HID conversion for fog lights

[fishbone]

I haven't read any of the papers, but I will tell you that the yellow bulbs I got through Stern and he said they'd be better than stock too, in fact perform like the stock lights, of not brighter, AND add the yellow for contrast. I say that they may be brighter because after installing the HID kit the fogs would barely make a difference. These yellows I can definitely see. And no, it's not because they're yellow. Also, I have driven while living in Europe aplenty times on the twisties at night on rainy/foggy days. I've always prefered yellow over white. White just seemed to produce glare, whereas yellow would pierce the white veil better. Then again, it may be perception too, as some of us are happy with HID kits, others are not.

[TSiWRX]

You could mount the led rear fog lamp next to the license plate on the drivers side, plenty of room there, I was actually considering this some time ago.

 

My space there is reserved for my incoming jammer - but actually, I can see slaving the rear fog directly underneath the jammer housing, so that would actually be a really good idea! Thanks, bro!

 

---

 

I would be tempted to make the OEM high mount center brake light serve double duty as a rear fog lamp. But it might attract attention from the police.

 

^ Agreed, and that's not the kind of attention I'm after.

 

As to where to mount a separate rear fog, I say higher is better, and that means cutting a hole in your trunk lid. Bravery will be required.

 

I wonder if, when I do get the unit, it would turn out to be possible for me to cut the factory spoiler in a way as to be able to house this item. That would require slightly less bravery!

 

On a side note, an interesting shortcoming of LED automotive brake lamps is that they do not run hot enough to melt any snow and ice that accumulates on them.

 

You keep bringing up these what should be really common-sense items. Thanks for the reminder, and yes, this is something that I had overlooked. Indeed, this would not be all that great at all in snowy conditions.

 

The one possible downside is that mounting these 4 lamps behind the grille will substantially reduce the grille opening, and could lead to engine overheating on hot days.

 

That's my primary worry. Especially as my lower grill area is being blocked by both (partial) my front plate as well as my various jammer devices, I could have severely compromised heat-exchange.

 

Are you equipped to do logging of intake air and coolant temperatures, before and after install of these lamps?

 

Yes, that's not a problem - and it would certainly be wise to do so. If I go this route, I'll likely datalog a few days of my full commute, as well as then re-set the warning levels on the GReddy Informeter to give me more advance notice/highlight, even after I take the datalogger off-line.

 

---

 

Then again, it may be perception too...

 

^ Exactly. This is why I'm now trying to find, for *me*, whether or not my perception of selective-yellow for "fog"-lighting is perhaps a false-perception.

[outahere]

......My space there is reserved for my incoming jammer - but actually, I can see slaving the rear fog directly underneath the jammer housing, so that would actually be a really good idea!..............Especially as my lower grill area is being blocked by both (partial) my front plate as well as my various jammer devices,.......

 

Hmmmmm, your Legacy seems to have more jamming devices than an AWACS aircraft!! Are you bothered by heat seeking missiles?

[TSiWRX]

I'm just trying to avoid the few Decepticons that live in my area. They keep asking me about some cube object and whether they can get "a spark?"

 

"To Punish and Enslave" my a$$ ! Modded or not, that's still a Mustslow! To heck if I'm pulling over for him!

 

 

With my pending LIs, I'll have a total of six jamming heads up front....and what's funny here is that I don't even speed - at all - during my everyday AM/PM in-city, surface-street commutes.

[outahere]

........Yes and no - they're separate housings, but are otherwise integrated. The switchgear limits use of only one or the other lamp, and without opening the switch, I don't know if there's an easy way around this or not.

 

http://www.autodesignhaus.com/tuners/catz/images/xld-1.jpg

 

This is what I have on my current DSM - "gold" fogs (90-degree spread - IMHO, not quite wide enough) and clear driving (75-degree, good comfort for my eyes, but it noticeably lacks range/straight-line penetration)...........

 

Have you experimented with yellow bulbs in the driving lamp? I am wondering if this can give you good distance illumination in the fog, without blinding oncoming drivers. In combination with the gold fogs, perhaps this could give you close and distant illumination without excessive glare.

[Deer Killer]

Page 3, ugh. Can I get the cliff notes now please?

 

1. Will a H3 hid conversion for the stock fogs be brighter by an amount worth $125 and a few hours?

2. Will it keep an acceptable pattern?

[TSiWRX]

You asking for Cliff's Notes! No way!!! I've always thought you were the detail type, bruddah!

 

In any case, I think that most here would agree that yes, the HID conversion will be noticeably brighter, but whether or not that's going to be worth the $125 (since replacement incandescents can cost up to about a quarter of that, and are more likely to burn-out in the long run) and a couple of hours out in the garage - that's going to be worthy of a debate to no end.

 

As for pattern - objectively, no. Subjectively, your eyes will have to determine that.

 

---

 

Have you experimented with yellow bulbs in the driving lamp? I am wondering if this can give you good distance illumination in the fog, without blinding oncoming drivers. In combination with the gold fogs, perhaps this could give you close and distant illumination without excessive glare.

 

^ That's a novel idea, and it seems very logical.

 

I actually honestly wasn't aware that I had a "gold" driving-lamp retrofit option for the XLDs until just the other day, when I surfed up a picture for it. I knew that it was on its way out the door - being discontinued - when I bought it 3 years ago, so I also bought a couple of replacement bulbs (which was good, since I managed to crack one of the fogs when I was working on the DSM a couple of years ago). It was either my ignorance at the time or that such a bulb combination wasn't yet available...I honestly don't know which.

 

I've just taken a cursory look at the grill spaces yesterday evening, while playing with baby-Anna out in the driveway, since the Talon resides next to the Legacy in our garage. I think it's do-able, spacially, but I truly am somewhat worried about cooling. I guess the only way I'd know is if I mocked it up and gave it a run - that would ease my worries a bit, but the mock block-off plates also definitely wouldn't give off any heat themselves. This may not be too much of a concern, given that the lamps would be in-use only when the vehicle is, more or less, in-motion and thus force-air cooled. But having to rip everything out - potentially more than once - is definitely making me think hard about this before doing it.....

 

I'm currently awaiting delivery of my Laser Interceptor. I'll have a better idea of how much front cooling is affected after I rig-in these two heads.

 

Your proposal, outahere, bro, is *most* interesting! Thanks!