Front fog light lens

Technical questions and answers about the Mazda Bongo

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vanvliet
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Location: Fife , Scotland

Post by vanvliet » Thu Dec 27, 2007 1:46 pm

I live on the Scottish coast and of course use my rear fogs but I drive so slowly in fog that I have never felt the need to use front fogs .Maybe I am missing out on something. :) It is usually the speeding bu---rs behind me that I worry about! I doubt if there has been more than one or two examples of fog in our neck of the woods this year in which visibility was down to 100m


Pic taken 5 mins ago .The mesh is a wee bit grubby like the rest of my van which is used as daily transport
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n54/ ... hgrill.jpg

This is a rant from another forum - - he makes a few interesting observations .
As has been stated previously, it is illegal for fog lights to be used in anything other than fog or falling snow with less than 100m (or thereabouts) visibility.
Fog lights annoy me for a number of reasons, some of them are linked:

- They do create more dazzle.
- Their vertical adjustment is not covered by the MOT, unlike headlights, thereby potentially creating even more dazzle. Who knows how to adjust their fog lights correctly?
- They are not “more visible” than dipped headlights.
- There is absolutely no need to use them during daylight hours under any circumstances as they are for seeing with not to be seen.
- They have no effect for driving at more than 15-20 mph as their lighting capability falls off the end of the bonnet and will not give sufficient warning of any hazards other than in situations for which they are designed – MAYBE!
- They use up more engine power (read more petrol, less performance) if combined with headlights.
- They are not more effective than main beam.

Consequently, the thing I find most annoying is the lack of any reasoned thought process which goes into the use of fog lights. Apart from those who use them no matter what and many opinions have previously been published on these people, there are those who must think "It's a little misty, I had better turn on my fog lights". They don't seem to think "having turned them on they make no difference whatsoever”. Perhaps more thought should go into the process of driving by all.

My last reason above re not being more effective than main beam may surprise a few people but try it out. You can actually see objects further away in thick fog/snow with main beam than any fog light that I have experienced and that includes Cibie Oscars. It just appears to be worse because you get a lot of reflections from the fog/snow and you think you can not see as far – ignore it and look through it – you can see further. In fact, in the past (read many years ago), I found the best option for distance was Cibie spotlights (not driving lights) as they penetrated further with minimal glare but they were rubbish for corners!
Last edited by vanvliet on Thu Dec 27, 2007 5:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Lovejoy

Post by Lovejoy » Thu Dec 27, 2007 3:51 pm

That mesh looks okay actually. makes them look like air intakes.
vanvliet
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Posts: 2081
Joined: Tue Aug 09, 2005 6:33 pm
Location: Fife , Scotland

Post by vanvliet » Thu Dec 27, 2007 5:09 pm

Email me with your address and I will send you a couple of bits They actually look better on the van than in the pics .You do not have to cut an acurate shape as they fit behind the bumper panel .Better than gaping holes and OK until you get your fogs
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maxheadroom
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Location: Gloucester

Post by maxheadroom » Thu Dec 27, 2007 5:13 pm

I don't wish to stir up anything here but are they fog lights or driving lights?
Also what is the difference between the two?

Happy New Year :lol:
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trevd01

Post by trevd01 » Thu Dec 27, 2007 6:35 pm

Foglights have a flat beam and light up the whole width of the road, quite close to the front of the car. When I'm driving over Saddleworth Moor to Manchester from home in fog (usually low cloud), they neatly pick up the reflectors on the posts either side of the road that are there to poke up through the snow.

You use foglights with dipped headlamps, or when it is really bad with sidelights only. Sometimes the fog is so bad that even dipped beams just bounce back from the fog and dazzle you. The fog lights having such a low beam light up the road just in front of the car without the light bouncing back quite as bad.

Image



If you lived where we do, you wouldn't be without them.

Spot lights give a long beam ahead, further ahead than main beams, useful when driving fast on quite roads only. Absolutely no use when there is oncoming traffic.
bigdaddycain
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Location: Ince Lancs

Post by bigdaddycain » Thu Dec 27, 2007 10:00 pm

I fitted mine (see picture above) simply because i think they look a little more purposeful than the plain old blanks!

I'll let you into a secret.... thye aren't even wired up!

I know i could (possibly) fail the m.o.t for this, (if lights are fitted they have to work clause) but never once has a tester included the FRONT fogs as part of the m.o.t. test.

I will eventually get round to wiring them in,as i'd prefer them to work really (just in case)...

I think i would probably use them in really heavy rain and spray on a motorway, i realize that isn't strictly legal,but surely the fogs and sidelights would produce less glare than the headlights...?

Mike? I couldn't agree more with you on the spotlight front... Mine are wired in through the main beam circuit, (i dont fancy grabbing switches on a pitch black "A" road :shock: ) I have a more "bling" 7" chrome set of spots at the moment,replacing the rally giants that i sold to NeilT...the rally giants did perform better...but didn't respond very well to a good polish! :lol: So the blingy chrome spots will be staying.... :wink:

(P.s. the mesh blanks look better than the originals vanvliet... :wink: )
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