LED front fog lights?

[NeilTwoYetis]

Hi All.

 

I have had a bulb failure warning light come on for the first time - Maxidot says that it is the offside front fog light. I have read a few threads on the topic of changing these bulbs (my Yeti is a 2012 model with cornering lights enabled).

 

I haven't seen any mention of replacing the front fog lights with LED versions. Has anyone else done this? The reason why I am concerned is that the cornering lights fade in/out when in use - I know that some LEDs are not dimmable. Also, will the self-test still work with a different type of bulb?

 

Thanks,

 

Neil.

[voluptua]

My offside front is out as well.  I'm not sure I like the look of some LED bulbs.  I've seen them with mini-projector systems that will squirt most of the light out of the top of the bulb - just the area of the normal one that has no light output at all - so this must disrupt the beam pattern.

 

So I'm interested to hear of any experiences, too. 

[Ryeman]

I would have thought that fogs might be engineered for a particular type of globe to achieve a specific pattern and to avoid glare.

[Gizmo]

These may help?

 

I have not tried the LED in the dark yet as this was just a trial to see if they worked - I did not check to see if they dimmed gradually though, this I will do later hopefully when the CREE’s are fitted into my Superb.

 

4,300K (white) halogen bulb on the left, std halogen on right - in brilliant sunshine but it shows you the difference in colour

 

 

The same 4,300K Halogens in dusk (ignore the apparent scatter ... the DRL’s are doing the same... it’s difficult to photo bulbs directly on)

 

CREE LED bulb on the left and the same 4,300K Halogen on the right (on a dull day):

 

[Yety]

I would have thought that fogs might be engineered for a particular type of globe to achieve a specific pattern and to avoid glare.

 

Absolutely, the scatter looks a bit extreme even allowing for the physics of computer image generation. I'm a motoring/motorsport nut, but this obsession with non OE lighting is making night time driving a hazardous occupation!

 

HID bulbs in non HID lights, then legal HID in production cars, now LED lighting. All this personal gain in lighting comes at the cost to other road users. Do we really need that much blinding light/ scatter, do we need to think that driving in darkness is slightly more dodgy than driving in daylight, do we think of the effect of this superior lighting technology on other road users, does anyone care - I could go on.

 

Don't get me wrong, when driving a forest track at night, I have everything on, main beam, fogs to light the road directly in front of the car to avoid rocks etc .

 

The number of people driving around with headlights and fogs on together is increasing daily - is it a fashion statement, have they forgotten to switch the fogs off, does anyone care, legal?? With plod mostly absent from the roads today, it's all getting a bit me, me, me :wonder:    

[Frenchtone]

try here in finistere!!

[Llanigraham]

Agree with what Jerry says above.

 

Couple of comments about LED bulbs:

Currently very few are E Marked and therefore technically illegal to use.

Check the dimensions of the "bulb" very carefully. I have recently purchased an LED replacement bulb for the warning beacon I use occasionally on stage rallies. It is nearly 2cm taller than the original H series bulb and I had to modify the reflector slightly to allow it to fit. It also has it's main lighting element in a different place to the element of the bulb and this has altered the way it relates to the reflector. 

If you fit an LED you will probably get a bulb failure warning unless you fit a resistor into the circuit. Even so-called CanBus friendly ones can do this.

 

The majority of the bean pattern of the fog light (and many other lights) is not formed by the reflector but by the construction of the lens. All the reflector does is to reflect the light forward into the lens.

Edited 30 November, 2015 by Llanigraham

[Gizmo]

Tried the LED and the beam was spot on... the colour however (blue tint) was not so they will be going back as they were supposed to be pure white.

[NeilTwoYetis]

I appreciate the feedback from all of you.

 

My main consideration had been using this as an opportunity to fit a bulb type that would be unlikely to need replacing again, as it seems the constant dimming gives the original lamps a shorter life. I already had doubts about potential technical issues (‘dimmability’ and CanBus feedback) – but as you have pointed out there are other issues:

 

• Physical sizing of the LED lamp
• Light spread and direction
• Reflector efficiency and focus is based on OEM lamps
• Colour temperature
• Legality
• Visual impact on oncoming drivers

In view of the above I have decided to stick with regular lamps

 

I’ll mark the topic as Solved on the most recent comment. Once again, thank you all for your help on my first post here.

[Llanigraham]

I appreciate the feedback from all of you.

 

My main consideration had been using this as an opportunity to fit a bulb type that would be unlikely to need replacing again, as it seems the constant dimming gives the original lamps a shorter life. I already had doubts about potential technical issues (‘dimmability’ and CanBus feedback) – but as you have pointed out there are other issues:

 

• Physical sizing of the LED lamp
• Light spread and direction
• Reflector efficiency and focus is based on OEM lamps
• Colour temperature
• Legality
• Visual impact on oncoming drivers

In view of the above I have decided to stick with regular lamps

 

I’ll mark the topic as Solved on the most recent comment. Once again, thank you all for your help on my first post here.

 

My original's lasted just over 4 years.

I don't see a problem with that.