Fog Light upgrade?
#2
Voids warranties
Ive been having some trouble with that. Here's my thread: https://www.rx8club.com/series-ii-te...lowing-239103/ The car is in winter storage for now so Ive pretty much just ignored it for now.
#4
Registered
iTrader: (2)
I've found several brands of halogen bulbs to be crap. Sylvania is the crap one I remember. After running the OEM headlight bulbs in my Toyota DD for ~8 years, they finally went dark. In the next 2.5 years, I went through a half dozen aftermarket replacements. Finally went to the Toyota dealer, paid their outrageous price, and they've been good for the past 3 years.
YMMV.
YMMV.
#5
they just aren't bright at all!!, a $1 store led flashlight puts out more lumens than they do lol It was bad enough last night i was on my snow packed street and was like "check this out honey, they suck so bad" when i turned the headlights off and turned them on there was hardly any difference at all. Like you almost couldn't tell anything was turned on :-P
#6
Voids warranties
Did you do the rewire? If not, they will turn off then you turn off the headlights.
I could use mine a driving lights at night if need be. not as bright as headlights but useable. Maybe something is wrong.
I could use mine a driving lights at night if need be. not as bright as headlights but useable. Maybe something is wrong.
#9
Super Moderator
Here we go again, S1 owners commenting on something which is incorrect...
S2 Fog Lights do not use same H11 globe as in Series 1, but HB4's they are not the same or interchangeable.
Hella H11 Bulbs
Hella 9006 Bulbs and HB4 Bulbs
S2 Fog Lights do not use same H11 globe as in Series 1, but HB4's they are not the same or interchangeable.
Hella H11 Bulbs
Hella 9006 Bulbs and HB4 Bulbs
#12
I used a dremel so they are facing the road even lower then stock if you noticed in the photo im pretty low compared to the car and thats where the most light is being focused to. I do consider others.
#13
2009 RX-8 Touring
HID bulbs cannot be focused properly by housings designed for halogen bulbs. It doesn't matter how many people say otherwise, it is still impossible. Two reasons:
1. The electrical arc in an HID bulb bends upwards in the middle, due to convection inside the bulb, whereas the filament in a halogen bulb is a straight line.
2. The electrical arc in an HID bulb is brighter at the ends and dimmer in the middle, which is the opposite of the filament in a halogen bulb.
A housing designed for a halogen bulb will try to focus light coming from the center of the bulb, because that's where most of the light produced by a halogen bulb will come from. It will also ignore light coming from the edges of the bulb. That light turns into glare, but with a halogen bulb it's minimal since the edges of the filament are so dim.
So, when you stuff an HID bulb into a halogen housing, you get minimal light captured and focused where it's supposed to go, because the center of the arc is both dim and in the wrong position, and you'll also get hellish glare escaping from the sides of the bulb, where the HID arc is brightest. Halogen projector housings (i.e. NOT the kind used in our foglights) partly solve this problem by using opaque cutoffs to block some of the glare, but they can't solve the incorrect-focus problem. Even with halogen projector housings you still won't get the extra light you paid for.
It is painfully obvious to me when someone drives past with an HID retrofit kit. Retrofit kits spray fuzzy blue glare all over the place, and the light actually hitting the road is no better than it would be with new halogen bulbs. It's illegal for a reason, and even if it were legal it would still be a waste of money.
The ONLY option you have, if you don't want to replace the housings, is to buy brighter halogen bulbs. It's the only solution that will ever work, no matter what anyone else says. Headlights are governed by physics, and physics always wins.
1. The electrical arc in an HID bulb bends upwards in the middle, due to convection inside the bulb, whereas the filament in a halogen bulb is a straight line.
2. The electrical arc in an HID bulb is brighter at the ends and dimmer in the middle, which is the opposite of the filament in a halogen bulb.
A housing designed for a halogen bulb will try to focus light coming from the center of the bulb, because that's where most of the light produced by a halogen bulb will come from. It will also ignore light coming from the edges of the bulb. That light turns into glare, but with a halogen bulb it's minimal since the edges of the filament are so dim.
So, when you stuff an HID bulb into a halogen housing, you get minimal light captured and focused where it's supposed to go, because the center of the arc is both dim and in the wrong position, and you'll also get hellish glare escaping from the sides of the bulb, where the HID arc is brightest. Halogen projector housings (i.e. NOT the kind used in our foglights) partly solve this problem by using opaque cutoffs to block some of the glare, but they can't solve the incorrect-focus problem. Even with halogen projector housings you still won't get the extra light you paid for.
