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@Fergie Great write up! Very much appreciated. Do you have any photos of how they look installed? The photos from the site looks like it's kind of off center, possibly the angle of the photo. Super excited that DD has a kit for the ascent too.
I’ll try to grab one here in a little bit. The lens isn’t fully exposed because of the odd shaped opening the Ascent has. When testing I removed the fog light trim piece but there was no difference in output. So the amount that the trim piece covers the lens doesn’t hurt it at all.
 
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Ideally, use aftermarket fog lights so you can operate them with your headlights off. The purpose of fog lights is to shine underneath the fog. Cars that have headlights and fogs on at the same time defeats the purpose of a fog light. The headlight illuminate the fog, causing the blinding effect. Fog lights can shine much further than 10-15', but it depends on how low you can mount them. I used to own a company that sold aftermarket vehicular lights.

Personally, I don't find any real advantage to white light over yellow light.
 
Ideally, use aftermarket fog lights so you can operate them with your headlights off. The purpose of fog lights is to shine underneath the fog. Cars that have headlights and fogs on at the same time defeats the purpose of a fog light. The headlight illuminate the fog, causing the blinding effect. Fog lights can shine much further than 10-15', but it depends on how low you can mount them. I used to own a company that sold aftermarket vehicular lights.

Personally, I don't find any real advantage to white light over yellow light.
That is a personal choice as to color temperature of the light, you do you. However there are many scientific studies showing that selective yellow is far more effective at cutting through fog due to the reduction of blue through violet color wavelengths that causes poor vision when the light is reflected off the moisture in the air like a prism. Where the DD SS3's accel is that they are the closest thing to selective yellow you can find in an LED light source. The lenses are designed specifically for each level of light as the chip used is different in each power rating. So they changed the lens color to block the blue through violet of each specific LED. Hence why the MAX version's lens is a darker amber than the Sport and Pro.

Sport SAE Fog Yellow
12184


Pro SAE Fog Yellow
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Max SAE Fog Yellow
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My non lab based science (wife) tells me that they help out tremendously. When she notices a difference there is something to it since she hardly notices anything. haha The reason I go the SS3's was because of a snow storm and how much reflection there was with the OEM LED Headlights and Fog lights. It's down right horrible!!! If you haven't experienced the DD SS3 Yellow fog lights in poor weather, I suggest you find someone with a pair. You may surprise yourself. I am normally one to suggest not using fog lights unless the conditions call for it. But I will say that I notice less eye strain/fatigue when using these on road trips even in good conditions.

@Fergie Great write up! Very much appreciated. Do you have any photos of how they look installed? The photos from the site looks like it's kind of off center, possibly the angle of the photo. Super excited that DD has a kit for the ascent too.
No problem!! I'll let you guys know what they send back.

Here are a couple photos from our car. Don't judge, just did some road tripping so it's dirty! lol

Automotive parking light Tire Wheel Plant Window


12188
 
The traditional use of selective yellow lighting was to reduce glare. Studies on the topic are mixed: some report yellow as better, some report white as better, and some have shown no real statistical difference, with various advantages and disadvantages more or less working against each other. Driver perception of forward vision is influenced by a combination of what we think our eyes can see (which is often an overestimation) and confirmation bias. Selective yellow lighting was traditionally very popular in Europe and in rally racing in particular. Though you don't often see true selective yellow used in such events anymore, tradition still plays a strong role in the thought process.

Blog Post | Fog Doesn't Play Favorites with Headlight Color | Car Talk

Selective yellow - Wikipedia

And, the authoritative source, Dan Stern: Daniel Stern Lighting Consultancy and Supply

North American and European ECE regulations both allow for white or selective yellow for fog lamp situations (selective yellow is no longer allowed for headlamps in Europe, though it used to be popular there). If there was a clear safety advantage of yellow lighting, I think we'd see more of it at the OEM level. I'm sure a point could be made that many drivers wouldn't like the yellow lights, subjectively, and would want their fog lamps to match the color of their headlamps (thus, the reason for white from the factory). There may be just as many who prefer selective yellow and criticize auto makers for putting in white lighting.

One point remains valid, though. Fog lamps are NOT designed to allow you to continue driving 55 mph in pea soup. Fog lamps are intended to help you see the reflective lane lines on the side of the road so you can poke along when visibility is near zero. This is why fog lamps are (correctly) aimed low. They're not designed to supplement your headlamps in normal driving.

That is a personal choice as to color temperature of the light, you do you.
I think that's the best advice. Do what you think will work best for you, knowing that your results will be grounded more in your personal preference and your set of eyes rather than a broadly held position that one color is universally "better" than the other. The post above about using fog lamps as a warming supplement to the white headlamps is an interesting idea. @Fergie, I presume you've kept the fog lamps so that their aim is, at most, just under horizontal (measured from the vertical center of the lamp)?
 
