The stock horn in the Cruze, while sounding pleasant, does not cut through traffic. It's a single horn. I'm upgrading to dual horns (electric stock replacements, not air), and am wondering if those horns would be appreciably louder if a proper relay drawing power from a underhood power point was used. I'd probably use 16 gauge wire since it's pretty easy to work with, and I have a lot of smaller-gauge wiring supplies laying around from building my headlight harness a year ago. Should I go through the trouble, or just run both horns off the stock wiring?
One car horn to two, relay?
- Thread starter sciphi
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If you're putting 2 horns in the place of one, I'd personally run them off a relay to get consistent power over sufficiently-gauged wire. Using 16-gauge wire from a SPST relay should give you all the power you need. Try to measure and find out what the gauge of the stock wiring is for the horn. Likely 16-gauge has more than twice the cross-sectional surface area as the stock wiring. Plus, wiring projects are fun... you know you want to do it
I have 2 extra SPST relays and pigtail sockets sitting around at home that I'm just waiting to use somewhere!
Do you know the current draw (amperage) of the 'electric stock replacements'?
I didn't run a relay for my air horn...
I didn't run a relay for my air horn...
Make sure the tones are compatible or the sound profile won't carry properly and it will sound funny.
If I recall if you have two horns you generally get two different compatible tones for the best effect, not two horns of the same tone.
If I recall if you have two horns you generally get two different compatible tones for the best effect, not two horns of the same tone.
I added an A and an F horn to my '07 Corolla, and didn't run through a relay. In fact, I ran both off the stock thin horn wiring and it was perfectly fine. For very short bursts of use, most wiring will be sufficient. The dinky "meep meep" horn on the Corolla was of no use in US traffic. The A and F Fiamm horns I sourced from Pep Boys, however, were quite loud.
I've done similar to our CR-V, but it had two horns from the get-go. I replaced both horns with OEM horns from a Honda Accord and they have the proper "American car" horn sound.
I've done similar to our CR-V, but it had two horns from the get-go. I replaced both horns with OEM horns from a Honda Accord and they have the proper "American car" horn sound.
I'm getting the horns in a 2 horn blister pack. They should be compatible.
According to what I'm reading, the horns themselves are about 5 amps each. IIRC the horn circuit is fused for 10 amps. So it's marginal at best. Relay it will be.
According to what I'm reading, the horns themselves are about 5 amps each. IIRC the horn circuit is fused for 10 amps. So it's marginal at best. Relay it will be.
Just curious. Why not get one horn that's just lauder? Is there any advantage to two horns?
Originally Posted By: KrisZ
Just curious. Why not get one horn that's just lauder? Is there any advantage to two horns?
Two or more tones striking a dissonant chord will get attention better than a single tone. The brain registers 'something not right'.
The effects of hearing loss, cabin materials and background noise/music can mask a single tone. A spread of tones has a better chance of alerting nearby drivers.
On the whole I prefer a higher tone to carry - much like a whistle carries farther than a shout - with a mid tone to modulate the higher one.
Low tones sound meaty and pleasant but need a lot more volume to cut through the drone of tires, motors, boom boom music and the loud exhaust folks think is so cool.
Just curious. Why not get one horn that's just lauder? Is there any advantage to two horns?
Two or more tones striking a dissonant chord will get attention better than a single tone. The brain registers 'something not right'.
The effects of hearing loss, cabin materials and background noise/music can mask a single tone. A spread of tones has a better chance of alerting nearby drivers.
On the whole I prefer a higher tone to carry - much like a whistle carries farther than a shout - with a mid tone to modulate the higher one.
Low tones sound meaty and pleasant but need a lot more volume to cut through the drone of tires, motors, boom boom music and the loud exhaust folks think is so cool.
Originally Posted By: KrisZ
Just curious. Why not get one horn that's just lauder? Is there any advantage to two horns?
Two different tones that slightly clash have a higher likelihood of making themselves heard over the roar of road noise and against increasing levels of sound deadening.
Just curious. Why not get one horn that's just lauder? Is there any advantage to two horns?
Two different tones that slightly clash have a higher likelihood of making themselves heard over the roar of road noise and against increasing levels of sound deadening.
I put some very similar horns on my car, except they had two-connector terminals.
Make a Y cable and attach it to the terminals on the horns. Plug the other end into the connector you pulled off the factory horn. Once you bolt the horns onto the car they will be grounded. There is a threaded boss on the upper radiator support. It's located symmetrically to the horn mount, on the other side of the hood latch. It's a perfect place for the second horn.
My horns work fine, no extra relays needed. http://bit.ly/2obFLAv
Make a Y cable and attach it to the terminals on the horns. Plug the other end into the connector you pulled off the factory horn. Once you bolt the horns onto the car they will be grounded. There is a threaded boss on the upper radiator support. It's located symmetrically to the horn mount, on the other side of the hood latch. It's a perfect place for the second horn.
My horns work fine, no extra relays needed. http://bit.ly/2obFLAv
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