HID Fogs vs LED Fogs
Thread Starter
Banned Scam/Spammer
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From: Oklahoma City
St. Jude Donor '09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15-'16-'17,'19,'22
HID Fogs vs LED Fogs
I've received a lot of emails about us offering led fogs over the last few months. I figured they wouldn't match up to stock brightness and def. not HID brightness, but I wanted to try them out for everyone to see. I added a set to my usual LED order from my suppliers and tried them in my C5.
They are 25 SMD 880/881 fog bulbs. They look just like stock bulbs.
Excuse the comforter please. The ground is hard and hurts to lay on
HID Fog (6000k) on the left of the pic stock on the right
HID fog (6000k) on the left of the pic 25 SMD led on the right
These things provide no usable light. I could have aimed them a little higher probably, but they are still way too dim for fogs.
If someone wanted the HID look this might be for them. For functional purposes no way.
They are 25 SMD 880/881 fog bulbs. They look just like stock bulbs.
Excuse the comforter please. The ground is hard and hurts to lay on
HID Fog (6000k) on the left of the pic stock on the right
HID fog (6000k) on the left of the pic 25 SMD led on the right
These things provide no usable light. I could have aimed them a little higher probably, but they are still way too dim for fogs.
If someone wanted the HID look this might be for them. For functional purposes no way.
Team Owner
Joined: May 2006
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From: Palmdale, Ca----- 2009 Cyber Gray 4LT A6 F55 452 RWHP 422 RWTQ- RIP 1998 C5 734 RWHP & 585 RWTQ-----
I'm torn - so just so I have it right!
In the picture the Stock is the Left one (Passenger Side) and the SMD LED is on the right (Drivers Side)
Is that correct?
Thanks,Matt
In the picture the Stock is the Left one (Passenger Side) and the SMD LED is on the right (Drivers Side)
Is that correct?
Thanks,Matt
Burning Brakes
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 1,093
Likes: 33
From: Morristown TN
Not trying to ruin a sale but I have had both.
The LED's look great especially in city driving but the ones I had did not give off much light to drive by but were great for driving in town with just them and your park lights on.
oncoming cars could see you easily and were not blinded at all.
I drive in the country with no streetlights and found them to not be for me so I decided to go with a yellow HID which worked great in foggy and snow conditions.
I think it really depends on where you drive asd to what you should run in them.
The LED's look great especially in city driving but the ones I had did not give off much light to drive by but were great for driving in town with just them and your park lights on.
oncoming cars could see you easily and were not blinded at all.
I drive in the country with no streetlights and found them to not be for me so I decided to go with a yellow HID which worked great in foggy and snow conditions.
I think it really depends on where you drive asd to what you should run in them.
Thread Starter
Banned Scam/Spammer
Joined: Feb 2007
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From: Oklahoma City
St. Jude Donor '09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15-'16-'17,'19,'22
Not trying to ruin a sale but I have had both.
The LED's look great especially in city driving but the ones I had did not give off much light to drive by but were great for driving in town with just them and your park lights on.
oncoming cars could see you easily and were not blinded at all.
I drive in the country with no streetlights and found them to not be for me so I decided to go with a yellow HID which worked great in foggy and snow conditions.
I think it really depends on where you drive asd to what you should run in them.
The LED's look great especially in city driving but the ones I had did not give off much light to drive by but were great for driving in town with just them and your park lights on.
oncoming cars could see you easily and were not blinded at all.
I drive in the country with no streetlights and found them to not be for me so I decided to go with a yellow HID which worked great in foggy and snow conditions.
I think it really depends on where you drive asd to what you should run in them.
Thread Starter
Banned Scam/Spammer
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From: Oklahoma City
St. Jude Donor '09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15-'16-'17,'19,'22
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Thanks JW! I was confused the first time I saw the term "LED Fogs".
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St. Jude Donor '09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15-'16-'17,'19,'22
Former Vendor
Joined: Nov 2005
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From: Spring Texas
St. Jude Donor '08
A bit of clarification on WHY LED bulbs don't make good fogs.
a) Light source power: the typical 35w HID bulb produces upwards of 2000 lumens. Even the most powerful of LED tactical flashlights don't get above 300 lumens. Some automakers have managed to produce elaborate setups featuring high-powered LEDs for use in headlights, but the optics for these setups are extremely precise, expensive and large.
b) Light origin: most reflector or projector based optics, are designed to work with light from a single central source. LED bulbs have several separate light sources that are not at the central focal point of the reflector. This results in a large amount of wasted light. Those who have used LED bulbs in tail lights will relate to this.
