Yellow or White?

[subyguy522]

I am going to buy some new fog light bulbs. Should I go with artic white (which are the color of my headlights) or the very yellow bulbs? Im leaning toward artic white because I feel like yellow is kind of euro... what do you guys think?

[Plays_with_Toys]

When it starts to snow/rain, I loves my yellows. But they do tend to get drowned out by most streetlights/other headlights in any dry conditions. I'd go yellow, because its different, and works well in the wet.

[JKirk]

I'd go with artic white personally.

[JPaul99GT]

i think that yellow looks tits. where are you buying?

[subyguy522]

Im not sure yet for yellows. Any suggestions?

[SilentRacer]

If you get yellow post some pics, I'v been thinking about those myself. Word of warning though, do some research before you pick a bulb manufacturer because alot of them burn out quick.

[sybir]

Surprise, surprise, I'm whoring pictures ;)

I really prefer yellow fogs because the light is better when I actually need them, in high-reflectivity conditions like rain and fog.

I'd also be lying if I didn't admit I like the endurance-racer/euro look.

These are PWT's old super-yellow (yellow reflector, yellow stongard) Hella 500's, with 55w bulbs. I prefer coating the housing instead of the bulb as a straight colorless 55w is easier to find when they burn out. I've never had good luck with colored bulbs of any sort.

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/

[gil_ong81]

depends on if you're more interested in looks or in being functional.

looks -> white
function -> yellow

[Plays_with_Toys]

Ask and ye shall receive:

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/

Hella yellowstar headlight bulbs, and the ultra yellow 500's which now are on Sybir's ride (where they look much better).

www.rallylights.com (http://www.rallylights.com) has the yellowstars (and other bulbs) for super cheap! They're always very quick to ship as well.

[outbackmike]

i would go with white,it just looks so much cleaner,then again it depends on the car,if you have a dirty "i can do it all",then you should go with yellow,but if its more of then "slik JDM I'm so smooth",then go with white.

[ivwarrior]

White if you're just putting fog lights on because they "look cool". (rice factor) EDIT: Note, almost all OEM foglights fall into this category.

Yellow if you really want fog lights that will work well when you really need them.

[shazapple]

Im putting yellow in my fogs and white in my headlights. Mostly its for the euro look like sybir said

[96legwag]

If anyone is looking to make a decision on color of foglights based on "science" as opposed to personal taste, here are a couple of links with interesting information...

http://www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF5/593.html

http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/p ... y99xx4.htm (http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/phy99/phy99xx4.htm)

Far and away the best foglights I have had were the 110w white bulbs I had in my OEM fogs - that is, until they nuked my bulb holders...

[warrior]

If anyone is looking to make a decision on color of foglights based on "science" as opposed to personal taste, here are a couple of links with interesting information...

http://www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF5/593.html

http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/p ... y99xx4.htm (http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/phy99/phy99xx4.htm)

Far and away the best foglights I have had were the 110w white bulbs I had in my OEM fogs - that is, until they nuked my bulb holders...

Those articles are from 1983... and yellow lights do not "cut through" fog, that's the misconception that everyone has. If you want real info regarding lights, visit www.danielsternlighting.com (http://www.danielsternlighting.com) and here's a quick paragraph from there regarding yellow.

"Selective-yellow light can improve a driver's ability to see in fog or rain or snow, but not because it 'penetrates fog better' or 'reflects less off droplets' as is commonly thought. That effect is known as Rayleigh Scattering, and is why the sky appears blue. However, it occurs only when the droplet size is equal or smaller than the wavelength of the light, which is certainly not the case with ordinary fog, rain or snow. Roadway Fog droplets are several orders of magnitude larger than visible light wavelengths—no Rayleigh Scattering. "

"So, why do yellow fog lamps work better? It's because of the way the human eye interacts with different colors of light. Blue and violet are very difficult for the human optical system to process correctly. They are the shortest visible wavelengths and tend to focus in front of our eyes' retinae, rather than upon it. To demonstrate this to yourself, find a dark blue store front sign or something else that's a dark, pure blue against a dark background in the absence of white light. From any appreciable distance, it's almost impossible for your eyes to see the blue lighted object as a sharply defined form...the edges blur significantly.) Blue also is a very difficult color of light to look at if it is at all intense...it stimulates the reaction we call "glare". So, culling the blue out of the spectrum lightens the optical workload and reduces glare."

