Most cost effective way of getting ALOT of light output for less money.

[souptree]

I know this isn't very constructive, but my first thought on seeing your thread title was a gasoline fire. :thinking:

 

[gf0012-aust]

This is so true...I don't understand there thinking (or the lack there of).
If they really want there fog lights to be effective, use selective yellow lights!

I'm running Lightforce 170 HIDs. Changing over the covers to yellow fog provides a far better distributed and depth of coverage than compared to the original mercedes white fogs, and certainly better than when I was using 3000k bulbs on my super oscars.

horses for courses.....

 

[Lightdoctor]

HID fog lights aren't fog lights. They're "hey look at me!" bling. Same idea as spinner wheels; just useless garbage.

Right on! Could've not said it better. Some people say that blue is better for night vision; from personal experience (couldn't see anything with blue fog lights) I've found yellow to be alot better for vision, even compared to standard (3200K) halogen. (My eyes seem to be sensitive to blue.) I have in the past used light yellowish bulbs in my headlights too, and found them to be easier on the eyes, esspecially in inclement weather...which I drive in alot during the winter.

BTW, I've noticed lately that Narva is offering a yellow bulb again called "Contrast+", anybody tryed these? Are they like the old Azzurro bulbs?

 

[SmurfTacular]

Or tint your cheap HIDs to selective yellow...

It was pretty foggy yesterday and today on my commute in; there's a good stretch of narrow/hilly dirt road that I like to take. It's a 20-30 mph thing with streams and deer and rabbits, etc. No streetlights, of course.
In 2 years I've only encountered 4 oncoming vehicles; great place to use yellow HIDs.

This might be a stupid question, but if you want a yellow tint in your HID output, why don't you buy bulbs with a lower color temperature? Wouldn't 3.5K be yellowish?

 

[Lightdoctor]

This might be a stupid question, but if you want a yellow tint in your HID output, why don't you buy bulbs with a lower color temperature? Wouldn't 3.5K be yellowish?

A 3000K HID lamp with a yellow pass filter would be better than a 4300K or 5000K which would loose alot of light due to their high blue content being filtered out...but some people just like bling.

 

[Hilldweller]

A 3000K HID lamp with a yellow pass filter would be better than a 4300K or 5000K which would loose alot of light due to their high blue content being filtered out...but some people just like bling.

Guilty as charged; I wanted my yellow cast light and my yellow lens too.
I'm a relatively bling-free person but this one thing is a weakness of mine.

But, let me stress, it does work as intended. I drive this thing through all sorts of horrific mountain fog/rain/snow/smoke and those yellows do the trick for me.
I'm another one of those people who are extremely sensitive to the blue light, btw.

 

[SmurfTacular]

Guilty as charged; I wanted my yellow cast light and my yellow lens too.
I'm a relatively bling-free person but this one thing is a weakness of mine.

But, let me stress, it does work as intended. I drive this thing through a ll sorts of horrific mountain fog/rain/snow/smoke and those yellows do the trick for me.
I'm another one of those people who are extremely sensitive to the blue light, btw.

honestly in my opinion I really don't see a problem with people having a personal preference on light colors. you prefer yellow tinted lights, some people preffer pure white, and I actually really like the light blue tint on HID's. How much light do you actually loose when going from 4300 to 6000?

 

[-Virgil-]

How much light do you actually loose when going from 4300 to 6000?

A lot. Too much.

Philips D2S 4200K bulb: 3200 lumens -- legal output, legal color.
Philips D2S 6000K bulb: 2400 lumens -- illegal output (too low), illegal color (too blue).

They are safety devices, people. Not fashion accessories.

 

[SmurfTacular]

A lot. Too much.

Philips D2S 4200K bulb: 3200 lumens -- legal output, legal color.
Philips D2S 6000K bulb: 2400 lumens -- illegal output (too low), illegal color (too blue).

They are safety devices, people. Not fashion accessories.

Wow, that is a huge difference. I was under the impression that its only a slight lose in light. And there is a law on blue HID lights? Must not be very inforced because I see them ALL the time. Is 4200K pure white @ 35W? Because I know that the higher the wattage the higher color temperate pure white is.

 

[rushnrockt]

Wow, that is a huge difference. I was under the impression that its only a slight lose in light. And there is a law on blue HID lights? Must not be very inforced because I see them ALL the time. Is 4200K pure white @ 35W? Because I know that the higher the wattage the higher color temperate pure white is.

