[golf.sierra.]

I have an ST2 on order. Of course, that means no LED daytime running lights. But I do like the idea of having DRL.
Has anyone converted existing fog lights into DRL?
Are the LED replacement bulbs a good idea, or do they not function that well when in a housing that's not designed for them?
Is there a simple wiring strategy to get the fog light to illuminate when the car is on, independent of the headlights?
Anyone with experience with this kind of idea?

 

[jackamick]

Good questions.

What exactly do the ST3 DRL's look like? It would be nice to have them...

 

[Baron164]

I believe the LED brow lights are the DRL on the ST3, there are several videos that show the car with the LED's on all though I think it's very hard to notice in video.

 

[Americarsftw]

Adding LED lights into the ST2 headlight housing is not a problem. It can be done. I'm not going to comment on the fogs though because I have no idea. Also, I don't know if it's possible to use them as DRL.

 

[Prefect]

Convert fogs to DRL?

I have just taken delivery of a PB ST3. The LED strips along the top of the headlights come on when:

1. You turn the headlight switch into the first position away from 'OFF'. This is commonly called the 'parking light' position.
2. You open any of the doors
3. You unlock the car using the keyfob.

The fog lights can be turned on independently of the headlights via the button on the dash. They will come on with the headlight switch in the first position, as described above. That's how I drive around most of the time, with the LED's and the fogs on. I am investigating a set of H11 LED's to replace the incadescent foglamp bulbs, to provide a more consistent color match. Others have complained that these H11 LED's produce less light than their incandescent counterparts. I think that's correct. This serves as more of an aesthetic upgrade than a functional one, IMO. I may just get some Sylvania Silverstar Ultra's if I cannot get reliable LED light data before purchasing anything.

The cornering lamps are located on the innermost compartment of the headlamp assy, and are reflected outwards. I am looking for LED replacement bulbs for these too.

I'll take some hi-res macro shots and 1080p video of the ST3 headlamps and post a link to them on DropBox.

-Prefect

 

[Prefect]

I have just taken delivery of a PB ST3. The LED strips along the top of the headlights come on when:

1. You turn the headlight switch into the first position away from 'OFF'. This is commonly called the 'parking light' position.
2. You open any of the doors
3. You unlock the car using the keyfob.

The fog lights can be turned on independently of the headlights via the button on the dash. They will come on with the headlight switch in the first position, as described above. That's how I drive around most of the time, with the LED's and the fogs on. I am investigating a set of H11 LED's to replace the incadescent foglamp bulbs, to provide a more consistent color match. Others have complained that these H11 LED's produce less light than their incandescent counterparts. I think that's correct. This serves as more of an aesthetic upgrade than a functional one, IMO. I may just get some Sylvania Silverstar Ultra's if I cannot get reliable LED light data before purchasing anything.

The cornering lamps are located on the innermost compartment of the headlamp assy, and are reflected outwards. I am looking for LED replacement bulbs for these too.

I will take some hi-res macro shots of the ST3 headlamps and some 1080p video and post it here soon.

-Prefect

 

[Prefect]

BTW, the LED's aren't true DRL's in the sense that they do not come on automatically when the car is started. You can drive the car with no lights on whatsoever by leaving the headlight/foglight switches completely off. But that's no fun, now is it?

 

[B_B]

I have an ST3 & did not like the color (temperature) difference between the HID's and driving lights. Swapped out the factory halogen driving lights with 5800K halogens, seems to be a close match...

Before/factory

After

 

[jinstall]

You an buy from European Parts.net DRL/Fogs already made.

DRL portion LED:


Normal fog LED:


Kit:

 

[Prefect]

No offense, but I personally would not install that ten-dollar Chinese-made crap on my new $30K Focus. Sylvania's SilverStar zXe provides a comparable color temperature, and the quality/luminosity is higher. That's the primary reason I have not purchased an LED equivalent....they all seem to be that way.

 

[Prefect]

Hoen 2500K Yellow Fog Lamp Bulbs Installed....Sweet!

Hi guys,

I just installed a set of the Hoen Endurance H11 bulbs. It's hard to get a sense of what they look like with a picture. The best I could do is get their reflection off my garage floor. The car is definitely more visible at dusk with these and the LED eyebrows on.

