The elimination of front fog lights is not necessarily a sign of cutting corners, it may also be a normal technical iteration.
It’s like: long ago, that mobile phone was called “Big Brother”, right? There is a very long antenna. Now that the mobile phone antenna is inside the machine, it cannot be said that this is a reduction in configuration, right?
Why cancel
- Regulations do not stipulate
First of all, more and more car companies are canceling front fog lights because there are no mandatory regulations.
GB 4785-2019 "Installation Regulations for Exterior Lighting and Light Signaling Devices of Cars and Trailers" is mentioned in it.
Turn signals, high beams, low beams, hazard warning signals, front position lights, and rear fog lights are all required for the car, and the front fog lights are optional for the car.
In other words: car companies can choose to install it or not.
It's the same as doing homework when studying. Most children just finish the homework set by the teacher, right?
Only a small number of so-called "top students" will do an additional set of exercises or additional questions.
Therefore, it is indeed possible to not have front fog lights.
- Reduce allocation and save money
In addition to meeting the so-called "minimum requirements" of regulations, car companies also eliminate front fog lights because they reduce equipment and save money.
Zhang Chaosheng of Wuhan University has a master's thesis for you, "Target Costing Method and Its Case Study", which says this.
A survey report from Japan's Kobe University said: 100% of the transportation vehicle manufacturing industry uses target costing to control costs.
What exactly does target costing mean? That is: based on the given competitive price, on the premise of ensuring the expected profit, and then in turn, determine the cost of the product.
It's like: If you want to open a shop selling beef noodles, first check how much beef noodles sell nearby.
For example: They all sell for 20 yuan. I hope to earn 8 yuan for this portion. Shouldn’t the cost exceed 12 yuan?
I thought about it again: How can I make noodles for 12 yuan? How much raw materials are needed? How much labor does it cost?
By reducing the front fog lights, you can save more costs and gain greater benefits.
It's like saying: Now I want beef noodles. Didn't I just say I would earn 8 yuan? Now I want to earn 8.5 yuan, but what should I do if I can’t make it even?
Do you want to put less noodles? In other words, one less piece of beef shouldn’t be a big problem, right? Make the bowl a little smaller, "Hmm" you can only choose 1 out of 2 for onions and coriander, etc.
It is possible that because of this idea, the front fog lamps are eliminated. The profit saved is indeed relatively large, and it is not just a simple saving of the cost of a light bulb.
Gong Linan published an article in the journal "Journal of Changchun University of Technology (Natural Science Edition)", "Structure Design and Light Distribution Performance of Automobile Front Fog Lamps", which is mentioned in it.
The structure of the front fog lamp is divided into a mask, a reflector, an adjustment screw, a semi-permeable membrane, a mounting bracket, and a bulb.
Speaking in human terms: the light bulb is just a small part that can be seen and known, and the cost may not be as high as other supporting accessories.
Moreover, the front fog lamp needs to reserve an installation position on the front bumper. Where should it be installed? In which direction? How to look better?
Isn't this about design? Does design require people? Do people need to be paid? Design costs are also very expensive.
If you just save it, it will be gone. From the thinking in the front to the purchasing of materials in the back, all the money will be saved.
- Many people don't use it correctly
In fact, not many people know how to use front fog lights correctly, and they may even be abused, which also provides car companies with a reason to cancel front fog lights.
SAE has a paper, "Fog Lights: Installation Frequency and Usage Nature", which has data.
At night, the usage rate of front fog lights is very high, reaching 63%. However, most people do not use them because of rain and fog, but as a supplement to the low beam lighting.
I also mentioned in my previous video that many friends feel that the low beam is not bright enough, like a candle light.
I turned on the fog lights and front fog lights to increase the brightness, or when I turned them on, I accidentally touched the front fog lights, and it would not turn off.
Just like those people you often see using high beams indiscriminately on the road, it is possible that you yourself are not aware that high beams will greatly affect others, and you may not even realize that you are turning on high beams.
Generally speaking, regulations do not require front fog lights to be equipped as standard, and car companies can save a lot of money by reducing the number of front fog lights.
Even if they are installed, there will be relatively few people who can use the front fog lights correctly, which will lead to the cancellation of the front fog lights on some models.
There are better alternatives to front fog lights
- LED headlights can integrate the effect of front fog lights
However, not all models cancel front fog lights just to reduce equipment and save money. Some luxury models use LED headlights to replace traditional fog lights. This is considered a technological iteration rather than cutting corners.
