PIAA Sports Horn

Thanks for your response. I removed the grill because there was absolutely no way I could fit the new PIAA horn into that space without doing so. (well now, thinking back, I suppose that maybe by removing the top brace screws may have helped.

But can you post a photo of your wiring or maybe email it to me?
([email protected])

I think I'll just wait until it's oil change time and have the dealership do it for me.

Thanks again!
Dan

 

Yeah, that's all I did, was to remove the top screws, and wedge it apart.

Yes I can send you a pic!!

 

Funny thing, I did what you did, too. Even the extension!

 

Yeah, rub it in guys, just rub it in!out:
I'd love that photo, KK

 

Here it is. The white wire is the "Extension Cord" The horn bolted right in same place as the original!!

 

ahh...yeah....??...I guess I'll have the dealer do it for me and I'll keep my day job.hwell:
Thanks for the photo, KK.

 

Do you know what the dB is on the stock horn? I see that most of the aftermarkets including the PIAA have 114-115 dB output, is this significantly louder than the OEM? Guess I just want to make sure that if I did change my horn, that it will be both "better" pitch AND louder!

 

While I have never seen figures om the dB output of stock horns, I would put it at the "Wimpy" level of loudness!
I was most satisfied with the PIAA output level. I think it is quite a bit louder the stock horns.

I paid about $50 bucks total for the pair!! Spend the loot, you won't be disappointed.

Of course if you want REALLY loud, you should be able to find a horn from a GP-5 diesel locomotive on eBay!!!
That one should have a 5 mile range of being able to be heard.

 

That might get me arrested, although Indiana law is vague about how loud is loud:

IC 9-19-5-1
Necessity of horn; audibility
Sec. 1. A motor vehicle, when operated upon a highway, must be equipped with a horn in good working order and capable of emitting sound audible under normal conditions from a distance of not less than two hundred (200) feet. However, a horn or other warning device may not emit an unreasonably loud or harsh sound or a whistle.

A train horn on a car might be considered "unreasonable"!

 

My memory may be wrong, but I think that the Prius OEM horn is the quietest horn I've ever heard. I think it's even quieter than the horn on the original Beetle and similarly subcompact cars from the Sixties and Seventies. I think it's even quieter than that sneezing baby panda:

 

I got the 400-500Hz PIAA and had my car sit next to another Prius with stock horns... although the sounds are quite different (the stock sounds more like a BEEP whereas the PIAA is more like a HONK), the dB loudness sounds much the same for both. I was expecting a significant dB increase but it's only the pitch that differs quite noticeably.

By the way, the stock wires can be adjusted so that there is enough slack to acommodate the PIAA horns - I unravelled the black tape for the left side horn wire, and pulled the whole wire assembly straight for the right side horn wire.

 

Dobey,

Thanks for the tip about the wires and your report about the decibels.

I would never have thought that they were even roughly the same decibel level.

 

Ditto, I find your test results interesting. I have a dB meter, I just need somebody else with stock horns park next to me and run a comparison test!! There are number of Prii that park on our lot. I will report back!! Good idea about the tape removal. I did that, but sadly did not think to mention that, My bad!!

 

Well, it's only according to my ears, anyway... KK6PD's test awaiting will clear it up for sure, but here's another thought: could there be a difference between 2009 stock horns and earlier model years? I did my ear test on 2009s.

 

Several people here have swapped the Prius horns for the Camry horns, and suggested that the Camry horns sound louder.

Last year I attempted to adjust the volume and tone of my stock Prius horns by tightening (turning clockwise) the adjustment screw on each horn. In the picture below, the adjustment screw is the small screw on the right:

[imglink]http://priuschat.com/forums/attachments/prius-modifications/10927d1218327865-would-horn-fit-009.jpg[/imglink]

I think, but am not sure, that this tightening increased the volume and changed the tone of the Prius horns.

In any event, I tested my adjusted Prius horns against the unadjusted, stock Camry horns yesterday. I was surprised to find that to my ears, my adjusted Prius horns actually sounded a little louder than the Camry's.

 

Boo, you're a genius. I didn't even know what the screw was in the PIAA horn - when I took the pair out of the box, I turned each screw back and forth trying to figure out what they were for. Anyway I went back to dismount the horns from the car, and I loosened the screw on one of them all the way out. Sure enough it made no noise when powered. I continually turned in the screw in half turn increments until it made a noise, then continued screwing it in. I did the same for the other horn.

The result is, there's an optimum screw position where the horn makes the "purest" and loudest sound; I had the screws in mine incorrectly positioned because I fiddled with them prior to installing, not knowing what I was doing. I'm going to do my ear test again with the Prius stock horns, but it seems they are already louder than when I first installed them.

 

A PriusChatter who claimed he was older than dirt, said that back in the day, he and others who wanted but couldn't afford new horns would just turn that adjustment screw on their stock horns.

He said that he did it on his Prius horns too and thought that doing so changed both the pitch and volume of the horns.

I had never heard of this adjustment screw business before. But I hated the volume of my Prius horns, and gave his suggestion a go because it didn't involve rewiring or anything more complicated than turning the screws clockwise or counterclockwise.

To my ear, I think that my adjustments changed the pitch and volume of my Prius horns for the better. But I definintely don't know for sure. It would have been good to have another Prius next to me so that I could compare their beeps with each little turn of the screw.

What I am fairly certain about is that my adjusted Prius horns are as loud or louder than the stock Camry horns that I compared them against on May 10 Mothers Day.

It would be good to test this adjustment screw idea with a dB meter or against unadjusted stock Prius horns.

 

I just installed the PIAA 400/500 horns. I am mechanically dis-functional and I was able to install in about 45 minutes. No modifications were required; it really was plug-n-play. Thanks for the directions/posts on these pages. These were the perfect replacement for the sissy stock horns.

 

:rofl: LOL!!!!!

 

hi friends i've now buyed piaa sports horn 400/500hz. my car electrician says that this horn need a 30a relè, because it's safe for elctrical system. in the box there wasn't relé. how can i do? really it's needed the relé?