Weak Japanese horn

[mit_peid]

When I choose to buy my FRS, I accepted that this car does not have monster HP #s and just has a basic interior. There is one thing I have not heard or read people complaining about yet (sorry haven't tried to search it). When I was on the 10 freeway yesterday this big Chevy Tahoe started to drift into my lane when I decided to let him know I was there with a honk of my horn. This was the first time using or even testing out the FRS horn. What came out was outright embarrassing, sounded like a clown car.

Does anybody have experience upgrading their horn? I want one that is LOUD! https://shop.bostonmotorsports.com/H...Kit_p_573.html

[chenshuo]

its not all japanese car horn sound *****ish. my altima coupe has a nice strong horn but the corolla has those little girl horn. i think its the class of car that matters which horn the manufacturer install.

let me know if u can upgrade horn. maybe install those train horn?

[mit_peid]

Oh wait there already is another thread on this: http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showt...ella+supertone

[CTB727]

My previous car ('99 Toyota Avalon) had a mean, intimidating horn. It really got people's attention quick. I hate the horn in the BRZ so much that I hesitate using it because of how weak it sounds

[EK_Golfer]

Lol. I had the same reaction when using my FRS horn for the first time, I wanted to drive away quick and hide.

[mangostick]

I just put a pair on tonight.. its 230am though.. and GF is sound asleep lol.. cant exactly test 118DB worth of horn(s) atm. I previously had them on my wrx though and they were plenty loud. I'm assuming they will be no different on the FRS.

[campy]

A train horn will wake up sleeping tahoe drivers. You might have to remove some of the less important bits from the engine bay to make it fit though.

[mit_peid]

Originally Posted by mangostick

I just put a pair on tonight.. its 230am though.. and GF is sound asleep lol.. cant exactly test 118DB worth of horn(s) atm. I previously had them on my wrx though and they were plenty loud. I'm assuming they will be no different on the FRS.

Sounds like you had prior experience installing this thing on the WRX. The DIY on this forum actually seem pretty involved. How long did it take for the install on your FRS? A full day? Did you have to remove the bumper?

[FRiSson]

The horn has to fit the car, otherwise you just sound like a poser. However, the guy who put the Supertones on his car got a sound that was loud, but about right for the car.

[mangostick]

You do have to remove the bumper.. which in itself is a job n half. They used a ton of fasteners. Also a good thing to remember is this assembly is designed to be assembled, not the other way around, so its a bit tedious to do it right without breaking anything. The side markers are pretty interesting. There's diy's on here if you search. There's one that displays a way to get the bumper off without removing the marker lights.. that worked quite well. Once the bumper was off I used a small pick to slowly and carefully wedge the metal clips for the marker lights from behind and they pop right out. Going back in is a matter of just putting bulb in, lining them up and pushing them in. No broken metal tabs makes for a good re-install.

The Relay style install was pretty easy but I did set up the harness and relay on a previous car. Relays are pretty easy to wire up and only require 4 connections. One for trigger (factory horn wire) one to ground the relay itself, one is power from the battery and the other is the lead that will power the horns. Deeper descriptions of relaying wiring can be found on www.the12volt.com .

Granted, it wasn't NEEDED for the FRS but since I already had it ready to go and it allowed me to not cut any wiring (leaving ability to go back to factory later if need be) I chose to go this route. I also used a relay socket from parts express ( www.partsexpress.com ) that makes it easier to wire and if the relay needs replacement later its as simple as removing the old and plugging in a new.

Time wise, took me about a hour n half of actual work taking my sweet old time. Most of that was removing the bumper, the rest was making sure everything was neat and bundled correctly (loose wires make fires). Mounting was pretty simple.. I used the factory high tone horn bracket and grounded to the horns to their mounting point similar to the install detailed above. Here are some pics.







No wires showing, I made sure to run the power wire in tight with the factory harness and keep it under the factory terminal cover.

Originally Posted by FRiSson

The horn has to fit the car, otherwise you just sound like a poser. However, the guy who put the Supertones on his car got a sound that was loud, but about right for the car.

lol.. that's funny, cuz I'd much rather sound like a poser than have some asshat drive into me while not paying attention. Weigh it.. poser with intact shiny car, or cool guy at body shop getting chevy stamp removed... I'd take the former vs latter all day every day.

