Horn Upgrade --- DIY

No problem.

It looks like u have the copper ring terminal that can be used for the ground (see croped pic)



VS980 4G ?

 

Feeling foolish, but how do you used the cooper ring terminal as a ground?
You don't. I was just confused by the prior post and should have ignored it and just installed positive cable to blade terminal on horn and bolt on horn to frame.Thanks for the quick replies.

So the horn bolt that connects it to the frame IS the ground. The other terminal is unnecessary when installing on a Prius (or most cars in I suspect). Wasted a trip to Home Depot, but very happy with how the horns sound!

 

The negative terminal on the battery is connected to the car frame, so any bolt or screw on the metal frame becomes a ground point.

So, put the ring terminal between the horn and bracket and mount it. The terminal then becomes the negative terminal on your horn hookup. The terminal on the horn is positive.

 

For the FIAMM El Grande horns I didn't even use the copper ring. I just mounted the horns and plugged in the connector to the terminal on the horn. Everything's been working fine.

 

For the El Grande horns:

1. Did anyone else remove the red plastic covers? They don't seem to do anything but are just aesthetic. Mine were already falling off (some kind of adhesive over a screw holds the plastic cover on ... poorly in my case). Seems like unnecessary weight and without they are not going to draw attention from the service departments. I removed mine and it doesn't seem to impact performance.
2. Did anyone remove the "grills" over the horns' main openings? Looks like they're held on by a few bent tabs of the metal grill over the lip of the horn. I left them on to keep bugs out I guess, but I think it is mostly for looks. Any experience?

 

I removed the red plastic covers and the grills. The covers would interfere with a solid connection to the mount which grounds the horn. The grills have the potential to rust, loosen and rattle.

 

That is absolutely the way I did it. The terminal ground connector on the horn is the same as the grounded mounting screw post. Normal for most horns including the OEM Prius unit (no ground terminal, grounded through mount). I think the available ground terminal is for mounting installations in situations where the mounting area is not grounded (perhaps a non metallic area). My second set of horns will be arriving tomorrow for installation on the wifey's Prius. No more meep meep in our family!

 

Good to know! I was getting thrown off from this DIY instruction because of the grounding wire. I understood how to ground it, but the problem was the El Grande horns didn't come with the grounding wire–only the gold prong. I agree with you that it's probably there for a different vehicle install.

 

Bino - going back to your post , how did you like the Mitsuba horns? Where they just plug and play. Did they sound much louder? I have listened to a few You Tube clips, but hard to tell what they really sound like.

 

I really liked the mitsuba turbine horns.... they are pretty loud (some of the members here have heard it)..... and also I used a horn wiring harness (w/ relay)... you could do just a plug and play but its highly recommended to use a horn wiring harness......

again here's some more clips of the horn...

and we're trying to get hold of these horns to compare it with the mitsuba...

 

I just followed the directions on evpv's post, and changed my horns in about 15 minutes (it was actually about 30, but I dropped the screws a few times and had to retrieve them with a magnetic grabber). I'm "big boned", but I was still able to reach in!

 

I managed to do this mod today. It took me around 45 minutes to complete...
Had to remove upper bumper trim, Toyota emblem and i also had to loosen the bumper, to get my small hands into position.

The difference is amazing!
I made a horn comparison video, if someone still needs some convincing

(with curious dogs )

And a quick image gallery - imgur /a/AFuXk
(cannot post links)

 

Horn upgrade is worth it.
I had had a guy in a truck try in to get in the carpool lane.
He basically just tried to get right in front of me without even looking.
He got to within a few inches of my right passenger fender
That was when I slammed my hands on the steering wheel and unleashed the power of the horns.

 

I put the middle loudness horn (low tone) from Autozone in mine to replace one of the stock horns. It sounds a little weird, not not wussy now

SM-N910T ?

 

This is great. I put Fiamm horns on my bike back in the day. Much better than loud pipes as they aim the sound forward not straight out the back. This will be one of the first things that has to change on my new 3. Thanks for posting it.

 

another alternative would be Stebel Nautilus compact air-horn, I first put one on my motorcycle and now have them in my VW, truck and have one ready for the Prius.

 

Yes, that, and the Wolo Bad Boy have been mentioned a few times as air horn options.

 

stebel nautilus installed last night. First 9 seconds should be just the stebel nautilus. After that we said hey why not plug the passenger side horn in. So I connected the positive off the driver side horn wire to the new horn and then ran a new ground off the new horn. Taped it all up. Sounds neato.

 

Amazon says "This does not fit your: 2011 Toyota Prius" on the 72112 FIAMM Freeway Blaster Horn Low Tone while Amazon says the 72102 FIAMM Freeway Blaster Horn High Tone "Does fit your: 2011 Toyota Pruis........

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?

Anyone have issues installing these?