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech ... color.html (http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/lights/light_color/light_color.html)

http://www.lightingresearch.org/program ... 1-0320.pdf (http://www.lightingresearch.org/programs/transportation/pdf/SAE/2001-01-0320.pdf) - Further studies

[96legwag]

Warrior - thanks for the additional info. Interesting that the research project shows essentially the same thing as the info from ages ago - it clearly says that the yellow lights will have little effect, but that with more development of filters, it could help. Unfortunately, it appears that as in most studies, the work has been done with headlights rather than "foglights" as we generally know them (mounted lower than normal line of sight). In which case, Stearns' info appears to be more on line with what many people feel. Alot of still seems to be related to how each person "sees" in the poor conditions of fog and snow. I think the reason my 110w white bulbs were so good is strictly because the luminescence allowed me to see farther (as the study indicates). I didn't want to go thru the rewire exercise again to try 110w yellow bulbs to prove out the theory though! The scientific debate, I'm sure, will go on for years, as it has. All that matters is what the individual prefers, I guess.

[Wiscon_Mark]

the whiter/bluer you get, the less effective it is in rain. Why?

Ever wonder why the sky is blue?

Same reason: Water/atmosphere reflects the blue spectrum more than any other. Rain scatters your light like crazy. More yellow light hits the road. "Cutting through fog" is somewhat true.

[96legwag]

Mark - check out the second paragraph of Warrior's info - it explains the "sky is blue" theory and how it doesn't pertain to foglights. The paragraph that follows it shows the theory that does pertain to yellow foglights and why they may be better to some people.

[Wiscon_Mark]

gotcha, I missed his post somehow.

But silverstars with the blue tint do unnaturally suck in rain :shrug:

[96legwag]

Yea, I guess I'm not too impressed with mine in rain, although in snow they are definately better than most bulbs I've tried so I keep them. Had dense fog yesterday early AM, running about 55 on the interstate with just my fogs (white) on when somebody in a new Benz with (I think) HID fogs blew by me. I tucked in behind him and was able to see at least 50% farther than with my lights. The only thing that makes sense is that they are so freakin bright you simply see farther regardless of the color.

[Wiscon_Mark]

No, I don't think that's it. Brightness would be bad, considering the light is reflected back by fog, hence why you don't turn your brights on to see in fog.

It's probably because he had projectors instead of standard lenses (if he had HIDs, he had projectors) and the projector light is much more accurately focused.

[96legwag]

Or not, like I said, my 110w whites in my OEM "projectors" were way better than my 55w yellows. I run yellows in my L and whites in my GT with nearly no difference in performance in fog and snow (which seems like half the year around here...). Strange stuff...

[Kraziken]

Yellow Fogs used to be more common I think.

In my friends car, I was surprised out how well it worked at night in rainy conditions.

On dry conditions I would prefer white. In Seattle, I think yellow fogs are a good option.

I might have to switch out a pair of bulbs in my jdm fogs to see how I like them.

[Wiscon_Mark]

Or not

What part of my last post did you disagree with?

All I said is that projectors have more focused light and would be better in fog...

Oh, and that you don't turn on your brights in heavy fog for obvious reasons.

[96legwag]

Mark - didn't really disagree at all. Just pointing out that my high watt whites were way better for me than my normal watt yellows, in the exact same lamps - therefore challenging your theory. I don't pretend to know why, but I do know that I'd love to have my 110w whites back sans the melted bulb holders. I drive in early am heavy fog and snow conditions 4 to 5 months a year and miss the visibility they provided over the yellows.

