can get dichroic-coated bulbs.

PIAA does have a few good products but you'll pay more for them than you should. And it can be hard to avoid their worse products. I'd stay away. Hella and Bosch lights are both quite good.
"Just reading vrg3's convoluted, information-packed posts made me feel better all over again." -- subyluvr2212
Post Reply