The traditional use of selective yellow lighting was to reduce glare. Studies on the topic are mixed: some report yellow as better, some report white as better, and some have shown no real statistical difference, with various advantages and disadvantages more or less working against each other. Driver perception of forward vision is influenced by a combination of what we think our eyes can see (which is often an overestimation) and confirmation bias. Selective yellow lighting was traditionally very popular in Europe and in rally racing in particular. Though you don't often see true selective yellow used in such events anymore, tradition still plays a strong role in the thought process.

Blog Post | Fog Doesn't Play Favorites with Headlight Color | Car Talk

Selective yellow - Wikipedia

And, the authoritative source, Dan Stern: Daniel Stern Lighting Consultancy and Supply

North American and European ECE regulations both allow for white or selective yellow for fog lamp situations (selective yellow is no longer allowed for headlamps in Europe, though it used to be popular there). If there was a clear safety advantage of yellow lighting, I think we'd see more of it at the OEM level. I'm sure a point could be made that many drivers wouldn't like the yellow lights, subjectively, and would want their fog lamps to match the color of their headlamps (thus, the reason for white from the factory). There may be just as many who prefer selective yellow and criticize auto makers for putting in white lighting.

One point remains valid, though. Fog lamps are NOT designed to allow you to continue driving 55 mph in pea soup. Fog lamps are intended to help you see the reflective lane lines on the side of the road so you can poke along when visibility is near zero. This is why fog lamps are (correctly) aimed low. They're not designed to supplement your headlamps in normal driving.



I think that's the best advice. Do what you think will work best for you, knowing that your results will be grounded more in your personal preference and your set of eyes rather than a broadly held position that one color is universally "better" than the other. The post above about using fog lamps as a warming supplement to the white headlamps is an interesting idea. @Fergie, I presume you've kept the fog lamps so that their aim is, at most, just under horizontal (measured from the vertical center of the lamp)?
Very good points there. In fact, in France it was law to have selective yellow for a short time. I agree with the assessment that the reason many manufactures do not use a selective yellow for lighting is due to customers not liking the appearance, facts/science be damned. I am glad that safety ratings are now rating headlamps as well. I believe that will force manufactures to make not only better lighting for the driver but more controlled lighting that reduces glare from oncoming traffic so they can achieve higher safety ratings.

Part of the reason I haven't swapped my fog lights on my 15 Tacoma is because they are halogen and one of the best OEM fog lights available so at this time I don't feel the need to change them out since a halogen is a great color temperature for poor weather and high CRI. The headlights have been retrofitted with RX350 projectors and Osram NB Laser bulbs (4300k) so no issues there. lol FYI the Tacoma fog lights will fit the mounting bracket on the Ascent but I don't know about the depth with the trim piece on the Ascent, may not be able to reinstall the trim piece.

I have the DD SS3's aimed apx 1" down @ 20ft since the fog lights on the Ascent are pretty low on the vehicle. The factory fog lights when we got the vehicle wouldn't even show up on a yard stick at 20ft. Pretty much useless as set from the factory if they aren't even visible on the ground at 20ft in front of the vehicle. In the pictures provided previously they were probably 1" high @ 20ft. For whatever reason I didn't take more photos after adjusting. DOH!!!
 
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@Fergie No judgement here! I just came back from a roadtrip as well and the front end is a complete mess. Thanks for the photos! Think DD will come out with a bezel that will fit perfectly soon?
I'm not sure. The difficulty of making it perfect is more of an issue with the way Subaru designed the fog light opening. The OEM fog light has a very specific and odd shape. Even though it is round, Subaru made the opening on the fog light trim piece in the shape of the of the lens on the fog light. This makes it challenging for any aftermarket manufacture to make one that fits "perfect". However if they used a standard bezel I believe the fog light fitment would be better behind the trim piece. Still haven't heard back from them. I'll have to check in on that, they usually get back to people very quickly....could have been on my end too.
 
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2021 vs 2019 Model Year Fogs

I'm not going with anything aftermarket because I'm leasing. However...

Having just switched my 2019 Touring for a 2021 Touring, I am finding the 2021 fog lights to be quite different and really anemic. While my 2019 cast a broad swath across the ground well below my low beams (lighting up the ground 30 feet ahead and closer), the 2021 fogs cast a sharp horizontal line just below the low beams but leaves the ground unlit closer to the car.

Anyone else see this? Maybe mine were installed wrong at the factory.

F.S.
 
2021 vs 2019 Model Year Fogs

I'm not going with anything aftermarket because I'm leasing. However...

Having just switched my 2019 Touring for a 2021 Touring, I am finding the 2021 fog lights to be quite different and really anemic. While my 2019 cast a broad swath across the ground well below my low beams (lighting up the ground 30 feet ahead and closer), the 2021 fogs cast a sharp horizontal line just below the low beams but leaves the ground unlit closer to the car.

