G6 3000K LED fog light bulbs

[SteveYem]

Last week, one of my Hoen "Endurance" yellow fog light bulbs burned out, so I finally started looking at LED bulb options as replacements. After some searching and a phone call with mike@hidconcept, I ended up with a set of the G6 3000K LED bulbs (can be found here (http://www.hidconcept.com/products/h11-g6-3000k-led-headlight-fog-light-kit-pack-of-2.html)). I just installed them tonight and used them for a few miles of driving, which did not included any foggy or rainy conditions so my early review will be limited to initial quality, compatibility and aesthetics.

Initial quality: The LED units were packaged nicely and appear to be of high quality. They came with an instruction manual and some extra filters to allow the user to change the effective output color of the LEDs. There are two different shades of yellow as well as two sets of blue filters. It's basically translucent tinted film that gets wrapped around the bulb to shift the native color of the LEDs which I presume is white. I left on the filters that came on the bulbs which I believe are the advertised 3000k color temperature.
The packaging states that the bulbs are rated IP65 which means the bulbs are dust tight and are protected from water jets from any direction, so if they live up to that rating they should be adequate for this service. At the base of the bulb is a heat sink structure, and the bulbs are fan-less. The listing on hidconcept website states that the operating life is approx. 30000 hours, so I should never have to replace these bulbs.

http://i.imgur.com/7vvmajM.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/K4VUQws.jpg


Compatibility: I have a 2015(B8.5) S4 which technically uses a H8 bulb for the fog lamps; however, these H11 bulbs fit into the back of the projector housings with no modifications required and appeared/felt to have seated properly into place, i.e. insert and turn Clockwise until the seal seats and the bulb "clicks" into place.
The "female" wire plug fit securely with OEM feel to the OEM "male" power supply plug. I have experienced no "bulb out" or other errors when using these bulbs for the < 1 hour that I have so far.

First impressions - light output and aesthetics: These LED bulbs are much brighter than the Hoen 'Endurance' yellow bulbs they are replacing, which were about the same light output as the stock bulbs as I recall. The LED bulbs give an almost flourescent yellow color that appears almost flourescent green when compared to the Hoen yellow bulbs, however when I took the Hoen bulb out of the equation the LED light output looks bright yellow and not green. I guess technically speaking the color temperature of the Hoen bulbs was probably in the low to mid 2000k's while these LEDs are supposedly at 3000k.
The light output is noticeably brighter and actually throws some light to each side of the road. The fog light beam pattern also reaches higher than the stock/Hoen halogen bulbs. I suspect these LEDs will actually be useful as fog lights and will report back once I get a chance to use them in that situation. For now, I can only comment on light output and aesthetics in clear conditions, both of which I would say are very good. My only concern is that the increased brightness and higher beam cut-off could be a nuisance to oncoming drivers, so I will keep an eye out for getting high beams flashed at me.

Hoen 'Endurance' yellow on the driver side, 6G 3000K LED on the passenger:

Notice some yellow light up and to the right of the main beam pattern from the LED bulb in the first photo. This is the light pattern that actually illuminates the side of the road, which was not noticeable with the stock or Hoen halogen bulbs.
http://i.imgur.com/DQchxv7.jpg

(Sorry for the iPotato quality, but the relative color and brightness is represented well)
http://i.imgur.com/CIBJaQQ.jpg

[DUMPMOUT]

$100 for fog bulbs? Definitely brighter though...

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[jlaudio]

Looks like a florescent green highlighter with that camera.

My only objection with these type of led's is that the color is produced by the "filter" ie. the plastic cover. The underlying LED is a normal LED. Cree makes the XPE led's in a yellow.

[SteveYem]

$100 for fog bulbs? Definitely brighter though...

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Well, they were on sale when I bought them, so it was more like $75 for fog lights. But honestly I feel like these are actually going to serve a purpose unlike the stock and Hoen products.

[SteveYem]

Looks like a florescent green highlighter with that camera.

My only objection with these type of led's is that the color is produced by the "filter" ie. the plastic cover. The underlying LED is a normal LED. Cree makes the XPE led's in a yellow.

Yep, I'm curious to see how the filters hold up. I suppose they will degrade over time due to heat.

[OnEaNgRyBuNnY]

Yep, I'm curious to see how the filters hold up. I suppose they will degrade over time due to heat.

This is my concern as well. Mine went from a nice yellow to absolutely zero coloration from the film in a week. Color is almost identical to the Xenon beam now. I don't remember my brand but the filter looks identical. I bought laminex for the lights, but I'm not sure I like the look of the yellow housing and haven't installed it yet.

