'95-99 Outback Fog Lights - Size? Light output?

aktionman · 01-21-2005, 01:10 AM

I am going to replace the front bumper cover on my 1998 Legacy L. I want to replace it with an Outback cover with the large foglights. I have a few questions Search couldn't answer;
1) What diamater are the stock Fog Lights?
2) Are the stock lights bright enough to be useful?
3) Is their beam pattern Fog or Driving?
4) Has anyone replaced them with aftermarket such as Hella 500's or HID's? If so what do you reccomend?
Thanks in Advance

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aktionman · 01-21-2005, 10:38 AM

14 views and no replies? I searched and came up with nothing. Please help me out.

spdracr00 · 01-21-2005, 01:07 PM

well, i think my lights are pretty ok. but they are pretty pitted also from all the gravel on the way up to hood. I heard that you can put in some Hella lights or swap in brighter blubs and thats susposed to help. I always drive with mine on so i'm used to how they work. Pretty sure any 3" light will fit in the housing. if you get some upgrade lights, get some of that 3m film that helps with chipping. hope that helps.

jm215900 · 01-21-2005, 03:23 PM

Sounds like an interesting conversion.

The Outback fog lights have a 6" diameter, and take the 51 watt 9006 lamp. They are a fog pattern rather than a narrow-beam driving light.

They do a good job lighting the area immediately in front of the car,but I personally wish they were brighter, and I also wish that they stayed on when you turn the high beams on; on rural roads with few street lamps, I'm always wishing for brighter lights. Or driving lights that lit the road further ahead. However, they are fine in the city where I am 95% of the time so changing them isn't high on my list of things to do for the car, so I haven't looked into any aftermarket items. I know you can re-wire the switch so they do remain on with the high beams, though, which I may do soon.

Hope this helps, and let us know how things go!

-John

Dobes · 01-21-2005, 04:40 PM

I suggest going with some Hella 500's in there instead. The stock lights are fog lights which really aren't that useful. Get from Hella 500's with the driving light lense (as opposed to the fog lenses) and wire them up to be switched on with high beams. My buddy has a 99 RS with the 500's in there and when we ran a nighttime TSD up in NY we had no lighting problems despite the rapid pace. Let me see if I can dig up some pics of his car...

EDIT: That didn't take long. Here's a shot:

JD

aktionman · 01-23-2005, 07:00 PM

Thanks for your help! I just got back from driving 1000 miles on rural mountain roads in Canada, I think this light upgrade would be put to good use. After reading this I think I am going to install Hella 500's in an Outback bumper and wire it up seperately from the high low switch.

01-21-2005, 01:10 AM	#1
aktionman Scooby Newbie Member#: 50225 Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Lansing MI Vehicle: 1998 BG 5MT	'95-99 Outback Fog Lights - Size? Light output? I am going to replace the front bumper cover on my 1998 Legacy L. I want to replace it with an Outback cover with the large foglights. I have a few questions Search couldn't answer; 1) What diamater are the stock Fog Lights? 2) Are the stock lights bright enough to be useful? 3) Is their beam pattern Fog or Driving? 4) Has anyone replaced them with aftermarket such as Hella 500's or HID's? If so what do you reccomend? Thanks in Advance * Registered users of the site do not see these ads.

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01-21-2005, 10:38 AM	#2
aktionman Scooby Newbie Member#: 50225 Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Lansing MI Vehicle: 1998 BG 5MT	14 views and no replies? I searched and came up with nothing. Please help me out.

01-21-2005, 01:07 PM	#3
spdracr00 Scooby Specialist Member#: 65823 Join Date: Jul 2004 Chapter/Region: NWIC Location: Hillsboro, OR Vehicle: 1996 Impreza L Red	well, i think my lights are pretty ok. but they are pretty pitted also from all the gravel on the way up to hood. I heard that you can put in some Hella lights or swap in brighter blubs and thats susposed to help. I always drive with mine on so i'm used to how they work. Pretty sure any 3" light will fit in the housing. if you get some upgrade lights, get some of that 3m film that helps with chipping. hope that helps.

01-21-2005, 03:23 PM	#4
jm215900 Scooby Newbie Member#: 61359 Join Date: May 2004 Location: Los Angeles Vehicle: 1999 Legacy white	Sounds like an interesting conversion. The Outback fog lights have a 6" diameter, and take the 51 watt 9006 lamp. They are a fog pattern rather than a narrow-beam driving light. They do a good job lighting the area immediately in front of the car,but I personally wish they were brighter, and I also wish that they stayed on when you turn the high beams on; on rural roads with few street lamps, I'm always wishing for brighter lights. Or driving lights that lit the road further ahead. However, they are fine in the city where I am 95% of the time so changing them isn't high on my list of things to do for the car, so I haven't looked into any aftermarket items. I know you can re-wire the switch so they do remain on with the high beams, though, which I may do soon. Hope this helps, and let us know how things go! -John

01-21-2005, 04:40 PM	#5
Dobes Scooby Specialist Member#: 164 Join Date: Aug 1999 Location: Philly suburbs Vehicle: 1997 Legacy GT-T	I suggest going with some Hella 500's in there instead. The stock lights are fog lights which really aren't that useful. Get from Hella 500's with the driving light lense (as opposed to the fog lenses) and wire them up to be switched on with high beams. My buddy has a 99 RS with the 500's in there and when we ran a nighttime TSD up in NY we had no lighting problems despite the rapid pace. Let me see if I can dig up some pics of his car... EDIT: That didn't take long. Here's a shot: JD

01-23-2005, 07:00 PM	#6
aktionman Scooby Newbie Member#: 50225 Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Lansing MI Vehicle: 1998 BG 5MT	Thanks for your help! I just got back from driving 1000 miles on rural mountain roads in Canada, I think this light upgrade would be put to good use. After reading this I think I am going to install Hella 500's in an Outback bumper and wire it up seperately from the high low switch.