hello everyone,
i have just bought a toyota auris hybrid design and i hate the horn,i would like to fit a single air horn to take the place of the miserable one that is fitted,can someone tell me how to fit this,i have tried through the relay but it barely peeps the voltage at the old horn is only 4.5 volts! would appreciate any tech help on this issue please
keith
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You hate the horn? What is wrong with it? Does it not make sufficient noise for you?
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Obviously wants one of these:
www.hornstaruk.co.uk/
And a big supply of ear plugs...
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hiya,that's a bit extreme its a car not a train lol
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>> hiya,that's a bit extreme its a car not a train lol
this is the sound you are after
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7j7366A3k24
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hi,no its a pathetic sound
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you need a relay. Splice the existing feed from your horn to the energising coil of the relay, then run a 12 volt feed from your battery through the normally open contacts on the relay to your horn.
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hi zero,this is the only common sense reply i have had,but if i did as you suggest would it not be to much current for the horn push as it is used to the 4.5 volts?
keith
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>> hi zero,this is the only common sense reply i have had,but if i did as
>> you suggest would it not be to much current for the horn push as it
>> is used to the 4.5 volts?
The Àuris has a canbus electrical system, the controls (switches) only tell the appropriate control unit which device to activate. The power to operate the device does not go through the switch. Be wary of adding anything without expert advice, the canbus system is easily damaged.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Sat 21 Nov 15 at 14:59
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>> The Àuris has a canbus electrical system, the controls (switches) only tell the appropriate control
>> unit which device to activate. The power to operate the device does not go through
>> the switch. Be wary of adding anything without expert advice, the canbus system is easily
>> damaged.
The horn is a high current device, so will have some kind of isolated solid state switch.
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>> hi zero,this is the only common sense reply i have had,but if i did as
>> you suggest would it not be to much current for the horn push as it
>> is used to the 4.5 volts?
>>
>> keith
the relay coil only takes a minute amount of current. It wont be apparent and cause an issue to the can bus system which is trying to drive a high current device - the horn.
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Is there a can bus system in your Mitsubishi Zero?
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>> Is there a can bus system in your Mitsubishi Zero?
Not a sniff of one. Its strictly low tech, the wiring diagram is like a long lost long loved friend.
Previous cars were Canbus tho. The VW was more bug ridden than a spiders web, turing lights on and off at random, even when parked. Recovering from a flat battery was like rebooting the RBOS mainframe, taking slightly longer and with more warning lights than the US early warning defence system under a full Russian holocaust.
Last edited by: Zero on Sat 21 Nov 15 at 19:32
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hi, thank you for your reply,was told by a mechanic who used to service my instructor car that i needed a reverse relay as one of his car electrician told him
keith
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>> hi zero,this is the only common sense reply i have had,
Thanks. :(
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I can understand the feeling, having had a 2008 Corolla Verso, whose horn was more 'pheep' than 'parp'. Can't say I'd have considered modifying it, though; didn't use it enough to worry about it.
I remember when the Peugeot 405 was new, reading in the brochure pages on the Mi16 version: 'a powerful air horn proclaims your authority on the road'. Never felt insecure enough in a car to feel that a louder horn would help, but I do fancy one for the bike, for clearing waddling pedestrians out of the cycle lane; a little ting-ting bell just ain't enough.
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>> didn't use it enough to worry about it.
>>
I think you have the solution WDeB, skilled driving does not involve horn use.
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"skilled driving does not involve horn use."
Of course it does.
It is just as important, perhaps more so, to use the horn at at an appropriate time as it is not to use the using the horn inappropriately.
If you didn't need one it would not be compulsory by law to have one.
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>> If you didn't need one it would not be compulsory by law to have one.
>>
Oh! I don't think that follows at all.
Are you saying that our law makers are wise and sensible people who only pass wise and sensible laws?
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>> Of course it does.
>>
>> It is just as important, perhaps more so, to use the horn at at an
>> appropriate time as it is not to use the using the horn inappropriately.
>>
Do you use your horn at every blind bend on a narrow country road, for example as the Italians do?
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hiya the way some people drive they need a decent wake up call
keith
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>> the voltage at the old horn is only 4.5 volts!
That’s unexpected. However the days of everything in cars being hard wired at 12V are long gone, but that usually only applies to the control side. Ie, pushing the horn button may well tell a computer somewhere to sound the horn, rather than it being directly wired.
If you’re sure about the voltage then I’m afraid you’ll likely have to consult the dealer.
Maybe there’s a fault and the horn isn’t getting enough voltage?
