Horn is hard to honk in times of danger

[David29]

FWIW (likely not much!), my last car was a Mercedes Benz, and it was also difficult to honk that car's horn. The fact that Tesla buys its steering wheel and steering column assembly from Daimler Benz is probably why the horn is difficult to use -- maybe it is a Benz thing. Or more likely, it is a result of all the "stuff" on the steering wheel (audio controls and sop on, plus the airbag) and how little real estate was left for horn switches....

 

[prqpn]

Has anyone tried to replace the horn? (Where is the horn anyway?) I've always wished for an alternate sound device to use in situations where I just want to chastise or warn someone, not scare the bejeesus out of them, more like a pleasant neutral tone or maybe a bell or gong sound...

 

[3s-a-charm]

I just wanted to let you know you aren't alone. I was very surprised the first time I pressed the steering wheel to honk the horn. It simply did not work until I pressed about 2x the normal press I had to on the many cars ive owned in the past.
It seems the best place to press is at the top. Try it out.

Me too... I am definitely an infrequent honker and find it difficult to engage the horn when needed. I've actually considered the option someone suggested of going somewhere remote and "practicing" my horning skills LOL.

 

[HankLloydRight]

Has anyone tried to replace the horn? (Where is the horn anyway?) I've always wished for an alternate sound device to use in situations where I just want to chastise or warn someone, not scare the bejeesus out of them, more like a pleasant neutral tone or maybe a bell or gong sound...

Somewhere on this forum, someone rigged up a old school bicycle bell in the frunk, remotely operated from the cabin. Very cool and very effective!

When I first got my car, I wanted to build a GPS+accelerometer arduino unit that sensed when you were going less than 5mph ,or on command, to play this sound:

 

[Big Virgil]

LOL Hank. Too funny.


Should have my CPO in a coupla weeks so I can't speak about the horn, but in a previous car i broke the horm on the whel from hitting it too hard. Either as reaction or frustration I guess. Now that I'm older and more calm, I'm interested to test the horn.

 

[ronsbell]

Realize this thread is about the horn, which I agree is unusually hard to activate, but it is also worth noting that per the manual both autopilot and TACC "may not be fully functional or may provide inaccurate information" when "visibility is poor (due to heavy rain, snow, fog, etc.)."

Autopilot isn't a good candidate for heavy rain.