Technology is advancing at a brisk pace especially in the automotive sector. With new features being introduced in the new-age cars, some features are either history or have more than one function. That said, these add-ons having several features, people usually get confused about when and where to use them. One such element is the Fog light.
By the name, it certainly is clear when to use these lights, but I’m afraid to tell you that most of the cars on the Indian road have their food lights on (even on a gloomy bright night). Additionally, in some vehicles, the fog lights also double up as the cornering lights. This is something that is new in modern cars. So, before taking any further let’s have a look at what these lights are all about.
Fog Lights
Clearing out your miss conception, fog lights are for you to see the road ahead. These lights are for others to see your vehicle when the vision not so good. As everyone knows the fog lights are usually mounted in the front, lower down in the bumper, just above the road. Well, it is the rear too (in some cars) that offer rear fog lights.
Keeping that aside, here is why you should not use the fog lights every time.
- Nowadays, car’s headlights are bright enough that they do not need extra illumination on road. These lights won’t help in that.
- Using fog lights might also dazzle the cars behind as the rear fog lights really very bright. Remember to switch them off when the visibility improves.
- The rear fog lights can also obstruct the brake lamp vision and will not be seen or will be useful for the function they were engineered for.
- Turing the fog lights ‘on’ under wet condition is also a very bad idea. The lights are placed lower down close to the road and the reflection from the lights can hamper the view of the road.
Cornering Lights
One of the convenience features in modern-day cars is the cornering lights. Where these lights are not a deal-breaker in buying a car, they surely have a great function when a car has it. You might get confused in the cornering lights and the fog lights as in some cars they both are the same lights. So what is the difference?
Well, for one, these lights that are designed to also function as cornering lights are engineered for that very purpose. So, here is the thing, not all cornering lights are housed in the fog lights and not all fog lamps can double-up as cornering lights. Usually, Nissan, Skoda and Volkswagen offer cornering bulbs in the fog lamps and Hyundai offers them in the vehicle’s headlights.
Now let’s come down to its function. Driving a vehicle in the dark, the headlights have a limited spread. This is where the cornering lights come in. The cornering lights when turning the vehicle offer a wider spread of the light. As we turn the wheels one side, either left or right, the cornering lights of that particular side turns on illuminating the blind spot.
Also, Read What Is An ECU? Electronic Control Unit (ECU) Explained
So, these were the commonly confused lights in modern-day cars. Do let us in the comment section, which features you wanna know about.
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Thanks understood about fog lamps purpose now, in that case my next query is we should keep ordinary company fitted bulbs or upgrade them into white LED bulbs in fog lamp for better visibility to other vehicles during fogging weather conditions.
Hey Amit,
We suggest not installing LED bulbs in the reflector-type fog lamp housing. Instead, try switching to a better Halogen bulb from OSRAM or Philips. For more info watch our video on the GoMechanic YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JG5JOAx82oI
Historically(and still where I live) fog lights are to see the road by. They are yellow because this penetrates haze better, for the same reason the sky is blue(blue is more easily deflected). (This fact may be worth more consideration than I have heard it given regarding colour temperature of street lights and newer headlight technology.) For this to work, though, you would need to turn the main headlights off, as they light up the fog, which then obscures vision. On newer vehicles you may be unable to do this, and factory fog lamps are usually too weak to drive by. Thus the excuse that they are just clearance lights to inform other drivers where your car is in all the glow. If they can’t tell from your headlights, God help them.
My Toyota has side-shining lights which energise only when signaling that direction, which I like.
You are right.