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I've a year old Yaris and found the 'peep' from the horn pitiable. I fitted an additional horn, powered off the same feed. The electrics (so far) seem capable of the additional load. There's plenty available on ebay: tinyurl.com/ogubyx7
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Keep meaning to add a 2nd horn to the Astra. It's only got one, unlike my old Vectra that had twin horns with a snarling "GET OUT THE WAY / LOOK OUT" aggression about them. The Astra horn puts Noddy's one to shame.
The twin horns from an Insignia are plug and play, but room behind the bumper is tight.
Last edited by: VxFan on Fri 20 Nov 15 at 16:31
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The Beest and ON are quite right about use of the horn. In all my several police driving courses 40 yrs ago, the horn played no part in the instruction.
The teachers, all heavily qualified ex road patrol officers only mentioned the thing to say that if you were in the right position at the right time at the right speed then you would never need it.
What if someone burst out of a side road on the left in front of you ? Too close and you may hit them...far enough away, it's your brakes you need. That's why observation and concentration are so important. As far as I can see, the only use for the horn is to vent your anger at someone. A professional and competent driver wouldn't do this.
The ' warning instrument ' was made legal in a different world to that which we drive in........we have brakes now ! I can't remember the last time I used mine. ( horn, I mean. )
I have two horns here in the workshop......
s479.photobucket.com/user/1400ted/media/Horns/summer%20hol%202015%20052.jpg.html
You wouldn't want to use the plunger one anywhere near a cemetery ! The grey one has a ' Klaxon ' sound when it's fettled but just grunts at me now. The classic has twin Lucas windtones which are louder than anything fitted nowadays.....a proper PARP !
Last edited by: Ted on Fri 20 Nov 15 at 16:58
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It doesn't seem unreasonable to use them in places like tight country lanes, humpback bridges. I use the horn a bit not alot though.
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I disagree. You are driving slowly down a road or in a car park. You sense that a car is about to pull out without he driver looking. A quick parp on the horn to notify the driver that you are there is the appropriate thing to do. Should aways be followed by a friendly wave. Same if you sense someone is about to step into the road.
Don't use the horn often but sometimes it is the right thing to do. I would not like to drive a car without a horn.
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I use it very seldom, most often perhaps in a bip-bip to acknowledge a courteous driver. Hardly ever now in an angry blare at some silly blundering carphound, although when young and stupid I did that sometimes.
Wouldn't want to be without it. But rude or careless use of the horn can endanger unwary cyclists or drivers.
I think I posted an essay on horns in the other place, ending in an anecdote from Ghana. Lifted whole from West African Hotline, a newsletter promoted and ramrodded by an energetic friend who kindly gave me a column in which to show off and say what I liked more or less. I was writing for a small handful of commodity traders, African money men and so on, but I was paid quite well.
Not everyone approved of course, but it was fun while it lasted.
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The horn can be very useful, approaching an narrow S bend under a railway bridge for example. I have one I have to go through and a blast on approach alerts drivers coming the other way and prevents a situation where one of you has to back up.
Also when leaving a friend's house at 2am a loud BEEP BEEP as you pull away and another when you are 100 yards down the road is considered mandatory in some areas.
Last edited by: Robin O'Reliant on Fri 20 Nov 15 at 17:38
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Yes, RR, there was something similar near my previous house, with the added wrinkle of side roads joining just after the bridge. Anyone emerging from the one on the left couldn't possibly see me if I was on my own side of the white line, so a tap on the horn (or usually two, a second or two apart) was my best hope of advertising my arrival. It got complicated if there was something coming the other way, partly because I couldn't use the width of the road to improve the angles of view, but mainly because so many drivers assume sounding the horn is an aggressive act; I got a few gestures from oncoming drivers, but never hit anyone.
And of course CGN is right about the driveway situation, too. (Time for another discussion about reversing in, not out?) So I didn't say never - and yes, I have occasionally used it to vent feelings, but it seldom helps - just not very often. But as a thank you? Maybe in another age, but not in my driving career.
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>> Also when leaving a friend's house at 2am a loud BEEP BEEP as you pull
>> away and another when you are 100 yards down the road is considered mandatory in
>> some areas.
>>
Several toots when arriving are also considered courteous.
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Gave the wife a toot after dropping her off in town this morning. I really can't remember the last time I used it for its intended purpose, though.
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Gave the wife a toot...
That'll be the vegetarian diet.
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>> Gave the wife a toot...
>> That'll be the vegetarian diet.
How very dare you...
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>> The Beest and ON are quite right about use of the horn. In all my
>> several police driving courses 40 yrs ago, the horn played no part in the instruction.
