Fog Lights
Fog lights are designed to
improve visibility in difficult environmental conditions such as
fog, snow, dust, etc. They work best with headlights
turned off and at driving speeds below 50mph. There are
few consistent standards in the industry for fog lights, so be
prepared for some variation in specifications from different
manufacturers. They light up the road relatively close to
the car, spreading out from left to right in a pattern wider
than standard headlights. Fog lights are typically mounted below
the bumper, less than 24” from the ground. By installing
the lights low, and aiming properly, reflected glare from
environmental conditions, back to the driver, is minimized.
If a cutoff is not available to extinguish the standard
headlights when fog lights are illuminated, the functionality of
the fog lights will be dramatically reduced. This is
because standard headlights will reflect glare back to the
driver from the moisture/contamination in the air.
Substituting fog lights for headlights is a bad idea.
Because the dispersed beam pattern of fog lights is directed low
and spread out close to the ground, and has less brightness than
headlights, you probably will not have enough illumination to
safely light the road at highway speeds.
HID fog
lights sound cool, but are generally self-defeating. This
is because the extra brightness of the HID's will just be
reflected back to the driver, completely eliminating their
supposed functionality.
Lastly,
forget the old idea that yellow is the only color for fog
lights. Scientific testing has determined that clear, blue
and green colored fog lights work just as well.
Some
examples of auxiliary fog lights include:
Hella 550
Fog lights, 500 Fog Lights, FF 200 Fog Lamps, FF50 and FF75 Fog
Lamps.
PIAA 520
Series Fog Lights, 959 Projector Fog Lights, 540 Series
Fog Lights, Jeep Denji Fog Lights
KC Slim
Light Series Fog Lights.
These are
only a few of the many different manufacturers and styles of
fog
lights available for the consumer. These lights are
readily available on the internet and we have some for sale
also. Just click on the
Driving Lights button at the top
of this page.
Auxiliary
Low-Beams
Not as
popular as driving lights or
fog lights, we think auxiliary
low-beams are a terrific choice because they can be used in the
night driving conditions you most commonly encounter – clear
weather with too much traffic to use the hi-beams or driving
lights. They’re designed to be used in conjunction with
your primary headlights. They should be on anytime you’re
driving with stock low beams on. They’re terrific for that
extra bit of illumination anytime there’s too much general
traffic to be running driving lights or hi-beams. Their
beam pattern is completely different from fog lights, with more
brightness illuminating more of the road close to the vehicle
and straight ahead.
Auxiliary
Driving Lights
A very
popular choice for today’s driver, Auxiliary Driving Lights are
intended for use when you have high beams on. Like the mushy
song lyrics; these things will “light up your life.” They
really begin to shine at a distance of about 50’ from the
vehicle, but narrow angle openings in the back reflector will
throw the optimum brightness further down the road.
Translation – narrow angle lights are for faster driving.
For example, stock 40 degree hi-beams could be ideally combined
with 10 degree driving lights for excellent results in speeds
exceeding 80 mph. All hypothetical of course, as this kind
of night-time speed is both highly illegal and dangerous.