In my research, I’ve found that LED bulbs are best suited for marker, interior, turn signal, DRL or effects lights where precision optics and high intensity are not required.
a) Light source power: the typical 35w HID bulb produces upwards of 2000 lumens. Even the most powerful of LED tactical flashlights don't get above 300 lumens. Some automakers have managed to produce elaborate setups featuring high-powered LEDs for use in headlights, but the optics for these setups are extremely precise, expensive and large.
b) Light origin: most reflector or projector based optics, are designed to work with light from a single central source. LED bulbs have several separate light sources that are not at the central focal point of the reflector. This results in a large amount of wasted light. Those who have used LED bulbs in tail lights will relate to this.
In my research, I’ve found that LED bulbs are best suited for marker, interior, turn signal, DRL or effects lights where precision optics and high intensity are not required.
Isn't he awesome.....
Burning Brakes
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 979
Likes: 1
From: Jacksonville Florida
A bit of clarification on WHY LED bulbs don't make good fogs.
a) Light source power: the typical 35w HID bulb produces upwards of 2000 lumens. Even the most powerful of LED tactical flashlights don't get above 300 lumens. Some automakers have managed to produce elaborate setups featuring high-powered LEDs for use in headlights, but the optics for these setups are extremely precise, expensive and large.
b) Light origin: most reflector or projector based optics, are designed to work with light from a single central source. LED bulbs have several separate light sources that are not at the central focal point of the reflector. This results in a large amount of wasted light. Those who have used LED bulbs in tail lights will relate to this.
In my research, I’ve found that LED bulbs are best suited for marker, interior, turn signal, DRL or effects lights where precision optics and high intensity are not required.
a) Light source power: the typical 35w HID bulb produces upwards of 2000 lumens. Even the most powerful of LED tactical flashlights don't get above 300 lumens. Some automakers have managed to produce elaborate setups featuring high-powered LEDs for use in headlights, but the optics for these setups are extremely precise, expensive and large.
b) Light origin: most reflector or projector based optics, are designed to work with light from a single central source. LED bulbs have several separate light sources that are not at the central focal point of the reflector. This results in a large amount of wasted light. Those who have used LED bulbs in tail lights will relate to this.
In my research, I’ve found that LED bulbs are best suited for marker, interior, turn signal, DRL or effects lights where precision optics and high intensity are not required.
I'm no expert on lighting, watts, or lumes, however one of my police tactical flashlights is the Streamlight Stinger DS LED. I can positively say it puts out more light than any single HID light on the front of my car. I can't understand why it is so diffucult to apply this to automotive headlights.
Former Vendor
Joined: Nov 2005
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From: Spring Texas
St. Jude Donor '08
I'm no expert on lighting, watts, or lumes, however one of my police tactical flashlights is the Streamlight Stinger DS LED. I can positively say it puts out more light than any single HID light on the front of my car. I can't understand why it is so diffucult to apply this to automotive headlights.
Your light appears brighter because the beam is extremely narrow compared to an automotive headlight. In addition projector optics decrease the amount of light transmitted each time it's modified (reflected, refracted)
Most projectors suffer 3 critical points of loss from the light source to the beam: The reflector Shield and lens.
The reflector: (depending on clarity and reflectivity) will slightly degrade the light output. Dirty, dull or poorly polished reflectors will yield worse output.
The cutoff Shield: this blocks roughly half the light from ever getting to the projector. Since most cutoff shields are non-reflective. Light that hits here is usally wasted.
The Lens: most projector focal lenses are a fresnel type that purposefully distorts the beam pattern slightly to prevent the sharp cutoff pattern from being a road distraction. The C5 foglights are also vulnerable to "pitting" in the glass that severely hampers output.
This is why HIDs are essential to getting the most out of a projector unit. Most commonly available LEDs are simply not powerful enough to produce the lumen muscle required to transmit enough light from the source to the road surface and back to the driver's eye.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 979
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From: Jacksonville Florida
cool...thanks for the specs. The flashlight beam is much narrower than the fog pattern. I'm actually outside compairing them now lol. The flashlight is brighter to look directly at, but the fog light puts more light out front due to the much wider pattern.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 1,131
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From: Youngsville North Carolina
I have LED's in the fogs. They put out very little usable light. My lenses may be frosted. I haven't gone back to look that closely at them as I don't drive much at night. They "look" good when they are on from outside the car. But provide little useful driving light even after adjusting. Just my .02c
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Joined: Mar 2008
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From: Rio Rancho NM
Thanks for the heads up JW. I'm glad I went with your hids in the fogs. Why would you even want led's in the fogs, just a waste of money. It takes literally seconds to hook up the hid ballast why would you waste time and money on anything else. but hid's from JW?