Vanquish Auto 80w PHILIPS LED Fog Light Bulbs PSX26W Review

[bzpilot]

This review will compare the Vanquish Auto 50w CREE LED Fog Lights ($39.99) versus the NEW Vanquish Auto 80w PHILIPS LED Fog Lights ($119.99).

(You can see my review of the Vanquish Auto 50w CREE LED Fog Lights versus stock 25w halogen bulbs here: http://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/thre...cree-led-fog-light-bulbs-psx26w-review.85767/)

The 50w CREE LED lights consist of 10 x 5w LEDS (2 on each of 4 sides and 2 on end). The 80w PHILIPS LED lights consist of 8 x 10w LEDS (4 on each of 2 sides). See photos below for comparison.

Conclusion: Installation of both lighting options is quite easy. Most people will not find the need to remove any parts other than to just swap out the lights. There isn't a ton of space to work with but it can be done, see alternative installation options below. The only additional step required when installing the 80w lights over the 50w is that you will need to secure the 80w LED controller so that it does not move around, see details below. The 80w lights are significantly brighter and are made almost completely of aluminum to help dissipate any heat. Even though the 80w lights are brighter, they will also be less intrusive/blinding to oncoming traffic due to the LED orientation within the lamp, see details below.

The 80w LED lights have an adjustable heat sink at the base. It allows you to swap the direction of the heat sink to allow it to fit in a variety of locations. This adjustment should NOT be required when installing on any 2015-2017 Tahoe/Yukon. I do recommend you tighten the heat-sink screw (requires a 1.5mm allen/hex wrench, which is included) prior to installing the lights so that it does not loosen when installing or over time.

If you have the $119.99 to spend the Vanquish Auto 80w PHILIPS LED Fog Lights are a great product. If they are out of your budget I still highly recommend the Vanquish Auto 50w CREE LED Fog Lights. Either way you go you'll get Vanquish Auto's 3 year warranty, which is better than most other options out there.


Un-boxing photos

Vanquish Auto 50w Versus 80w

 

[bzpilot]

Installation:

As with the 50w bulbs I was also able to install the 80w bulbs without removing any parts (other than the bulbs). If you have trouble doing this or prefer a little more room to work with you can remove 3 - 7mm screws from the front fender liner (see first pic below), and 2 - 10mm screws along with a push pin from the fender liner underneath the vehicle (see second pic below). This will give you alot more room to work with behind the fog light area.

The installation package came with 6 - approximately 8in long zip ties to secure the lighting controller. I choose instead to use 2 small pieces of velcro on each side (not supplied, see pictures below). The velcro just made it easier with the limited access I had since I didn't remove any screws.

Used velcro (not supplied) to secure lighting, 6 zip ties are supplied:

 

[bzpilot]

Before Pics of the Vanquish Auto 50w CREE LEDS installed:

 

[bzpilot]

Vanquish Auto 80w PHILIPS LED Fog Lights Driver's Side / Vanquish Auto 50w CREE LED Fog Lights Passenger Side:

 

[bzpilot]

Vanquish Auto 80w PHILIPS LED Fog Lights Driver's Side / Vanquish Auto 50w CREE LED Fog Lights Passenger Side:

The brighter camera reflection (not output) of the 50w passenger side bulb above I believe is do to the different orientation of the LEDS. The 50w bulbs have 2 forward facing LEDS which the 80w bulbs do not have. I believe this different orientation of the LEDS is an additional benefit to the 80w lamps, allowing them to be less intrusive/blinding to oncoming traffic even though they are brighter.

 

[bzpilot]

Vanquish Auto 80w PHILIPS LED Fog Lights In Both Driver's & Passenger Side:

 

[bzpilot]

Vanquish Auto 80w PHILIPS LEDFog Lights In Both Driver's & Passenger Side:

 

[gat0r]

nice

thanks for info & pics

 

[ajs800]

Thanks for the review. The new location of LED are a def a good thing. I wonder how hot the inside housing gets with the 80w leds?

I have a set of the 30w (4200k) xenondepot and they provide a nice color and okay output for fogs but what I notice along with other aftermarket LEDS in fogs with the 15+ trucks is the lack of output focus. The light is generally widespread and scattered. A neighbor installed similar 50w led in his 16 tahoe and sure they look brighat as hell, but IMO it looks horrible when facing head-on at night. It's like two big spotlights below practically overpowering the headlights even thought they don't provide nearly as much light as the headlights.

 

[lilmac]

The orientation of the 80 watt bulb in the housing is scattering the light up and down rather than left and right. Also could potentially be blinding to on coming traffic. I bought a set from VLED that looked just like that 80 watt bulb with same orientation (leds facing north and south). Was flashed by traffic. Later checked their site and they had a revised version that you could turn/focus the beam. Ended up returning the first set and buying the revised version. What a difference.