[Wiscon_Mark]

Oh, it's not all the heightened output that makes the brights a bad idea, it's more the aim. If you aim straight into the fog, the light will reflect right back into your eyes.

[02LGT]

i'd go with yellow. It makes a difference. Everyone in touge uses them for better visual.

[scottzg]

yellows are illegal, at least in ca.

doesnt mean people dont do it all the time though.

[Wiscon_Mark]

yellows are illegal, at least in ca.

Stupid :roll:

[Plays_with_Toys]

yellows are illegal, at least in ca.

doesnt mean people dont do it all the time though.

Very much legal in CO. In Colorado you have to have lights that are yellow to white. They give a visual spectrum.

[96legwag]

Don't know about the legality of yellows, but no one around here uses them in headlights - just fogs, and fewer all the time. PWT the only one that runs yellowstars, is your visibility better than cars with HID's? These are the "brightest and whitest" of headlights yet from my experience in driving snowstorms and heavy fog they offer dramatically better visibility than any combination of head/fog lights. Also, as an aside, does that CO spectrum make those ridiculous rice lights illegal - you know, the ones that are sort of blue/purple?? If so, it's a good law...

[Plays_with_Toys]

To answer the rice question. Yes, those are definately illegal. Blue lights are strictly forbidden. I was pulled over for speeding, at night with the cop trap in front of me. He made no mention about my headlights.

The spectrum is yellow like our smileys, to pure white. That is all your headlights are allowed to be.

As for light output. Like I said, they do suck in the dry, and get washed out by most other driver's headlights and street lights. But they are nice in the snow/rain. I also have run high beams on the highway without ever getting flashed by on coming traffic, and in that respect, they do put out more light than stock, but we all know how good our stock lighting is... :roll:

So. With low beams, they feel/look like less light. I'm not going to argue the symmantics of how the silverstars look brighter because they reflect more, blah blah. These do not seem that bright. And silverstars are very bright. But the littlest bit of moisture and silverstars suck in my opinion. The yellows are nice, and one thing I really like is how in snow, they will light up the white lines of the road with a shade of yellow to really clearly define where you are (I have sensitive eyes, so glare really makes it hard for me to drive at night).

I have thought about purchasing yellow sunglasses, which would negate the need for the yellow lights, and would help with the blinding light of oncoming drivers... We shall see about that one though.

Anyway, for about $18 through rallylights.com, you can try them. If you don't like them, sell them. Or, keep them in your glove box, and if the snow is really coming down, put them in real quick (kind of like winter tires, you could have some winter bulbs). Once you change out the bulbs a few times it takes you 5 seconds per bulb to do them later.

[96legwag]

PWT - Thanks for the info. Actually, I was thinkingabout getting a pair to run as auxiallary lights, mounted low and aimed slightly to favor the side of the road which the stock headlights (no matter the bulbs) don't seem to get at all...

[Soul Shinobi]

You live in NH too and I was thinking of getting some good fog lights for the New England weather especially with the winter coming up. I was told on my other forum Legacy Central that if you want them to be effective the most important thing is that they be a good brand, and Hella seemed to be the be-all end-all as far as they were concerned. They gave me this site:

http://www.rallylights.com/hella/Auxiliary_Lamps.asp
http://www.rallylights.com/Optilux/Opti ... _Lamps.asp (http://www.rallylights.com/Optilux/Optilux_Auxiliary_Lamps.asp)
(Optilux is Hella's low end general market brand, they're still better than all the unheard of brands and can be found cheap on eBay.)

As for the debate between yellowed lights and white, as long as the housing projects a fog light pattern it should be good, but the yellow does help reduce light bouncing back because it's of a lower color temperature. When looking all this up for myself I found a website by a guy who seems to have worked with car lighting most of his life and he's written some great articles. Check it out: http://www.danielsternlighting.com/home.html

EDIT: By the way, the reason yellow lights seem like a European thing to us is because that put functionality over bling, unlike Americans. Also, current generation HIDs actually hamper one's vision, and make no vision improvement at best (when used properly). See Daniel Stern's articles on them (his site is the last link I gave).

