Are fog lights necessary?

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I'm talking about the ones underneath the regular headlights. I live in Texas and it never really gets foggy here. I've always been told to use the low beams in fog. Are fog lights a marketing gimmick?



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Sometimes. The ones on our Accord don't do much. The ones on our Highlander are fantastic.

Yes, they should only be on when the lows are on.
 
They do help in inclement weather such as heavy rain, heavy snow, and of course, fog. The fogs on the Fit have come in handy on several occasions during the winter. We couldn't see very far anyhow, so seeing better right in front of the car at slow speeds was very nice.

In clear or light weather, they are a nuisance. I can see better at distance with the fogs off than with the fogs on. The asset in bad weather of better vision immediately in front of the car becomes a liability in clear weather that destroys distance vision with too much foreground light.

Properly designed and used, they are useful. Otherwise, they're a gimmick that many people don't use wisely.
 
What do you mean, "...it never gets foggy here."?

Maybe if you live in one of the farther western areas. Amarillo or something. But that's high plains. I think they get fog too.

It doesn't get foggy in the summertime because the temperature and dew point are so far apart. And summertime is our dominant season. Weather pattern wise, it lasts 6+ mos. We have the same Solstices and Equinoctes that everyone else does so our summer is the actual same duration as everyone else's on the calender but summer weather patterns begin earlier and last longer.

But we do get fog. In the short other 3 seasons. We had freezing fog just last winter.

Within the past couple of years (I had the Mazda so sometime since 2006) Dallas/FtWorth had a fog event so bad that you could not see the traffic lights until you were within 2 car lengths of the intersection. You could not see the headlights of the cars on the other side of a 7 lane wide (3ea way + 1 left turn) intersection.

Without the foglights on you could not make out the curbs or stripes on the pavement. My fogs worked very well in the fog. Otherwise, they have just been along for the ride and in the off position.

Some old codger in a van of some sort....I could tell it was a fullsize van. Whether it was a Dodge, Ford, or GM remains forever shrouded in the fog... anyway, he yelled at me and a guy in a 2005+ Mustang GT to, "....turn your G*****n high beams off." So mounting them under the bumper may have an unintentional benefit. It keeps the guy who, "lives in a van down by the river" quiet.

I can remember riding my motorcycle in the fog on many occasions because because it is both relaxing and terrifying at the same. The swirling fog by your front tire and the cooling effect of the mist has a calming sensation. But that's continously shattered by the realization that a car could come out of the calm mist and flatten you at any time. It is an odd duality and a memorable situation.
 
I think fog lamps should be able to be used without the low beams on. I've had situations in a previous car when I was in blinding snow and it was dusk out and I wanted forward lighting, but the low beams would whitewash my forward vision. So I had my fog lamps on without the head lamps (and just had the parking lamps on), I could see and be seen. This was an aftermarket install, so I wasn't hindered by the typical behavior where the fog lamps go out if you turn the low beams off (as they do in our MDX).

I will say that the fog lamps on our MDX are the best I've ever had. The difference in lighting, especially side lighting, is incredible. They're very useful for driving around town and in the neighborhood because of the increased contrast and side lighting. On the open road, however, they become distracting because your eye focuses on the foreground too much because of the vast spread of light there.

So I use them sometimes and I don't use them sometimes. It depends on the situation.

Our Honda doesn't have them, but I can add them from the Honda accessory catalog, which I do plan to do.
 
Yes, in the fog.
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Sorry, just couldn't resist...
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It depends on the vehicle and specific lights in question. I drive with them on, on my charger all the time as they greatly increase what I can see. It truly is a night and day difference with the fogs off/lows on versus fogs on/lows on, regardless of weather my fogs are on.

On my mom's Sebring however, it is a completely different story. The fogs are absolutely useless! I mean zero, zero, zero difference with them on or off. In this case they simply make the car look more complete.
 
I like my fog lights I replaced the bulbs with 3000k HID's and they are a lot more effective but I don't always drive with them on.

Also the fog lights on the GM trucks are pretty good they seem to be brighter than the low beam headlights.
 
IME, they're beneficial for maintaining higher visibility to other vehicles during inclement weather. I use them so others see me better, not so that I can see better.
 
