Hella Supertone Horns, installed. *pics*

[Bwana]

Just test fit my new horns. Sorry stock grillers...this wont work for you. :p I used the bolts for the hood latch. Fits perfectly. :D

Doing the wiring some time this weekend.

http://home.comcast.net/~smatrixt/horn3.JPG

http://home.comcast.net/~smatrixt/horn1.JPG

[WestCoastSVX]

:eek: That's gonna be loud as Hella! :D

[RojoRocket]

Looks great Scott! After trying the Hellas on my Legacy with and without the relay, (used stock twin horn wiring), I'd encourage you to go to the extra work using the relay and 14-16ga wiring. Volume was incrementally louder. You'll love it the first time you chase someone back where they belong with those "fire-breathers"!

Glenn

[Mr. Pockets]

Originally posted by MacGyver
:eek: That's gonna be loud as Hella! :D

Or Hella loud. :p

[Bwana]

Originally posted by RojoRocket
Looks great Scott! After trying the Hellas on my Legacy with and without the relay, (used stock twin horn wiring), I'd encourage you to go to the extra work using the relay and 14-16ga wiring. Volume was incrementally louder. You'll love it the first time you chase someone back where they belong with those "fire-breathers"!

Glenn


How does the relay hook up? The instructions that came with them basically say: Plug in the positive, plug in the negative. That's all.

Do I take the power off the stock wires, and just extend the wires to reach the horns?

[lee]

I like it.

I'm also intrigued by the grille. Did you notice any gain/loss in cooling by dumping the stock piece? How do you have the mesh attached? Is that stainless, Alum, or ??

[Seraph]

Like I said in your PM, check the amps on the horns and your Horn fuse (either under the hood or the kick panel).

If the new horns draws lower amp, you are set. Connect the + to + and - to - side of the horn. I don't think they are labled. So It should not matter. However, if the new horns' amp draw is larger, you are going to trip the breaker and blow the fuse.

Use a relay. Relay is nothing more than a switch. It'll have 2 + and 2 - terminals. Power and switch. Power goes to the current horns and switch to the new horns (or is that the other way round). I can tell you if I see it in person.

[lee]

The wiring diagram I have shows the OEM horns driven by a relay. Seems you could simply extend the original wiring up to the new horns. Am I missing something here?

[RojoRocket]

Scott, You'll need to use the existing horn lead as the "actuator" and tie it to terminal 86 on the relay. Pin 30 of the relay goes to (+) terminal on the battery (fused of course!). The horns should be well grounded (to their mounting points) and the horn "hots" go to pin 87, and 85 goes to Ground as well.

lee and Lwin, the light gauge wire is the downfall of the OE wiring, so it's best to pull fresh battery source straight from the Battery. Or, maybe yours truly is just being anal about the whole thing! :o

Glenn

Edited for clarity, and safety! Thanks Lwin!

[Seraph]

Originally posted by RojoRocket
Scott, You'll need to use the existing horn lead as the "actuator" and tie it to terminal 86 on the relay. Pin 30 of the relay goes to (+) terminal on the battery. Now I can't recall, and didn't mark my diagram, which Subaru does, push (+) or (-) to the horns, but the horns should be well grounded(to their mounting points) and the "hot" goes to pin 87 and 85 goes to Ground as well.

lee and Lwin, the light gauge wire is the downfall of the OE wiring, so it's best to pull fresh battery source straight from the Battery. Or, maybe yours truly is just being anal about the whole thing! :o

Glenn

I agree with you there about OE wire being too thin. When I did mine, I just hooked them directly to the OE wires without any trouble.

But If you can I always recommand a relay and a fuse. Safer that way.

[svxcess]

here is the link to the Hella Supertone horn specs: http://www.rallylights.com/hella/supertone_horn.asp

Click HERE (http://www.rallylights.com/useful_info/horn_wiring.htm) to see the wiring diagram using a relay.

Stock horns typically have an output of 97dB. The decibel scale is logarithmic and therefore the sound pressure doubles for every increase of 3 points, i.e. a horn with 118dB is approximately seven times as loud as a stock horn.

[Bwana]

I did the wiring today. I didnt use the relay. I cut off the connectors of the stock horns, and extended them with 12ga wire long enough to reach the horns. I use 12ga wire to ground them.

They sound very similar to stock horns, except 10 times louder. They are awesome. And I got to use them right after I finished! There's a stop sign right by my house that people rarely stop at. Of course, when I pull up to the sign, some idiot on his cell phone blows right through the sign. I lay on the horn, and he dropped his phone because he was so startled!! :eek: :D :D :D

Soo awesome...I recommend everyone upgrade their horns. :cool:

[Seraph]

Originally posted by Bwana
I did the wiring today. I didnt use the relay. I cut off the connectors of the stock horns, and extended them with 12ga wire long enough to reach the horns. I use 12ga wire to ground them.

They sound very similar to stock horns, except 10 times louder. They are awesome. And I got to use them right after I finished! There's a stop sign right by my house that people rarely stop at. Of course, when I pull up to the sign, some idiot on his cell phone blows right through the sign. I lay on the horn, and he dropped his phone because he was so startled!! :eek: :D :D :D

Soo awesome...I recommend everyone upgrade their horns. :cool:


How do they sound compare to mine? I am trying to get a hold of electronic horn. Once I get them, the current ones on mine goes to the galant. :D

[Bwana]

They sound more...high pitched. They sound like they fit the car. Yours sounded like they would come from an F-150 or something. :p ;)

[Seraph]

Originally posted by Bwana
They sound more...high pitched. They sound like they fit the car. Yours sounded like they would come from an F-150 or something. :p ;)


Cool. I'd have to hear them.