[jmaryt]

Originally Posted by mit_peid

When I choose to buy my FRS, I accepted that this car does not have monster HP #s and just has a basic interior. There is one thing I have not heard or read people complaining about yet (sorry haven't tried to search it). When I was on the 10 freeway yesterday this big Chevy Tahoe started to drift into my lane when I decided to let him know I was there with a honk of my horn. This was the first time using or even testing out the FRS horn. What came out was outright embarrassing, sounded like a clown car.

Does anybody have experience upgrading their horn? I want one that is LOUD! https://shop.bostonmotorsports.com/H...Kit_p_573.html

unfortunately,most people view our cars as clown,or toy cars,so no surprise there. i have had people comment to me,that they would be frightened to even be a passenger in it! tons of people are safety conscious these days,so i can understand this!

[jmaryt]

Originally Posted by mit_peid

When I choose to buy my FRS, I accepted that this car does not have monster HP #s and just has a basic interior. There is one thing I have not heard or read people complaining about yet (sorry haven't tried to search it). When I was on the 10 freeway yesterday this big Chevy Tahoe started to drift into my lane when I decided to let him know I was there with a honk of my horn. This was the first time using or even testing out the FRS horn. What came out was outright embarrassing, sounded like a clown car.

Does anybody have experience upgrading their horn? I want one that is LOUD! https://shop.bostonmotorsports.com/H...Kit_p_573.html

Originally Posted by campy

A train horn will wake up sleeping tahoe drivers. You might have to remove some of the less important bits from the engine bay to make it fit though.

i love train horns! actually they would be more appropriate on the tahoe!
make people think they was gettin' run over by a f**kin' train! ehe! he! he!

[mangostick]

tons of people are safety conscious these days,so i can understand this!

Tons of people are idiots these days too.. so, have to add that in accordingly and adjust fire to match. I'd take our "clown" car over any domestic lump of crap even if it was given to me. The FRS/BRZ are pretty safe cars regardless of size. Bigger is not safer, that's a huge misconception. Especially if the driver of bigger vehicle is texting, putting on her makeup, eating cereal and yelling at her little brats in the back while driving with her knee's...

Yes I've seen this!

Loud horns save lives. .. if not add some entertainment when the driver next to you just about shits themselves.

[jmaryt]

Originally Posted by mangostick

You do have to remove the bumper.. which in itself is a job n half. They used a ton of fasteners. Also a good thing to remember is this assembly is designed to be assembled, not the other way around, so its a bit tedious to do it right without breaking anything. The side markers are pretty interesting. There's diy's on here if you search. There's one that displays a way to get the bumper off without removing the marker lights.. that worked quite well. Once the bumper was off I used a small pick to slowly and carefully wedge the metal clips for the marker lights from behind and they pop right out. Going back in is a matter of just putting bulb in, lining them up and pushing them in. No broken metal tabs makes for a good re-install.

The Relay style install was pretty easy but I did set up the harness and relay on a previous car. Relays are pretty easy to wire up and only require 4 connections. One for trigger (factory horn wire) one to ground the relay itself, one is power from the battery and the other is the lead that will power the horns. Deeper descriptions of relaying wiring can be found on www.the12volt.com .

Granted, it wasn't NEEDED for the FRS but since I already had it ready to go and it allowed me to not cut any wiring (leaving ability to go back to factory later if need be) I chose to go this route. I also used a relay socket from parts express ( www.partsexpress.com ) that makes it easier to wire and if the relay needs replacement later its as simple as removing the old and plugging in a new.

Time wise, took me about a hour n half of actual work taking my sweet old time. Most of that was removing the bumper, the rest was making sure everything was neat and bundled correctly (loose wires make fires). Mounting was pretty simple.. I used the factory high tone horn bracket and grounded to the horns to their mounting point similar to the install detailed above. Here are some pics.







No wires showing, I made sure to run the power wire in tight with the factory harness and keep it under the factory terminal cover.





lol.. that's funny, cuz I'd much rather sound like a poser than have some asshat drive into me while not paying attention. Weigh it.. poser with intact shiny car, or cool guy at body shop getting chevy stamp removed... I'd take the former vs latter all day every day.

you forgot to mention the "creeps" doin' the cell phone thing strapped to their heads in their f**kin' "excursions" pissin' along next to ya,not just the day dreamin' morons not paying attention! ehe! he! he!