Need help with lighting (Suzuki Grand Vitara)

Hey to all. Been a lurker on these forums for a while and learned a lot. So I decided to join for advice and to share what I know as well.

Any way here's the deal,

I have a 2004 Suzuki Grand Vitara 3door model. Bought it about two months ago from the first owner. The headlamps were badly off, I "restored" them and used it for a while until I was able to buy new OEM replacement headlamps which I fitted with Philips Extreme power bulbs (H4).

Where I'm from in the tropics (Trinidad, a small Caribbean island), we have lots of bad roads, dark roads, and weather (lots of rain) that can change at a moments notice. I usually drive home late at night, and in the wooded country areas, there is fog. So I bought the OEM fog lamp kit for this vehicle, however it did not come with bulbs :shrug: . It uses H3 bulbs. I was thinking of using selective yellow bulbs, but I'm not sure if there's any benefit.
I had Hella yellow H3 bulbs on my Suzuki Jimny before, they looked nice, and worked well (better than the stock bulbs), but I'm not convinced they helped much in inclement weather.
Another thing is, I can only use a yellow bulb since it is illegal to have colored lens fog lights ie.yellow lens fog lights, so that rules out using an overlay or painting the reflector.


So my questions are:

1. Is there anything better than the Philips H4 bulbs, I want to make sure I'm getting maximum output from my new (and costly) headlamps.

2. What H3 bulbs would you all recommend I use for the fog lamps. My options that I came down to are;
-CPI gold selective yellow
-Navra +50
-Osram fog breaker.

I'm not sure if the selective yellow would give me any advantage in poor weather conditions.

Would really like some input here on bulb choices, and any other helpful advice.

Thanks in advance!

nmonline said:

I was thinking of using selective yellow bulbs, but I'm not sure if there's any benefit.

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Unfortunately, there aren't really any decent yellow H3 bulbs out there.

The factory fog lamps themselves probably aren't really all that amazing, but putting the best H3 bulbs in you can will help with focus. The Narva Rangepower +50 H3 would be a good choice/

Another thing is, I can only use a yellow bulb since it is illegal to have colored lens fog lights ie.yellow lens fog lights, so that rules out using an overlay or painting the reflector.

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I hope you meant "painting the lens"!

The laws look like a real mess-- they mention specific STREETS in them, so it shows some antiquities there.

It does show that certain exceptions can be made "with the approval of the licensing authority"-- perhaps you could persuade the "licensing authority" to give approval (in *writing*) for you to yellow-ify (that's a perfectly cromulent word) your fog lamps in accordance with http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/lights/light_color/light_color.html, being sure to draw their attention to the studies cited within showing the safety improvement of proper yellow fog lamp lenses. Perhaps even Daniel Stern himself could help you convince them-- but perhaps leaving them clear is simpler...

I'm not sure if the selective yellow would give me any advantage in poor weather conditions.

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*Some* advantage, but remember that the yellow light is not a magic bullet that lets you drive as fast as you would in clear weather.

Would it be legal to install driving lights? Headlights are inherently limited in what they can do due to regulations (not sure if your cars use US regs or not). A set of driving lights would probably be a bigger upgrade than any bulb you could put in the stock headlights. Driving lights would also have the advantage that you can turn them off in normal driving to avoid blinding other drivers.

nitedrive said:

Would it be legal to install driving lights? A set of driving lights would probably be a bigger upgrade than any bulb you could put in the stock headlights.

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"Driving lights" (auxiliary high beam head lamps) are not for use in fog; the OP's concerns are with fog and heavy rain, which contraindicates using high beams, let alone auxiliary high beams.

Ops, sorry, I thought he was worried about distance. Yes, driving lights are not good for fog. Note that if the car came with US spec fog lights they are going to be basically useless in fog. I think the US regs on lights actually prevent fogs from being overly effective here.

I'm using these: Hella Micro DE, with Osram #64151ALL 55W Allseason Goldish/yellow H3

The Osram Allseason H3 was the best yellowish lamp made in my subjective opinion. I saw a seller on Ebay from the UK selling these and I bought a few being they are no longer made. I'm only suggesting these lamps if you can't really paint or otherwise make your lenses yellow. (I'm using these because I didn't want to paint my Micro DE projector lenses.) The CPI gold H3 is OK I guess, but I was not impressed with it's performance or build quality. The Narva is an excellent lamp...to bad they don't offer them in "Range Power Yellow".

Another option is the new Philips Weather Vision line they sell in Asia. They're a non-dichroic yellow lamp and would probably be OK for your application. (I have no experience with these, so I can't give you a subjective review.)

Wow, I'm actually surprised that yellow lenses are illegal, especially since some cars, including mine, actually come with yellow-lens fog lights!

Any of your three choices will serve you well though.

Not sure, but I think Susquehanna Motorsports sells a yellow glass insert that snaps into the reflector, then allows the H4 bulb to be inserted. I had that setup on a Honda ST1300: dual H4 headlamps, one yellow, one white.