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Fog Lights HID upgrade?

Discussion in 'Prius c Accessories and Modifications' started by john1113, Nov 12, 2013.

  1. john1113

    john1113 New Member

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    Hey guys,

    I have the stock fog lights that came with my Prius C. But I'm finding them useless in the fog. Doesn't help much at all. So was hoping them to just make them driving lights for when it's super dark out.

    How hard is it to change the FOG lights and upgrade them to HID?
    I've read some threads, but I'm a little confused with the information.

    I just want something pretty bright, cause the stock Prius-C headlights are not that bright. But I don't want HID on them all the time cause in the city they're fine. But when I go onto a dark road, I want the option to turn on something brighter.

    Any tips? Also, I'm a pretty bad with electronics and wiring, so hopefully something that doesn't take too much skill. =)

    thanks all!
     
  2. xliderider

    xliderider Senior Member

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    You've read some threads but are confused by the information... because you have read that you shouldn't put HID bulbs in a reflector based foglight housing, like yours? Because they lack a physical cutoff shield that will limit the glare to oncoming drivers? But you want to put a light source that is almost 3 times brighter than the halogen bulb it's replacing in there?

    You want validation from a forum that that's cool?

    OK. Go for it.

    SCH-I535
     
  3. john1113

    john1113 New Member

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    Lol.. You almost got it right on the nose. I read mainly that it may melt something or blow your electrical system. I knew it was bright. But I didn't know it was cause of the lack of physical cutoff shield. So is it possible to modify it properly to make it work like it should?
     
  4. SwhitePC

    SwhitePC Active Member

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    I think it's not the fault of the light being stock and not HID, but more of the way the stock C4's reflector housing is made to break up the light and not have it all focused...

    I compare my c2's aftermarket fog lights (that I got from McDonough dealer or w/e) to my friend's c4's fog light housing and see that my aftermarket fog lights reflectors isn't all broken up into smaller reflectors in the housing to break up the light, while my friend's C4's oem fog light's housing's reflector was made as a bunch of small reflectors to break up the light and not direct it as far as my fog lights would direct it's light.

    When I turn on my aftermarket fog lights, I can definitely see a very distinct and unbroken wide sheet of solid fog lighting
    but when I turn on my friend's C4 oem fog lights, I can see that the light is all broken up from the reflector, and the light from it isn't a nice solid sheet of light, but more like streaks of light that gets weaker as it gets away from the reflector...

    The C is a pretty small and low car compared to most cars on the road nowadays, so I don't really feel too bad about using my fogs all the time at night.
     
  5. kingnba6

    kingnba6 Active Member

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    the only way to correctly install any HIDs is in a projector headlight. even the stock headlight projectors arent meant to be used with hids but its better than putting them in reflectors. putting a proper projector into a housing is called "retro-fitting". you can look on many forums online that will aid you in how to do the conversion.
     
  6. Mo G

    Mo G Member

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    I'll try to find a picture of the HID kit I plugged in to the fogs. There was so much glare, it was unbelievable. I plugged the halogen bulbs back in.
     
  7. Mo G

    Mo G Member

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    IMG_20131113_223742740_HDR.jpg IMG_20131113_223915669_HDR.jpg

    You can see how high the yellow light goes compared to the second picture of the low beam cutoff. That is all glare. And that's about 2 feet away from the wall. You can see the yellow circles of the fogs reflector housing. Imagine driving and seeing this glare coming towards you. Not safe at all. This is why Plug in play HID kits, in reflector housings are bad.
     
    AliIzad and xliderider like this.