Some mornings, our publisher Matt likes to call me. Well, “likes” may be strong; I think he tries to call our managing editor Peter first, and if Peter is unavailable or on a bender, Matt will settle for calling me. Usually he just recounts his most recent erotic dream involving Bebe Neuwirth (“we were trapped on an oil rig” or “her and I were teamed up on the Olympic mixed-doubles sensual massage team”) or describes, in remarkable detail, his most recent rashes. Sure, there’s also plenty of work talk (“we can make vowels only visible to members”) but today Matt had a genuinely interesting question: do I use my fog lights?
As always, a question a child might ask, but not a childish question. Fog lights! I love fog lights! Now, I should clarify that I’m very old school when it comes to fog lamps; I tend to think only of the yellow lamps as fog lights, and the clear/white ones I think of as driving lights. I think this sort of distinction is largely considered obsolete, and almost all auxiliary front-facing lighting is called a fog light today.
Lots of cars have fog lights built in, and I have two cars in my fleet with fog lights right now: my 1990 Nissan Pao, which has add-on yellow fog lights, and my 2010 Volkswagen Tiguan, which has integrated clear fog lights from the factory. I drive the Pao a lot more than the Tiguan, and I prefer its add-on yellow fog lights much, much more, but I do regularly use fog lights on both cars.
On the Tiguan, I like the fog lights on dark roads, as they cast more light on the road surface itself, which I find helpful. The Pao’s fogs are usually pointed in a similar downward orientation, casting two pleasing saffron-colored oblongs on the road. Of course, sometimes I lean up against one of the lights, and then it serves to light up the tops of trees in a yellowish glow, freaking out the squirrels.
In the Pao, I think I use my fogs both for throwing some extra light on the road, and, equally importantly, to make my car more visible itself. I don’t have DRLs or anything, so sometimes I use the fogs during overcast days or around dusk just to make my car more obvious. I also just love the way they look, to be honest. A nice set of large, round, yellow foglamps makes even the most boring car seem significantly more fun and exciting.
Now, the big question is probably do these lights actually help in foggy weather? I think the yellow ones sort of do, as I tend to get less glare in fog than from the white ones, but I’m not sure there’s any actual magical fog-penetrating going on. I’ve heard and read some conflicting studies, but overall I think it is accepted that yellow fog lights do scatter less and provide less glare in foggy conditions. It has something to do with a phenomenon known as “Rayleigh scattering,” and, again, I’m not exactly sure just how much difference there really is, but I feel like the glare from yellow lights is a little less pronounced than from white.
But who knows? I think I mostly use them because it makes me happy.
Rear fog lights, like those required in the UK, are a different sort of thing, I think. I think they unquestionably make your car more visible from the rear in foggy conditions, and they probably should be more common here in America.
What about you? Do you have foglights? If so do you use them, and if so, how? Or why? Tell me, dammit!
As DRLs/stylistic elements.
In my GTI I used them as manual turning lights, as they added a lot of light to the sides of the headlight pattern.
I find fog lights generally worthless. I removed them from my ’83 911SC.
Since learning that OEM “fog lights” can actually cause more glare for other drivers in wet conditions, I only use my OEM fogs (which are quite large but mostly for show) when visibility is severely reduced. It’s a bit of a shame since I like the look of the big fog lights on my ’03 Subaru Outback, but maybe once I make them yellow I’ll use them more and not feel bad about dazzling other drivers. Generally, I use them sparingly. I do use them in the snow, and after a summer rain when the evaporating steam rises off the pavement and causes glare reflected to my eyes from my primary low- or high-beams –the fog lights can give a little extra light without extra glare from the steam. In dry conditions, I refrain from using them, because it feels more responsible not to add to more light pollution on our roads. If I can’t see far enough, either I use the high-beams (when appropriate) or drive slower. Fog lights aren’t a replacement for those.
As an aside, when I see a car running fog lights in perfectly clear (nighttime) conditions I get a little annoyed, because it’s unnecessary (with your headlights, obviously) and fog lights are not often aimed and designed to cutoff as precisely as your primary headlights, shining in whichever direction since few people bother to aim them, if its even possible for that vehicle/setup, and just causing more glare for oncoming traffic –so I try not to be that person. Blinding headlights is a real problem for those of us in older cars without projectors or LEDs!
I use them as much as I can, on my Acura I can’t run just the parking lamps and fog lamps, which is what I usually do during the day in most of the cars, I’ve also changed all my bulbs to yellow for better usable light in inclement weather, and because it looks cool! I put switchback LEDs in the Acura, just on the off chance I want the fogs to match the HIDs, which I will do occasionally.
