[vsrivatsa]

The 4th Generation (2014) Honda City comes with extremely meek horns. In fact, my secondary car the Ignis has better sounding horns than the City. I had thought of upgrading the horns on the City for quite some time but due to various reasons could not action/implement this upgrade.



The 2014 Honda City - Click Here >


Recently, few of the folks on the Honda City WhatsApp Group which I am part of recommended the Hella Chrome Trumpet Horns for the City. I decided it was time to make the upgrade and ordered the Hella Horns on Amazon India. Here are the specifications of the Hella Horn:

Specifications:

Amazon.in Link: URL
Hella Chrome Trumpet Horn Set (007728883)
High tone: 510 Hz - Low tone: 410 Hz
Sound level: 112 dB(A)
Voltage / Amps: 12Volts/5Amps
Price Paid: Rs.1,108.65/- (Amazon.in)
Warranty: 6 Months

The Amazon Prime delivery was very prompt and I got the Horn delivered on Sunday after placing the order on Saturday morning.

Unboxing the Horns:

Here are some pictures from the Unboxing of the Horns:

Front View: Hella Chrome Trumpet Horns - Showing the Horns



MRP (Rs.1,677/-) and Date of Import (Oct 2018)



Back View



Box Opened and showing the Horns



Close Up of the 410 Hz Horn



Left: View of the Trumpet and Right: Horn with the Mounting Bracket


Initial Inspection & Analysis:

I opened up the engine bay and searched for the placement of the stock Horns – the Horns were not visible at all. After consulting a few others I came to know that in the 2014 Honda City, the horns are placed near the driver side Fog Lamps. The easiest way to replace the stock horns with new horns would be to remove the front bumper. A few people that I know claimed that they managed to make the replacement via just the Fog Lamp unit but to me it looked like this needs the removal of the bumper. Hence I decided it that this would not be a D-I-Y job but the task needs the support of a specialized person experienced with installing these type of accessories.

For people interested in DIY, I would recommend reading this excellent thread by BHPian gpa here : (DIY: Upgrading the Horn!)

I started scouting around for options and made a list of car accessory shops nearby. Called up multiple accessory shops and zeroed in on Neptune Carz, Bangalore based on the interaction with the owner. Since his shop was closed on the subsequent Monday, he offered to send the technician home for fitment. This seemed like a very convenient option and the price quoted for the fitment also seemed reasonable based on the comparative quotes that I had received. So confirmed on this option and fixed up a time for the fitment of the horns.


Neptune Carz - URL / Mobile: 9945444338


Pre-Installation Baseline:

I decided to capture the sound of the stock horns prior to the fitment of the new horns. Hence I recorded a sample of the horn sound and also captured the sound level in decibels using the Sound Meter App on my Android Phone. I captured two sets of readings, one from within the car behind the steering wheel with all windows closed and another one outside the car standing near the driver side door. Once the readings were noted, the next step was the installation of the new horns.

Installing the Horns:

The Neptune Carz (9945444338) contact person followed up the next day and checked if the technician has arrived. Since we updated that he is yet to arrive, the main person assured us that he would follow up and ensure the technician reaches our place. I would like to appreciate this promptness from the Neptune Carz folks.

In a short while we then received a call Neptune Carz technical contact (Wajid) who collected the location/address details. After some guidance over phone, he reached our place and started the work. The entire work was carried out post sunset under the porch light and an additional torch light.

I informed him that the horns on the 2014 Honda City are located near the fog lamps. He asked me to blow the horn a couple of times and confirmed that the horns are indeed located near the fog lamps. He removed the screws and quickly removed the bumper.


Bumper Removal in Progress



Bumper Removed


Once the bumper was dislodged the horns were visible behind the fog lamps. The existing horns were removed – since there were two horns I noted down the location of each of the horns. The existing horns were also Hella. These were the Hella S70 Model. Each of the stock horn has a label on it as High and Low to denote that one of them is of a lower frequency and second one is of a higher frequency.


View of the Stock Horns in Car



Stock Horns After they were removed: Hella S70



Stock Horns - Addl. View with Low and High marking shown


After this, we checked in the box packing but no other cables were provided. Realized that we did not have the wiring needed for connecting the horns. So, the technician from Neptune Carz had to step out and bring the required wiring.

Some visuals of the wiring:

Preparatory Work for Fitment


Once the wires were readied, the Horns were placed in the same location where the stock horns were placed and the screws were tightened. Here is a step by step view of the horn fitment.

Step by Step View:



Fitting the Horn



Ensuring the Correct Position



Horn Placement



View of the Hella Chrome Trumpet Horns after fitment



View of the Wiring + Horns



View of the Horns - Different Angle


After the wiring was completed, each horn was tested independently to ensure that they are working. Also note that the horns are mounted with the trumpet shape pointing downward towards the ground. The technician confirmed that this is the correct way to fit these horns. This position also prevents water from entering the horns which is important as these horns are not water proof.

Post this, the bumper was fit back onto the car. I would like to share my appreciation for the work done by the Wajid (the Technician) from Neptune Carz. He did the work confidently in every step and definitely knew what he was doing. And the guy did seem fully booked with assignments since he left immediately after the fitment for his next assignment.

