Yellow Fog lights vs LED Bright White

Anyone have feedback on whether the yellow LED lights are better than the bright white LED’s? I just got a 2021 TRD Off Rd Tacoma. Debating which route to go.

 

The yellow (amber) will produce less glare during inclement weather.

To just run the fogs with the low beams as a habit.....then it doesn't matter unless you are an oncoming driver.......

 

That makes sense. We have a lot of heavy fog here in Western ND and Eastern Montana. So trying to determine which route to go.

 

The yellow doesn’t glare as bad off of rain, fog, or snow, so can make things a little easier to see in bad conditions.

The bright white gives better visibility in clear conditions; but typically one is not using fogs when it’s clear out. In heavy fog or whiteout snow conditions, bright white fogs can actually decrease visibility due to the glare.

 

Thanks for the feedback!

 

if you get lasfit switchbacks, you get the best of both worlds...im happy with mine

 

Except the product is a complete disaster, not legal and produces extreme glare to oncoming drivers since switch backs don't have the LEDs positioned correctly which causes horribly poor performance compared to a real SAE product. For poor weather performance, Diode Dynamics SS3s in selective yellow are the correct solution.

 

I’ll give them a look thanks.

 

Yellow is NOT universally Selective Yellow. Many "yellow" lights are simply a different lens (that does not filter certain light wavelengths) that goes over a 6000k LED and does not filter out blue wavelengths which is the color that you want to filter for best use in poor weather conditions. Not to mention you usually end up with a greenish light that is just embarrassing. This is just like adding a yellow film over factory LED lights, just looks weird and really doesn't increase functionality.

To function properly in poor weather you want to look for "Selective Yellow" which currently the best is Diode Dynamics SS3. If you drive in snowy conditions you want to go with either the Pro or Max as they produce enough heat to effectively melt snow and ice. Not to mention they are made in the US, very reasonable prices, SAE certified, amazing customer services and they are constantly innovating.

Don't be fooled by Amazon reviews of chinese knock-off products that look like they function like DD, Rigid or others. They are absolute junk. Also, IMO Baja Designs isn't really worth considering because it isn't half as much output as the DD SS3 lights and more expensive (minus the Max). Their "wide cornering" is not a fog light and will end up blinding oncoming traffic due to glare and many of their lights have a steep thermal curve where they start off strong but dim as they heat up. Look up Diode Dynamics SSC2 comparison on their YouTube page and you'll see it how much it dims over 15min IIRC. Many YouTube "reviewers" (ie Headlight Revolution) that perform what "appears" to be legitimate test and test equipment are full of sh!t. They do this to make it look like the products they sell to be superior by using technical language so you think they know what they are talking about. They test based on initial start-up, not after thermal stabilization (15-30 min) and they use the wrong lux meter made for Halogen light sources and not LED or HID lighting.

For truly unbiased testing, all out of his own pocket or products sent in by other members (not manufactures), using the correct lux meter per the light source and real world performance testing check out the link below. I know there is A LOT of information in there, but if you look at the top of the first post there are links to lights that came out after the initial post was made so you don't have to sift through 270+ plus pages. In fact his testing is so well regarded that one manufacture had to change their design due to not being within the SAE standards for glare.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-led-sae-j583-fog-pod-fog-light-review.554813/unread

 

I'm an idiot and just ordered LED bulbs for my fog light after noticing one was out... if I applied yellow tint film over the housing could that help in snow/ice conditions? I only turn my fog lights on when driving in weather.

 

I’d return them. Yellow film over LEDs is going to have lime green output. It will be poor, performance of LEDs in the fogs is poor, you’ll have excessive glare which is poor for oncoming drivers and defeats the purpose of having a cut off in a fog to prevent light glaring back at you in bad weather above the cut off. A film will also be ineffective at preventing snow build up/icing. A replacement LEDs heat source is in the back, external to the fog. The fogs are plastic (an insulator), no heat at all will make it to the lens.

A proper fog like the SS3s will have proper true selective yellow color, good cut offs with drastically higher output, better pattern saturation. The heat source is inside the aluminum bodied fog, so the whole assembly gets hot. The proper color correction using a colored optic will cause the lens to self heat and combined with the heated body will easily clear snow/ice in Pro or Max levels.