AKA rude and inconsiderate.
It’s a good question. With modern cars, I’ve found the fog lights to be generally useless – in my GX, the white LED fog lights simply reflect the fog back, so I can more clearly see how dense the fog is. At best, maybe it’s more useful for oncoming traffic to see me lit up like a Christmas tree.
A better idea might be to project a dot grid of red lasers onto the next thirty or forty feet. That way, you would see both the density of the fog (visibility of the beam), plus contour of the terrain ahead. At forty feet, you would also have a relatively safe margin with the next vehicle ahead.
Obviously this comes with the caveat that you’ll need everyone to wear special eye protection, but at least it’s more functional than staring at fog or more fog.
I like your idea. And it triggered my brain to spit out this gem. Why don’t we blow the fog out of the way? We can just reverse the fan on the radiator (it’s cool out anyway) and send a stream of hot air out ahead of the car. Perhaps a bit of funneling could project farther ahead especially since you will be driving slower for visibility. Please forgive me if this has been proposed before. Has Torch already had this idea and created the graphics to go with it?
It wouldn’t be better for the cats.
Infra red and radar cameras are actually an option now.
I change the bulbs in the fog lights on every car I own to yellow. I just have them on all the time with the headlights. My 96 Civic, I have aftermarket replicas of the JDM yellow lense “square” fog lights and they can be turned on independently of the headlights. I’ll often run them and the parking lights without headlights in conditions where I don’t explicitly need headlights but want to be more visible.
Until I upgraded to LEDs I used the fog lights to know my headlights were on in my jeep wrangler because the factory headlights were too dim to see if they were on.
I use mine pretty much all the time in my Jeep JK, partly as DRLs and partly because Jeep couldn’t come up with a decent headlight to save their lives until the LED projectors in the current JL models. I do have aftermarket KC Gravity LED fog lights though, with yellow Laminex films on them.
I did the same and just commented above before I saw this. I use to leave my JKU fogs on all the time the headlights were on. I replaced the fogs first with LED bulbs becasue the factory bulbs cost a fortune and I replaced my factory headlights with LEDs and it only took about 2 hrs including aiming the new ones. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01B376YOE?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1&th=1 these have been great and only $70
I used them all the time on my old cars as the headlights were either sealed beam standard junk or early aero with poor optics that would scatter white light. I was told they are designed to be aimed down and that reduces the glare while the beam pattern is wider than standard headlights, plus I had to aim them down a bit as I mounted them over the bumpers. I also had them aimed out a little to make for better cornering lights and, on the ’83 Subaru (Hella 550s, yellow of course), they seemed pretty effective in being seen better by other drivers. Haven’t noticed much benefit from fogs on modern cars.
mine automatically turn on when making a turn – cornering lights. Are they still considered fog lights?
“How Do You Use Your Fog Lights?”
They’re great for sneaking up on deer and then PAO!
on to any passing deer.
In the UK, you used to get pulled over if you had your front fogs on (or single rear fog for that matter) when it wasn’t foggy. I think the highway code said never to use high beams in thick fog as it made visibility worse, so car companies started fitting front fog lights that shone down and helped you see the road markings better, which most people started calling driving lights.
Very few extra lamps on American cars are fog lamps at all!
Almost all are driving lights.
Spelling errors are one thing, but you’d have to get up pretty early in the morning to catch Hardigree saying “her and I.”
It is pretty early in the morning! Also, I was going to fix that, but I’m not sure I will?
True fog lights (yellow) when foggy. Driving lights, all the time.
Any of the modern cars I’ve had with factory fog lights didn’t make any sense to me… you could never use them without also having the headlights on (low beam). So in foggy conditions the headlights still create all the glare in front of you and the low mounted fogs basically do nothing to help you see (I’m pretty sure some Caddies did allow fog light-only use but its rare). I also theorize that fog lights are becoming obsolete with the widespread use of LED headlights. The LED modules (if designed well) can have a nice wide and low beam pattern, pretty much doing the job the fog lights are meant to do (plus deleting fog lights is a good cost-cutting option for OEMs). I did enjoy coding rear fogs onto my 2010 E91 and disabling the fogs-off-when-highbeams-are-on… lots of extra light for rural roads!
Running only fog lights (even with running/parking lights illuminated) is illegal in California which is likely why you don’t see this.
I know because I got pulled over for this when I was a teenager.
