3rd Gen GK Specific Fit Exterior Modifications & JDM Styling Sub-Forum Threads discussing exterior modifications and JDM styling for the 3rd Gen GK Honda Fit

Change stock horn

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
  #1  
Old 03-16-2019, 11:06 AM
Derk59RedFit's Avatar
Member
5 Year Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Rockville, MD
Posts: 39
Change stock horn

Has anyone changed a stock horn (2015 Honda FIT EX-L) to a sport horn? What is the best horn for my Fit? I don't like the "Meep Meep" sound of the stock horn. I want something with a stronger and sportier sound....letting people know "I'm here". Any advice appreciated.
 
  #2  
Old 03-16-2019, 05:30 PM
PhilF's Avatar
Member
Join Date: Mar 2019
Location: Central Pennsylvania
Posts: 21
Had that problem when I was driving Miatas, a pair of Hellas will fit (pun intended) most anywhere, some have used the WoLo, either will get you noticed. In a small car a good horn(s) is a safety thing. I put a set of Accord horns in my Civic Touring.
 
  #3  
Old 03-18-2019, 09:50 AM
marmaladedad's Avatar
Member
iTrader: (3)
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: South Pasadena, CA
Posts: 874
I know College Hills Honda sells an "upgraded" horn, along the wiring harness pigtails, that allow for an easy upgrade.

I went with Hella Supertones and later the Hella trumpet horns for my Fit. Either set of horns are definitely an attention grabber.

This video I found on YT:

And these two videos were recorded (horribly) by me:
 
  #4  
Old 03-18-2019, 12:11 PM
sneefy's Avatar
Member
5 Year Member
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Over There
Posts: 515
There is no 'best horn' for the Fit. Just preference.

You could go a simple repacement install and get the 'sport horn' kit as mentioned already. Or something like the PIAA Superior Bass kit.

I had a Stebel Nautilus on an old Miata and it was nice and loud, and has a great 'european' tone. The Wolo Bad Boy is similar compact air horn. There are plenty of others in this style tat are both loud and sound cool. They are a little trickier to mount as they are fairly heavy and larger than a little disc or trumpet.

Or you could go to the popular Hella Supertones or Sharptones. Installing them properly means wiring in a relay and soldering together your own harness. Not hard, just a bit more involved. Personally, I hate the sound of those. But they certainly serve their intended purpose of getting someone's attention.

Or you could do something really cool and source a used horn from some kind of exotic Italian car or old Mercedes! Or you could get a trumpet set that plays Dixie. Whatever floats your boat.

It's up to you.
 
  #5  
Old 03-18-2019, 01:19 PM
PhilF's Avatar
Member
Join Date: Mar 2019
Location: Central Pennsylvania
Posts: 21
Before I took delivery of my Civic Touring Coupe in December, I had my mechanic at the dealer install a set of Accord horns, it was a vast improvement and I'm quite pleased with them.
 
  #6  
Old 03-19-2019, 03:29 PM
ercdvs's Avatar
Member
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Springfield. PA
Posts: 58
I went with accord horns in mine, and they are loud, but not 'GET OUT OF MY LANE' loud. I was considering going further into supertone territory but looking at where they would fit well.. is there space behind the grille ?

I avoid compact airhorn type horns, bad luck from water (i assume) getting inside dispite all my different mounting options and I loathe buying replacements. Also the slight delay in sound bothered me too
 
  #7  
Old 03-19-2019, 03:52 PM
PhilF's Avatar
Member
Join Date: Mar 2019
Location: Central Pennsylvania
Posts: 21
If the Accord horns fit (pun intended) then most any Hi-Lo set will. I really liked the Hellas, they fit anywhere, and were quite loud. I went with the Accord horns because I had the dealer install them, am somewhat disabled (couldn't do it myself) and didn't want anything that would effect warranty. It was a bit tight on my Civic due to the intercooler plumbing, but my mechanic made it work, I'll have to talk with my mechanic about upgrading the horn in our new Fit, thinking it's the same anemic one that the Civic had. I'm not familiar with the Supertones, I'll have to check them out. A lot of the Miata guys like the WoLo.
 
