Wishing N.A. CX-5 had rear fog lights

Whenever there is inclement weather some will complain about others have their hazard lights on, this wouldn't be a problem if the US and Canadian government got with the times and adopted the Euro regulations where every car must have rear fog lights. That way people that are worried others behind cannot see can use the rear fog to increase the visibility to others behind.
The only times since I got the car and I had to drive with the hazards on while in motion was during the big snow storm in February (winter storm Nemo) and highway visibility was reduced to less than 50M ( i already have my lights and front fogs on as well) and during a massive downpour back in August where visibility was reduced to less than 100M.

One can order parts to replicate the Euro market CX-5. All you need are essentially three parts. Right rear foglight to replace the stock N.A. reflector housing, harness, and signal stalk with foglight ring switch. In the Euro market, the gauge cluster includes a rear foglight indicator, which we don't have.

I plan on going a slightly simpler route without the harness and foglight switch when it gets warmer out. Still using the factory reflector housing for a clean stock look.

@SayNoToPistons, is the harness easy to get or is it intertwined with the main harness?

They can be ordered, but most definitely not cheap and easy to figuring out what loom to order. You are better off ordering just the switch and foglight/s then simply wiring them up yourself.

Part #:
KD81-51-650A Fog Lamp Rear Right (RHD for Britain)
KD53-51-660A Fog Lamp Rear Left (LHD)

Do you have the part number for the stalk?

One problem in US is all the people that run fog lights on all the time.

If the weather is bad enough where I would have to use my flashers, it is time to pull over. Not sure I would really benefit from rear fog lights but it would be a nifty add-on if it came standard.

Zeal Red said:

Do you have the part number for the stalk?

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Sorry, no. Though it only takes an email to MazMart for it. I have not asked for pricing on these items yet as I plan on retrofitting lighting into my stock reflector housings.

Can't wait to see what it looks like when you're done. I am still waiting back from Mazmart about the upper panel, had a long conversation with them a few days ago but till now nada...

I asked Paul a few times concerning CX-5 parts and he would take a few days to come back with the info I need. Though I must say, they often need reminders.

I will call him again on Monday. Thanks

Majority of the traffic enforcement units in north America are useless, they never will enforce fog light regulations if there is any

SayNoToPistons said:

I asked Paul a few times concerning CX-5 parts and he would take a few days to come back with the info I need. Though I must say, they often need reminders.

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Hey Piston... did you get this installed? Pics?

Please NO - every freaking Volvo or Saab or old Merc driving around with those lights and people NOT turning them off when there is no fog is just HORRIBLE, blinding and distracting from the break lights. First TEACH people how to drive roundabouts... that will take the next generation, don't overload them with sensible driving. (deadhorse (wrc) In all seriousness if people cannot even handle a simple blinking light that even makes a noise inside of the car, how would they pay attention to what types of other signs are on their dash, unless it is on their stupidphone of course.... (lol)

The problem with MBs and Audis always having them on is that to activate the front fog lights you have to pull out the headlight switch one notch. Two notches activates the front and rear fogs. Most owners just pull it out all the way and don't realize they have both on. That's a poor design on those manufacturers. In my old Volvo S40 the rear fogs had a separate switch and had a timer on it so they wouldn't be stuck on.

There needs to be a lot more education in U.S and Canada when it comes to usage of lighting
Way too many morons drive with their fog lights on even when the weather is perfectly clear...can't imagine the carnage if those idiots had access to rear fog lights, they shoud only be an option right now for us educated folks.
Canada and U.S. should adopt European lighting regulations and laws as they are the safest and makes the most sense.

Well, if one is inclined to know it as a "FOG LIGHT" and how to switch it on and off, then he/she will know how to use it properly...

jeremy44 said:

There needs to be a lot more education in U.S and Canada when it comes to usage of lighting
Way too many morons drive with their fog lights on even when the weather is perfectly clear...can't imagine the carnage if those idiots had access to rear fog lights, they shoud only be an option right now for us educated folks.
Canada and U.S. should adopt European lighting regulations and laws as they are the safest and makes the most sense.

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Seems like 80-90% of drivers round here have the front fog lights on if there car has them. I think they are just idiots and assume it implies some kind of 'coolness' factor to them.

Then about 10% of German car owners - the German cars seem to be the ones that come here with the rear fog light intact - drive around with THEM on. Get's me so effing irate. Bloody idiots - blinding everyone behind because they are too stupid to know the the switch is for. Jeez. [/RANT]

In response to my own rant... Listen I drove trucks between The Netherlands and Poland in the late 80's and I have driven in Europe for almost 20 years and came to North America 17 years ago. During the past 17 years I have been knocked of my bicycle twice and sideswiped in my car three times by distracted drivers or people not watching over their shoulder. In Europe and on the autobahn in Germany I have had 0 accidents.... I do not understand why people still feel it is cool to have multiple lights on and drive with their high beams on during the day and at night they only run with DRL and no lights on the back of their car. In the mean time they sip coffee, put on make up or shave during their morning commute... (drive)

The front fog lights are damn near useless, as with most fog lights in modern cars. The housings used in our CX-5 is the SAME housing used in many Mazda's since 2003. It is about as useful as a $1 flashlight in projecting a fog suitable wide beam with an adequate horizontal cut off. There is an apparent hot spot with our fog light housing within 6-7ft of the bumper, and nothing more to the sides. This is exactly what you don't want with a fog light. Fortunately, the housings are so poorly designed especially with the glare cap, that it won't distract any drivers when it is lit using the low beams. Again, as with most modern fog lights. They are purely there for aesthetics.

I have even gone as far as experimenting with removal of the glare caps in our Mazda fog light housings. Recently I have converted 3000 kevlin (selective yellow for poor conditions) H9 bulbs to use in our H11 housings. Reason being that H9 produce ~500 more lumen than the H11 without harming the reflector housings, harness, and relays. I have found that the combination of a selective yellow 65W H9 in factory H11 housings (WITH THE GLARE CAP) aimed slightly higher to produce the best results. Though that doesn't say much, as it still does not produce much adequate lighting to use as fog lights.


Here is a good read up:
http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/lights/fog_lamps/fog_lamps.html
http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/49453/UMTRI-2001-40.pdf?sequence=1

As someone that condones absolute knowledge and proper usage of vehicle lighting; I can't say that I have anything against the usage of having our foglights on with the low beams during nighttime. Though that is only without the glare cap removed and without an HID conversion.

What I am more against are the tards re-aiming their headlights improperly. I am HIGHLY also against tards using their highbeams and rear fogs when they are not needed. I covered the misinformation on projector cut off and poor headlight aiming (as suggested by a few ignorant members here).

http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?123823540-headlight-low-beams-with-abrupt-shadow/page2





Now with all that said. I am still thinking about converting my rear bumper's reflector housings to fog lights. I have been too busy to remove them, crack them open, then wire up a PCB board with LED's. The hardest part for me is finding a switch or a button that I can mount and look ABSOLUTELY factory. No, that does not mean tapping a hole into one of the empty spots in my dash and slapping on a basic switch. I want none of that. I have thought about buying the European CX-5's light stalk which has a factory switch for the rear fogs.

I have made my own rear fog for my RX-8 two years ago. Bought an OEM rear fog dash button and wired it up that way. I wish it was that easy for the CX-5...

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