One key thing to note here is that these Hella Chrome horns are not water proof. The stock horns were labelled as water-sealed and hence the stock horns do have an advantage over the aftermarket horn that I selected.

Post Installation Evaluation:

Now that the new horns were installed it was time to perform the evaluation and compare with the stock horns. Then captured the two readings for the horns in the same way that I had for the stock horns.

Below are the results from the comparisons:


Stock Horns Vs Hella Chrome Trumpet Horns


Interpreting the Results

Based on the measurement of the sound produced by these horns we can observe that the when sitting within the car, the stock horn produces 53 dB and the Hella Chrome Trumpet horns produce a sound output of 58 dB which means that there is a 5 dB increase in sound output.

Similarly, when the sound is measured outside the car by standing near to the driver side door, the value for the stock horns was 71 dB and for the Hella Chrome Trumpet horn the sound output was 81 dB which is a 10 dB increase in sound output.

How do we interpret this increase? We need to understand that the decibel scale is non-linear and it is logarithmic - so here is a simple way to interpret the increase in sound level:

The human ear's response to sound level is roughly logarithmic (based on powers of 10), and the dB scale reflects that fact. An increase of 3dB doubles the sound intensity but a 10dB increase is required before a sound is perceived to be twice as loud.

For more technical details - please refer: URL

Based on this, we can conclude that the increase in sound levels is substantial.


How does it actually Sound?
I felt that this write-up would be incomplete without sharing the actual sound of each of the horns. So here are the Youtube videos of both the Stock horn as well as the Hella Chrome Trumpet Horns:

Stock Hella S70 Horn - from Inside the Car:

Hella S70 Stock Horn

Hella Chrome Trumpet Horn - from Inside the Car

Hella Chrome Trumpet Horn - Inside the Car

Hella Chrome Trumpet Horn - from outside the car

Hella Chrome Trumpet Horn - Outside the Car

Conclusion:

Overall I am happy with the performance of the aftermarket Hella Chrome Trumpet horns. The sound is much better as compared to the stock horns that come with the Honda City. I would recommend these for anyone who is planning a horn upgrade but do note that these horns are not waterproof.

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by vsrivatsa

After this, we checked in the box packing but no other cables were provided. Realized that we did not have the wiring needed for connecting the horns. So, the technician from Neptune Carz had to step out and bring the required wiring.

Some visuals of the wiring:
Attachment 1822069
Preparatory Work for Fitment

If you don't want to cut or splice any wires these adapters work best:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/CHSK...4-b52555b67cf9

Honda OEM adapter to universal horn plugs.

[samkat1]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

If you don't want to cut or splice any wires these adapters work best:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/CHSK...4-b52555b67cf9

Honda OEM adapter to universal horn plugs.

Usually the universal horn sockets come with 2 ports. The picture in the above product link has socket that takes care of 1 of 2 in the horn. What about the other one?

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by samkat1

Usually the universal horn sockets come with 2 ports. The picture in the above product link has socket that takes care of 1 of 2 in the horn. What about the other one?

Good point and I found the answer searching on the forum. Honda has only single pin by design, you connect only the positive even for oem one.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/offic...ml#post3812626 (Honda Jazz : Official Review)

[nkrishnap]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

Good point and I found the answer searching on the forum. Honda has only single pin by design, you connect only the positive even for oem one.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/offic...ml#post3812626 (Honda Jazz : Official Review)

The metal point connecting the horn to the body or in simple words, the mounting point acts as ground. Horns on the Isuzu DMAX is similar too.

[vsrivatsa]

Meanwhile, I can share some additional real world feedback on these horns. The upgraded horns are yielding a better response while navigating thru Bangalore traffic.

While I do believe in using restraint while honking, the traffic situation in Bangalore with 2-wheelers trying to cut across from all sides it becomes a necessity to use the horns and these are definitely getting better respect as compared to the stock horns when the situation demands it

Thanks to OLX, I sold the stock horns for Rs.220/- within no time

[Sahil]

Originally Posted by vsrivatsa

note that these horns are not waterproof.

Aren't all horns waterproof to survive the monsoon?

I recently bought these for my 2018 CRV as the stock horn was just too tiny sounding on a car of its size.
Am happy with these Hella trumpets, I bought them on amazon sale for nearly half off. I find them a notch too loud but I guess that will be a boon in Mumbai traffic.

[samkat1]

Originally Posted by Sahil

Aren't all horns waterproof to survive the monsoon?

I recently bought these for my 2018 CRV as the stock horn was just too tiny sounding on a car of its size.
Am happy with these Hella trumpets, I bought them on amazon sale for nearly half off. I find them a notch too loud but I guess that will be a boon in Mumbai traffic.

Did you get the socket that Honda uses to fit these horns or did the installer splice the connectors to fit these? I just received my package today from Amazon. Planning to get these installed over this weekend.

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by Sahil

Aren't all horns waterproof to survive the monsoon?

No, they are not waterproof but water resistant.

Chrome trumpets and most car horns are designed to be installed in the engine bay or behind a front bumper/bumper grille. In case of the Hella chrome trumpet, the "trumpet" opening should preferably be facing downwards to prevent water ingress. Ditto for high pressure compressor driven air horns by Hella/Fiam etc..trumpets facing downwards and installed where they are not directly exposed to rain/water.

2 wheeler disc horns probably have better water resistance as they are generally mounted in the open on the bike's chassis. But they are not infallible. I had several fail on me after a long ride or after the bike was being parked out in the rain.

[samkat1]

I too got the same horn delivered from Amazon on 14th Dec. Got lucky to get this item for Rs 950.

















The only confusion was around the "Honda Socket" and required connectors.

Got those installed on 15th Dec and to my surprise the installation was not as cumbersome as I thought it would be. Looking at the stock horns of VSRIVASTA in the first post, I was under a huge dilemma on how to deal with the socket.

Placed an order for the socket suggested earlier in the post #2 ( https://goo.gl/6BE9ar ) just to cancel it before it was processed.

Enquired at few car accessories shop nearby and everyone (but one) acknowledged the special socket for Honda City and mentioned that they would need to splice the wire to get the job done . The only shop that didn't specify the same told me that they have the required sockets available with them and if needed they would be able to use that to avoid any splicing as well. On getting this assurance from them I cancelled the order and decided to give it a try with them once. I went there with a mindset that if the shop owner later tells me that the connectors are not compatible and they would need to cut/splice, I will just take a good look at the stock socket and try to procure the necessary connectors first before giving it a 2nd try.

Called up Ilyas from Top Gear Car Decors in Kondapur, Hyderabad ( https://goo.gl/MqC6bz ) and fixed an appointment for Saturday afternoon. At the outset he looked very confident and appeared to be knowledgable about what he's doing. He heard the horn a couple of times and mentioned that the bumper need not be removed and he will first try without removing the bumper & he managed to do so.

I was curious enough to see how that infamous Honda Socket (that I always read about in posts and seen in videos or photos) looks like. I was due for a disappointment as the current generation of City does not have a similar socket as the 2014-2016 model. It looked like a horn with universal sockets. Also unlike post #1, the stock horns were not Hella S70 horns. It was a Minda made pair of horns.





One of the horns (I guess the Low one) was a direct fit.




However, the other one in the stock horn had just 1 pin.





Ilyas connected the other pin to the ground to make it work. There was no cutting / splicing done and the entire process was complete within 10-15 mins. They accessed the High tone horn by removing the fog lamps, which resulted in a decent amount of time and effort saving.

Here is a comparison video of the stock (Minda) horns with Hella Chrome.

https://youtu.be/R52wIFP6HVs

Overall output appears to be better than the stock ones and the vehicle seems to be getting the required attention it deserves.

[Safari_Beast]

Hello vsrivatsa


Thanks for writing up the review , i also got the same horns from amazon for rs 1050 just 3 days back. They sound like creta horns which retail for rs 2500 at the Hyundai workshop.

[vsrivatsa]

Originally Posted by R2D2

No, they are not waterproof but water resistant.

Thanks for clarifying.

Originally Posted by samkat1

I was due for a disappointment as the current generation of City does not have a similar socket as the 2014-2016 model. It looked like a horn with universal sockets. Also unlike post #1, the stock horns were not Hella S70 horns. It was a Minda made pair of horns.

Thanks for sharing this input - this would clarify things for owners of the 2017 Facelifted Honda City.

Originally Posted by Safari_Beast

They sound like creta horns which retail for rs 2500 at the Hyundai workshop.

Yes I have heard most people say it resembles the Creta horn - was not aware of the price of the actual Creta horn - thanks for sharing.

[Parth46]

Originally Posted by vsrivatsa

Specifications:

Amazon.in Link: URL
Hella Chrome Trumpet Horn Set (007728883)
High tone: 510 Hz - Low tone: 410 Hz
Sound level: 112 dB(A)
Voltage / Amps: 12Volts/5Amps
Price Paid: Rs.1,108.65/- (Amazon.in)
Warranty: 6 Months

I got the exact same set installed in my 2014 Honda City, and I must say the overall tone and loudness is tremendously improved.

Where the stock horns were meek pips, these are loud, and able to get the required attention from errant bikes, autos etc, even those who've become tone deaf in today's insane BLR traffic.

A big value add to the car, both in the city and the highways. Definitely makes you think twice before thumbing that button, so helps in making you a bit more conscious too.

[ard1955]

I got the same installed on my Alto in May 2017. Within a span of few months, I lost the crispness of the tone. It started sounding very blunt and I took it back to the place where I got it fixed. He was unable or did not want to find out the problem and said everything is fine. Finally got used to it and didn't bother too much. But at one point which was about 6 months ago, It sounded really dull and I took it back to the same place and insisted that something was wrong and said I will not leave the premises until this is fixed. Then the guy did something and accepted that the output was indeed low and blunt. Then, he adjusted the screws a bit in the horn and Voila! The original output was back (at least 70% of it) and he said if it conks off or the output differs, I'll have to throw these away and get new ones. Now after 6 months, It has returned to it's original state! So yes, Will be going in for a new set, real soon!