The LED SAE J583 Fog Pod & Fog Light Review

See the original review, but in short the selective yellow versions should. However, the max has even greater filtration with 6000k emitters and a darker filtration optic, meaning more energy is put into and absorbed by the lens, resulting in hotter lens temps while also having significantly better cut offs for better poor weather performance and not being a nuisance to on coming traffic.

 

No, it's a 2021 Premium trim and didn't come with them at all.

Hey, something I'd like to ask your opinion on....

In addition with the Max Fog kit, I'd like to get an SS 30" bar with the combo optic from Diode. Would it make that much of a difference mounting it in the lower grille vs the higher grille? Aesthetically, I like the look of the higher grille more, but putting it in the lower grille would require way less work (less cutting, likely no removing the bumper, etc). So basically will the difference between the two be unnoticeable or will mounting it down low give me significantly less light coverage (side to side and out in the distance)?



VS

(Though I would put mine in FRONT of the grille cover, not behind it)

 

I'm not a Subaru expert, but it looks like the Subi Ascent kit is designed for plug and play replacement of existing fogs. So if you don't have factory fogs, you will need additional components including a switch mechanism. Diode might sell something for the switch, but generally speaking I favor going with OEM components, or OEM replicas so that it is OEM like in execution rather than aftermarket switches. That is often the practice in the Toyota community for the trucks that did not come with fogs.

Any kind of distance light should be mounted near headlight height to be useful. Mounting a driving light near the ground on a car is going to perform poorly. I'd immediately rule out that lower mount. Small changes in roadway elevation will cast significant shadows and is not going to provide the down-range light output the bar is designed for. The bottom of the upper grill will be much better, but even better still would be the top of the upper grill where it is near headlight level, if that is an option.

 

Thank you for the response! It definitely helps with the decisions.

I think I'll ask the shop I'm going to for my fogs if they'll be able to mount a bar in the upper area of the upper grille. Although I'm kind of afraid of cutting out a portion of the grille (for when I eventually sell the vehicle -- assuming I'll want to keep the bar) that does sound like the best spot for it.

Hey by the way, speaking of the DD fog kit, I think I'm gonna go with the Max yellows. I was going to ask my shop they could make it to where the fogs stay on with high beams. How do you feel about this? On the Subaru, the low beams have a definitve cut off line and when you turn on the highs on, nothing changes about the lows, simply more light is added up high. So my thought process is since having the fogs on with the lows doesn't hurt anything, maybe having them on with that extra bit of light up high (highs) wouldn't hurt anything either. Of course, highs + fogs at the same time isn't meant for inclement weather. Rather for driving on clear nights for just a little more overall light spread. What do you think about this?

 

I would not go through additional trouble to enable fogs with high beams. I've done this on previous vehicles and it was a worthless endeavor. Thing is that intense foreground light, like that from the Max fogs, limits your night distance vision. Foreground light constricts your pupils allowing in less light, which reduces your ability to see distance at night. On the surface it sounds like all the more lights the better, but the opposite is actually true. If you want to see distance, foreground light should be minimized (meaning turning off fogs) and distance light should be maximized. Having gone through the trouble for a fog anytime mod, I realized how counterproductive it was and as a result never used it.

 

Laser bois:

https://fb.watch/gBjRd7sruW/

 

Man, I hope Santa (or my wife) knows what a good boy I've been this year!

 

I was waiting for this but I can't hear a thing in this video unfortunately.

 

Looks good but $800 for a set of SS3 laser seems a little rich for my blood.

 

eh, it makes me feel relief honestly. If these were ~$650 then I'd be stressed about waiting for them (instead of the regular Max). But if they're $800, it's too much for me. I'm perfectly happy getting the Max's. It's already $200 over the Pro and at my limit. I can't justify spending $200 over the Max. It's my turn to tap out. I'm sure the Max's will do me just fine, if not be straight up overkill.

 

It sounds like the top 2 emitters are laser and will create a narrow high intensity pattern, while the bottom 2 will be LED (though didn't specify which chips).

I really like the current Max because the intensity is very strong even at the outermost area of the pattern. These laser fogs may trade outside intensity for narrow, forward punch.

 

ohh, at least they are much cheaper then the BD laser lights need some for the bug

 

So @Diode_Dynamics is the laser fog intended to be useful as an SAE Z-beam/auxiliary lowbeam? Does it surpass the max intensity levels allowable for fog lamps? And is it available in selective yellow?

 

They said on the stream that they would be available in yellow but expect a slight decrease in intensity due to the filtering. Lasers are only available in 6000k as well so I would assume they won’t be exactly the same color as the Max’s. They also mentioned it meeting SAE F specs for fog lights but nothing about using them as low beams

 

Didn’t mention SAE Z (which is a discontinued compliance standard), just J583 F. Sounds like the fogs will have higher intensity at the top with a gradient to lower intensity at the bottom vs the current SS3s more uniform distribution.

 

Based on the optic gradient design, the lasers would be on top.

 

Lasers are on top, correct!

That's correct. There's a lot of theories on what the best fog pattern "should" be, and it really depends on the driving conditions, mounting height, and performance of your low beams (in particular, how much foreground light and width your low beams already provide).

For this product, we're using the extremely tight focus of the laser to add high intensity at the top of the gradient, resulting in a sharp cutoff and a lot of light towards the top. That makes it excellent for real fog and inclement weather when your low beams become useless. It's definitely overkill for adding general foreground for more casual use - the SS3 Sports do a great job of that. But if you need insane output from a fog light, including some forward light to cut through bad weather, the laser SAE Fog is the way to go.

The SS3 Max Laser is also available in two other options, Combo/HBB and Driving/HBB. The HBB (high beam boost) function is all laser, to provide serious downroad distance. The "main" mode combines laser and LED output for an excellent all-around light that still has extra punch. Of course, those products don't quite fit in this thread. But either way, at $400 each for the SS3 Max Laser, we are pleased to be providing the benefits of laser technology, in useful applications, at a slightly more approachable price point.

Paul

 

Sure, this is somewhere between Pro and Max in terms of heat generation, so melting snow won't be any problem.