I am mulling over installing an aftermarket horn in place of my factory horn. Drivers here are getting worse and worse, such that some weeks I find I've had to use my horn every couple days -- to alert someone that's about to back into me in my neighborhood because they don't check behind them before moving; to alert two large SUVs parked in tandem at a red light that they need to proceed when the green light comes on and continue their out-the-window conversation in a parking lot somewhere; to honk at vehicles that are moving into my lane without signalling or checking to ensure the space they wish to occupy is indeed clear, etc.

It's getting insane, and the frequency of my horn usage has surfaced my personal dislike of the FEH's horn -- it doesn't even turn heads and seems to be ignored even more than my little Toyota Corolla's. I don't want to blast people's eardrums off or scare people with a quad horn train whistle, but I do want something that has a little more authority because when I honk my horn, I need it to attract the attention of driver's in my vicinity.

Any suggestions from other FEH drivers? I've searched for horn-related threads here and found some suggestions in the Prius and Insight forums, but I'm casting a wider net and hoping to find someone with a FEH perhaps that has upgraded their horn.

I have the FEH factory workshop manuals and my father's mechanically inclined and has offered to assist in the installation. I don't want anything mounted outside the vehicle like a big rig, and hopefully I want something to fit reasonbly well in the engine compartment without looking silly. That said, function wins hands down over form in this case.

I've also Googled and found lots of sites selling aftermarket horns, and checked eBay, but so many don't include audio of what the horn sounds like and I'm leery of buying one "unheard" for fear of getting a real ear-piercer or something that just sounds silly.

Thank you!

 

Its too bad they don't make them with levels... sometimes you just want to give a level 0 nudge to let someone know the light turned..... and sometimes when the person is a complete you know what.... its more like a level 10 where the sound waves would shatter back window and strip the paint on everything from the doors back!

But seriously... I don't have a road rage problem

Actually while I've personally been annoyed at drivers... I've never really been angry enough to want a level 10.

 

I've found my reflexes are such that the situations where I might feel the need for a 10 keep me busy enough trying to evade reckless/inattentive drivers that I don't even have time to honk.

I do second the thought that it'd be cool if vehicle horns could be dialed in to a desired decibel setting. A light tap can do it but sometimes people are so off in their own little world that they need a more authoratative blast.

For the record, I almost never honk at someone holding up a green light, but the ones I mentioned were there for a good 10 seconds and most of the other drivers behind them I don't think could see that the light had turned.

I've even sat through an entire light cycle because a police car was in front of me and I figured it was poor form to honk at an officer, even if he was on his cellphone and apparently not paying attention to traffic.

 

I think the FEH needs a kind of quiet horn for those times where you are driving in a parking lot and creep up behind a pedestrian who cant hear you - a really loud horn would make them jump out of their skin which would be kind of mean.

 

Or a gas engine noise simulator.

 

So, no aftermarket horn recommendations?

I guess I'll just have to install this -- http://wishingfish.com/bbelllady.html -- it would still be louder than the OEM horn!

 

I think this is what you need.

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-12-VOLT-DUAL...QQcmdZViewItem

If 135 db doesn't get their attention, nothing will.

You know, I don't even know what the horn on my car sounds like. I can't say that I have ever used it. They are useless around here anyway.

 

Shannon, look at these.
http://www.wolo-mfg.com/air.htm

 

Maybe this would work: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Model...QQcmdZViewItem

 

If I were to buy an aftermarket horn, I'd probably get some german Hella's like these at Griots Garage. Griots has good customer service and a nice warranty, but they seldom have the best price. You might be able to find Hella's cheaper elsewhere. On the other hand, $69 isn't that bad.

http://www.griotsgarage.com/catalog....2520&SKU=77573

-Island Mariner