It is painfully obvious to me when someone drives past with an HID retrofit kit. Retrofit kits spray fuzzy blue glare all over the place, and the light actually hitting the road is no better than it would be with new halogen bulbs. It's illegal for a reason, and even if it were legal it would still be a waste of money.
The ONLY option you have, if you don't want to replace the housings, is to buy brighter halogen bulbs. It's the only solution that will ever work, no matter what anyone else says. Headlights are governed by physics, and physics always wins.
Last edited by fyrstormer; 01-08-2013 at 05:34 PM.
#15
2009 RX-8 Touring
God dammit, you had to quote the one line I wrote that had a typo in it.
Anyway, I revised my post to account for cutoff plates. Replacing the lense and cutoff plate only works if the housing is a projector, but our foglights use reflectors. There is no way to retool the optics in a reflector housing to accommodate an HID bulb without replacing the entire housing, because the reflector is integrated into the housing.
Anyway, I revised my post to account for cutoff plates. Replacing the lense and cutoff plate only works if the housing is a projector, but our foglights use reflectors. There is no way to retool the optics in a reflector housing to accommodate an HID bulb without replacing the entire housing, because the reflector is integrated into the housing.
Last edited by fyrstormer; 01-08-2013 at 05:38 PM.
#17
Super Moderator
Also in standard OEM set ups (Fogs) short globe life span can be attributed to heat stress on the globe, as these fitting enclosures are very small, they are meant to operate as ''Fog Lights'' in misty, foggy, 'cool' conditions...
Not as DRL's which some owners use as, in the middle of summer.
Not as DRL's which some owners use as, in the middle of summer.
#19
Super Moderator
As an industry specialist (globes) once emailed me a few years back....
He advised to stay with OE set up, all the blue bulbs or brighter globes actually reduces globe brightness and performance not enhance it....even though he sold the stuff he said it is just worthless.
He advised to stay with OE set up, all the blue bulbs or brighter globes actually reduces globe brightness and performance not enhance it....even though he sold the stuff he said it is just worthless.
#20
Registered
they just aren't bright at all!!, a $1 store led flashlight puts out more lumens than they do lol It was bad enough last night i was on my snow packed street and was like "check this out honey, they suck so bad" when i turned the headlights off and turned them on there was hardly any difference at all. Like you almost couldn't tell anything was turned on :-P
#21
Touge Addict
I just ordered some 80W Optilux (Hella) Xenon bulbs on Amazon. Not expecting much, but I'll post before/after/comparison shots Wednesday/Thursday night. Anything is better than the horrid stock yellowish ones. I'm not a fan of installing HID's unless you have proper projectors and the S2's fog design doesn't facilitate that easily (see: Cheap).
#22
Registered
I just ordered some 80W Optilux (Hella) Xenon bulbs on Amazon. Not expecting much, but I'll post before/after/comparison shots Wednesday/Thursday night. Anything is better than the horrid stock yellowish ones. I'm not a fan of installing HID's unless you have proper projectors and the S2's fog design doesn't facilitate that easily (see: Cheap).
#23
Touge Addict
I just read the review for those bulbs on amazon. They're not good. My friend at work is huge fog light bulb snob so I am going to sit down with him tomorrow and get his advice. I will let you know what he says and we will solve this problem once and for all. One of my OEM bulbs just went out so I have an excuse to replace them now.
Last edited by Piroxide; 02-14-2013 at 02:02 AM. Reason: Addition to the wall of text
#24
Registered
OK – Here is what my friend just said. He knows his stuff.
“This is the absolute best bulb you can get. All in all, this is the best-performing bulb ever produced for optics designed to accept a bulb with a P(x)22d plastic base. I have used HIR bulbs for 4 years and they are the best halogen (non HID) bulb u can get”
http://store.candlepower.com/ph3rdge90h.html
Best Price-
And here is how u modify the 9012 to fit a 9006 plug - SUPER easy
http://store.candlepower.com/mohirbuba.html
“This is the absolute best bulb you can get. All in all, this is the best-performing bulb ever produced for optics designed to accept a bulb with a P(x)22d plastic base. I have used HIR bulbs for 4 years and they are the best halogen (non HID) bulb u can get”
http://store.candlepower.com/ph3rdge90h.html
Best Price-
And here is how u modify the 9012 to fit a 9006 plug - SUPER easy
http://store.candlepower.com/mohirbuba.html
#25
Touge Addict
Awesome bulb. The only issue being the top of the bulb not being painted and our fog lights having the ring style shield. Very interested to hear how these work out for you.