Not sure why they aren't making these out of yellow LEDs as opposed to using a filter.


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[mikedizzzo]

Might have to buy a set for my S5


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[mikedizzzo]

Anyone have the LED Philips fog lights? Do those throw a warnjng light?


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[SteveYem]

This is my concern as well. Mine went from a nice yellow to absolutely zero coloration from the film in a week. Color is almost identical to the Xenon beam now. I don't remember my brand but the filter looks identical. I bought laminex for the lights, but I'm not sure I like the look of the yellow housing and haven't installed it yet.

Not sure why they aren't making these out of yellow LEDs as opposed to using a filter.


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Interesting. Is there at least a silver lining in that your fog light LEDs match your headlight bulb color? Or are the LEDs much whiter?

I thought about doing the LaminX approach but decided that I really only want the yellow color when the lights are on. I felt like there was a time and a place for yellow lenses and that's back when I had my Subaru : ) I will say, though, that I should have installed some Xpel clear film over the fog light housing lenses when I had the chance, because they are super pitted after a couple years on the road.

I wonder if yellow colored LEDs have lower light output (lumens) than standard white LEDs going through a filter?

[OnEaNgRyBuNnY]

Interesting. Is there at least a silver lining in that your fog light LEDs match your headlight bulb color? Or are the LEDs much whiter?

I thought about doing the LaminX approach but decided that I really only want the yellow color when the lights are on. I felt like there was a time and a place for yellow lenses and that's back when I had my Subaru : ) I will say, though, that I should have installed some Xpel clear film over the fog light housing lenses when I had the chance, because they are super pitted after a couple years on the road.

I wonder if yellow colored LEDs have lower light output (lumens) than standard white LEDs going through a filter?

The "white" color will be full spectrum if, when a colored laminex or any other filter is put in front, light of any color still emerges. Yellow would be much more concentrated in one wavelength. With a incandescent bulb or a setup like this with the filter, all the other colors of light are being filtered out and, therefor, the actually output after filtered is much lower, I'd actually believe an LED producing yellow light would put out more light as the end result.

But yes, the stabilized color does roughly match the HID's. Not 100% but close enough most people would never notice. That's the only reason I still rock them or I would have gone back to my incandescent bulbs that had the desired effect, though dimmer.

It's a shame that some of the tuner crowd really brought a bad stigma to the yellow fog look, it really is more effective of a wavelength for a dog light and there was a time it was sought after even in high-end cars and a cool look and a legitimate performance upgrade. Not to mention i do like the look (just not with my car color). The yellow wavelength is not as readily refracted by the water molecules in fog as others in the visible light spectrum, or some such, I'm no physicist.


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[whiped]

Just to add to the above, I've had very bright white LED and HID bulbs in my fogs. (3000+ lms)

They are awful in the fog, you just get a wall of white as they do not penetrate at all.

They are however, amazing for driving country roads as the light up all sides of the roads.

[SteveYem]

The "white" color will be full spectrum if, when a colored laminex or any other filter is put in front, light of any color still emerges. Yellow would be much more concentrated in one wavelength. With a incandescent bulb or a setup like this with the filter, all the other colors of light are being filtered out and, therefor, the actually output after filtered is much lower, I'd actually believe an LED producing yellow light would put out more light as the end result.

But yes, the stabilized color does roughly match the HID's. Not 100% but close enough most people would never notice. That's the only reason I still rock them or I would have gone back to my incandescent bulbs that had the desired effect, though dimmer.

It's a shame that some of the tuner crowd really brought a bad stigma to the yellow fog look, it really is more effective of a wavelength for a dog light and there was a time it was sought after even in high-end cars and a cool look and a legitimate performance upgrade. Not to mention i do like the look (just not with my car color). The yellow wavelength is not as readily refracted by the water molecules in fog as others in the visible light spectrum, or some such, I'm no physicist.


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Thanks for the insight. You clearly paid more attention during quantum / E&M physics class than I did : )
I remember the days of luxury car makers using bright yellow fog lights and that's the look I was after. Lexus comes to mind, in particular the IS300 which I still think looks great on the road with those yellow fog lights on.

The net light output (brightness) of these bulbs appears to be adequate, and clearly brighter and wider reaching than the stock bulbs, but I will be keeping a close eye on any color shifting that occurs due to the filter fading and will update this thread accordingly.



