if you like to do midnight runs through windy roads it would be very useful...I am always kinda scared a deer is gonna jump out when i'm on my way home..wish i had driving lights at those times..

 

Umm...i purchased a pair but i havent attempted the install as yet...i am afraid to cut my aero grill.

 

Yes, I am surprised here that so many people are using driving lights during fog - since I would think that they would REDUCE visibility in heavy fog, much like turning on your high beams just causes the light to bounce back at you in the fog, blinding you to the details you are trying to illuminate. That's why the fogs are so low on the car and pointed at the road to illuminate the roadway only immediately in front of the car.

The driving lights are best for clear weather and extreme darkness (no streetlights, no moon, no roadside busiiness lights) - think dark country lane where everything fades to black and you need to turn the road ahead to daylight as much as you can.

I bought mine mainly for the aesthetics - love the look with bonnet stripes. Have used the driving lights only a couple times - but they are darn helpful when you need them.

Bill

 

I thought white lights are driving lights and the yellow are the fog type lights. All these lights are white making them 'driving lights' and it is just a matter of location and projection.

I think?

 

No

The diffrence between fog lamps and driving lamps is the focus and dispersion of the beam. Fog = short low and wide, Driving = long and narrow

The color of the lens only matters in that a yellow or amber bulb will reduce glare in fog due to the refractive properites of yellow light.

 

I am guessing too but yellow lights are probably better at busting through fog and illuminating detail - so maybe you can get away with them mounted high and directed forward. My yellow sunglasses ("shooting glasses") make everything very crisp and seem to make mist and fog disappear.

Most cars (including MINI) that have fog lights have them mounted on the lower skirt - and they shine a halo around the front of the car on the ground so that you can pick out the lane markers (center line and curb line) more easily. I see many people who drive daily with fog lights on - but in clear weather they are really annoying to see coming at you. Not sure they add anything to safety in clear weather.

B

 

That is what my thought was also. I might be showing my age but all the old cars had yellow and not white lights as fog lights. Today, every car and truck out of the show rooms have white 'call them what you will' lights.

I am cool with them being fog lights. I drive with the extra lights on out here in the sticks of Missouri. Every little bit of light helps I guess, or I just look cool. But I have not been able to figure that out yet.

 

People turn on their fog lights for how they look, not for their utility. Fog lights are designed for low and wide short distance illumination, and they actually DECREASE your night vision for farther distances. This is easy to verify. Drive down a dark road and look into the distance with and without fog lights turned on. You'll find that you can see farther with the fogs turned off, because the near brightness causes your eye's pupils to close down. Their brightness gives an illusion of better vision, but it is only true for very short distances.

See this: http://danielsternlighting.com/tech/...fog_lamps.html

 

Fog lamps are also VERY useful if one lives in deer-congested areas, since they expand the light pattern laterally and allow MINI drivers like me to better see what is lurking along the road's edge or beyond that.

 

It looks like the Run Flat v. Non Run Flat debate is gearing down and the fog/driving light debate is gearing up.

 

You hit the nail on the head with that statement!

In my opinion driving lights are much more useful than fogs. Most fog lights aren't worth a darn.

 

Have you ever driven in really bad fog? I mean fog so thick you literally cannot see 10 feet ahead of you? A set of excellent fogs will save your life in those conditions. Many multiple-car accidents on Interstates are because of fog and people driving into the fog bank at speed, enter the soup. NO fogs, Bang

 

Which is why I LOVE my rear fog light on the MINI. I have heard that rear fog lights are illegal in certain states like Oregon and wonder why (that seems like a high fog state) - they have to increase safety in heavy fog.

They are also fun to turn on as you show your tail and zoom away from some annoying fellow motorist....

Bill

 

Haha, I'm actually getting the rear fog only (I know, I'm weird! - actually I can't afford all the toggles, so this was the simplist solution to a somewhat nicer toggle layout!).

I think it will be useful since the only accidents I've ever been in (touch wood!) are where people have rear-ended me. I'm also going to use it as a warning to tailgaters

 

Nah, the tire thing is a religious question, kind of like See DaVinci, don't see DaVinci

As others have already eloquently states, Fogs have a purpose, Driving lights have a purpose. Using one for the other doens't work very well because of the light distribution patterns.

And for those who leave their fogs on because they thinkg they look cool ... guess again, they don't. They make you look like someone who doesn't understand why they exist

 

Remember that the running lights need to be already on before the rear fog will activate, so it isn't like you can just flip it on at any time to warn off a tailgater.

I noticed that in many (most?) photos from MINIs on the Dragon, almost everyone seems to be driving around with fogs on. Was there some kind of agreement for everybody to turn them on? I think it looks a bit silly (adds to a funeral procession effect).

 

I wasnt there so I cannot speak to that but my guess is that pic was of the "parade" ... and that makes perfect sense, and it also looks wet and rainy there.

 

Ah, damn, really?! Oh well, I usually get tailgated at night anyways, so I guess it'll still work It was still worth the $100 to have a nicer toggle switch panel

 

Guess it's just a matter of personal taste. I have always liked the idea and utility of fogs and tend to use them as an extra set of running lights when touring. The more people notice me in my little car, the safer I feel. Here's a pic of my new PIAA 540 ION Fogs..... I love 'em!

 

One of the better stories I read on this forum a while ago was an account of a MINI exiting an interstate onto a sweeping cloverleaf ramp. As he slowed a huge SUV came up behind and tried to intimidate the little MINI - but the owner reached down, flicked on the rear fog, dropped a couple gears, and proceeded to accelerate through the ramp leaving the SUV standing still, afraid to go faster for fear of roll-over....

The manoeuver would have been enough - but there is something classic about flashing your fog light at the offender...

Bill

 

Yep, like I said most fog lights aren't worth a darn. I find the factory ones ok. At interstate speeds fogs aren't going to do much good. Slowing down is the key to avoiding bad things in fog. Best have that rear fog on so you don't get hammered by someone from behind.

 

Agreed. Most is the key word. I find the OEM MINIs barely adequate hence the FF200s fogs. They are great.

 

I believe the Hella's with the FF...Free Form reflectors are great lights in fog & driving. I have a set of FF1000 driving lights on my Forester & have yet to outrun them. The stock fogs on the Forester are absolutely useless.

 

Those babies look great. They're worth it even if you never turn them on.

Could you post a picture of your MINI from the side? I'd like a better picture of the two-toned paint job.

 

I saw that MINI at the dragon. The design is made with flex chrome molding and silver colored vinyl. Pretty cool. . .Sorry but I don't have a photo of it.