Not really a shock there.
Something I would be happy to go to court for.
Interesting. I don’t think any of our vehicles (2014, 2016, and 2021) require the low beams to be on in order to turn on the fog lights. They’re all truck/SUVs though, so maybe that makes a difference? You do have to at least have the running lights on though.
Some cars let you drive with fogs only, but it’s down to the OEM as it’s illegal in some places even though the whole point is in situations like fog and some kinds of snow, they don’t cause as much glare as headlights, which can be almost blinding. I used to run my old cars on aftermarket fogs alone and it was a huge improvement (I think they were better than the headlights even in clear weather). On the new cars where I’ve used them, they don’t seem to do a lot. I put yellow film on the ones on my Focus ST (I think that car allowed me to run on fogs alone, but I could be thinking of a different car) so I could see if I could tell the difference and, yeah, there was some extra width to the beam with them on, but nothing as effective as the old ones on cars with garbage old headlights. I don’t know if that’s poorer optics (they’re there more for appearance than function), headlights are just so much better that they’re not needed (definitely), that being mounted a lot lower than I used to mount mine and that makes them less effective, or what.
True fog lamps cannot function with other lights on.
That depends on the market the car is sold in.
In the UK, the fogs work with headlights on either main or high beams. Switching on the fogs independently of the headlights also activates the side lights. The rear fog lights can only come on when the fronts are on. My guess is this is the same in EU countries.
In NZ, there was a time when the front fogs had to switch off when the main beam headlights were switched on, so when I was working at a Ford dealership, we had to fit a relay kit to new Ford Sierra’s to make them compliant. That regulation was dropped after NZ started officially importing used Japanese cars and trucks in the ’90s, coz the fog lights in JDM vehicles work the same way as Euro vehicles.
I knew that would end up being confusing.
I mean they can’t be useful due to the physics of lighting, rather than electrical switching issues.
Running headlamps with fog lamps defeats the purpose of the fog beam.
I remain baffled at switching decisions by car companies.
I’ve seen some wired usefully OEM.
All European I believe.
No worries and yep, you make a valid point.
Where I live now, we very occasionally wake up to localized heavy fog, and I can confirm that real fog lights do cut thru better without the headlights being switched on. Most times, though, the fog isn’t that bad so headlights being switched on aren’t detrimental, and I use fogs as well in the hope that the car is more visible to other drivers.
I also prefer yellow foglights and have converted a few of my recent vehicles to yellow bulbs or laminex. I tend to only use mine if there is actual fog, or enough precipitation to limit visibility. Also run a rear foglight on my 6G Bronco, but only in heavy fog/precip. Actual visibility gained from running them does seem limited, but I also believe it’s more about being more visible to other drivers.
Last time I had a car with them, I left those things on all damn night and they did not attract a single frog.
Always on. Factory fog (or driving) lights usually aren’t bright enough to dazzle oncoming drivers but do provide a bit more visible light on the road.
Conversely I added some LED off road driving lights onto my 4WD, and they stay off unless I’m actually off road because they’re bright AF.
I’ve used the JL wrangler non-LED fog lights in rain, fog, snow, and clear roads. They do almost imperceptibly nothing whatsoever. With or without the main headlights, they just light up the ground in front of the bumper maybe out to 20 feet, which is only marginally useful on slow snowy roads so I can find the line with the most traction.
fwiw, I don’t think the LED fog lights do that much either.
Fog lamps always require precise aiming, unless your vehicle is self leveling.
They should be aimed dead level or lower, depending on conditions and mounting height.
Only when it’s really foggy and I’m not in an area where there’s plenty of other light.
My 22 year old Mustang is still on her orginal set of bulbs.
They’re always on.
IIRC: my car’s were labeled as “driving lights” intended for illuminating the road immediately in front of the car better. I find they help illuminate the sides of dark roads, and provide better visibility to the road immediately in front of the car, and overall why have them if I don’t use them?
Though, being low-mounted, would they qualify as “fog lights” and help illuminate the road under the fog? Sure. Maybe.
That sounds more like the beam pattern of fogs. I don’t think the mounting height is the qualifier (though, in theory, they would be mounted lower to project farther out while still cutting under the fog), but the wider, shorter beam pattern.
on all the time, when one of the bulbs are not burned out, then they are off until the bulb gets replaced.
I added the yellow film to them, and it’s much better in fog or snow
Lol… tis me. Passenger side fog goes out every 6 months on the Cobra. Envoy fog light mod coming soon
When foggy.