Hella Supertone Horns

Michael Moore · October 26th, 2003, 18:42

Most of you have probably noticed by now that I like to stick to VW OEM upgrades only, however, I have not been able to find any VW parts to use to upgrade the horns on my Golf. The OEM horns are loud enough for use in Europe, but just don't cut it here in Canada, where far too many turkeys are out on the road with a cell phone in one hand, a latte in the other, and their attention anywhere except focused on where they are driving.

I finally found exactly what I needed - a set of Hella Supertone Horns. Bought them in Switzerland for about USD 100 or so, they might be available in Canada or the USA as well, if so, probably for less money.

"Loud" does not do justice to the amount of noise these horns make. Think "cement truck" - no, better still, think "Union Pacific locomotive". Have you ever seen a cat disappear into thin air, right before your eyes? Or seen a kid drop his ice cream cone and go running to Mommy? Lard Thundering Jaysus, (as our Newfie friends say), these horns get attention!

I tried them out this afternoon on a "New Canadian" (that's a PC word we use up here for someone who can't drive, and can't speak English) who was asleep at the switch when the light turned green. An elderly lady, behind the wheel of a large Lexus, yakking at the passenger in the seat next to her, oblivious to the traffic around her. Well, lemme tell you, when I leaned on the horn with these Hella's installed, that Lexus took off like a Double A fueller when the Christmas Tree turned green - I think she actually burned rubber getting across the intersection.

Installation is simple, I left the existing VW horns in place and functioning, and I tapped into the power supply feeding the OEM horns to power a relay that supplies these ones. I used 12 gauge wire, fed directly from the main battery bus to the back of each horn, and a short ground from each horn to the frame of the car.

Fuggin' amazing. Just be sure you are wearing hearing protection (like, over the ear protectors, designed for shooting or Titan rocket launches) when you do the functional test after wiring them up.

Here's the photos:

Hella Supertone Horns

What's inside the box (no cigs or lighter, sorry)

Mounted under the bumper bar using the supplied brackets
(You'll need to drill holes in the bottom of the bumper bar, and use self-tapping bolts)

Side view of the installation
VERY IMPORTANT!!! - whenever you install horns of any kind, make sure the horn hangs freely, and no part of the horn touches the bodywork, otherwise, the sound will be attenuated.

Bumper cover back in place, everything re-assembled

oldpoopie · October 26th, 2003, 19:08

very cool, except I'd paint them black. I think I may try and find a set. I drive on the NJ turnpike daily in the truck lanes. I regularly get cut off by 18 wheelers. yikes.

Michael Moore · October 26th, 2003, 19:11

Hi OldPoopie:

I thought about painting them black, but the red appears to be almost a porcelain or vitreous enamel finish. In any case, you can't see them installed on the car unless you are lying down and looking straight at them from about 1 foot off the ground. The black grille thing hides them completely.

Michael

oldpoopie · October 26th, 2003, 19:25

on a brief initial search, rapidparts has them for $59.95

Yeah, I guess I could get used to the red. I did see one website that showed them in all black. of course the whole website is in b&w.

tongsli · October 26th, 2003, 21:34

Michael,

They make two. One at 118db and one at 113db. Which one did you buy??

85115 Hella SuperTone Horn Kit

85315 Hella Supertone Horn Kit

How about the Hella replacing the OEM horns and re-mounting the OEM horns at the BACK of the car with a momentary switch on the dash, LOL.

Did you put a fuse on the line from the battery? What size?
Lito

Toronto_Vento · October 27th, 2003, 06:04

My horns died totally on my Jetta this year. I replaced mine with these horns. From inside the car, it doesn't sound loud...never really tried to stand in front and find out. I simply mounted them where the factory ones were. I know...not the 100% best place to put them, but eh...gotta do what I gotta do. People do notice these horns a little better than the factory 'dying duck' that I had on.

BTW, for Canadians, these horns ARE available at Canadian Tire, but they are special order, so you have to go to the parts desk and wait a few days. Go on a weekday if you can during normal business hours. They have to call in to find the price of the part and charge you ahead of time. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

TDI-NEVER-DIE · October 27th, 2003, 06:11

I like they way they look and i bet they perform alot better than the factory horns.. nice place to mount them but aren't they a bit out on the open, it seems they will get slammed with water from rain and in the winter the snow..
Don't get me wrong, i hate the stock mounting but i have had my horns fail due to water on the road as i was driving..
Have you had any problems yet?
I do like the red finish [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Dean_S · October 27th, 2003, 11:50

$40 139 DB air horns at griots: air horn

$70 118 DB hella horns at griots: hella horns

tongsli · October 27th, 2003, 13:27

$63.00 for the 118db horns

Michael Moore · October 27th, 2003, 14:15

No problems with the exposure to the weather, they are designed to be mounted on the front of large trucks. I have had a pair on my motorcycle, right up front, for a year now, no weather related problems.

Michael

TDI-NEVER-DIE · October 28th, 2003, 07:02

Nice.. i bet they are really loud on the bike.. I'm a big fan of air horns and had them on all my bikes, the tdi will be getting a set soon, just don't have time to install it the way i want to..
Good deal [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

20IndigoBlue02 · October 28th, 2003, 07:56

I'd love to make my car sound like a tractor trailer....

Leo819 · October 28th, 2003, 08:07

Hmmm. am I sensing a Group buy on these horns in the near future?

We got the diesel part down might as go all the way with the horns. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

TDI-NEVER-DIE · October 28th, 2003, 11:23

For $40 beans can't go wrong... it should avoid several collisions or at least make people aware that you are present and don't want to get hit..or in some cases make sure the wildlife is gone by the time you reach the end of the road.. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

G60ING · October 29th, 2003, 06:24

Had them on my car for 2 years and they were loud. Never had any problems. But they just don't sound like a german/european horn. They had a sound of say a Japanese horn. All of my VW friends thought theye were loud but were surprised due to the horns being from hella and having the tone that they did.