Yellow Lights in weather scenario's
 

Hey CL guys...I've been wondering this in the back of my mind for awhile. Has it been actually proven or is it true that the "yellow" lights/foglights increase vision in the rain, mist, fog, or snow or any kind of severe weather situation? Whatever your thoughts are, please discuss and explain what led you to that thought because i'm very curious about this kind of thing to see if yellow lights/foglights are better in different types of severe weather :):cool:

I tried my fogs in the rain, fog, etc. Yellow light didn't make it any better as far as visibility. It's almost a myth. I'll have to dig up a link somewhere.

But people do see you better as you can distinguish yellow much better than white light in those conditions.

gsteg - keep in mind that you can actually adjust the height of your beam output on the fogs... maybe yours don't shine out that far?? if you remove the fog light housing, you'll see a white dial on the back that you can rotate and point the light higher or lower.

Hmm...I see...So it does somewhat increase visibility because yellow is more distinguished to other vehicles throughout those weather conditions as GSteg said i see. What do you think though cliffud?

I've heard that most people say yellow fogs are better for visibility is because low light output or something and that it cuts through the fog. If it was bright, like headlights, then the light would reflect in different directions making it harder to see. That's why they say never to turn high beams on during fog because it makes it worse.

white light vs. yellow light.

amber/yellow cuts through the fog more, and doesn't reflect as much light back into your eyes. you see a 'bit' farther.

there was a thread on HIDplanet, where the guy did a comparison with 4300k and 3000k foglights. (same foglight, different bulbs) both pictures, taken in the same place, one right after another, no flash, showed that with the 3000k you could see more of the surrounding area. i'll see if i can find that thread.

I think yellow illuminates more. Thats why race cars always use the bright yellow. I remember reading an FAQ on HID, and the higher temp you go, the more it becomes blue/purlple... but they aren't as strong as the lower 3000k yellow.

I've noticed SLIGHT increases in visibility while driving in the rain. It seems to illuminate the white lines on the sides of the road better. The only problem with that is that the illumination doesn't extend too far out. So, the improvement is minimal yet still effective.

stage3 - you can actually aim your fog lights - just pull the fogs housings out and turn the white dial.

I'm going to try that tomorrow! As soon as I read it a few hours back in the previous posts, it started to rain. So... We shall see! :woohoo:

Yellow
 

I previously had atleast 3 separate sets of different types of fog lights on different vehicles. 2 were yellow fogs, both which I believed improved visibility in Poor conditions. They didn't shine far, but they were a fog pattern beam that was designed to illuminate the near front of the vehicle and not necessarily far away.
The yellow lumens of the fog do seem to penetrate inclement weather farther and allow other cars to see you farther. I always notice bright yellow fogs further than I would white fogs on the Highway.
Maybe its just me but I always like the way they look anyway.

i have hid 3k fog lights on mines... and mines are projectors. and yes i can adjust the height. doesn't seem to bother people but i could be seen from miles away.

also, the reason why 3k hid fog is good for fog is because it doesn't reflect as much as any white light does.

have u ever blast high beam that is white during fog? the distance just cuts off right? and u see all the fog right smack on your face.

because white reflects...fog is mist of water in which we see white...just like clouds.

fog is clouds that is on surface level.

so in short, from experience and from my understanding 3k fog does helps.


but, to argue... 4300k fog light will help also, as long you don't direct the light output upwards... the point of fog lights is to put light in the lower surface of your car in which the headlight does not light up the surface area.


i guess it really all depends on how you project your lighting.

There was a thread in the lighting forum last month that said that yellow fogs were better for driving in bad weather/fog.
(BTW in Vietnam, all trucks are required to have yellow fogs) so i guess they work?

As I remember, yellow light reflected less in bad weather / especially in heavy fog, hence its more visible and provides more coverage area than higher temp lights.

Well, today we just had one of the midwest downpours of rain. You know the kind of rain that soaks you wet in less than 10 seconds. Well, I have H3 yellow Piaa Ion Plasma's in my fogs and noticed that the glare from the road is greatly reduced. They also light up the painted lines on the road better than my stock halogen bulbs did.

I can also see the different light color from my fogs and my lowbeams while driving. Before I could not even tell if my fogs were on (since the HID kills halogen foglight output almost 100%)