Anyone else see this? Maybe mine were installed wrong at the factory.

F.S.
I haven't seen that before. It's pretty much impossible to mount them differently than the way they are designed. Ours is a 21 and you can see my output shots of the OEM LED fog lights. I have no experience with the Halogen ones though.

Personally even if I were leasing a vehicle I would strongly consider the upgrade to the Diode Dynamics. They can be removed and if you get a different vehicle you can get new mounts from Diode Dynamics for a really reasonable price. There are no OEM fog lights that outperform the Pro or the Max and there won't be either. Even speaking aftermarket there will likely be no direct competitors likely to the Max for a really long time. Even the Pro is better both in brightness and light spread than any other manufacture, only one that comes close is the Rigid and those are almost double the price.
 
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I've never tested them for the purpose of driving in low visibility condition (i.e. foggy morning). At night, they're pretty much worthless because the OEM LED headlight is amazingly bright and evenly distributed. I suggest getting the halogen version and use yellow bulbs.
On my 2001 Outback, my 110 w PIAA bulbs really helped on rainy nites. I didn't really get to try them in driving snow or fog but in the rain, SUPER nice.
 
Discussion starter · #34 · (Edited)
That is a personal choice as to color temperature of the light, you do you. However there are many scientific studies showing that selective yellow is far more effective at cutting through fog due to the reduction of blue through violet color wavelengths that causes poor vision when the light is reflected off the moisture in the air like a prism. Where the DD SS3's accel is that they are the closest thing to selective yellow you can find in an LED light source. The lenses are designed specifically for each level of light as the chip used is different in each power rating. So they changed the lens color to block the blue through violet of each specific LED. Hence why the MAX version's lens is a darker amber than the Sport and Pro.

Sport SAE Fog Yellow
View attachment 12184

Pro SAE Fog Yellow
View attachment 12185

Max SAE Fog Yellow
View attachment 12186

My non lab based science (wife) tells me that they help out tremendously. When she notices a difference there is something to it since she hardly notices anything. haha The reason I go the SS3's was because of a snow storm and how much reflection there was with the OEM LED Headlights and Fog lights. It's down right horrible!!! If you haven't experienced the DD SS3 Yellow fog lights in poor weather, I suggest you find someone with a pair. You may surprise yourself. I am normally one to suggest not using fog lights unless the conditions call for it. But I will say that I notice less eye strain/fatigue when using these on road trips even in good conditions.



No problem!! I'll let you guys know what they send back.

Here are a couple photos from our car. Don't judge, just did some road tripping so it's dirty! lol

View attachment 12187

View attachment 12188
I got these lights, I cut the OEM cover but somehow dry fitting doesn't fit currently. Maybe I need to cut more material out around the outer trim.

Update: cut my OEM trim big but it's free.. so I don't care, it should accommodate the most light output and if I need another trim piece they're cheap on eBay.
 
I got these lights, I cut the OEM cover but somehow dry fitting doesn't fit currently. Maybe I need to cut more material out around the outer trim.

Update: cut my OEM trim big but it's free.. so I don't care, it should accommodate the most light output and if I need another trim piece they're cheap on eBay.
Did you have to buy anything else besides the switch, relay, the kit from DD? Curious how the light output looks with the standard white sport. My goal is to illuminate the sides of the road to better see animal or obstacles on back roads.
 
Discussion starter · #36 ·
Did you have to buy anything else besides the switch, relay, the kit from DD? Curious how the light output looks with the standard white sport. My goal is to illuminate the sides of the road to better see animal or obstacles on back roads.
Yes, relay, button inside the cabin, are the main two things you'll need. I also bought the mounting screw and j nut (something like that). Honestly the light is a bit big, and you have to cut the opening bigger but it gets the job done. It will illuminate the sides well. The dark spots on the side that the headlights can't.

Fog off
Automotive lighting Automotive design Asphalt Netbook Automotive exterior


Fog on
Automotive lighting Automotive design Eyewear Mode of transport Font
 
Discussion starter · #38 · (Edited)
Cool, thanks for that! So it is the switch separate from the turn signal stalk? Part number H4510FL500? Do they go off when you turn on the high beams? Your picture is of the sport version?
Yes has the part numbers listed on the first page. The switch goes into the blank place holder, last button on the stack on the left (left driver side). There's a install pdf as well on the first page, it shows the location. The turn signal stalk has nothing to do with the fog light.

It's OEM so yes, when using high beams the fog lights turn off.

If you want them to stay on all the time you'll have to wire your own independent system.
 
Ohh another question, when you add the fog lights when they didn’t come from the factory with them, do they still go on an off with the headlights in the auto position as long as the fog switch is on? Or do you have to turn them on manually each time you start the car?
 
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