I am surprised that living in Orange County you don't see that enforced more often. Around a decade ago, having any sort of light trickery on a car in Bay Area would net you half a dozen fix-it tickets before you even had a chance to get your old lights out of the trash bin. Same thing for anywhere around LA. I guess there are more lucrative tickets to give out nowadays.

 

[SmurfTacular]

I am surprised that living in Orange County you don't see that enforced more often. Around a decade ago, having any sort of light trickery on a car in Bay Area would net you half a dozen fix-it tickets before you even had a chance to get your old lights out of the trash bin. Same thing for anywhere around LA. I guess there are more lucrative tickets to give out nowadays.

bluish lights are SOOO common. Most of them appear to be above 8000K at least, sometimes purple!!! Its a really bad problem, and I'm shocked to hear that its actually illegal to have bluish lights. Its worst when there in 1980's Honda civics and there fog lights are yellow or green. It looks so bad and drives me crazy.

I think bluish lights in the housing look really good on BMW's, Mercedes, Cadillac's etc. not 80's Honda's :sick2:

 

[-Virgil-]

Wow, that is a huge difference.

Yup. And that's just looking at bulbs made by legitimate makers!

I was under the impression that its only a slight lose in light.

Now you know!

And there is a law on blue HID lights?

Headlamps are required by regulations around the world to produce white light. The "white box" (range of allowable tint) is quite large, so there can be a very perceptible amount of tint to the light and still have it fall within the white box, but those 6000K bulbs are well outside the "white" box and into the "blue" box.

Is 4200K pure white @ 35W?

The phrase "pure white" doesn't mean anything. Nor are HID headlights "whiter" than halogen headlights.

 

[tay]

What you may be interpreting as blue or purple lights could just be lens dispersion. Most HID projectors, if viewed from above or from the side, will appear blue or purple. However, the light on the road is still white. If it's a luxury car and it looks blue, chances are it's a legal 4100k-4300k factory HID setup, and it's just the colorband you're seeing. If it's a cheaper car, or has reflectors, then it was probably factory halogen with a drop-in kit.

They are illegal, but I see tons of cars (mostly riced-out pickup trucks) with deep blue headlights and foglights. For some reason, police just don't seem to care.

 

[KLowD9x]

Go forthe bar and fill the housings with the HID kits.

I had those kits in my Jeep SRT8 fog lamps. I went with the 55w over the 35watt. Fortunately the housings were large enough to deal with the extreme heat made by these bulbs.

Its all Chinese junk from 4 manufacturers, relabelled and sold uner 10 million names and websites. I found a kit with super-slim ballats for about $70US. I went for the 4200k after trying the 5000k. Anything higher Kelvin has a unique look which I dont like. Also loses its throw, usability, and doesnt match the factory bulbs.

One thing to note, you may get some FM radio interference.

I have no regrets with them, though many insist the reflectors were not designed to use the light properly. (These might be the same guys that dont like to see D's in a C bra, I dont know..) For me, they lit the road up like the sun in conjuntion with my factory HID's. I'd run mostly with only the fogs on until it was absolutely necessary. No premature bulb burn outs, no flickering, no nothing, just lots of white light.

I just installed the same kit but with 35watt ballasts in my 09 Volvo XC70 (pre-Chinese) to match the factory HID headlamps. Looks and works great in that much smaller lamp housing.

My 09 S550 also has the 35watt kit in the fog lamps, 4200k matches that perfectly too.

:laughing: You Volvo owners kill me. First it was "Before Ford", now it's "Pre-Chinese". They're still made in Belgium and Sweden.

The only thing moving is where the money comes from and where the technology goes.

 

[Random Guy]

:laughing: You Volvo owners kill me. First it was "Before Ford", now it's "Pre-Chinese". They're still made in Belgium and Sweden.

The only thing moving is where the money comes from and where the technology goes.

Bah. The last real Volvo was the 1995 940. That was the last car Volvo made with the famous, indestructible, redblock engine.

 

[KLowD9x]

Bah. The last real Volvo was the 1995 940. That was the last car Volvo made with the famous, indestructible, redblock engine.

Yeah, because the whiteblocks aren't indestructible.

Hell, I trust a whiteblock more than a redblock. At least the white blocks get decent fuel economy, make decent power and keep the oil in the sump where it belongs.

Also, they are a pleasure to work on.