 

I appreciate the informed response. I'll do my research next time before I run to the almighty Amazon.

 

For lighting especially, the signal to noise ratio on Amazon for decent products is very low. The site is flooded with garbage and unfortunate positive reviews of bad products by ill-informed/mis-informed reviewers. One good thing is Amazon has an excellent return policy. One other, Diode Dynamics SS3s should be on their Black Friday sale next week and @memario1214 (Hotshot Offroad) can give you a great hookup.

 

I agree with Crash on the Amazon reviews. Early this summer I picked up some LED sealed housing for my MR2 that I researched heavily on the old Amazon for reviews specifically with output shots. I found one that was reasonably priced that I thought would be good. Well turns out they made a redesign and they were complete sh!t. Luckily they do have a great return program and I returned them for what I should have gotten in the first place, Hella E-code 6x7. Live and learn. I am a lighting nerd as well, not on the same level as Crash but a nerd none the less. I should have gone with my gut initially but didn't. The majority of Amazon reviews are from people who have no idea what they are talking about when it comes to lighting, even when they sounds like they do.

The yellow film will also reduce output, just as an fyi. If you want a great H11, look for Tungsram Megalight Ultra, Philips Racing Vision or Osram Nightbreaker Unlimited. Or look into the the "ultimate fog light upgrade" on this forum. If you want yellow, I would also highly suggest Diode Dynamics SS3 Fog lights in yellow. If you deal with snow, I would get the Pro or Max so it will melt the snow.

 

Thanks for the info definitely appreciate it. I looked at Amazon nothing really convinced me but after what @TacoFergie
broke down it’s quite the obvious. Before LED lights in cars (1999-2000) I had a conversion on my 92 Toyota pickup with the Hella Glass Housing and at that time cool blue halogen bulbs were in it. We’ve come a long ways since then.

 

Yes we have!! I had some sweet blue 7000K HID's in my 08 xB (2nd gen with projectors) or so I thought. First couple snow storms and rain on black top I encountered I knew it was a mistake! Even when I was in my mid 20's I could hardly see in those conditions, completely worthless. We all make mistakes and learn from them, hopefully. I'm sure you've experienced how bad blue lights are in bad weather. The current OEM LED headlights are generally around 6000k, most higher (more blue) and some lower. They are not great in bad weather. @crashnburn80 has covered the WHY on that subject in another thread. It is a somewhat lengthy scientific explanation. But essentially Blue = BAD and Filtering out Blue (selective yellow) = GOOD.

As for the MR2 I wanted a reflector style housing so it didn't look so out of place and I didn't want to spend $300-$400 on JW Speaker or something like that since it won't see bad weather and I don't drive it long distances in the dark. The ones I found seemed decent in the reviews, at least acceptable for my needs. Though I am very critical. My experience with chinese garbage is that they rarely say anything about a design change. So the review photos were of a previous version, which seemed decent. The ones I received clearly weren't the version!






Back to the Yellow fog light subject. Below is my buddies 2020 Subaru Legacy with OEM LED headlights going through a pretty good snow on the way to work. He has the Diode Dynamics SS3 Max Yellow. Not the greatest photo but you get the idea how much they help!



This is the DD SS3 Pro yellow I have on our 2021 Subaru Ascent. This wall is about 40-45ft in front of the vehicle with headlights off. The aim is high, which was adjusted after the pictures.



This is the same vehicle (DD SS3 Pro) with the wall about 100ft in front of the car. You can see just how wide they are, I don't have a width measurement but for reference the door on the right side is a double door that is generally a 6ft opening. Again, this is prior to proper adjustment and headlights off.

 

Im going to have to go that route then thanks again!

 

Diode dynamics ss3 sport yellow with Phillips Xtreme +130% headlight bulbs. I'm in CT and this combo works great for the weather we have gotten last 1.5 year that Ive had it.


With and without fogs. These are only the sport level... the pro or max versions will be even more.

 

Thanks for the pics! I've been trying to decide on sport vs pro, based on your pictures I think I'll be more than happy with the sports.