The LED SAE J583 Fog Pod & Fog Light Review

Thanks for the update Taylor! I really appreciate KC's support and willingness to contribute the amber G4 lights to this thread, but Tacoma World just cannot wait that long. I've ordered the amber G4s from a vendor that has them in stock and they should arrive on Wednesday. I plan on updating the thread that evening.

 

Thank you for the comprehensive and very technical review. I posted a question regarding fog light in FJ Cruiser group and got directed to this post. Definitely learned a ton and got a much better idea where to look.

 

BD hints that SAE Fogs are coming for 2019;
Baja Designs: General Discussion Thread

 

I saw that. Looking forward to see what they come out with as they make very nice lights.

 

It appears you may not be done with your comparisons just yet.....maybe

 

Summit Racing. Toyota Amber KC G4s in stock with a $26 coupon code and free shipping. Use coupon code "ALWAYS".
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/kcc-501/overview/

Never done, but always staying on top of it all. I have a good hunch I know what those are, but I'll double check with my connections and report back.

 

They’re here!

 

Would these benefit from the upgraded harness?

 

No. Upgraded harnesses are helpful to halogens to deliver increased voltage which makes a halogen burn brighter. LEDs have a much higher tolerance to voltage variances, and the G4s only use 10w compared to the 55w the circuit is designed for, meaning the OEM circuit is already overkill.

 

Good question! As far as I know the G4s come only with the H11 connectors, @Taylor@KC HiLiTES could provide more information.

 

So how do the KC Amber G4s stack up?





The KC Amber G4 produce an outstanding amber color, I measured the color temp at about 1800k. These are very amber fogs and should do excellent in poor weather conditions.

Comparing to the 5000k KC G4s
You can see the output of the Amber G4s does pay a penalty compared to the white G4s.



In inclement weather you want to avoid short wavelength light which refracts very easily, causing you to see the snow/rain/fog in the air and not the roadway past it. Eliminating the short wavelength light greatly reduces that refraction off the precipitation so you are not illuminating the fog as the light isn't 'bouncing back at you' and instead illuminating the roadway beyond it. You can see in the spectrum comparison that while the amber lights put out less overall light than the white G4s, the short wavelength light has been eliminated from the spectrum for better poor weather performance.




Of all the fogs in this thread, in my mind there are only two real contenders, KC and Rigid. Everything else compromises on reduced beam coverage and lower output. So how do the heavy weights of KC's true amber G4s compare with Rigids filtered lens amber pod?

Rigid pod top (3070k) vs KC Fog bottom (1790k)


Pattern width. I checked horizontal throw, as this has come up as a hot topic. The KCs offer a wider throw pattern than Rigid.


KC is far more amber vs Rigid's more yellow.


What does this mean for lux?
Rigid 318 lux vs KC 127 lux.


Lots of info, what does it all mean? KC produces a better amber color light with a wider beam pattern meaning they should have superior performance in the worst foul weather conditions. However Rigid produces much more light overall though the beam pattern is narrower and the light color is yellower. Rigids higher light intensity and yellower color would be better for a multi-purpose light, providing improved performance over their white lights in fog but not matching KC's low amber color temp for extreme weather where you want to minimize refraction by using amber for best light 'penetration'.

 

Awesome. BTW both real truck and CARid show them in stock as well. CARid doesn't have them, and real truck has been back pedaling for a week. Thanks for the update on summit. Getting a refund from realtruck and calling Summit first thing in the morning.

 

Btw sorry, I qouted you everywhere with that post to update the people who have been watching these and waiting for this review. Haha

 

Thank you thank you thank you! I was researching an amber fog light for my harsh winter conditions and the G4's are it. The thoroughness on the data and testing is really appreciated

 

The Amber on the KC's is absolutely beautiful!!

 

I believe the Japanese H16 and H11 use the same plug, so it should be a non issue.



The KC G4s use a deutsch DT connector and then have an adapter to the H11 plug to be plug and play.

 

If these things are going to become a huge hit like they seem they're going to be, could @Taylor@KC HiLiTES get a group buy going on? I think there's already about 6 guys just in the NE thread alone looking for these

 

I'd get in on that.

 

I updated the comparison post with some additional info comparing the KC G4 ambers to the KC G4 white fogs. At a later date I will update the OP with a section on the amber fog comparison.

No worries, thanks for sharing the information to those that were waiting for it.

 

Hey no, thank you. I searched for Info on fog lighlights on TW and this thread knocked it out of the park. Appreciate the time you take to do all of this .