Where Are the Horns in MY03 Boxster S?

[sonny2]

I noticed one next to the battery in front of the driver. Is there another one?

I find the OEM horns rather whimpy so I ordered a set of Hella Twin Supertone Horns. I also have them on my STi & love how they sound -- LOUD!

Again, it's on a MY03 Boxster S

TIA.

[Tool Pants]

The horn next to the battery is for the alarm, and has nothing to do with the pair of horns under the front bumper cover that you hear when you press down on the steering wheel.

[Q-Ship986]

I did this exact thing on my '03 986S. The OE horns are here:

I took out both horns and bracket, clipped the wires and saved the connectors in case I ever wanted to put them back. Then I connected the new Hellas to the existing leads. I installed them right behind the center of the bumper, which frankly muffles them a little, but I didn't think the installation would work in the original location due to their size and mounting brackets. Here is my installation:

When you get in there for a look after removing the front bumper, you'll see how I used existing bolts to hold the horns.

Before I did anything, I borrowed a basic sound pressure meter and set it up on a tripod 10 feet from the front bumper like this:

Here is the data:

BEFORE (OE Horns):

Ambient Noise:... 51 dBA peak

Hand Clap:......... 88 dBA peak

Horn:.................. 95 dBA peak

AFTER (Hella Supertones):

Ambient Noise:.... 50 dBA peak

Hand Clap:.......... 86 dBA peak

Horn:................. 100 dBA peak

I did multiple trials to make sure the results were consistent, which they were. The hand clap was me standing in front of the car, clapping my hands as loudly as I could. I also put the meter 10 feet in front of my GMC, too, just to see what it was....93 dBA. FWIW, the ambient noise measurements seemed right to me, but the hand clap data seemed too high. Since I used the same equipment, set-up, etc., I figured the before/after measurements would be good enough to determine the delta, rather than worry about the absolute values. The meter was a bit on the low-end scale, not a high$ Bruel & Kjaer, for instance.

Anyway, the Hellas do seem louder, and test out at about +5 dBA. But my one complaint is that they are still a little "tinny." Still more of a "beep," than the "honk" I was after.

YMMV.

--Brian

[sonny2]

I did this exact thing on my '03 986S. The OE horns are here...--Brian

WOW! :notworthy:

Thanks so much for that write-up & the nearly step-by-step photos. That's awesome! :renntech:

[Tool Pants]

Wimpy electric horns....

I have the oem electric and air horns that I put in hooked up together.

http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=5747