Rear foglights driving thread

[SauRoNZA]

What is the fundamental difference between heavy rain and fog/mist?

When it’s raining it causes a glimmer from the fog lights which especially in heavier traffic means you can’t exactly see the extremities of the car.

Incidentally it does this on purpose in fog which is why they exist to make the light “bloom” and seem more obvious, but fog doesn’t reflect it but instead absorbs it.

It also makes it even brighter to everyone else as the light reflects off the rain.

An absolute nightmare on a bike in the rain.

A "fog light bloom" in rain refers to the phenomenon where a car's fog lights appear excessively bright and can potentially blind other drivers when used in heavy rain, essentially creating a glare effect due to the light reflecting off raindrops in the air, even though the intended purpose of fog lights is to improve visibility in low-visibility conditions like fog; therefore, using fog lights in heavy rain is generally not recommended and can be considered dangerous as it can impair the vision of other drivers.

 

[The_MAC]

When it’s raining it causes a glimmer from the fog lights which especially in heavier traffic means you can’t exactly see the extremities of the car.

Incidentally it does this on purpose in fog which is why they exist to make the light “bloom” and seem more obvious, but fog doesn’t reflect it but instead absorbs it.

It also makes it even brighter to everyone else as the light reflects off the rain.

An absolute nightmare on a bike in the rain.

So I concur with the theory, but I must admit, there has been a few times where other vehicles flood lights made it much easier for me to see them in very dense rain on the highway, and the associated glare was not enough to make it unbearable.

But duly noted.

 

[SauRoNZA]

So I concur with the theory, but I must admit, there has been a few times where other vehicles flood lights made it much easier for me to see them in very dense rain on the highway, and the associated glare was not enough to make it unbearable.

But duly noted.

I mean it’s one of those circumstantial things, some times it’s far worse than other times depending on the rain and wind and what not.

More modern cars with LED fog lights I find to be much worse than the older ones with bulbs.

 

[FiestaST]

In two minds here:

Polo with it's rear fog on, there is zero fog but visibility is somewhat poor & there is/was some heavy rain spells.

 

[Jet-Fighter7700]

totally justified, at least you can see him, and it isnt blinding other people
weather isnt great, so it could count as fog.

 

[akescpt]

In two minds here:

Polo with it's rear fog on, there is zero fog but visibility is somewhat poor & there is/was some heavy rain spells.

its the dudes that do it no matter the weather that's the issue...

 

[UrBaN963]

I've been driving with my fogs on permanently, just in case. Been working well, lots of people hoot at me as thanks.

 

[FiestaST]

I've been driving with my fogs on permanently, just in case. Been working well, lots of people hoot at me as thanks.

Lekker ma nagger!

 

[RedViking]

I've been driving with my fogs on permanently, just in case. Been working well, lots of people hoot at me as thanks.

I realised my 2006 Hyundai accent switches off the fog lights automatically when the car is switched of. Have to manually switch on again. Nice little feature for the verkramptes.

 

[UrBaN963]

I realised my 2006 Hyundai accent switches off the fog lights automatically when the car is switched of. Have to manually switch on again. Nice little feature for the verkramptes.

That's just your battery dying, don't worry about it.

 

[HAL 9000]

In two minds here:

Polo with it's rear fog on, there is zero fog but visibility is somewhat poor & there is/was some heavy rain spells.

View attachment 1821355

My landlord asked me a few weeks ago what bulbs were fitted to the tail-lights on his Polo, as he noticed that his reverse light on the right wasn't working and he had the same issue with the fog-light on the left not working either...

I had to explain to him that this was NOT a 'bulb failure' but the implementation of cost-cutting - VW saves the cost of TWO bulbs per vehicle by using the clear lens on the left (next to the indicator) only for the reverse-light & the corresponding red lens on the right only for the fog-light and NOT having to provide TWO separate lenses for both on each side.

Typically the reverse light for SA model cars is on the left (the side closest to the kerb when parking), whilst the fog-light is on the right (the driver's side) - although on some cars, the the fog-light or reverse light can also be centre-mounted as well, or it can also have dual reverse lights / fog-lights in each tail-light unit, as I showed him on my car...