 

[ajs800]

The orientation of the 80 watt bulb in the housing is scattering the light up and down rather than left and right. Also could potentially be blinding to on coming traffic. I bought a set from VLED that looked just like that 80 watt bulb with same orientation (leds facing north and south). Was flashed by traffic. Later checked their site and they had a revised version that you could turn/focus the beam. Ended up returning the first set and buying the revised version. What a difference.

Which ones are you running from vled?

 

[bzpilot]

The orientation of the 80 watt bulb in the housing is scattering the light up and down rather than left and right. Also could potentially be blinding to on coming traffic. I bought a set from VLED that looked just like that 80 watt bulb with same orientation (leds facing north and south). Was flashed by traffic. Later checked their site and they had a revised version that you could turn/focus the beam. Ended up returning the first set and buying the revised version. What a difference.

I'm not sure a north/south versus an east/west LED orientation will cause more of a blinding light for the same powered lamp within the same housing. The in-direct disbursement of these lamps are caused by the inherent design of the fog light housing/reflector itself. These housings are specifically designed to produce a very wide horizontal and narrow vertical pattern.

If I was to guess an east/west orientation of these 80w LEDs would be a little brighter, since the LEDs would be directed towards a larger portion of the reflector within the housing, but I'm not sure they would be less intrusive to oncoming traffic. As they are, these 80w LED lamps appear visually less blinding/intrusive than the stock 25w halogen bulbs and the 50w LEDs compared here (which both produce some direct light toward the oncoming driver). This is where I believe you will find the greatest benefit to oncoming traffic - not having a direct light source (halogen bulb, or LEDs facing forward) pointing towards the oncoming driver.

I did just look up the VLED bulb you referenced and they do mention the reason for the new rotatable/adjustable base version is "for proper LED indexing in the lamp housing". Which is what I mentioned earlier, to align the LEDs towards the largest portion of the reflector in the horizontal position.

I would definitely be interested to see some side-by-side comparisons of LED lamps with adjustable orientation for both light output and glare.

 

[lilmac]

Unfortunately I didn't snap any pics with the first set I had. I did notice with the first set of fogs 5-10 feet away from a wall, there was scattered light higher than the cutoff. With these adjustable ones with the leds aimed at the 3 and 9 o'clock position, the beam is horizontal and no light above the cutoff.

 

[lilmac]

Which ones are you running from vled?

XTE-2 5202

 

[Denali132]

So Bz pilot do you recommend the 80 watt bulbs? I want to get a set for my Suburban but I think it's a different bulb number. The end looks big but it fits in fine? Also you said to tighten it is that at the end of the bulb and you do it before install? Thanks


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[bzpilot]

So Bz pilot do you recommend the 80 watt bulbs? I want to get a set for my Suburban but I think it's a different bulb number. The end looks big but it fits in fine? Also you said to tighten it is that at the end of the bulb and you do it before install? Thanks


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Yes, I do recommend the 80w bulbs.

I'm not sure what your Suburban originally came with, what is the year?

Yes, the end is large (made of aluminum to help dissipate the heat).

On the '15+ Tahoes and Yukons there is tons of room behind the fog light so there is no issue with room. I believe it should be very similar on the Suburban. There isn't much else installed that low on the front of the vehicle so there isn't anything to get in the way.

The large base has a small set screw that should be tightened. The base is actually threaded on and the set screw allows the base to be secured once threaded so it does not loosen over time.

 

[ajs800]

Is the main heat generated from the lights mainly outside of the housing? This is my biggest concern as I've seen many reviews discussing how much heat is generated from these setups. If it is inside the housing, there's no doubt that it will eventually cause problems. I do prefer this easy plug and play setup over HID.

 

[Denali132]

Bzpilot my Suburban is a 2016 and there is a lot of room behind it. I'm going to order them but can you explain what I need to tighten and do I tighten it all the way. You said to tighten before the install right. They look really bright and I bet they show up great at night! Thanks again


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[bzpilot]

Bzpilot my Suburban is a 2016 and there is a lot of room behind it. I'm going to order them but can you explain what I need to tighten and do I tighten it all the way. You said to tighten before the install right. They look really bright and I bet they show up great at night! Thanks again


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

It's just a small set screw on the side of the heat sink base (see red circle below). It requires a small 1.5mm allen wrench to tighten which IS included in the package you will get from Vanquish Auto. Tighten the screw all the way, just remember it is aluminum (a soft metal).

 

[bzpilot]

Is the main heat generated from the lights mainly outside of the housing? This is my biggest concern as I've seen many reviews discussing how much heat is generated from these setups. If it is inside the housing, there's no doubt that it will eventually cause problems. I do prefer this easy plug and play setup over HID.

The heat is generated by the 8 LEDs within the housing, but the main portion of the heatsink (which dissipates the heat) is outside the housing. Everything in the red rectangle below is outside the fog lamp housing.