General Motors exterior lighting technology researcher Michael Larsen said this: CT6’s high-tech headlights provide abundant light sources across the board.
Not only does it meet the company's standards and requirements for distance, glare, uniformity, etc., it also meets the function of front fog lights. If additional front fog lights are installed on the CT6, the driver will not see any changes in lighting.
That’s what he said, so now you can’t find front fog lights on many models such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, and the aforementioned Cadillac.
Because their headlights are becoming more and more complex and advanced, they are called "multifunctional headlights", which can simultaneously meet the lighting effects of front fog lights, high and low beams, daytime running lights, etc.
It’s like: To take photos before, you need a camera, right? To access the Internet, you need a computer, right? To listen to music, do you need an MP3 player? Call me and ask for a big brother, right? Yes or no?
Now it is possible that a smartphone can take care of all the things just mentioned and do them, right?
- LED fog lights work great
Moreover, the lighting effect of LED fog lights is actually no worse than that of traditional fog lights.
Tang Xiaolei and others published an article in the journal "Quality and Standardization", "A Comparative Study on the Performance of Automobile Class B Front Fog Lamps and F3 Class Front Fog Lamps". There is a test on it.
The maximum irradiation distance of 3 lux of LED front fog lights is 34.4m, while the maximum irradiation distance of 3 lux of traditional front fog lights is only 25.8m.
To put it bluntly: the illumination distance of LED front fog lights is not necessarily closer than that of traditional front fog lights, it may even be farther and better.
Some friends also said: "The most important thing about fog lights is not the distance problem, but the penetrating power and penetration in rainy and foggy days are better, so they are OK." In fact, it is not as unbearable as imagined.
Qiao Qian and Xu Min published an article in the journal "Journal of Illuminating Engineering", "Research on LED Penetration and Light Color Analysis in Road Lighting", which is mentioned in it.
The theory of light scattering by particles in the air is mainly based on Rayleigh scattering law and Mee-Debye scattering law.
In rainy and foggy weather, the particle radii of rain and fog are both greater than 0.037μm, so light scattering obeys the Mee-Debye scattering law.
The light scattering effect of the M-Debye scattering law is not affected by wavelength, which is the key point.
The theory is quite complicated, but let’s put it in simple terms: in rainy and foggy weather, the penetration of road lighting has nothing to do with the color of the lamp, and there is no such difference between the penetration of LED and halogen lamps.
Therefore, it is also a general trend for car companies to use LED front fog lamps to replace traditional front fog lamps.
Canceling the front fog lights is cutting corners or technological iteration
Therefore, in general, on ordinary family cars, canceling the front fog lights may indeed be suspected of cutting corners.
If it is used in a luxury car and the front fog lights are cancelled, it is very likely that higher and better technology will be used instead.
Why did xenon headlights lose to LED?
In addition to front fog lights, xenon headlights, which were also very popular in the past few years, are now being gradually replaced by LED headlights, right? Why are xenon headlights replaced by LEDs?
When we first made xenon, why didn't we use LEDs?
Some friends joke that their halogen lamp is a candle lamp and they want to upgrade it to a brighter one. Is it better to choose xenon? Or is it better to choose LED?
In fact, we have talked about a theory before. If the lights are not bright enough at home, wouldn’t it be better to change the light bulb? Just change it to a brighter one.
Can a car do this? What did the lighting manufacturer Audi say? How did you become a lighting factory in the first place?
- Keywords: headlights
If you want to know this, it's very simple. Just follow "Spare Tire Talking Cars" and reply to the keyword "Headlight".
Every day I will give you a piece of practical car information, available in text, audio, and video. Just pick the version you like. "Spare Tire Talking About Cars" is waiting for you to play.
references
[1] GB 4785-2019. Installation regulations for external lighting and optical signaling devices on automobiles and trailers[S].
[2] Zhang Chaosheng. Target costing and its case study [D]. Wuhan University, 2003.
[3] Gong Linan. Structural design and light distribution performance of automobile front fog lamps [J]. Journal of Changchun University of Technology (Natural Science Edition), 2014.
[4] Fog Lamps: Frequency of Installation and Nature of Use. SAE Technical Paper Series, 1997.
[5] Why Fog Lamps Are Starting to Disappear
[6] Tang Xiaolei, Yang Tong. Comparative study on the performance of automobile B-class front fog lamps and F3-class front fog lamps [J]. Quality and Standardization, 2017.
[7] Qiao Qian, Xu Min. Research on LED penetration and light color analysis in road lighting [J]. Journal of Illuminating Engineering, 2009.
