OK so I'm not so impressed with the 2002 WRX foglights. They look nice but the light output is pretty poor. Basically, if my fogs weren't a cool color I wouldn't even notice them being on at night.

So, I'm leaning towards doing the Hella 500 DRIVING-light replacement mod and either buying the brackets from Kartboy or making some with home depot parts.

My questions are:

1. Are Driving lights illegal for everyday street use? I will be pointing them downwards and using some of those glare guard stickers so that oncoming traffic doesn't get blinded. In that case, if it is TOTALLY not glaring in people's eyes...is it illegal?

2. Instead of using the included wiring harness...can I just wire it up to the current harness used by the factory fogs? I want them to work the same way and will do the mod that leaves the fogs on while the highlights are on. So basically I'm just gonna connect the light's leads to the current leads (I'll solder and stuff).

3. Has anyone tried pointing the FACTORY fogs up to shine the light a little more forward? Is it any good or is still sucky?

 

STILL SUCKY for the facotry lights... if you want more light I would definatly contact RACEROB since he's got a HID kit connected to his that looks pretty good!

If you want more light from your fogs (which some of us do) then you could either buy an HID kit specific for that bulb type you can try and research this at HIDFORUMS.com for light conversions (H3 is the bulb size for the 02-03 WRX)...etc. (i think that's the site).

You could also go with HELLA which is another good choice but I don't know if they are the same wattage and if they are higher wattage I have no experience with wiring...etc.

I know they do make a HID foglight kit but be prepared to spend at least $1K for it!

you can get a conversion kit for H3 bulbs for a lot less... here is one: http://optionimports.com/import-stor...dxecokit5.html

you could try this place: http://www.brightheadlights-hid.com/...ights-Kits.htm

Catz HID kits are supposed to be the best!

Jon

 

But I don't wanna spend more than $100...I work for charity durn it!

Plus, I wanna save any large amounts of money for things that'll make my car fast not furious

So thus, it'll most likely be the regular halogen Hella 500s

 

1. Im Not sure, probably will be legal.

2. Yes you can, there might be some cutting of the connectors from the fog to the factory connector.

3. Crappy, this is a reflector type housing, light goes EVERYWHERE; up, down, and to the sides. The only way to really make good light is with an HID kit preferably (sp?) in the 5000K range. The Hellas might be good, not sure though. Some driving lights are also called fog lights, ie. spread light everywhere instead of focusing it downrange. What bulb does this Hella 500 use? H4? H3? if it's H4, it might be pretty damn bright!

 

It uses H3 bulbs at about 55w but I've seen guys that have used up to 100w bulbs in there. I'll probably stick with the 55w at first and see how I like it.

BTW...I'm getting the DRIVING light pattern not the fog light pattern.

 

H3 wont really be that bright....Even if you switch them out to PIAA's. Its the size of the bulb.

 

i got the hello 500 fog for the side spill. i didn't want to blind on coming traffic with the driving lights. the side spill is great for seeing things on the side walks just as little kids who might jump out in font of you. plus it does wonders with super heavy rain and seeing the dots and reflectors on the road.

to mount mine i cut up some galvanized steel angle bars from city mill and they've work great for $4 (over two years now).

if you want to wire it to your stock lights there is some cutting of wires but it is possible. try and look on the nabisco site. i remember there were a few threads about doing that before this site was started.

 

I used hella 85w and it was a good upgrade from stock. I wouldn't go to 100w since you could melt your wiring.