albertson
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- Jun 30, 2013
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- Street Guardian SGZC12RC, and Panorama 2
Related to hazards on the road, it may be helpful if your car horn can be heard by the distracted or careless driver. Here in the US, many of the modern cars have much softer horns than 20-30 years ago. It would be easy to not hear them if your radio was on moderate volume and windows up. Hopefully you can avoid the crash with some help on defensive driving and maybe better horn or headlights.
I replaced my horn with a PIAA Sport Horn that had positive reviews. The tone was okay but did not have the volume I was hoping for. (500 & 400 Hz frequency)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/B00079V5ZI
Next tried the Hella Supertone. These had screechy tone but acceptable volume. (500 & 300 Hz frequency)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/B0002MA03S
After reading a hobby magazine on industrial horn & whistle, I decided the screech effect could be mellowed with the 400 Hz horn, and using both sets would boot the total volume effect. It did work very well. The horn booms (for an electric) and the tone is better than either set on their own.
Obviously this draws more current, so check that your car has a good relay. My 30 amp relay works just fine. Also these horns come with a simple flat bracket so look at your current horn mount and near area to check where you would mount the horn. I had to remove my grill to work on the horn mounts.
I spent more money doing this than I had intended. Used horns could be used too. My opinion is to add another horn to your stock horn, if there is room, so you have the benefit of the dual volume. You may find a second (louder) horn set from an auto salvage being cheaper than new horns. A stereo shop could connect the wiring if you did not want to DIY. I built a 1:2 adapter that accepted the original horn wire as the source and provided two connections for the dual horn set. There are also small air horn and large air horn suppliers too, but that further increases the cost/complexity. Depends on your local rules and driver hazard to judge the need.
I replaced my horn with a PIAA Sport Horn that had positive reviews. The tone was okay but did not have the volume I was hoping for. (500 & 400 Hz frequency)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/B00079V5ZI
Next tried the Hella Supertone. These had screechy tone but acceptable volume. (500 & 300 Hz frequency)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/B0002MA03S
After reading a hobby magazine on industrial horn & whistle, I decided the screech effect could be mellowed with the 400 Hz horn, and using both sets would boot the total volume effect. It did work very well. The horn booms (for an electric) and the tone is better than either set on their own.
Obviously this draws more current, so check that your car has a good relay. My 30 amp relay works just fine. Also these horns come with a simple flat bracket so look at your current horn mount and near area to check where you would mount the horn. I had to remove my grill to work on the horn mounts.
I spent more money doing this than I had intended. Used horns could be used too. My opinion is to add another horn to your stock horn, if there is room, so you have the benefit of the dual volume. You may find a second (louder) horn set from an auto salvage being cheaper than new horns. A stereo shop could connect the wiring if you did not want to DIY. I built a 1:2 adapter that accepted the original horn wire as the source and provided two connections for the dual horn set. There are also small air horn and large air horn suppliers too, but that further increases the cost/complexity. Depends on your local rules and driver hazard to judge the need.
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