Anyone Good With Photoshop

Grumpy Cat said:

And have you ever heard of someone getting pulled over for it?

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Used in traffic, yes. It depends on the light bar and how bad it is. I live in a very lax state, some people here have green headlights. I've even seen police look the other way when actual blue headlights go by. Some light bars are bad enough however that they have to be pulled if used in traffic. Our police seem to ignore most traffic rules but it you blind someone you will get pulled over. I don't know anyone who had to have them removed. Fines seem to be the current flavor.

There are three basic patterns when it comes to automotive lights. Fog, driving, and flood.

Fog lights are low and wide and also legal to use with low beams in traffic. Most states prohibit them with high beams because of the total forward wattage. The laws were obviously written with halogens in mind, I'm not sure if they are updated but the basics are still in place. Fogs are what I want as they are also the most useful for the high speed country driving I do. Other that attracting bugs it seems to illuminate well and lets me see obstacles. I prefer a warm color or yellow but I have no proof that it actually helps. The old idea of the wavelength passing through moisture better has never really been proved.

Driving lights shine a long narrow beam. I don't find them useful personally but the theory is for long empty roads. They are illegal for traffic use and considered a replacement for high beams. I can't recall the laws.

Flood lights are illegal to use on the road period and sadly most cheapish light bars are flood design. The light is bright in a short area and dispersed. These are rather useless on the road and actually almost as bad for the driver as it is for oncomming traffic. Some better light bars are out now but they still aren't great unless properly designed.

Actually there is a fourth design. Factory "fogs" are usually low powered floods for cosmetic use only. That trend is changing but GMs up until around 2000 were prime culprits. While these are flood lights in design the bulbs are weak and the placement blocked to prevent glare. They serve no real purpose other than to look cool. This actually makes them my second favorite as looking (or at least feeling) cool is at least half the fun of driving.

Let me also add that finding good fog lights can be difficult since some shady manufacturers use the term fog to mean basically anything other than a full on headlight.

I honestly don't like the idea of one big goofy light in the middle of the grill. There shouldn't be any there imo. Here is a thing I threw together, very poorly done but you get the idea

msmith5150 said:

I honestly don't like the idea of one big goofy light in the middle of the grill. There shouldn't be any there imo. Here is a thing I threw together, very poorly done but you get the idea

View attachment 22655

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I like this idea the best so far. Looks clean and being low and somewhat wide, should work fairly well.

msmith5150 said:

I honestly don't like the idea of one big goofy light in the middle of the grill. There shouldn't be any there imo. Here is a thing I threw together, very poorly done but you get the idea

View attachment 22655

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This installation and appearance looks like the Subaru Baja installation. I like it and it is functional. They can only be turned on by themselves or with the low beam. They will not come on with the high beam. They do have a round grill that protects them from rocks.

msmith5150 said:

I honestly don't like the idea of one big goofy light in the middle of the grill. There shouldn't be any there imo. Here is a thing I threw together, very poorly done but you get the idea

View attachment 22655

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While I like this the best I'm not sure that it's something the end user can do.

mkiker2089 said:

While I like this the best I'm not sure that it's something the end user can do.

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Ah, I didn't realize you meant aftermarket. Thought you meant if Elio added an option for factory fog lights. My bad!

Grumpy Cat said:

And have you ever heard of someone getting pulled over for it?

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Yes, but in the times I have seen it was for large oversized LED bars like the one pictured. Whether its enforced thoughly is up to the police/highway patrol in the area.

Mine. A nod to the motorcycle spirit of the Elio.

msmith5150 said:

Ah, I didn't realize you meant aftermarket. Thought you meant if Elio added an option for factory fog lights. My bad!

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All ideas are welcome. It never hurts to dream and it passes the time. I'm just thinking of what I can do, what I can have done, and what would be difficult to do. It's early though and if the car moves along like we hope it will perhaps a good solution will be offered. I want my car without fenders but I suspect fender lights will make it to the aftermarket first.