  #8  
Old 03-19-2019, 04:01 PM
ercdvs's Avatar
Member
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Springfield. PA
Posts: 58
I guess I never wanted to deal with the relay wiring again, but the last set i got off amazon had it as an add on. That, plus some proper gauge wiring and some mesh tubing keep the area nice and neat. I did connect the bare wires to a spade connector and then a cover, but I guess its easy when its laid out in front of you. guess its time to research again.
 
  #9  
Old 03-19-2019, 04:25 PM
PhilF's Avatar
Member
Join Date: Mar 2019
Location: Central Pennsylvania
Posts: 21
My Accord horns were plug-n-play, no relay needed, as were the Hellas. I don't think the WoLo requires a relay either.
 
  #10  
Old 03-19-2019, 04:54 PM
ercdvs's Avatar
Member
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Springfield. PA
Posts: 58
You might just be correct. Looking up all the horn kits they all seem to be 12v topping out at 118db .. so maybe It wa overkill for them or I needed them for a previous air compressor horn install.

Also looking it up, I didnt get the specific Honda accord kit from college hills, i got what appeared to be a very similar kit direct from amazon :
Amazon Amazon

this shows a range of db, so maybe super tones aren't giving me much more

On my old Toyota yaris i used to run a Stebel 11690058 - Nautilus Compact Truck Mini Air Horn and a Wolo (619) Big Bad Max Air Horn - 12 Volt
I used the relay for the wolo but both dies due to water intake


edit: maybe the amps the horns pulled were more then stock, not voltage ?
 

Last edited by ercdvs; 03-19-2019 at 04:57 PM. Reason: more info
  #11  
Old 03-19-2019, 05:05 PM
PhilF's Avatar
Member
Join Date: Mar 2019
Location: Central Pennsylvania
Posts: 21
Hey, the Hella/Honda kit from Amazon looks exactly like the Accord horns I used, for $25 how wrong could you go?
 
  #12  
Old 03-21-2019, 02:47 PM
evilchargerfan's Avatar
Member
5 Year Member
iTrader: (1)
Join Date: Apr 2018
Location: san diego
Posts: 2,615
  #13  
Old 06-08-2019, 07:54 PM
seattleguy's Avatar
Member
5 Year Member
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Orlando, FL
Posts: 71
I'm trying the PIAA Superior Bass horns...

I just installed the PIAA Superior Bass horn kit on my GD1 2007 Fit. They seem louder than stock and certainly got away from the "meep meep" stock horn! I also mounted them on the steel bumper bar behind the plastic bumper cover, so between the upper and lower grill/bumper openings there's plenty of open space for sound to travel from... the original horn was surrounded by body work, which I would think mutes the sound by a little. The PIAA's bass is definitely bassey.. can feel it vibrate in the floor board, and it has a very unique voice, much like a big-rig more than a little car. It doesn't sound quite the same as the sound clip on PIAA's website, however, but I think it's still a "get out of my way" sound. Jury is still out, for me, and my initial reaction is the PIAA 400/500 hz Sport Horn kit would probably have been a better preference for me, sounding more like a car than a truck. I have 10 miles on them... will be looking to sell I think and getting a different trumpet kit, such as the Hellas or the PIAA 400/500.
 

Last edited by seattleguy; 06-08-2019 at 08:10 PM.
  #14  
Old 06-08-2019, 08:15 PM
seattleguy's Avatar
Member
5 Year Member
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Orlando, FL
Posts: 71
[QUOTE=marmaladedad;1425520]I know College Hills Honda sells an "upgraded" horn, along the wiring harness pigtails, that allow for an easy upgrade.

