Best Fog lights

[Blast7]

I was wondering how much of a difference there is between the types of fog lights out there. I have the Blazer Tech fogs on my black SHO but have seen some people who have the PIAA 1500XT fogs. Are these a lot better? Do they bolt up to the existing hardware? Are they the best choice out there?

 

[kaoticSHO]

PIAA 930 HID are not too shabby

wink

 

[Blast7]

How much did those run you? Also, are you running HID headlights?

 

[RI-SHO]

kaoticSHO:
PIAA 930 HID are not too shabby

wink

lol arent those the $1000+ ones from the PIAA website?

I say if you want HID's in your fogs just buy a new foglight assembly to have max clarity and stage I 4300K Philips HID kit, it would still be cheaper than the PIAA but I believe the PIAA's also have 8000K output.

I love the 4pops total I get when I turn on my factory HID's on my TL-S and stage I philips HID's in my foglights thumbs_u . The SHO will probaly recieve the same treatment once it eventually gets running right which IMO wont be for awhile.

 

[Blast7]

What headlight kit are the TL-S HID's compareable(sp) to?

 

[kaoticSHO]

Once you turn on the PIAA HID's on my car you will realize that you don't NEED headlights..lol

Yes, RI, those are the pricey PIAA's. They must have come down in price from $1000; I bought them last year..in January along with driver and passenger Recaro seats...they took a couple of hundred off since I bought $2500 seats.

In truth, they have wonderful output for such a small (dimension) light. If you can afford them, IMO, PIAA makes a great product.

 

[Dave Ladely]

Before you get any PIAA or other so called "fog" lights, check out the rectangular HID driving lights from JCWhitney. At $600.00, they are reasonable, and they look better - they fit the SHO opening perfectly, the beam is NOT a pencil beam but is like a "fog" light beam, horizontal with a very sharp cutoff to avoid dazzling oncoming drivers, also the sharp cutoff makes them better in the fog than the yellowish "fog" lights (the yellow color is BS, just cuts down light), and at the same time the lights have four times the distance of any halogen light. Check them out, JCWhitney will refund if not satisfied.
Everyone who has seen mine in action are very very impressed. All solid aluminum and stainless parts, very well made, look great!

 

[RI-SHO]

Blast7:
What headlight kit are the TL-S HID's compareable(sp) to?

Well since I didnt want the foglight HID's to be any brighter than my stock headlight HID's, I went with the same light output as the headlights which the Stage I 4300K kit. Now after i'm closer to the 50hr burn in time which new HID bulbs require when new, they are truly starting to look "bluer" and match my headlights more at night. Later on I might just change the whole frontend to Stage II 6000K bulbs seeing as all I would need is DR2 bulbs.

<small>[ July 27, 2002, 11:39 AM: Message edited by: RI-SHO ]</small>

 

[kaoticSHO]

Dave Ladely:
Before you get any PIAA or other so called "fog" lights, check out the rectangular HID driving lights from JCWhitney. At $600.00, they are reasonable, and they look better - they fit the SHO opening perfectly, the beam is NOT a pencil beam but is like a "fog" light beam, horizontal with a very sharp cutoff to avoid dazzling oncoming drivers, also the sharp cutoff makes them better in the fog than the yellowish "fog" lights (the yellow color is BS, just cuts down light), and at the same time the lights have four times the distance of any halogen light. Check them out, JCWhitney will refund if not satisfied.
Everyone who has seen mine in action are very very impressed. All solid aluminum and stainless parts, very well made, look great!

Hey Dave, have you ever SEEN the PIAA 930's in action. There aren't that many running around. Mine fit my Gen II just fine. In fact you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. In this case, you get what you pay for.

Once again, if you can afford them...they are the best. A friend of mine purchased the JC Whitney HID and was very disappointed with them and after a bit they quit working. So much for quality control.

 

[RI-SHO]

kaoticSHO:
A friend of mine purchased the JC Whitney HID and was very disappointed with them and after a bit they quit working. So much for quality control.

You happen to know what stage or how much light output those JC Whitney kits put out? Couldve been why your friend was disappointed b/c I believe the PIAA's are also more b/c they put out 6000K, compared to what you get for $500 which is only 4300K. Like you said you get what you paid for thumbs_u .

