The LED SAE J583 Fog Pod & Fog Light Review

I was thinking it would be a sweet option on the Sae versions to add a optional amber running/turn light. Like a drl but you could have it flash.

 

God those round Rigid Industries SAE fogs look awesome. So glad i didn't pull the trigger on KC fogs haha. Ill wait for these bad boys!

This is going to shit on the Baja Designs "SAE" fog.

 

Those LOOK great. I hate the looks of cubes.

 

I don't mind pods when they stand alone, but the whole square peg in a round hole looks a little goofy to me haha

 

I'll have to ping Rigid and get more info. It appears the 360 Series uses 4 emitters in the 4" version, like the D-series 3" pods. I know that when they pushed the power up on the D-series fog they had problems with the additional heat deforming the internal fog optic. So I'm curious if the 360 Series SAE fog version has resolved that issue and is running at the 3060 raw lumens like the spot, or if the SAE version is run at a reduced power like the SAE D-series fog pod. The spec sheet is incomplete, and doesn't have entries for the SAE product.

If you look at the mounting, it looks like they moved to a center mount rather than the lower mount that they have traditionally used on the pods.
https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/rigid-images/dev/Original/10001/11-13521-A-360 Series.pdf

If these are 3060 raw lumens in SAE fog form and I think I can get them mounted in the factory fog location, I'll be picking them them up and adding it to this thread. That is a pretty big bump in output over the existing D-series pods, so I'd really like to make these work.

 

Not inexpensive though! The SAE fog version isn't the base 4" $349 price, it is listed at $449.

 

i dont care. take my money!

Sexy round design and i bet they won't blind others on the road.

 

It uses the same style optic as the SAE D-series, the cut offs will be hard and clean. No blinding glare. And the round design does look so much better than the square.

 

Rigid added a full spec sheet on the website. Looks like these will have substantially higher output than the SAE D2 Fogs. The 4" 360 Fogs are spec'd at 3100 raw lumens and a beam angle of 70° vs the SAE D2 are 1760 raw lumens and a beam angle of 59°.

So... Round housing that won't look goofy in my CBI bumper, more light in a wider beam, combined with those rigid cutoffs, I'm sold! Can't wait to see some output pics once they start shipping.

I'm okay with paying more for a brighter light. I would've been kinda bummed if they cost so much more just because they're round (but still probably would have begrudgingly bought them to better fit my bumper).

 

Really good to hear theyre brighter and wider! People will pay for the best so whats another $100?

All while Baja Design was trying to launch their "SAE" fog, Rigid Industries were perfecting their already successful SAE fogs.

GG Baja Design.

 

How do you think these new rigids would look mounted as fogs to a hybrid bumper like mine? Do these have the option of adding and removing yellow covers as needed?

 

Nice! It is interesting the SAE yellow (36111) are listed as 28w, while the SAE white (36110) are listed at 31w, but raw lumens is listed as the same. Curious if that is a typo or they are using a different LED in the selective yellow units.

Round looks better than square IMO. They do not have removable covers, the colored lens is integrated, which is more efficient and provides higher output vs Rigid's yellow covers.

 

Looking at the Rigid specs again, it actually appears the 360-series main advantage is just a wider area of light with the larger horizontal beam angle. If you compare the lux specs, the D-series actually has higher intensity output at 10m and beam distance at 1 lux. The wider the angle of projection, the quicker intensity will fall off over distance. While the 360-series are higher output and will illuminate a larger area, it appears based on the specs that the D-series will still illuminate distance a little better and project light a little farther, though not by much.

SAE D-series


SAE 360-Series

 

I noticed that as well. I was wondering do you think the it has anything to do with maintaining the SAE cert? Having more light they spread it over a wider area to maintain a similar intensity? Or does the cert apply more to the cutoffs than intensity?

 

That doesn't help me make my decision. Better output with funky cubes, or better coverage with less output and look way better. Damn it. I'll wait for your review now. Dibs on your test set

 

Eh the difference in output is only like 5-10 feet less so I don’t think it’ll be that big of a deal. I’m definitely interested in seeing the output pics as well to confirm though.

Normally I’m not too worried about this kinda thing but In this case the form factor is worth it to me. I’ve been holding off debating how to fit the square peg in a circle hole and make it look good.

 

There are specified limits at specified points in the pattern. However if you look at their SAE XL lights, they have higher intensity output than the D-Series, so there is still room for increasing output while meeting the compliance rating. One thing that I don’t follow though, is selective yellow is slightly lower actual output than white, yet they list the measured output specs as identical, which is not accurate. Other brands do the same as well.

I’m waiting on the Pro Series SAE fogs...

 

Honestly the Rago Fab mounts make them look decent enough that the look doesn't bother me. The Rigid mounts I had previously were FUGLY.

 

Thought about trying a set of XL and making a mount similar to the Rago Fab version. Just for more output. But in all honesty I am super happy with these lights and the clean cutoff.

Pro version you say? Do tell......