ELX13

has anyone contacted rx8orders or their dealership regarding the 3 different fog light colors available? the GT package comes with fogs, of course, but you weren't able to choose the color.

i would think u should be able to choose your fog light color without incurring any extra costs on top of the cost of the GT package.

i'll e-mail rx8orders about this if none of you have done so already.

edit: by "3 different fog light colors" i mean the different colored lenses available: clear, blue tint and mulit-colored tint. see pic below

chikai

excuse my ignorance, but what are the three colors available? Was this a JDM option?

BRx8

unfortunately by looking at the pictures in the brochures with the fog lights on, they appear to be amber in color...i'd MUCH rather have the clear ones to match the HID lights and i'm also planning on getting the clear corner lenses when an aftermarket comes out...

hopefully we can at least open them up and change the bulb residing in there...i can't see why not as fog light bulbs should be replaceable

ELX13

here u go chikai:

Elara

Ugh- amber fog lights would completely negate the purpose of fog lights- amber light isn't going to make fog visibility any easier. I hope you're mistaken on that.

And to reply to ELX13, the colored lights are an accessory- that's why they cost extra. They probably do cost a bit more to make to begin with, so even if they were an original option on the car, you would have had to pay more to get them. In the end, its 6 of one and half dozen of the other. I wouldn't bother RX-8 orders about it if I were you- it's not something that's going to change, and they can't do anything about it anyway. They aren't there to be a complaint department, rather, they are there to answer questions.

medcina

Actually, fog lights were originally amber in design because yellow light diffuses less than other colors and helps limit the amount of light that gets reflected back in fog. In contrast, blue light diffuses a lot and is terrible to use in fog.

Elara

I didn't realize that- I've never seen amber fog lights on anything, so I just assumed that it would make it a lot harder to see sicne it's dimmer. Thanks!

gettingan8

The color of the light has little to do with its foul-weather performance. While yellow light will penetrate a little better in fog, the beam pattern is really the difference between a driving lamp and a fog lamp. A round-pattern yellow lamp will not work much better than a white lamp in bad weather, because it casts too much light upward to be reflected back into the rider's eyes. True fog lamps have a very wide, flat beam that does not cast any light up to be reflected back.

Toadman

LOL, you young pup Elara. You've never seen amber(yellow) foglight kits before?

medcina

Agreed. But lets remember that we are talking about fog lamps and by definition, it should have (not necessarily will though) the wide beam pattern that you describe. All things being equal, yellow light is optimal for fog than white or blue.

medcina

Lots of Lexus' come with amber fog lights. Might be an option, not sure. I see them all over the place here in the states.

chikai

I was just on the "Virtual RX-8 Garage"
http://www.mazda.co.jp/accessory/garage/rx-8/rx-8.html

and saw that there are three options in Japan. Without knowing any Japanese and looking at the pictures I see:
1) Yellow/Gold
2) Hyperwhite/Blue
3) Clear

I like the "Multi-tint" coating option as it reminds me of the old Catz XLO's I used to have. I bet those produce a "yellow" beam.

medcina

Yeah, I noticed that too. However, I wouldn't be surprised if the U.S. spec cars come only with the clear lenses. From my experience, most U.S. buyers prefer the clear over the amber color and most manufacturers don't give an option for fog light color. Still, it would be nice to be able to choose.

ELX13

ahhh...medcina brings the thread back to my original point:

1) fogs are part of the GT package (which i ordered)
2) the fogs come in 3 different lens colors (clear, blue, and multi)
3) here's my confusion...if clear is standard in the GT package, why isn't it listed as only an accessory for the other packages? (ie. Fog Lights (Clear, standard with GT package)) similar to the way they specified that the "aluminum pedal set" is an accessory for the auto tranny.

this would make it clearer to me that i have to pay extra for the "color variant" versions if i want them. (which apparently is the case.)

make sense? (i guess it's just a matter of semantics.)

BRx8

the lens may be clear but the bulb emits an amber light...so if you have the HID headlights, you'll probably want the blue lens as it will produce a bright white light which would match the HID lights better...i think most people will, in the end, opt for the other colors as opposed to the "clear" lens

ELX13

this is exactly what i plan to do...or at least swap the bulb. most likely both.

but again, this isn't the topic i'm trying to focus on. #3 in my previous post is all i'm really asking about.

and...elara, this isn't a complaint. it's a simple question that i think is the exact type of inquiry rx8orders is equipped to answer.

Elara

Sorry I misunderstood- I'm getting tired of seeing everyone who has an issue with the car bitching to RX-8 orders -they really don't deserve all the abuse they're getting.

And no, Toadman and everyone else, I've never noticed yellow foglights. Every car I've had that had foglights (2 SHOs, 325i, the Boxster I borrowed) had white lights. And if they're on a lot of Lexuses, that might explain it. I usually ignore them.

TybeeRX-8

I've also had BMWs (early 80's) and Mercedes with amber fog lights. They are prevalent in Europe, not white or any other color.

TybeeRX-8

I've also had BMWs (early 80's) and Mercedes with amber fog lights. They are prevalent in Europe, not white or any other color.

IGOZMZM

But then again the Fog Lights are included in every package (Sports, Touring, and GT), the only way to NOT get the fog lights is to order a base model of either the 6SP or AT. Please add this to your theory and re stat it. Makes it even wierder that they didn't say that in the brouchure. :D

TerenceT

yellow is for contrast!!!!
how well the light pass thru the fog depends on the wavelength

i've heard some real fog lights are white, yet the penetrate the fog just as well

HOWEVER

having experienced the coastal fog in CA, i'll have to say yellow is the way to go because of the yellow light it cast, you will have a much better contrast of distant. (imagine fog so thick you can see past the hood)

as other has pointed out, Mercedes, bmw, used to have yellow fog lights, and now the Lexus. Personally, i've gone out of my way to get yellow fog for my wrx and old A4

Multi coating sort of emit yellow lights, how yellow, we'll have to wait but for me they are usually not yellow enough but just yellowish.

how well is blue in fog, i don't know but i am guessing now really cuz of the long wave length??

maybe the JDM guys can let us know how wide the "fog" lights are. They should be wide and short, illuminating the side plus right infront of the bumper. if you want it bright, go for some pencil beams "driving" lights.

A word of causion, since we are on the topic of fog lights. Rear fog light should only be on one side and that's the driver side, the purpose of the rear fog is so help the car behind you identify the driving lines on the road ONLY.

i have no idea about the 8's fog in the middle tho, maybe it's illegal in the states? i don't know. (civil code didn't mention rearward facing red light, only forward facing red and blue are illegal for civilians)

ELX13

DOH!

you're absolutely correct...good catch.

you're right...now it's even more confusing.

Farsyde

here in FL, blue lights are ALWAYS illegal if you can see the bulb or not. If you have a blue light on your car and the cops can see it, they can write you a ticket for it. Red is also illegal to shine forward and i'm pretty sure that green light bulbs cannot be seen (hence green undercar neons are ok). Also, red, amber, and white are the only colors allowed for the rear of the car.

neit_jnf

Here in PR, the blue lights are illegal as well. The cops can give you a ticket or citation for "trying to impersonate a cop" or something crazy like that.

Keeper

Most laws state that fog lights and headlights must be substantially white in color -- having a blue tint to the lights won't get you a ticket.

Now, having blue strobes, neons, or windshield washer nozzles will. But those things are not substantially white in color. Aside from the fact that anyone dumb enough to put those on their car out to get a ticket just for the sheer lack of taste...