Can anyone tell me how to modify my '07 Outback so that the foglights stay on with the high beams?
- posted
17 years ago
Can anyone tell me how to modify my '07 Outback so that the foglights stay on with the high beams?
Don't know the answer, but to see in foggy weather, you don't want the high beams on, because when they are, the reflection back off the water droplets is worse than when the light beams are at a lower level. So why do you want to do this?
Annoyingly, with proper fog lights, you don't even want the regular headlamps on either, but many American car designs and jurisdictions seem to disallow that. (Many seem to be white instead of yellow, too.) Frankly, I get the impression that they're there for reasons other than actually performing well in fog. Here in Ohio we're full of idiots who like to drive around in regular visibility with their fog lights on. ):
-- Mark
Got the same problem here too, Mark. You dim your lights, and the oncoming truck or similar SUV dims theirs also, only to have a plethora of small driving lights come on. I'm not sure that is any better than just staring down two bright lights! And yup, always in the regular visibility!
~Brian
The electrical draw of the fog lights and high beams will exceed the rated amperage capacity of the lighting circuit. Such a mod would require beefing up wiring sizes and fuses, in addition to reworking the switching. I've found that here in upstate NY, where we're overrun with whitetail deer that pose a constant threat to motorists, the foglights project a short wide beam that illuminates the sides of the road better than high or low beams alone, enabling a split second more reaction time to avoid the deer or other critters that linger along the side of the road just before they jump out in front of you...not really what the fog lites were designed for, but it helps. That's the only reason I've run with them on during conditions of normal visibility.
Ja
I'm not so sure about that. If I remember correctly, low beam bulbs draw about 45 watts while high beam bulbs are about 55 watts. Since the low beam setup is to run the low beams and the fog lights - probably in the order of 100 watts, i'd be surprised if it required such an upgrade to run an extra 10 watts.
Chicobiker
Adds about 2 amps to what is normally a 10 or 15 amp circuit...a significant load increase.
THEY ARE ON SEPARATE CIRCUITS!
MAKE THE CHANGE AT THE RELAY. NO ADDED ELECTRICAL DRAW ON ANY CIRCUIT, OTHER THAN WHAT WAS DESIGNED AT THE FACTORY.
I suspect that your car will no longer pass inspection if you do this - at least in NY. I don't think the manufacturers put the extra relays and logic in place to dim the fog lights when the high beams are on just for fun. Years ago, I added a set of after market fog lights to a car and had problems because they were not interconnected with the high beams properly had to remove them to pass inspection.
Yer problem is, you live someplace where you have to let them inspect your car.
I call them Deer Lights. I need to use the fog lights to provide enough light to see deer on the side of the road. Not real useful in fog, as it turns out.
Owlyn writes: (snip)
Mmmmm, I can see that use on deserted rural routes or whatever. It's more on the freeway in rush-hour traffic it annoys me. (-:
-- Mark
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