I'm upgrading from the stock halogen fogs.

From what I'm reading it seems like the Elite's would be fine for me 95% of the time.

The only reason I'm considering shelling out 2.5x more is that the MAX's can melt snow/ice.

I live in Northern VA/DC area and do take ski trips and we do get some snow, which is usually wet and heavy but it's not super frequent. However, this would be one of the prime functions of a good fog.

Hoping the forum can help me decide via real-world anecdotes.

Has anyone had either of these and moved away from them? If so, why?

Honestly not sure what else I would consider. Maybe the new Baja Squadrons but for the price I'd probably just go with the MAX's.

For me, fog lights are a safety item. If I’m driving when and where fogs are needed, I want them to be the best they can be. The extra few hundred dollars are not worth risking my safety and the safety of my passengers in the 5% of the time I need them to melt snow

Don't disagree with you which is why I'm debating this so much. But then I also go...I've had crappy stock 2014 halogens since I bought the car used in 2017 and I haven't been in a situation where I had to pull over because I couldn't see at all. In fact, in all my years and all my cars, I've never had aftermarket or yellow/amber fogs so maybe I'm just overthinking this or at least the necessity of it.

Fair. Ignoring the snow melting capabilities, how often do you actually need fog lights? I also got the Maxs because we get some pretty dense fog or heavy rain often enough that I wanted the best output too. If I didn’t use them as often, I probably would have gotten the Elites and just wired the backlight to come on with low beams

Fog lights are useful for other conditions than just when it is foggy. Since the light pattern is very wide, they allow you to see the sides of the road that the main headlights just don't cover. The fogs also help to see any obstacles to the side when making sharp turns. Thus, I keep my fogs on most of the time.

I will fully admit that most of my life I was uneducated on this topic and as such I always ran my fogs because they looked cooler from the front-end view.

They were always OEM fogs ie white. Passat, 528, A6, Equinox, and now the 4runner cover the last 20+ years.

With the 4runner it had the worst headlights I've ever had. So in addition to looking cool, I ran the fogs for the extra lights as I preferred the additional lighting up close. I now understand that under normal circumstances that's actually bad for you and hurts your overall night driving vision. Will see if I can break these old habits but it's highly likely I will still run the fogs quite a bit.

Last fall I got a good deal on some slightly used GTR Carbides and put those in. Sooooooo much better! However they don't have great coverage right off the corners, so I run the fogs. Also, I was a dummy when I tinted her and went too dark and now occasionally have challenges seeing out the front door windows next to the A-pillars. Hell sometimes when it's raining i have to roll down the windows to see accurately to the left before turning. Will probably rectify and redo the tint on the front windows.

Then one day I noticed what shite it looks like to have LED headlights with halogen fogs. So I started researching fogs.

And here I am an educated and changed man.

I don't experience fog frequently but occasionally. Same for snow in the DC suburbs. So my two primary, by which I mean most frequent use cases for the fogs will be lighting up the shoulders of dark roads at night, and in the rain. I've always had challenges seeing lane markers on the road at night in the rain. I'm hoping this will help mitigate that.

So that took me down the path of yellow instead of white. Yellow also benefits me when I do encounter fog and snow.

That then took me to - well if they are covered in snow that benefit is negated.

Realistically that's probably less than 5% of the time. But it is one of the main points of having yellow fogs. So here I am.

For low speed, sure. If you’re traveling at higher speeds, the extra foreground lighting makes your eyes dilate and limit your distance vision. So no, you shouldn’t run them “most of the time” unless your “most of the time” is low speed and in low visibility conditions.

I run the DD SS3 Sports and am very happy with them. They were great in the snow, fog and rain in the Big Bear area and including the local Angeles Forest mountains. Lots of rain and snow this year in SoCal. I have them set to automatically come on in low light and night driving, coupled with my raptor lights. I like the fill in light up close in front of me, along with the wide angle spread to other cars or objects to the front and side. I chose them because they are SAE compliant and plug n play. I didn’t want to be hassled by LE for something not street legal.
I will try running the fogs off on long dark highway drives to see if I notice a difference in my eyesight as NB17Limited stated.

I have the SS3 MAX in amber and been happy with them. I have the set for sale in the classifieds here. I liked them enough to stay with the MAXs and upgraded to the backlight versions.

They are bright. But as long as you aim them correctly you will be fine. Never gotten flashed by other drivers. I found I do use them less as they are so bright and reserve usage to times of inclement weather or when I want to see better off to the sides.

Obviously they buildup heat due to their high power. I am not sure if they reduce output as they heat up or not, but I think I read their output does not decrease by much, or at all, as they heat up.

With the Memorial Day sale, I was all set to go with the elites and had them in my cart along with the DD interior tailgate upgrade bulbs for $216 total. Then I remembered I had $60 of Amazon gift cards and also use my Amex points on Amazon, so I was able to get the SS3 Max's with backlight and tailgate lights for $300. So $282 for the Max's. More than I wanted to spend but I couldn't pass up that deal. I hope they aren't too bright for somewhat normal usage. I suppose I could have just gone with free Elites, but this at least solved the potential snow question and the lack of crisp cutoff of the pro's. Buy once cry once. I'll be crying for a little bit this weekend. lol.

I grabbed some yellow LED bulbs and they work great. super bright and a lot cheaper then replacing the entire housing

Glad you're happy with your yellow bulbs, but quite honestly, they don't have even 10% of the output of the DD Max fogs. Trust me on that one. You truly do get what you pay for with lighting products.

I picked up the Elite Yellows during their Memorial Day sale for under 200 bucks so I'm patiently waiting for their arrival. I'll move my OEM LED fog lights over to my parents' Rav4 so it's a win/win.

yeah that was tough call on the free elites vs the half off max's. Ultimately I just decide to get the best out there and i'd never have to question whether I made the right call or curse myself if the elites became ineffective during heavy snowfall.

i think the elites are still great choice though. probably second best to the max's when taking everything into account.

I am still running the OEM fog lights in my 19 TRD OR. When I decide to up-grade with DD's, I'm gonna' contact Too Stroked for advice because he has tried numerous different brands/models and knows fog-lights like the back of his hand!

I have read many of his threads on this subject & he definitely is up on fog lights.