Inadequate Horn!!

[sciphi]

I've known for a long time that my Cruze Eco's horn is pathetic. It's a single low-tone horn. Recent events have shown that it is a safety hazard, at least for driving conditions around my locale. I've had to hit the horn 5-6 times in the past month for folks who cut me off pulling out into traffic. It's had no effect. Other non-Eco Cruzes have dual horns that apparently work much better. I'm fixing the horn deficiency with a set of Fiamm low/high tone horns powered from the battery via a fuse and relay, being mounted behind the front grille instead of buried in the fenderwell like the factory horn is. That should be loud enough, and have the sound go out instead of getting muffled by the fender.

Our Fit also had a pathetic horn from the factory. I swapped it out with the high tone horn from a Accord years ago, and that has proven sufficient.

My previous cars have had both good and mediocre horns. My old Hyundai had a pathetic "meep-meep" horn, while my old Buick had a pretty good horn.

What other cars have inadequate factory horns, and what has been done to fix that? Likewise, which cars have excellent horns from the factory?

 

[Turk]

Saturns. It's pathetic.

I just got a PIAA double horn & will put in soon. That'll change things...

 

[Chris142]

The horn on my jeep is useless . Can't hear it. It just kinda buzzes

 

[KD0AXS]

Problem solved.

 

[RiceCake]

Most cars seem to have a perfectly adequate, 'average' horn. My Stratus conveys the feeling of frustration well without being ridiculous.

I think thats the main issue with any after market horn since we're on that topic... if it sounds like you installed a louder or more pervasive sounding horn... you just end up looking like a knob looking for trouble and attention.

That being said the Fiamm horns and the like are a good upgrade to weak stock horns.

Weakest horn I've ever heard is on a Geo Tracker. Its a pitiful buzzer of a thing. Ford vans (E-250's and the like) also have really weak horns for being big vans. Probably done to appeal to corporate, sounding tame for all the people driving them as company vehicles.

Almost anything with a single high pitch horn falls short. Something about a squeaky "meep" from a teeny car is laughable.

 

[spackard]

A long time ago I did a horn swap with a Cadillac's tri-tones. I found the sound wasn't as loud, and meant to be more pleasant.
The Fiamm electric horn set is loud enough and pleasant-ish, not in a Cadillac way but in a Italian small car way.

Fiamm makes an interesting integrated air pump and horn. (There's no room at all for anything but the OEM on my car.) I remember those fiberglass impeller air pumps used to need an occasional squirt of oil. Before buying make sure the pump could be mounted with the "oil here" cap in an accessible place. After many years you may need to take it apart and clean the insides.

 

[crazyoildude]

Cadillac is very loud and all three santa fe's in the family are also very loud. The jag is loud so is the voyager and jeep... The corolla is one of those meep meep horns but it is louder than most.

 

[sciphi]

Originally Posted By: RiceCake
Most cars seem to have a perfectly adequate, 'average' horn. My Stratus conveys the feeling of frustration well without being ridiculous.

I think thats the main issue with any after market horn since we're on that topic... if it sounds like you installed a louder or more pervasive sounding horn... you just end up looking like a knob looking for trouble and attention.

That being said the Fiamm horns and the like are a good upgrade to weak stock horns.


I'm not trying to be obnoxious or looking for trouble with different horns. All I want is for folks to hear my horn blast when they're attempting to place their car where my car is, not go nuts with a train horn or other super-loud horn.

Horns do need to be able to cut through the increasingly sound-deadened cars/vans/trucks, and be heard over the loud radio inside that super-quiet-interior car. Otherwise it's functionally useless. I want a functional horn, not something that merely ticks a safety regulation requirement to have a horn that sounds when the button is pressed.

 

[JHZR2]

A friend's matrix is the worst. Not only is it a high pitched wimpy sound that does not carry well, but it doesn thold a consistent tone because the electric system cant even feed it.

 

[dnastrau]

Some Cadillacs, Buicks and Oldsmobiles had an optional four-note horn in the '80s and '90s. I bought a set like these and installed them on our Grand Cherokee last summer after the stock horns died:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dual-Wire-Delco-...8bf&vxp=mtr

I also used this relay kit to ensure that they got plenty of current (I used one of the stock positive feeds from the original horn wires to trigger the relay.)

http://www.amazon.com/Universal-Plug-n-P...ir+horn+harness

The result is a set of great sounding horns for less than $100.00.