I agree, if you need your horn you have miss read the situation and have driven into a problem and become part of it.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Fri 20 Nov 15 at 17:55
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Which of course being the perfect driver you have never done.
Utter cobblers.
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Of course the Police have no need of a horn when they have a siren!
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They are obviously misreading the situation when they turn those blue lights on.
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>> Which of course being the perfect driver you have never done.
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>> Utter cobblers.
>>
Of course I have, but at least I try not to. A few advanced driving courses may have helped. An instructor once said to me "Don't become part of a problem you can see ahead". It seems to work for me.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Fri 20 Nov 15 at 22:34
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"A few advanced driving courses may have helped."
Perhaps you missed this bit.
"The consideration of the use of the horn is as important in Advanced Driving as actually
using it. The Examiner will be looking to see if you correctly consider the use of the horn, do
you move your hand / fingers to cover the horn, and if you do use it, is that use appropriate
for the circumstances? Is the use timed correctly, is the length of the horn use correct?
Remember the horn is a means of informing other road users of your presence, it is not a
form of rebuke."
RosPa Advanced Car Test
Guidleines for candidates and Tutors
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hi, had them been one
keith
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>>An instructor once said to me "Don't become part of a problem you can see ahead". It seems to work for me.
Dats the way I drive. SWMBO will tense up and let forth a few choice expletives and I say to her "I knew he (it's usually a geezer) was going to do that before he even got out of bed this morning".
Experience see - driven cars, vans, small lorries, motorsickles, scooters with hooters etc. since c1973.
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>I agree, if you need your horn you have miss read the situation
When taking a driving test in Texas you would lose marks if you didn't use your horn in residential areas to warn pedestrians/gardeners/utility workers on the sidewalk who may not have seen you approaching.
No-one does it afterwards of course so it immediately identifies you as someone taking the test. Thankfully the residents on the regular test routes are used to it and are polite enough not to show their displeasure.
Last edited by: Kevin on Fri 20 Nov 15 at 19:12
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I sometimes use this piece of road: goo.gl/maps/uCQmxB2pHrG2
The parked cars inevitably mean you're approaching the ninety degree left turn on the wrong side of the road (good for visibility, but bad if something's coming the other way).
A toot on the horn warns anyone coming the other way (who invariably cut the corner) of your approach, as described in the highway code (rule 112): tinyurl.com/pbjcwsq
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I don't think my car has a horn, I've never used it anyway even if it does have one.
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While it is true a good driver almost doesn't need a horn, very occasionally they do. When a car is attempting to occupy the same space at the same time as you and hitting brakes or the accelerator is not an option - a 'I'm here' beep is essential.
As a rule, police drivers are driving fully marked up jam sandwiches and thus are a bit more obvious. But I bet even they've occasionally become utterly invisible.
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>> I agree, if you need your horn you have miss read the situation and have
>> driven into a problem and become part of it.
Does that include the hump back bridge and similar scenarios?
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hi ted, that was not the question i ask and i certainly don't need a lecture on driving i was an examiner.the driving here in Kent is sub standard and some people need a wake up call don't matter how careful you drive and i have been driving for 48 years there's always an idiot who needs a wake up call.
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Road Craft used to recommend use of the horn, rather a lot IIRC.
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Just realised that I've had the CT 7 months now and I've no idea what the horn sounds like.
Will give it a little go tomorrow to satisfy my new curiosity
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>> hi ted, that was not the question i ask and i certainly don't need a
>> lecture on driving i was an examiner.
>>
Hi Keith, welcome to the forum.
It's called thread drift and you will find that we are quite fond of it!
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>> Hi Keith, welcome to the forum.
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>> It's called thread drift and you will find that we are quite fond of it!
I blame vegetarians
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And I sometimes wear a black trilby.
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hi,because of the low voltage i tried to get the dealer to fit my one but they gave the excuse it might affect the warranty
keith
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>> hi,because of the low voltage i tried to get the dealer to fit my one
>> but they gave the excuse it might affect the warranty
>>
>> keith
By the way, did you sort out your plums?
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you got me there plums?
keith
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>> you got me there plums?
>>
>> keith
>>
Not you?
www.growsonyou.com/question/show/55318
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>> hi,because of the low voltage i tried to get the dealer to fit my one
>> but they gave the excuse it might affect the warranty
>>
Always amazes me how Lexus always come out top of any reviews but Toyota dealers are so cr*ap. My wife had an accident in the summer, the car was returned to the supplying Toyota dealer for repair.
I turned up with her to collect the car post repair, I looked at it in the car park before I'd talked to anyone and rejected it. The bonnet was out of alignment with eyesight, on collection of the keys before signing any paperwork, the front parking sensors had not been recalibrated.