[RojoRocket]

Scott, Glad you're happy with the Hellas! But a couple of things bother me. Why would you extend the OEM(18ga) wiring with 12ga? Kind of like adding a 1" pipe on a 1/4" feeder. Warm and fuzzy?
Just like my kids, asking for advice and ignoring it. :p
Enjoy!
Glenn

[Bwana]

Because that's the wire i had laying around. :o

I can go back and re-do, but they're perfect as is. If anything DOES happen to go wrong, i'll re-do it with the relay.

[Landshark]

Originally posted by Bwana
I can go back and re-do, but they're perfect as is. If anything DOES happen to go wrong, i'll re-do it with the relay.

assuming you were inspired by the Supertone-mania going on over at NASIOC, you should have read that the Hella's draw MUCH current, and the relays would be required to keep from toasting your wires. if you have to use them for an extended time (punishing some moron who cut you off), you could potentially cook your wiring.....

[svxcess]

I finally got around to installing the Hella Supertone horns in my SVX.

I mounted each horn separately on a 1/8" thick, aluminum "L" brackets, One horn is located where the stock horns used to be. The second horn is on the other side of the engine bay, in front of the ABS unit and angled to the right the A/C liquid tank. I grounded each horn separately to the frame to insure that if I develop a bad ground on one, the other horn will still work.

I added an additional 30A relay so that I would get maximum power to the horns. Since I have done the alternator wiring upgrade, the additional voltage should make a significant difference in the sound.

Both horns combined draw 144W, which translates into only about 10A. The horn and brake light circuit are fused at 20A. The additional relay is fused at only 20A. The power to actuate the relay comes from the stock horn leads.

.

[svxcess]

Here is the diagram of the Hella relay installed in addition to the factory one.

[svxcess]

How does the relay hook up? The instructions that came with them basically say: Plug in the positive, plug in the negative. That's all.

Do I take the power off the stock wires, and just extend the wires to reach the horns?

Disconnect the two power wires (18GA) from your original horns and tie both of them together and added to a piece of wire connecting to Pin 86 of the new relay

Connect a wire from the POS terminal of each horn and tie them together and connect them to pin 87 of the relay

Connect a wire from the NEG terminal of each horn to frame ground

Connect a wire directly from the POS terminal of the battery to pin 30, with a 15-20A fuse inbetween the connections.

Connect a wire from frame ground or the NEG terminal of the battery, to pin 87 of the relay

When you depress your horn button, 12V flows out of the original relay (used to sound the factory horns) and actuates the relay. This closes the switch between pins 30 and 87 of the relay, allowing full 12V current to the horn.

Use 14 gauge wire for all your connections. I used 12 gauge wire since I had a lot lying around. I soldered and shrink-wrapped all my connections to insure a good connection.

You will also find that the horn has a lot softer beep when arming and disarming the security system, as the require more current than the factory horns

[svxcess]

The Hella horns work perfectly, and they are LOUD!!!
Much louder than by connecting them to the factory relay alone.

I took the horns apart and painted the bright red frames a deep charcoal gray metallic with clearcoat, so that they blend into the engine bay and have a more factory-like appearance.

When arming/disarming the security system, the beeps are subtle and barely discernable (which I like). But set the alarm off and watch out!!

I will post photos soon.

.

[svxcess]

Another horn alternative is the Stebel Nautilus. These are compact electropneumatic horns designed for motorcycled, but have been used in cars as well. They are rated at 139db at 4 ft.

They are designed to me mounted with the "barrel" vertically. I think the sub compact would work the best as the opening of the horn faces the front of the car, not downward.

http://www.subaru-svx.net/photos/files/svxcess/37039.jpg

Here is the Stebel website: www.stebel.it
To hear a sound file of this horn, click on products, click on electropneumatics, then click on Nautilus.

You can buy them here: http://app.infopia.com/Shop/Control/fp/user/Shop/Control/Product/fp/SFV/13379/vpid/1633876/vpcsid/0/rid/4056

.

[newsvx]

They look good, John. Cann't wait to hear them!
Harry

[svxcess]

Here are some photos of the installation of the horns. The drivers side uses a bent aluminum bracket attached to the original factory bracket (with original horns removed)

http://www.subaru-svx.net/photos/files/svxcess/37190.jpg


http://www.subaru-svx.net/photos/files/svxcess/37193.jpg


http://www.subaru-svx.net/photos/files/svxcess/37191.jpg


http://www.subaru-svx.net/photos/files/svxcess/37192.jpg


The relay is attached to the fuse box bracket screw.

http://www.subaru-svx.net/photos/files/svxcess/37194.jpg

n

[Speedklix]

Well, the paint does hide em, but the red would have gone along with your batt.

Looks great though!

[Bwana]

I just brought my set back from my parents house in Texas. I'll have to install them again. :D

Maybe I'll try to find a way to make them show through the 97 grille.