Here is a video of a Cadillac with the same four-note set for reference (even though he calls it a dual trumpet horn.)

 

[JimPghPA]

If it were mine I would put those two horns inside of the front part of a fender, or somewhere under the hood near the front.

Putting them in the grille might expose them to too much weather, and putting them in a fender near the front or under the hood near the front will not make any significant reduction in how loud they are to people and other drivers.

You might want to add an additional ground wire from the ground of the battery to the frame in case this part of the circuit might be a little on the light side for the additional current you will be applying when those horns run. You could run the additional ground wire from the minus battery cable directly to the bolts that mount the horns.

 

[daves87rs]

Bike horn???

 

[RiceCake]

Originally Posted By: sciphi
Originally Posted By: RiceCake
Most cars seem to have a perfectly adequate, 'average' horn. My Stratus conveys the feeling of frustration well without being ridiculous.

I think thats the main issue with any after market horn since we're on that topic... if it sounds like you installed a louder or more pervasive sounding horn... you just end up looking like a knob looking for trouble and attention.

That being said the Fiamm horns and the like are a good upgrade to weak stock horns.


I'm not trying to be obnoxious or looking for trouble with different horns. All I want is for folks to hear my horn blast when they're attempting to place their car where my car is, not go nuts with a train horn or other super-loud horn.

Horns do need to be able to cut through the increasingly sound-deadened cars/vans/trucks, and be heard over the loud radio inside that super-quiet-interior car. Otherwise it's functionally useless. I want a functional horn, not something that merely ticks a safety regulation requirement to have a horn that sounds when the button is pressed.


Only meant to say some people go overboard, didn't mean you. In fact I sided with your choice.

 

[sciphi]

Originally Posted By: RiceCake
Originally Posted By: sciphi
Originally Posted By: RiceCake
Most cars seem to have a perfectly adequate, 'average' horn. My Stratus conveys the feeling of frustration well without being ridiculous.

I think thats the main issue with any after market horn since we're on that topic... if it sounds like you installed a louder or more pervasive sounding horn... you just end up looking like a knob looking for trouble and attention.

That being said the Fiamm horns and the like are a good upgrade to weak stock horns.


I'm not trying to be obnoxious or looking for trouble with different horns. All I want is for folks to hear my horn blast when they're attempting to place their car where my car is, not go nuts with a train horn or other super-loud horn.

Horns do need to be able to cut through the increasingly sound-deadened cars/vans/trucks, and be heard over the loud radio inside that super-quiet-interior car. Otherwise it's functionally useless. I want a functional horn, not something that merely ticks a safety regulation requirement to have a horn that sounds when the button is pressed.


Only meant to say some people go overboard, didn't mean you. In fact I sided with your choice.


Gotcha. Thanks for the clarification, and I'm sorry I snipped back at you for something you didn't mean.

For grounding, the particular horns in question ground through the mounting hardware, so the galvanizing and paint will be scuffed to shiny metal, then covered with dielectric grease once the installation is final. I believe that should be sufficient. For location, at least on my car, most of the front grille is blocked off from the factory. The horns would go behind the block-off panels. Kinda silly having a giant dummy grille, but it should work well for this use.

Even swapping out a junk factory horn to a better one can be complicated. On our Fit, another horn with the same connector was available, so it was easy if expensive for a OEM Honda horn. The last horn I upgraded needed some crimping to be done, and this one will need me to install a new circuit. I see why this can be intimidating to many folks.

 

[NHGUY]

My K came with dual horns.

 

[Bamaro]

J C Whitney sells loud horns

 

[Rhymingmechanic]

2001 base model Silverado has a wimpy horn. I get to "toot" instead of "honk" it. An old Saturn and a Vibe are both better.

I asked a dealership about it. At first, they tried to blame a body shop for losing it during a bumper change. Then they looked up the build sheet and found out it came with a single horn.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Our '07 Corolla had a very weak horn. Pathetic. I swapped Fiamm A/F horns into it; solved. Our '11 Camry's horns were fine.

Our '05 Acura has very loud horns. But our '08 CR-V had weak horns. They had a "high" and a "low" tone, but both sounded weak. I swapped them for new OE Honda Accord horns; solved.

My folks' 2012 Wrangler has a weak horn. I think it's just one horn.

 

[Jarlaxle]

I drove a Sterling Acterra 26' box truck for a while with the most pathetic city horn ever installed. It sounded like Herbie.

Talk about embarrassing.