Fog lights are just for fog. Something people get in Europe and don't use them at all except in fog.

Not here. There's even a mindset of wiring you vehicle to turn off the low beams like you are cool or stealth? I don't get it. They look stupid. Either you need lights or you don't, otherwise they are distraction and promote glare.

In Europe, fog lights are regulated for brightnes, pattern, glare, and location. The US has much more lax rules. and more problems with them.
 
Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
I think fog lamps should be able to be used without the low beams on. I've had situations in a previous car when I was in blinding snow and it was dusk out and I wanted forward lighting, but the low beams would whitewash my forward vision. So I had my fog lamps on without the head lamps (and just had the parking lamps on), I could see and be seen.


I agree 100%

Driving in a snowstorm with fogs and parking lights is what I prefer as well, But only slow and on local roads.
 
People drive with them at night all the time around here. It makes it hard to see. From the distance, it looks like they have their high beams on but as they near, it turns out to be their fog lights.
Originally Posted By: ffracer
Fog lights are just for fog. Something people get in Europe and don't use them at all except in fog.

Not here. There's even a mindset of wiring you vehicle to turn off the low beams like you are cool or stealth? I don't get it. They look stupid. Either you need lights or you don't, otherwise they are distraction and promote glare.

In Europe, fog lights are regulated for brightnes, pattern, glare, and location. The US has much more lax rules. and more problems with them.
 
It seems that here fog lights are a fashion accessory. People run with them on as "extra lights" in normal conditions.

I've heard that fog lights work best when they can be turned on by themselves. The issue is that low/high beams have too much reflected light back to the driver, whereas the reflection pattern is less obvious to the driver when coming off the fog lights.

Color also seems to be an issue. All w123 MBs sold in the US had "fog" lights that were mounted next to the regular sealed beam lights. THey have a yellow output and have far less reflection in foggy/rainy weather and do help sight.

Someplace, Daniel Stern did some really good writeups about what is technically sound/what is not. If he still has a website, they are probably there.
 
I also like driving in snow with fogs, and might on rutted dirt roads as well.

The angle of the light exaggerates the texture of what I'm driving on, and helps me pick my path, exactly.

I like yellow fogs for this; the distance between them hiding under the bumper and the white headlights help the "3D" effect even more by the shadows of all the little clumps of snow.

Most fog lights do not have shrouding on the tips of the bulbs like you would find on low beams, so are more glary. How much more is a function of design, aim, and maintenance (eg not sandblasted lenses) but if there's no shroud on the bulb, they are rude to other drivers.
 
Fog doesn't always touch the ground. There are many situations where low mounted fogs can improve vision by illuminating the road underneath a hovering fog layer.
 
Originally Posted By: johnsmellsalot
People drive with them at night all the time around here. It makes it hard to see. From the distance, it looks like they have their high beams on but as they near, it turns out to be their fog lights.


The lights you describe are "driving lights" AKA "driving lamps". They are a type of high beam. Contrast http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driving_lights#Driving_lamps with http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driving_lights#Front_fog_lamps Proper fog lights light up the road and not the eyes of oncoming drivers.

Fog lights that will not light without the headlights on are slightly helpful and mostly gimmick for appearance.
 
Originally Posted By: 5sfe91
Also the fog lights on the GM trucks are pretty good they seem to be brighter than the low beam headlights.


I personally think they're pretty bad. They have very little optical definition (they scatter light everywhere) and are often aimed way too high. When you look at the front of a late-model GM truck with these on, it does appear at the fog lamps are brighter than the main lamps...this is usually because they're aimed up in your face.
 
when properly designed and used... they are great, especially when you drive on curvy roads in inclement weather. When properly designed they'll light up the corners of the road better, so you know where the boundary of the road is (so you don't drive into the ditch).

Many of the newer Euro freeform reflector fog lights are focusing the pattern more to the side (corner) than in front of the car, for this purpose.

What really grinds my gears are rear fog lights... people that use them (regardless if they know or not) on clear nights
 
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Originally Posted By: dparm
It's how I tell the car behind me or coming up the hill is not a police car. :)


haha me too.

The motoring public is going to be screwed when they retire the CVPI.

Though I've been fooled by Jettas occasionally.
 
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