fog light wattage

K

kittylover

Well-known user
Jun 15, 2012
1,385
860
North Warwickshire
Hi
I looked at my front fogs the other day and they look pretty dim compared to my dipped headlight.
I will put new bulbs in and se if they're any better but if I want brighter ones does anyone know what wattage bulb I can go up to without problems? I have seen 100w H3's and I'm wondering about trying them.
thanks,
Rod
 
Also they are designed for use in fog so for the amount of time they are used its not really worth doing HID with them.

JJ
 
TBH, they're not actually supposed to be very bright. Their purpose is to gently light the sides of the roadway and make sure you stay on it.

If they were bright, they'd actually obscure your vision and not improve it. Like running your main beams in the snow would.
 
JJ said:
Put simply they are poop and you cannot go above 55w in those housings.

JJ
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I used to have 100w in mine with no problems, but they were still rubbish. I binned them for led's which are brighter with the lower consumption, they now look as if there is actually a bulb in there :).

Mako said:
TBH, they're not actually supposed to be very bright. Their purpose is to gently light the sides of the roadway and make sure you stay on it.

If they were bright, they'd actually obscure your vision and not improve it. Like running your main beams in the snow would.
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...just lighting up the foglight orifice would be good :LOL:
 
I have some green LED bulbs in mine just for show technically but they still give off some nice light:
6y9yhube.jpg
 
Thanks for the replies. I'm aware the cougar foglights have a poor reputation but on mine it looks like this isn't just the way the light is thrown out, the bulbs just look dimmer than the headlights even when you look straight at them so to speak, despite them both being 55w.
When I had a headlight bulb go, I changed the pair and noticed quite a difference (didn't buy special bulbs, just bog standard), so I'm going to change the fog bulbs for a new pair anyway, but was just wondering what the next step would be if they were still crap. I wasn't planning HIDs or LED's since I read some crap reviews of the H3 LED bulbs (but if Al has a personal recommendation I'd reconsider). I don't want blue tint or anything either really. I thought maybe a higher wattage was the way to go but with conflicting evidence above I probably won't risk it.
Cheers
 
JJ said:
How often do you actually use them? Really?.

JJ
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I don't think i have ever used mine, i hate people that drive around with them on blinding people anyway... they should not be bright that would defeat the object of them as it would dazzle you anyway.. (y)
 
I went Led bulb route and they were crap, so I have got Led running lights in the lense and a standard high output bulb, but even the high output bulb is still crap. I have never used my fog lights TBH anyhow. I just wanted all my front lights the same colour White if you understand what I mean, the standard foglight colour seems to be a dim yellowish instead of a bright white light.
 
JJ said:
How often do you actually use them? Really?.

JJ
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Only about 4 times in the last 10 years. To be honest, if driving conditions are bad enough to need them, I don't drive. Few journeys are that urgent, and I'm lucky enough to be able to work from home if need be.

Though it has to be exceptional circumstances. Quoting an un-named director in a group email; "If your job can be done from home, it can be done from India. So get yourself in or I will find a reason to offshore you."

Peter Froud said:
I just wanted all my front lights the same colour White if you understand what I mean, the standard foglight colour seems to be a dim yellowish instead of a bright white light.
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They're supposed to be yellow. Yellow light penetrates misty/foggy air better. Apparently it's a wavelength thing.
 
Mako said:
Only about 4 times in the last 10 years.
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Yeah, not very often, but when I do, I want them to have some purpose. Like Peter, cosmetically I would like them to at least look the same colour as the headlights.

Mako said:
They're supposed to be yellow. Yellow light penetrates misty/foggy air better. Apparently it's a wavelength thing.
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Having said the above, you are right there. I seem to recall that you could get after market fogs that had yellow tint lenses.
Although strictly it's not the wavelength that matters, it's the lack of a mixture of wavelengths. That's why sodium street lights are good in fog since they only output a single wavelength.
 
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