Just to add to the above, I've had very bright white LED and HID bulbs in my fogs. (3000+ lms)

They are awful in the fog, you just get a wall of white as they do not penetrate at all.

They are however, amazing for driving country roads as the light up all sides of the roads.

That's what I was afraid of and why I ultimately went with a yellow option. It would have been ideal if the Hoen 'Endurance' yellow bulbs actually put out more light than the stock bulbs, but unfortunately they did not (at least to my eyes) and were not very durable to boot. I imagine having super bright white fog bulbs is similar to flipping on the bright headlight beams in foggy conditions, producing a wall of white as you mentioned.

[whiped]

That's what I was afraid of and why I ultimately went with a yellow option. It would have been ideal if the Hoen 'Endurance' yellow bulbs actually put out more light than the stock bulbs, but unfortunately they did not (at least to my eyes) and were not very durable to boot. I imagine having super bright white fog bulbs is similar to flipping on the bright headlight beams in foggy conditions, producing a wall of white as you mentioned.

Precisely, my low-beams cut through the fog really well. I only use my fog bulbs to light up the side of the road. They work REALLY well for that purpose.

[audigsr]

How do LEDs cut through fog compared to halogen bulbs? I remember reading that HID bulbs are horrible at cutting through fog, which why it's advised not to put them as fog lights even with lower Kelvins. I'm under the assumption that LEDs would cut through the fog similarly to HIDs? Or would they outperform halogen bulbs?

[SteveYem]

How do LEDs cut through fog compared to halogen bulbs? I remember reading that HID bulbs are horrible at cutting through fog, which why it's advised not to put them as fog lights even with lower Kelvins. I'm under the assumption that LEDs would cut through the fog similarly to HIDs? Or would they outperform halogen bulbs?

I should be able to report back on inclement weather performance within the coming week. It may not be fog, but should be rain and/or sleet which may give some indication of fog performance.

[jl87]

Not to derail since it's a different brand, but I've been using yellow LED fogs (no filters) for nearly 1.5 years now- no color shift, flickering, degradation of performance, etc.
http://www.audizine.com/forum/showthread.php/662129-iJDMTOY-3000K-LED-Fog-Lights-Review?highlight=ijdmtoy

[SteveYem]

Not to derail since it's a different brand, but I've been using yellow LED fogs (no filters) for nearly 1.5 years now- no color shift, flickering, degradation of performance, etc.
http://www.audizine.com/forum/showthread.php/662129-iJDMTOY-3000K-LED-Fog-Lights-Review?highlight=ijdmtoy

Thanks for chiming in! I looked through your thread just now and it turns out that I posted in it back in 2015 haha.
I am glad to see that yours are still going strong. The color and brightness looks very similar to the ones I bought judging by the photos. Fingers crossed for reliability.

[OnEaNgRyBuNnY]

How do LEDs cut through fog compared to halogen bulbs? I remember reading that HID bulbs are horrible at cutting through fog, which why it's advised not to put them as fog lights even with lower Kelvins. I'm under the assumption that LEDs would cut through the fog similarly to HIDs? Or would they outperform halogen bulbs?

They put out way more light and the way they express color is different. Too much for a post like this but it's the way they combine actual wavelengths to produce a color and not necessarily how much of the desired wavelength that would coincide with a color is being produced. So you could have a bunch of different wavelengths that don't even contain yellow being used to make a yellow light but since their wavelengths are not that of native yellow, they won't have the same affect. Incandescent and HID's both work this way, not necessarily the same levels of each wavelength. An LED or filter that produces or only allows only one wavelength or an arrow range will have a MUCH better effect. My understanding is an LED can be tuned to produce natively any color in the visible spectrum while halogen and HID are limited by the types of gases and heat that can be applied so they are forced to blend wavelengths to arrive at colors if produced without a filter. Any physicists or engineers want to chime in on this?


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[SteveYem]

I still have not had the chance to test these fog light bulbs in inclement weather conditions, but I'm definitely impressed with the output in clear conditions. The following photos are with the fog lights and LED DRLs on:

http://i.imgur.com/J6c5EZe.jpg

From driver seat:
http://i.imgur.com/ji1q1ei.jpg

[cheewy16]

Mine seem to have worked just fine in the rain the other day while driving home at night. But I'm waiting to really test them on highways that don't have roadside lighting. But I do know for a fact that they are definitely brighter than the PIAA ion yellow bulbs I had before these.
Also like #SteveYem mentioned, the lighting pattern is wider which is a plus!