Never, ever, ask a main dealer to do any modification work, they are not interested. I asked for the nearside rear foglight of my Volvo to be connected up, kind of future proofing. They hooked it up and tripped an error code. You'd think if anyone could hook up a rear foglight it would be the main dealer. Apparently not for Volvo. A quick trip to Halfords bought me the relay and wiring I needed for the job.
Agree with everyone above though if you need the horn, you've got it wrong. I thought about connecting up a couple of horns on my bike but then thought why ? I don't need the extra weight on the bike and if I get it that wrong then a horn is not going to save me.
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I'm really surprised that so many feel having to use the horn is not driving correctly in the first place.
I completely disagree.
Providing it isn't used in anger the horn is one of the main safety measures on a vehicle and is an aid to defensive driving.
So many times while driving a lorry in a heavily built up area I would be watching the group of kids on bike playing on the pavement edge, the others with a ball, or an old person hovering between parked cars waiting to cross, with my hand hovering over the horn to give a gentle, but timely, peep if needed to make sure they knew I was there.
Anticipation and observation are essential and making anyone aware of a danger, who is preoccupied is exactly why there is a horn fitted.
Using it doesn't make a bad driver.
Pat
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>> What Pat said......
>>
+1
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Can't see how any driver could really disagree with what Pat says.
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>> Anticipation and observation are essential and making anyone aware of a danger, who is preoccupied
>> is exactly why there is a horn fitted.
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>> Using it doesn't make a bad driver.
>>
>> Pat
>>
I agree, but how often do you actually use it, if you have spotted the kid or the distracted you will be ready to stop. If you haven't a horn won't make any difference no matter how loud it is.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Sun 22 Nov 15 at 09:01
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There are days when I don't use my horn and others where I may sound it a number of times-each situation is different and the judgement has to be made at that time.
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>> There are days when I don't use my horn and others where I may sound
>> it a number of times
There's a horse/cart era hump back bridge over the West Coast Main Line on my commute. Personally aware of probably half a dozen collisions on it.
Radio muted, window down and horn sounded are 'SoP'. Doesn't matter how slow and careful I am if the clot coming the other way is going too fast.
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Same round here i always use it on the humpback bridges. Always useful to warn others i think.
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Can't and indeed don't want to argue with those who say they need to use the horn on their vehicles in given circumstances. Up to them of course. However, speaking only for myself, in 40 years, more than 40 cars and upwards of a million and a half miles of driving I can honestly say I've never felt the need to use mine. Never had an accident either and can't remember ever having had anyone sound their horn at me.
I can sort of see the argument for 'announcing' one's presence in certain circumstances but I find, for me anyway, that if due consideration is given to the likelihood of conflict it can usually be avoided in silence.
As to using the horn as a rebuke, it strikes me that chastising an idiot will not, as is presumably intended, immediately lead to their remorse and contrition but far more readily cause them to be at least a flustered idiot or an angry idiot, both of which enhanced conditions being more undesirable than the original one.
Toot away though if that is your thing.
;-)
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>>Same round here i always use it on the humpback bridges. Always useful to warn others i think.
There aren't many humpback bridges where I feel the need to use the horn; most round here, overt the canal of course, afford a view from the approach (well to the left) that is good enough if taken slowly.
A friend of ours lives in a former lock cottage and seems immune, fortunately, to the thoughtless who deem a long blast necessary every time they pass over the adjacent bridge day or night - in 23 years I have never felt the need there. Some people give a long blast on the horn as a substitute for slowing down, which doesn't work at all well. One long blast, in the late evening, was followed by an almighty crash and some minutes later by a knock on the door. A gang of builders in an ancient Transit had actually crested the bridge so fast that they had taken off, and the van came down so hard that the engine fell out and was lying in the road.
Nevertheless I am a regular horn user - not in anger or retribution, but as a warning - usually a little pip for a blind bend on a narrow road, or for a ped who is looking the wrong way. It's there for a purpose.
And I'll never be a proper cyclist because I won't have a bike without a bell, peds for the benefit of.
I completely agree with the OP - a little peeper is useless where it needs to be heard by someone in a closed vehicle. On the other hand a loud blaster is unsuitable for jay-walking peds in town unless a very short pip can be managed.
I greatly admired the Bentley a friend had a couple of years back, that had a 'town horn' and a 'country horn'. Not very practical of course unless you have remembered to make your choice before you need it. Maybe that could be a new unnecessary feature to add to auto lights, handbrakes etc - auto switching hooter.
The Outlander has a very satisfactory hooter. The Roomster's is what I imagine Noddy's little car to have, almost embarrassing. Definitely a town horn.