[Huffer]

I vote for white bulbs with yellow overlays. :D

[96legwag]

Soul - thanks for your insights. I know well of Daniel Stearns, he has alot of technical knowledge that he offers up in well written articles. As a very accomplished photographer, I have studied and understand well light color temperature, intensity, etc. All that is well and good. But, I also drive over 70,000 miles annually (and have for over 25 years) in some of the worst winter conditions (New England isn't really that bad actually, I split my time between here and Central New York which has dramatically worse winter conditions). I was a beta tester for Phillips/Sylvania automotive electronics for years (including Silverstar development) and have used nearly every bulb type known (except the rice garbage) to improve long distance driving comfort. HID technology lighting is head and shoulders above any other - try driving for 8-10 straight hours in darkness with conventional lighting, then with HID and you will agree - no matter what the conditions. As for fogs (NOT headlights), color preference is really a matter of personal choice, I believe. I have owned Hellas, PIAA, etc. both yellow and white over the years. Years ago, yellow was the only choice, not really so anymore as bulb and especially reflector technology has advanced in leaps and bounds. It does make for good conversation and research though. Optilux will be fine for you, by the way - there isn't 50-75% effective difference in the Hella top line as the price says there is.

[Soul Shinobi]

Well holy crap and thank you for clearing that up (unless perhaps this information was also disclosed in the middle third of this topic which I did not read).

Touché to you on several points--too many to bother listing. The only point I would not agree with you wholeheartedly on is that of HIDs. However, there are many fine lines when talking about one's "perception" versus technical fact in this matter and such... So as a relatively inexperienced driver, to you, sir, I fold.

[Wiscon_Mark]

Hmm, well, I was really impressed with the HIDs on the STi for clarity, but it was a touch too blue, and I think that'd get annoying after a while.

Personally, white to yellow is much easier on the eyes. I noticed more eyestrain with the silverstars over the Xtravisions almost right away.

[96legwag]

Hey guys, there is no right or wrong here as far as I'm concerned, just topic for discussion that's all. I'm no expert, just drive way too many miles and always looking for safer, more relaxing ways to do it. For the fun of it, I may go PWT's route with yellowstars for headlights on my GT, it doesnt get as many miles in the winter so if they dont work for me it would be no big deal. Thanks for the discussion.

[Soul Shinobi]

Sorry, I tend to be a bit of a drama queen sometimes. :toothy1: I've been meaning to ask, what's PWT? I searched the net and found little that made sense.

[Wiscon_Mark]

short for Plays_With_toys

[badbasser98]

I noticed more eyestrain with the silverstars over the Xtravisions almost right away.
If you want to see eye strain, buy some Eurolights :shock: Those things are horrible (you know, the blue ones all the Civic owners use :lol: ). They look nice and insanely birght when looking at the front of the car, but you can't see shit from behind the wheel. My friend had a set and I told him he needed to spend more than $5 on headlights :lol:

I have SilverStars currently, but I will give the XtraVisions a try next time to see if they are any better.

[EDIT] Actully I think I will give the yellow stars a try in my fogs and keep the SilverStars in my low/high beams.

[96legwag]

Did you say they look "nice", or "rice"... I know the ones you mean, they are a really feeble attempt to imitate HID aren't they??

[Wiscon_Mark]

Did you say they look "nice", or "rice"... I know the ones you mean, they are a really feeble attempt to imitate HID aren't they??

Yep :-?

[badbasser98]

Did you say they look "nice", or "rice"... I know the ones you mean, they are a really feeble attempt to imitate HID aren't they??
In saying that, I ment they look like they should produce a lot of visible light due to how bright they appear, but appearently that's not so. The light output was just about as my parking lights... :lol: