I hereby dub the 2010 Mazdaspeed 3's horn the lamest currently in our longterm fleet. The 'Speed 3's meek, projectionless one-note horn is the last thing you expect once you've sampled the car's thuggish power delivery and hair-trigger clutch.
Its horn is totally weaksauce, and it's a cultural thing.
In Japan, you rarely hear horns. Even in rush hour Tokyo traffic you're hard-pressed to hear a motorist use one. And when they do, it's for courtesy rather than a warning. This is why the horns of Japanese makes are so friendly and inoffensive.
Contrast that with American makes' horns, which are comprised of three notes delvered an octave lower and at quadruple the volume.
In Japan, a horn means: "After you!"
In the USA, it's: "Eff you!"
Give me a USA horn any day.
Jason Kavanagh, Engineering Editor
adavis2493 says:
03:18 PM, 10/26/10
Have you ever heard the horn in any recent Subaru? Aside from sounding lame, and making it embarrassing to actually hit the horn, it's a safety hazard, because you can't hear it at high speeds.
blueguydotcom says:
03:28 PM, 10/26/10
It's one of the worst horns EVER.
Murtman says:
03:34 PM, 10/26/10
Jason,
If you want to hear a decent horn on a small car, lean on the GTI's. I didn't expect to hear such a respectable honk out of a compact hatchback. When you click the lock button on the key fob, you just get a little beep, but if you hold it in, it gets the point across nicely.
clarkma5 says:
03:44 PM, 10/26/10
I love the horn in my GTI, it's strong and noticeable without sounding too angry.
My grandparents have owned Hondas exclusively for the last 30 years now and have put a louder horn in every single one.
kevm14 says:
04:49 PM, 10/26/10
My previous 95 Fleetwood had the classic Caddy 4 note horn. Loved that horn...
vt8919 says:
07:07 PM, 10/26/10
Try out your Sonata's horn. There's a lot of people modifying their Sonata's horn because those are considered a real safety hazard, too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0ub5PJXTvA&feature=player_embedded
vvk says:
08:23 PM, 10/26/10
> Have you ever heard the horn in any recent Subaru? Aside from sounding lame, and
> making it embarrassing to actually hit the horn, it's a safety hazard, because you
> can't hear it at high speeds.
My 1994 Impreza had very loud and assertive horn sound. My other Subies had pathetic horn sounds like you describe. Definitely a major safety hazard! I made almost no modifications to my Subies but I always bought a pair of large Mercedes S-klasse horns and mounted them behind the grille. Driven directly from the battery via a relay, they sounded MEAN. I remember using them for the first time when someone cut me off and the poor Camry driver almost drove into a light pole.
dg0472 says:
08:40 PM, 10/26/10
@vt8919
Starting in Sept., Hyundai replaced the single disc horn in the Sonata with dual "snail" horns. They're much louder. (the prev gen had dual disc horns).
For anyone with a wimpy horn, see:
http://www.ryderfleetproducts.com/cgi-bin/ryderfp/products/srm/oid/49951/pn/electric-horn-low-note-freeway-blaster/erm/product_detail.jsp
http://www.ryderfleetproducts.com/cgi-bin/ryderfp/products/srm/oid/49950/pn/Electric-Horn-High-Note-Freeway-Blaster/erm/product_detail.jsp
I got both for about $21 with shipping.
stovt001 says:
08:47 PM, 10/26/10
Yeah, my Miata's horn has definitely embarrassed me on more than one occasion. It isn't in safety hazard territory, but command respect it does not.
dg0472 says:
08:47 PM, 10/26/10
Interesting aside:
Some people were telling NHTSA to recall the Sonata (the original one is weak, but no weaker than some other cars). So I looked at what the standard is. It says that if the horn can be activated by pressing the center of the wheel, no label is required, but if one is used, the only symbol that can be used is the one you see above. If the horn control is elsewhere, it must be labeled by the above symbol in a color that contrasts with its background. But there's no requirement that there actually be a horn on the federal level.
In fact, a proposal to require community electric vehicles (golf carts) to have horns was turned down because there's no such requirement for cars. Who knew?
emajor says:
09:09 PM, 10/26/10
The first time I used the horn on our Jetta was to warn a teenager on a bicycle that was about to cross in front of me to join the rest of his group on the other side of the street. I didn't realize how loud it was. That kid moved the other direction PRONTO.
JayG1989 says:
09:29 PM, 10/26/10
haha I like the cultural info. The horn on my Protege5 isn't as light and inoffensive as my mom's Highlander or my buddy's 2010 Mazda3, but it is no where near as loud and offensive as my past Explorer or Durango.
campi3ell says:
11:25 PM, 10/26/10
I've always found it funny that the horn on my friend's Ford Five Hundred was louder than his mom's Expedition
firstwagon says:
11:42 PM, 10/26/10
Horns are not safety features. If you have time to hit the horn and the person you're tooting at has time to do something about it then you could have easily avoided them in the first place.
Like it was said at the top, the purpose of a horn is to say eff you to someone you think wronged you.
slickersdrip says:
12:17 AM, 10/27/10
Yep, what firstwagon said.
The time it would take me to hit my horn in anger I could have easily thrown on my brakes or swerved or whatever needed to be done. It's just another way to hold up a middle finger.
Odd that the MS3 has such a wimpy horn. My Mazda RX-8 has a pretty decent horn.
ms3fun says:
01:13 AM, 10/27/10
That high tone single horn setup was joined by a low tone Fiamm Freeway Blaster about 2 weeks after I bought my MS3.
I grew up driving in Europe, including southern Italy and Sicily. There, if given the choice of not having a (loud) horn or not having working brakes, probably half the people would choose not having brakes...:)
So much for the different cultures between Asia and Sicily
mrb5091 says:
04:47 AM, 10/27/10
I've been driving for seven years and have owned three different cars and I don't think I've ever used any of their horns. I can't really envision a driving scenario where the effort of using a horn couldn't be better used in taking an evasive action.
The only time I can every remember one being useful is when a friend and I were sitting in his car in a parking lot and an older gentleman almost backed into him until he honked.
dg0472 says:
07:50 AM, 10/27/10
Those blow-hards among you who say there's no use for a horn very obviously never drive in deer country.
acbayard says:
08:26 AM, 10/27/10
@firstwagon: That might be the case in rural empty highways, but imagine this situation. You're driving on a three lane highway, and you're passing a truck or slower moving vehicle on the middle lane. Another driver in the left lane, who is slower than you decides they want to move into the center lane, and you're boxed in by a slower car on the right (that you're passing).
I've encountered situations where I used the horn to warn a careless driver from an action, if the individual had continued to drift into my lane, there would have been no place to go because one was boxed in.
felonious says:
08:48 AM, 10/27/10
I rarely use my horn, but when I do I need it. It's like a bicycle helmet (Hovding krocktest!).
cr_driver says:
10:54 AM, 10/27/10
This car may have a lame horn.
Same cannot be said of other japanese cars.
fushigi says:
05:54 AM, 10/29/10
I don't know about other major cities but in Chicago you're supposed to use your horn when exiting an alleyway or parking garage and will be driving through a pedestrian walkway/sidewalk. A light tap to signal you're coming through serves as a warning to oncoming pedestrians when their (and your) sight lines don't allow visual contact.
I've only used my Outlander's horn once or twice but the "eff you" effect is more like "eff you, if you don't mind."