I bought the College Hills Honda harness, which for my GD1 07/08 Fit, enabled the conversion from a single, stock horn to twin horns. Their kit, however, has very short wiring from the plug-in to the stock harness to the first horn. I had to splice several inches into their harness to make it reach where I wanted to set up my horns. But it works well, was not too expensive, and allowed me to keep my stock harness plug-in intact, which is my fall-back in the event I can't find a horn I like.
 
  #15  
Old 06-08-2019, 10:03 PM
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Ontario, CANADA
Posts: 1,326
> sound clip at 46sec. Still loud after a year. Obviously I had to custom wire and mount but so worth it. It is called the Soundbomb for good reason. If they made a louder one, say 140 to 150 dB and called it the "Sonic Gonad Destroyer", I'd be all over that!
 

Last edited by Action Jackson; 06-08-2019 at 11:21 PM.
  #16  
Old 07-23-2019, 11:13 AM
ercdvs's Avatar
Member
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Springfield. PA
Posts: 58
Following up on this as with the large amount of rain, i think i have the same problem I always had with trumpet style horns ... rain is getting in there and messing up -something- so they arent as loud, and seem to take longer to get up to full sound.

i am looking to swap out with regular hella grille type but i am lot looking forward to replacing relays / wiring and making a new harness. At least the old horns were plug and play
 
  #17  
Old 07-23-2019, 11:37 PM
seattleguy's Avatar
Member
5 Year Member
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Orlando, FL
Posts: 71
Originally Posted by ercdvs
Following up on this as with the large amount of rain, i think i have the same problem I always had with trumpet style horns ... rain is getting in there and messing up -something-
Really interesting that water is getting into your trumpet horns... your model may be different than my 1st gen Fit, where the horn is mostly surrounded by plastic body work, preventing much water getting around it. I live in Florida where we get monsoon rains almost daily in the summer, and I haven't ever had any performance drop from my horn. Are you maybe missing some body or trim around your horn that may be allowing excess water to get around it?
 
  #18  
Old 07-24-2019, 09:59 AM
evilchargerfan's Avatar
Member
5 Year Member
iTrader: (1)
Join Date: Apr 2018
Location: san diego
Posts: 2,615
Originally Posted by seattleguy
Really interesting that water is getting into your trumpet horns... your model may be different than my 1st gen Fit, where the horn is mostly surrounded by plastic body work, preventing much water getting around it. I live in Florida where we get monsoon rains almost daily in the summer, and I haven't ever had any performance drop from my horn. Are you maybe missing some body or trim around your horn that may be allowing excess water to get around it?

there are splash guards, to help

for the front horn, near radiator, i can see it being possible for the water to enter horn via the front bumper/grille area. if I could re do my install, I would trim the plastic under/surrounding the trumpet horn, and orient the opening to face DOWN so water shouldnt go up and collect inside
 
  #19  
Old 07-24-2019, 10:27 AM
seattleguy's Avatar
Member
5 Year Member
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Orlando, FL
Posts: 71
Originally Posted by evilchargerfan
there are splash guards, to help

for the front horn, near radiator, i can see it being possible for the water to enter horn via the front bumper/grille area. if I could re do my install, I would trim the plastic under/surrounding the trumpet horn, and orient the opening to face DOWN so water shouldnt go up and collect inside
Interesting... yes that makes sense. My GD1 came with only 1 horn and it's stock oriented downwards...
 
  #20  
Old 07-24-2019, 10:32 AM
ercdvs's Avatar
Member
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Springfield. PA
Posts: 58
As soon as its not as hot as the surface of the sun outside I will get back in there and check the wiring, etc. I did read a comment somewhere that the horns are much louder (as intended) in the front of the car vs me sitting in the drivers seat. Maybe I just need to blow them all out and check the slashguards

The accord sport horns are supposedly rated for 118 decibels, which is the same as the 115-118 i see for various hella grill style horns. I Just happen to start noticing more of a delay as the compressor makes enough air that i dont remember there before
 


Quick Reply: Change stock horn



All times are GMT -4. The time now is 05:59 AM.