 

[SVTSnake]

You an buy from European Parts.net DRL/Fogs already made.

DRL portion LED:
View attachment 9276

Normal fog LED:
View attachment 9277

Kit:
View attachment 9278

Very nice. Do these kits wire directly to the factory switch? I don't want use a kit that has to use a rocker switch or anything like that. If it is a direct wire to the factory switch this is a win.

 

[Istvan Buda]

Not sure why people drive around with fog lights on when there is no fog , i maybe used them 2 times since i got my car

 

[androidtopp]

Most people like the way they look - I like the higher light output, given that the HIDs on this car aren't that great.

 

[blackbird]

It also somewhat depends on whether stock auxiliary lights are designed for fog use (low, wide beam directly in front of the car), supplementary driving lights (normal height beam pattern to fill in and supplement the conventional low beam directly in front of the car) or if the automaker put them in for primarily appearance and marketing reasons and they don't work great for either. I almost never use mine on the Focus ST but they seem to be a combination but lean more towards the supplementary driving light for the low beam rather than a true, fog lamp that keeps an extremely low beam pattern to reduce glare reflection off fog, snow, and rain and designed to be used at slower speeds under poor driving conditions.

Just some random thoughts since on older thread posts, for those in the US market that want a little added safety/visibility the daytime running lights provide (studies have shown around an ~5-7% reduction in multi-vehicle frontal collisions for models equipped with DRL compared to those without), I'd have to skim over the shop manual but wouldn't be surprised with the requirement for other markets if it is an option that might be enabled in the GEM (general electric module, i.e. body computer) programming.

If someone want to use the driving/fog lamps instead and come on every time the car is running, it wouldn't be too difficult to rewire the lamps and power them off a relay connected to a fused battery source off the underhood power distribution with the relay activated off a switched ignition source. As for LED conversions, the quality of the actual light emitting diode used to include factors such as output, color temperature binning (e.g. selection and control over the different color temp so when ordering a warmer yellow LED you actually get that color temp), the lens used (integral on the chip or external) as well as the electronics driving it and heat sink used all play big parts in how effective they are. While being slightly more energy efficient as xenon HID bulbs on a lumens output for watt power consumed, those other factors play a big part in how well an LED works in an actual, specific application.

 

[androidtopp]

I feel like most of the LED fog light or driving lit kits do nothing more than look like LEDs to other people looking at the car. If your purpose is to use these as DRLs, where the whole point is for people to see your car because of the lights, then that's great. But if you want them to actually light the road, I feel like very few that I've seen do a decent job - Eric is right, it take more than just wiring up some LEDs to make an effective light.

I might have already said this somewhere on this forum, but I'm also waiting for the day when someone (probably Audi) makes a car entirely out of accessory LEDs. BMW was first (I think, correct me if I'm wrong) way back when with the halos/angel eyes. But now the craze has been taken way too far, the LED eyebrows on the ST's HIDs included. When they don't do anything (like function as turn signals or whatever) and only come on with the low beams, then I find it hard to see the point. It's just something that will probably burn out individually and then be difficult/impossible to replace and then drive me up the wall.

 

[blackbird]

I believe the day has already come. The new Mercedes S-Class is the first production car that contains only LED lighting and no conventional filament bulbs anywhere in the car. I also agree that the current trend in LED lighting is biased heavily towards appearance. A few, higher end cars pioneered the lighting source when it was still expensive and now every other carmaker is trying to introduce models with them now that the price has dropped, many just for appearance sake, but you can't blame they automaker since they're just providing what the consumers want (even if they aren't always functional or functionally better).

 

[androidtopp]

Well, don't get me wrong. LEDs are great where they make sense. I'm specifically talking about all the silly little light pipes and eyebrows and halo rings and whatnot LEDs on the outside of the car these days. I certainly won't argue against the use of LEDs for better interior lighting (or better roadway visibility, if properly executed).

 

[blackbird]

Exactly. And I don't mind most of the décor-type LED, but some automakers get a little carried away. And for car enthusiasts who want to add a touch of personalization, while not every tack-on LED lighting kit or aftermarket headlamp with integral LEDs look good at least these accent lights aren't anywhere near as bad as when people slap xenon HID conversions in reflector headlamps designs for a halogen bulb.