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>> >>Same round here i always use it on the humpback bridges. Always useful to warn
>> others i think.
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>> There aren't many humpback bridges where I feel the need to use the horn;
We have some crackers here. As a youth I used to consider height was the key for good visibility, speed is required for height, about 65 used to get me high enough in the air to see quite a distance. Vision gets a little blurred on landing tho.
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A pal of mine crested a bridge and rear ended a car that had stopped on the other side while the driver opened a gate. He reckoned he was still airborne when he hit it. It was a big claim.
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It's amazing isn't it that a stone hump back bridge pre -dating motor vehicles by hundreds of years can carry the weight of modern vehicles. Show how strong a simple arch can be.
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>> It's amazing isn't it that a stone hump back bridge pre -dating motor vehicles by
>> hundreds of years can carry the weight of modern vehicles. Show how strong a simple
>> arch can be.
1794 was the build date of the one I used to leap over.
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In a Capri, with the theme from Miami Vice on the cassette? Jacket sleeves rolled up, bare feet and espadrilles?
Heh heh !
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>> In a Capri,
yes
>> with the theme from Miami Vice on the cassette?
nope, roxy music stranded album i think.
>> Jacket sleeves rolled
>> up, bare feet and espadrilles?
Nope, Purple velvet single button single flap twin vent tulip lapels jacket, red satin flairs, blue and brown stack heeled 1 inch platform boots, white shirt with black piping and a frilly front.
Long permed hair.
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>> It's amazing isn't it that a stone hump back bridge pre -dating motor vehicles by
>> hundreds of years can carry the weight of modern vehicles. Show how strong a simple
>> arch can be.
The nearest one to me was given a 7.5 tonne limit by BWB (now CRT) years ago. It isn't posted, in fact there is no weight limit on it - I believe it was just BWB's way of saying to the Highways Dept. that they would have to maintain it unless they called BWB's bluff and actually posted the limit. I've seen everything on it, although long vehicles often take lumps out of the surface. Best was a stretch limo that got properly beached.
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>> It's amazing isn't it that a stone hump back bridge pre -dating motor vehicles by
>> hundreds of years can carry the weight of modern vehicles. Show how strong a simple arch can be.
A bridge over a main rail line near here had a weight restriction. When an open cast coal mine opened and the loaded lorries transported the coal to the railhead through built up areas and returned empty by the direct route over the bridge. After some public pressure the bridge was rapidly surveyed and the long standing weight restriction was removed. There must have been votes involved. :-)
Last edited by: Old Navy on Sun 22 Nov 15 at 15:26
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>> There aren't many humpback bridges where I feel the need to use the horn; most
>> round here, overt the canal of course, afford a view from the approach (well to
>> the left) that is good enough if taken slowly.
The canal bridges round here too are OK from the point of view of height (I guess the Grand Union used a relatively standard design). Too narrow to pass comfortably though so some give/take is required. A couple though are on sharp bends albeit with some visibility for those who know where to look on the approach. Particularly severe example between Gayton and Milton Malsor. Met a guy on the shed tugging course who worked for the Canals and River Trust, said they were rebuilding the parapet wall with monotonous regularity.
The rail one is here: goo.gl/maps/xdZFh31MksA2.
>> And I'll never be a proper cyclist because I won't have a bike without a
>> bell, peds for the benefit of.
Me neither. The one on the M6R Brompton is a tink tink jobbie. Ideal for politely reminding London peds where I am but less effective with drivers in closed up cars.
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My recumbent trike came with a clever built in bell on the brake lever. You wouldn't even know it was there if it wasn't for the little thumb switch.
Useless for alerting cars, but very handy on the local cycle path when coming up behind dog walkers and peds.
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There's a sort of hummocky causeway thing near us, with a hump-backed bridge and a sort of bailey-bridge trestle in it, and enough curve to make a discreet small vehicle invisible if coming the other way.
Anyone sane would cover this stretch with caution. I don't use the horn but full main beams, visible up to a point even in sunlight. Nevertheless some motorists are baffled by it, and the more competent driver, or the driver of the car if the other vehicle is unwieldy, sometimes has to reverse if only to save time.
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i agree pat but what no one seems to realize is that the auris hybrid is very quite when the battery kicks in
keith
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hi,
i agree with all you have said but not about the horn it is very useful at certain times ie a hidden bend so you would obviously go slow but what if an idiot came round and hit you because of excessive speed sounding your horn is just another stripe if it goes to court as is a camera
keith
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Toyota Auris - air horn for toyota hybrid design 1.8 - CGNorwich
