I'm a believer - 3000K HID Fog's + Raine-x
09-26-16, 06:59 PM
#1
Pit Crew
Thread Starter
I'm a believer - 3000K HID Fog's + Raine-x
Okay so i wasn't going to make this thread at all, but today after work i realized my Xenon Depot 3000K 9006's came in the mail. I was tired from work but i said "aah heck with it" and installed em.
They came with some extra gizmo's that i wasn't sure if I needed or not (the relay that connects to a ground and battery). I ended up not using them. Although when I installed the bulbs and ballasts I had to switch the polarity or it wouldn't light up. I'm going to have to re-read the manual to see if that's going to cause any issues or not (i left the manual in the car :c ). In any case they worked and even during the day when i had the OEM halogens in one and the HID's in the other i could immediately tell one was brighter than the other.
It was still quite light out when i finished but about an hour later it got dark enough to test em out.
And lemme tell you, they actually WORK. No its not going to be an extra set of low-beams. Or magically become bright driving lights. However driving through the suburbs in more or less dimly lit area i was switching them back and forth, and with them on I could, for example see the leaves on trees next to the road be more defined and lit. Street signs in general were more legible. The white text itself on the sign was more reflected back to the driver.
I was also worried that they might be blinding oncoming drivers but im not entirely sure if they are. I parked my LS 430 at a dark street and walked about 30 meters out and it didn't seem like they were scatteringly bright. Just slightly more bright than the HID's in the low beams.
Anyway so next i wanted to take it on the freeway to see how it fared. And here's where it got quite interesting. SOMEhow in a perfect-storm sort of way (pun heavily implied), on the day I got my 3000K HID's (which i purchased thinking i could use them in inclement weather like fog and rain), the absolute hardest falling precipitation i have ever driven through started falling. It was so hard and fast and windy that on a 65mph freeway, EVERY body was going 35mph, and almost half of them were driving with their hazards on (thats North Carolina for ya') . And countless cars next to the road parked with their hazards on as well, as (i assume) that they wanted to play it safe and wait it out rather than trudge through the harsh rain.
PERFECT (if absurd and dangerous for me) time to see how these 3000K HID's fair, and my goodness the difference was quite apparent.
Driving with just the low beams, the area from about 10 to 35 meters was lit up white. In the heavy rain it was more or less being scattered around by the sheets of rain but usable light was still hitting the pavement, revealing the wave-like pattern of the heavy and windy rain.
High beams? No-go. Dangerous almost. I knew it would be but wanted to test for a few seconds. But thats all i needed to know for certain that high beams in inclement weather was still a bad idea.
New fog lights? Did it become magically daylight and clear the rain? No. But it was SAFER. The road directly in front of me that the low-beams didn't project was lit clearly through the rain. The sides of the roads were more defined and lit. The road markers and lines on both sides were now lit and i could follow the lines and stay in my lane better and in a safer manner. The reflecting pavement markers were not only more reflecting, but reflected the farther ones as well (vs with just low beams). And the large green highway signs above the road, and next the road two lanes over were also more legible as the white text popped out more. All this through the ridiculously heavy rain. I dont want to hype it up too much, as its not magic here. Bit it was DEFINITELY a noticeable improvement to my visibility and safety of driving.
The OEM halogen fog lights never really "worked" for me. It was dim and all it did was project more light to the area directly in front of my bumper. But that was about it. Street signs or road marks were not any more or less visible.
Also Raine-x!
I just want to plug this in the end. I was driving through this rain seemingly from Satan and halfway realized i never even turned on the wipers. It was all whisked away from driving through the rain (i applied to the front windshield about a month before).
Raine-X and 3000K HID fogs have elevated the safety of driving through the torrential rain. And Raine-X and Xenon Depot get my thanks!
Here's hoping to many months and years of continued service.