 

[Dave Ladely]

The Kelvin temperature has nothing to do with light output, just light color. The JCWhitneys are about 6000K, about like sunlight at high noon, not 4300K, to the best of my knowledge as 4300K is kinda yellow. Anyway, slightly yellow would be fine as long as it has high light output, and with the yellowish, it would look more like halogen, which some like better.
I had Catz fog lights, which were kinda yellow, and the JCWhitney RECTANGULAR, not the round ones, throw light so much farther it seems like more than the quaduple distance claimed. And the cut off is sharper too, avoiding dazzling oncoming drivers and also avoiding dazzling in fog - they operate just like fog lights but much further distance and more light due to the yellow color of fog lights dimming the light somewhat. By the way, it is a proven fallacy that yellow color is better in fog. Its been researched. It was built on a false premise in the first place, a kinda comical one at that. Which shows how subjective opinions can be very deceiving.

 

[RI-SHO]

So the stock 4300K HID's on my TL-S are yellow? I shouldve been more specific the higher the kelvin the brighter they look, not that they have more light output. I believe once you hit 6000K you get into the purplish looking HID's similiar to what the Audi's come with.

 

[Dave Ladely]

Yes, they may look brighter, and my JCWhitneys do as they are a pure white light, not yellowish and not purplish (which super high Kelvin temp lights look like). Really do look great, and they are made of cast aluminum and stainless steel, all very high quality. And fit the SHO perfectly. Check them out. I have had them for almost a year, used every night, no problems, can see so much better, never overdrive my lights on rural mountain roads anymore.
Actually, yellow lights can look plenty bright, too, if they have the power. I am not really interested in "looking" bright, I want LOTS of light, with sharp cutoff to avoid dazzling oncoming cars, with a horizontal beam so I can see to right and left as well as in front, not a pencil beam - these are perfect, better than I expected and I am hard to please, thats why the Catz didnt come close.

 

[jymwhi]

Dave,

Do they use the existing connectors and OEM fog light switch or do they have to be wired in seperately?

 

[RI-SHO]

jymwhi:
Dave,

Do they use the existing connectors and OEM fog light switch or do they have to be wired in seperately?

If your talking about the HID foglights they come with a ballasts and your stock connectors connect to it and then the other output goes to the foglight assembly/bulb. And yes you will keep your OEM button/switch.

 

[Blast7]

Edien, could you explain to me what the ballasts do. I am unfamiliar to the electronics of HID's and how they work. I was just doing some reading and found out something I didn't know before. HID's are basically designed to last forever. Many of you may know this but I did not and it sheds some light on whether the purchase is worth it. Granted, if you break them then it will cost big bucks to replace but other than that they should last the life of the car. thumbs_u

<small>[ August 01, 2002, 07:39 PM: Message edited by: Blast7 ]</small>

 

[Dave Ladely]

The JCWhitney HIDs come complete with ballasts and heavy duty wiring. They also come with a remote, making wiring super easy. There is also a wire for the stock switch if desired.
yes, HIDs last about forever, no bulb. The ballasts are used to increase 12v to around 20,000 volts so an arc is produced - no filament to burn out or break from jarring. Once you turn them on, you will never ever go back to halogen or fake HIDs, whatever the price. You will be very impressed, more than you expect, I am confident of that!
The HID headlights are a different animal. I am not sure I would be interested as most don't have a high beam (not that it is really needed with the "low" beam of HID being much better than the halogen Hi beam, but I like to be able to "flash" oncoming drivers who dont dim their lights, etc). If they have a good hi beam, I would be interested in those also.

 

[Dave Ladely]

Oh, last but notleast, the HIDs draw much less cusrrent, about a third less than halogens while producing about 4 times the light, which is nice to have one's cake and eat it too, though an expensive cake.

 

[herman]

A factory low beam halogen based bulb give out 800-1000lm. A D2* bulb gives out 2800-3200lm, all depending.
This will give 3000/900 => 3.3 times more light. Note that this will be ratings on the bulb only. The quality of optics (headlight/driving light/fog light) is actually of a much more importance than bulb type.

Also consider the Sylvania Xenarc 1010 Auxiallary low beam . Its 2.5" x 6.5", and is made in the US, utilizing only high quality parts. Dont know what Auxiallary low beam is?
Click here.

<small>[ August 06, 2002, 08:39 PM: Message edited by: herman ]</small>

 

[Dave Ladely]

I think JCWhitney, who sells the rectangular ones that fit the SHO perfectly, guarantees satisfaction. They use stainless steel brackets, cast aluminum housings, heavy duty wiring. Installing them does not harm any parts anyway. I have an extra set I am thinking of selling since the deal for another SHO fell through. I would never consider the fake wannabe HIDs whatever the false claims after owning the real thing!!