Hi there,
My car calls for 850 bulbs for the fog / driving lights.
I bought an 855 and put it in, and it seems much brighter.

The difference is the 850 has a black cap on the tip of the bulb, the 855 does not, thus allowing the 855 to shine much brighter.

Has anyone used an 855 in place of the 850? Did they work okay??

I thought it could be a quick, inexpensive upgrade, as the brightness difference is significant.
After leaving the lights on for some time, yes the one with the 855 had a warmer lens, but didn't seem hot enough to melt.

Any thoughts? Has anyone else done this, if so did they work out okay?

Thanks!
Adam

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1993 SSEi "Red Bonnechetta" COTM July 2014
2003 GMC Envoy SLT

most likely the 855 is drawing more watts than the 850 and produces more lumens. i tried finding a site to back me up but no luck. its the same concept with the 9005 / 9006 bulbs. the 9005 is a 65W and has 700 more lumens than the 9006.

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2007 Impala SS - 30k 5.3L V8
1997 LeSabre Limited - 115k
Gone but never forgotten:
2001 Bonneville SE
1992 Bonneville SE

There are three fog light bulbs that will fit:

880 @ 27 watts
885 @ 50 watts
893 @ 38 watts

I can’t find any references to any 850/855 auto bulbs. My 92 SSEI owner’s manual lists only the 880 bulb. At 27 watts, you’d be hard pressed to know they’re on. I tried the 885 bulbs and they were really bright. That was the problem. On dark roads, the fog lights overpowered my low beams. There was a lot of light directly in front of the car (the typical fog light pattern) which is where your eyes are drawn to. You should be looking down the road and not at the really bright 10-20 ft. in front of the car. This is really magnified when driving on dark portions of the Interstate. Your eyes are naturally drawn to the brighter light of the fog lamps.

I tried the 893 bulbs (37 watts) and they seemed more balanced. The difference between the low beams and the 893’s wasn’t as stark as running the 885’s. You have useful (but not over powering) light which blends better with your low beams…