They came with some extra gizmo's that i wasn't sure if I needed or not (the relay that connects to a ground and battery). I ended up not using them. Although when I installed the bulbs and ballasts I had to switch the polarity or it wouldn't light up. I'm going to have to re-read the manual to see if that's going to cause any issues or not (i left the manual in the car :c ). In any case they worked and even during the day when i had the OEM halogens in one and the HID's in the other i could immediately tell one was brighter than the other.
It was still quite light out when i finished but about an hour later it got dark enough to test em out.
And lemme tell you, they actually WORK. No its not going to be an extra set of low-beams. Or magically become bright driving lights. However driving through the suburbs in more or less dimly lit area i was switching them back and forth, and with them on I could, for example see the leaves on trees next to the road be more defined and lit. Street signs in general were more legible. The white text itself on the sign was more reflected back to the driver.
I was also worried that they might be blinding oncoming drivers but im not entirely sure if they are. I parked my LS 430 at a dark street and walked about 30 meters out and it didn't seem like they were scatteringly bright. Just slightly more bright than the HID's in the low beams.
Anyway so next i wanted to take it on the freeway to see how it fared. And here's where it got quite interesting. SOMEhow in a perfect-storm sort of way (pun heavily implied), on the day I got my 3000K HID's (which i purchased thinking i could use them in inclement weather like fog and rain), the absolute hardest falling precipitation i have ever driven through started falling. It was so hard and fast and windy that on a 65mph freeway, EVERY body was going 35mph, and almost half of them were driving with their hazards on (thats North Carolina for ya') . And countless cars next to the road parked with their hazards on as well, as (i assume) that they wanted to play it safe and wait it out rather than trudge through the harsh rain.
PERFECT (if absurd and dangerous for me) time to see how these 3000K HID's fair, and my goodness the difference was quite apparent.
Driving with just the low beams, the area from about 10 to 35 meters was lit up white. In the heavy rain it was more or less being scattered around by the sheets of rain but usable light was still hitting the pavement, revealing the wave-like pattern of the heavy and windy rain.
High beams? No-go. Dangerous almost. I knew it would be but wanted to test for a few seconds. But thats all i needed to know for certain that high beams in inclement weather was still a bad idea.
New fog lights? Did it become magically daylight and clear the rain? No. But it was SAFER. The road directly in front of me that the low-beams didn't project was lit clearly through the rain. The sides of the roads were more defined and lit. The road markers and lines on both sides were now lit and i could follow the lines and stay in my lane better and in a safer manner. The reflecting pavement markers were not only more reflecting, but reflected the farther ones as well (vs with just low beams). And the large green highway signs above the road, and next the road two lanes over were also more legible as the white text popped out more. All this through the ridiculously heavy rain. I dont want to hype it up too much, as its not magic here. Bit it was DEFINITELY a noticeable improvement to my visibility and safety of driving.
The OEM halogen fog lights never really "worked" for me. It was dim and all it did was project more light to the area directly in front of my bumper. But that was about it. Street signs or road marks were not any more or less visible.
Also Raine-x!
I just want to plug this in the end. I was driving through this rain seemingly from Satan and halfway realized i never even turned on the wipers. It was all whisked away from driving through the rain (i applied to the front windshield about a month before).
Raine-X and 3000K HID fogs have elevated the safety of driving through the torrential rain. And Raine-X and Xenon Depot get my thanks!
Here's hoping to many months and years of continued service.
09-26-16, 08:01 PM
#4
Pit Crew
Thread Starter
Yeah I'll try to post some shots tomorrow
09-30-16, 03:53 PM
#6
Pit Crew
Thread Starter
Here are some night shots of the 3000K Fog Lamps
Low Beams
Low and High Beams
Low and Fogs
Shot1
Shot2
If the image is small, you can right click the image itself and "open in new tab" to view full size.
Low Beams
Low and High Beams
Low and Fogs
Shot1
Shot2
If the image is small, you can right click the image itself and "open in new tab" to view full size.
Last edited by Mobius1; 09-30-16 at 04:00 PM.
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