Horns: Let's Talk About Them.

Appleseed said:

I'm sure Nick D could hook you up with a locomotive horn. Nobody's ignoring that.

I admittedly looked at a set for my Yaris after punting the deer and having had several people pull out in front of me lately. Unfortunately, the horns themselves are quite pricey (like $3k for a set of Nathan KH5As) and then you have to figure out a way to feed them a steady 125-140psi

These work very well and only cost about $20. 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07S92C6V2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

I add them to just about everything. 

Thompson air horns in the last 3 Miatas.  I consider them self defense.  

https://www.thompson-automotive.com/Air_Horn.html

eastsideTim said:

Re: the Cadillac horns.  I think only one of the four tones is unique to Cadillac, and even then it may not be.  I know I was able to mix and match at the junkyard a few years back and get all four of them from separate cars.  The note is stamped on the horn.  They are probably going in my S10, but there are times I think they need to be in the Miata.

I'll see if I can extract this information from mine.

GM cheaped out on some models and saved maybe $4 by only fitting one horn of a normally two horn duo. Adding the missing horn (Fiamm) makes an astounding difference (cost me $10 retail from Amazon). Cheap bastards even had the mounting point there on the chassis but wouldn't spend the $4 to make the cars much safer.

I like my Jensen Interceptor. They were fitted from the factory with town horns (normal type) and highway horns (air horns) with a switch  to go between them.  Anyone aware of other cars that did that?

We bought a 2010 Highlander brand new. The horn that came on it sounded like it belonged on a Yaris. It was both high pitched and not very loud. I could barely hear it inside the car. I tried installing one of those "Big truck" type horns. Every time I used it the person I was honking at would look around not understanding where the big ass truck sound was coming from. I finally settled on a set of the Hella Supertones. They are indeed LOUD.

The moral of the story is that the horn not only needs to be loud it needs to match the character of the vehicle. Otherwise people might not even realized it's you honking at them.

Keith Tanner said:

eastsideTim said:

Re: the Cadillac horns.  I think only one of the four tones is unique to Cadillac, and even then it may not be.  I know I was able to mix and match at the junkyard a few years back and get all four of them from separate cars.  The note is stamped on the horn.  They are probably going in my S10, but there are times I think they need to be in the Miata.

I'll see if I can extract this information from mine.

Looks like the note is molded, not stamped.  Here's one from my stash to show where to find it:

I think F is the Chevy default for cars with a single tone.  The S10 only had one horn.  I think the 3rd gen Firebird had two.  Higher end Buicks should have three.  I suspect Most GMs with a platform that was designed before the mid-80's will use this style horn.

I'm in a microcar ('59 Berkeley), and I'm certain I'm too small to be seen.. To combat this, I've added several LED lights to the front fo the car, and I too have a Wolo/"Bad Boy" horn as suggested by Mainlandboy.. here's the link he gave:

https://wolo-mfg.com/horns/motorcycle-horns/air-horn/model-419-bad-boy.html

...also, Toyman! had a link in his post above about virtually the same horn.. here's his link again:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07S92C6V2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

-------------------

These are not polite, "Please notice me" horns- they're rude, loud, and intrusive.. It doesn't fit the character of my wee car, but it does help me be very conspicuous when I need it most..

--ccrunner

The BMW left the factory with decent horns, so I haven't messed with it.  They aren't spectacular sounding, but they're definitely loud enough.  The Jeep started out with ok horns, but they seemed a bit too easily ignored.  So I added a set of the 4 tone Caddy horns on top of the original 2 tone set.  It's not unholy loud, but it's definitely loud.  And they sound pretty good, plus the sound is rather distinctive.  Not something people just ignore. 

Lots of good info here so far. Thanks a lot! Haven't quite decided if I'll go with salvaged horns or something new. Kinda want something that sounds like a big 70's truck, which may lead me solely to the junkyard.

I had the Thompson horn on my Miata, but it was too "friendly " sounding. I ended up with Hella Sharptones, which are lower-pitched than the the Supertones and sound more obnoxious. If traffic gets much worse around here, I may swap them out for a set of 125 db 12V boat horns.

Its bad enough driving my little red Kia Forte. I can't imagine how invisible I'll be in my Poly Metal Gray ND. I want to install an electronic air horn, like what is on emergency vehicles. Its a sound that doesn't get lost in traffic noise.

In reply to stanger_mussle (Supported by GRM undergarments) :

My MSM Miata is Titanium, aka Pavement Gray. Sitting low in a car that's basically camouflaged is lots of fun around all of the dopes in their SUVs and Bro-dozers.

Another vote for the Caddy horns.

They have that wonderful "I'm not asking, I'm telling" sort of sound.

I harvested the dual horns off a couple Crown Victoria Police cars we were scraping. They work better than my factory Honda single horn for sure.

I've been horn shopping for my boat and enjoyed this comparison

https://youtu.be/El1n-iZQ1xU

I've got a pair of the PIAA horns on my car and they're not nearly loud enough to discourage asshats from merging into the space I'm occupying. 

I might have to try out those $20 Amazon horns.

I test drove a 1985 Electric 225 when they were new, and needed to let the person in front of me know the light had turned green.  The horn scared both of us.  When I got back to the dealership I looked at the window sticker and sure enough the car had optional horns.  They sounded like a train and I guess they were similar to the Cadillac horns everybody  is talking about.  Quite different from the horn on the Honda Accord we were driving.  

The next step up would be what I put on the boat (as air horns weren't in the cards at the time for a few reasons).  It's these: https://www.amazon.com/SCHMITT-MARINE-10028-Stainless-Steel/dp/B005Q9MMAG/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=ongaro+10028&qid=1639572946&sr=8-3

With one of these stacked on top: https://www.amazon.com/Ongaro-Deluxe-Shorty-Single-Trumpet/dp/B00BLQWEXS

Even from behind them, they're uncomfortably loud if you're anywhere close without glass or something in between.  The 3 tone sound is great and fairly reminiscent of a 3 tone train horn (just without the air horn fade in/out, the electric trumpets are a very sharp snap on/off).  A little big to try to fit on a car, but they'd sure as heck get people to notice. 

wspohn said:

GM cheaped out on some models and saved maybe $4 by only fitting one horn of a normally two horn duo. Adding the missing horn (Fiamm) makes an astounding difference (cost me $10 retail from Amazon). Cheap bastards even had the mounting point there on the chassis but wouldn't spend the $4 to make the cars much safer.

I like my Jensen Interceptor. They were fitted from the factory with town horns (normal type) and highway horns (air horns) with a switch  to go between them.  Anyone aware of other cars that did that?

Peugeot and Renault for sure.  Country / City horns were a requirement by the French Government

My dad had an air horn in his 74 Opel Manta rally car & I've wanted one ever since.

Re little cars and horns:

I wanted louder horns on an MGA that was my daily driver (this was back in the 1970s. Found some Cadillac horns from a c. 1960 car - the horn sections were about 18" long and there was nowhere under the car to mount them, but I managed to get them in behind the grille by crossing them over each other.

They certainly surprised people (I tried to only use them if really needed) as it sounded like a train was coming in your window.

This thread reminds me... one of you all sent me some Caddy horns in a new year's game box one year.  Gotta find those in my mess of a garage because the new Kandy Van has a lame single.

And this bump reminds ME that I still need to find some good horns for my truck! 

I had a 2009 Mini Cooper and the horns were much louder than you'd expect from such a small car.