When to use fog lights

[dancote]

Originally Posted by Fredvon4

SmartAzz

If you really want a rear fog and we find out the NA 451s do not have the factory pig tail already there...I will be happy ...later*.... to draw up a parts list, wiring diagram, and install instructions so we can do a semi pro non hack job of it...

*Later...as in... after I get mine and see the best way to add additional circuits

Having had this feature in cars I drove in UK, I can't believe we don't have it here in the U.S. I'll be watching for your progress.

[Fredvon4]

Karl

we got a bit off track and I don't know if we really answered you original question...

I run fog lights in fog...day or night...I slow down and pay as much attention in front as to my rear...

If the soup gets real thick and I am significantly under posted speed I put on my flashers....

On mountain passes if it gets so thick there is no way to safely keep going forward I get as far off the road as I can see to do and once stopped I get out and see if I am completely out of the way of any traffic...if not and no safe way to make it so, I get away from the road...

In 1977 my first daughter was born in Nuremberg Army hospital

A month later wife, daughter, and I headed to Munich to American embassy to make her a US citizen

On the AutoBahn it got too foggy to safely drive any more... I pulled as far to the right as the guard rail would allow and we all got out and went over the rail....

For the next 40~50 minuets we listened to the 90+ cars pile into each other and the screams of trapped people... and the 100+ MPH idiots just kept zooming in and adding to the carnage... one of the five worst events in German history.... when the fog lifted we had stopped about 400 yards short of the pile up...

I don't play in the fog...

[Procrustes]

I had rear fog lights on my Volvo V70 & those seemed like a good feature - it was basically a much brighter bulb inside the red tailight that made you more visible to trailing traffic. That said - I often forgot to turn them on when it was foggy.

Front foglights (at least the OEM kind available on most cars) seem pretty worthless too me. My wife & I have them on both our current cars (Mazda & Subaru) & it seems like they are more of a fashion accessory. I suspect the smart version will be the same.

In all foggy conditions I have driven in the regular low beams have no problem sufficiently lighting the road & lines just in front of the car. Generally all my focus is on what's a further distance (>10-20ft) in front of the car. There you are dealing with the trade-off between enough light to see vs too much light glaring up the fog. I actually prefer the foglights off since they tend to further detract from distance visibility.

[Old smart]

Originally Posted by Procrustes

... My wife & I have them on both our current cars (Mazda & Subaru) & it seems like they are more of a fashion accessory. I suspect the smart version will be the same. ...

I also suspect that the smart version is the same, and the first part of your statement is very true.

A clear concentric lens (like the smart seems to have) does not make for a low-cutoff, wide angle, chromatically-adjusted, deep-penetrating "fog light." It is no more than an accessory driving light. Gucci-stuff.

[Fredvon4]

That will be a shame...the factory fogs on my Superduty are very good and are designed just as fishrdnc describes...

Perhaps if my Smart fogs are just bling I will retro fit a set of the Ford ones...in photos they look very similar size wise

[SmartAzz]

Guys, you haven't even tried them yet and are writing them off, just wait they might be great

[Karl Roth]

Originally Posted by Fredvon4

Karl

we got a bit off track and I don't know if we really answered you original question...

I run fog lights in fog...day or night...I slow down and pay as much attention in front as to my rear...

If the soup gets real thick and I am significantly under posted speed I put on my flashers....

On mountain passes if it gets so thick there is no way to safely keep going forward I get as far off the road as I can see to do and once stopped I get out and see if I am completely out of the way of any traffic...if not and no safe way to make it so, I get away from the road...

In 1977 my first daughter was born in Nuremberg Army hospital

A month later wife, daughter, and I headed to Munich to American embassy to make her a US citizen

On the AutoBahn it got too foggy to safely drive any more... I pulled as far to the right as the guard rail would allow and we all got out and went over the rail....

For the next 40~50 minuets we listened to the 90+ cars pile into each other and the screams of trapped people... and the 100+ MPH idiots just kept zooming in and adding to the carnage... one of the five worst events in German history.... when the fog lifted we had stopped about 400 yards short of the pile up...

I don't play in the fog...

Using them to see further in inclement weather then or to make you more visible. What would you rate higher? Ran that stretch often to visit family. Glad your family didn't get caught up in it, one of the things you will never forget...

karl

[propes]

I've been thinking of writing the fog lights off of my accessories list (besides, I know I'll want to add a couple things from the dealer that aren't on smartusa.com once I get the car). I've been thinking through my last few years of driving, and I can only think of one time I really could have used them: and that was in Texas (going to T.R.F., by way of Sugarland, for those who want to know - I miss going to that faire).

[Fredvon4]

Propes Re Texas Renaissance Festival/Fair T.R.F. We go every year
Will be fun to see how many of us there arrive in Smart Cars..

Karl.... We are now in Texas so real few heavy fog events... here I mostly use for a "to be seen better" reason... rarely is it soupy enough for me to tell if or if not I can see better with them...

Out on East coast some years back the coastal fog happened different times of day so I got to drive in it a lot in different ambient light conditions.... I would say most of the time they did assist with my ability to see at least the White / Yellow lines, ditches, side road entrances ect...

There are times when daylight is bright enough through the fog that there was no visibility distinction **fogs**on or off...

In general I still left them on, assuming they helped others see me better.

I noticed oncoming traffic further away if they had the low mounted white or yellow fogs on... Yellow is noticed further away. In the daylight fog not so much further away assist

The truth is fog has many variations... Going to In Laws in upper panhandle West Virginia we used a Pen turnpike that goes up in the mountains. Compared to the coastal low lying fog, the Mountain pass stuff is a very different... This is the pee soup stuff and at night can get so thick that all the lights are basically worthless...too much back scatter... visibility down to a few feet max

There were times when I wished I could turn off the low beams and just use the low bumper mounted fogs only... Some factory systems let this happen, others do not..

[SmartBob]

Wow, a lot of responses to simple question. LOL I always have them on. They look cool.