[Reinhard]

Why? I am extremely patient at the wheel. Somehow I never seem to have any important task, urgent work or commitment for which I should be in a hurry to go before others when I'm driving on a road. To be honest - I use the horn once or twice in a whole week when I drive 50 KMs daily (i.e. when there was no COVID19 lock-down and I used to go to office). And when I use it - it is generally a burst for less than a second just to alert someone who is approaching like an unguided missile and there is absolutely nothing that I can do to avoid a collision. I just want the sound to be my taste when I do use it. I don't know what it is (some short circuit in the brain surely) - but I just don't like beep-beep horns in cars & trumpet horns on 2 wheelers. No offense to owners with either combinations of course! Just not my preference. As a result, even before I booked the Nexon, I knew that I'd be replacing the stock twin horns with nice loud (yet legal) trumpet horns. For that, when I sent way my previous car, I removed the trumpet horns from it and installed the stock horn back.

Tata is notorious for using a very different connector than whats seen on other cars generally. Hardly any accessory store folks know this connector and say there is no option but to splice if you want to change the horn. The previous installation was a straight forward hack-job. Got it done from an accessory store who did a good job but used the typical spliced wire approach. This time around, I knew I'd be doing it myself, and I'd be doing it clean as it gets. On this new car, just to ensure there are no wire cuts and holes in the firewall grommets - I have even gone to distance to actually install a remote Bluetooth controller for my projector fog lights. I switch on my front & rear fog lights using my mobile!! (It can be found here - My fog lights thread (Tata Nexon DIY: HID Bi-Xenon projector foglamps installation).)

So - it had to be an installation where I used a male connector for the horn that fits the receiver on the stock horn harness in the car. As some highly followed YouTube experts call it - "Ekdum Jack to Jack!". It would have no wire twists, no insulation tape covers.

Here's what one would need -

1. A set of twin horns - trumpets, normal beep twin horns, doesn't matter, process remains pretty much the same.
   • I have used a set of myTVS trumpets that have WY-17 mentioned on them.
   • These are a bit larger in diameter compared to the Roots, Bosch units I have used earlier. As a result - they make a slightly louder, lower pitch sound. Its indistinguishable from the now commonly heard horns on the Creta, Seltos which are very premium. IMO - that's a good note to honk. Just loud enough, yet premium enough. Not irritating for just a quick rare burst.
   • Since they were installed more than an year ago on my previous car, I don't remember the actual model number I'm afraid and some readers will find that to be a bit criminal! Sorry for this.
2. OEM harness wire coupler - Male only
   • So - the trick is, Tata naughtily uses what is universally used as a fuel injector 2 pin harness connector!
   • The module's standardized identifier worldwide is - 282762-1
   • For those who want to buy it online -
     Link - Amazon.in product listing
     Link - AliExpress product listing
   • However - since its a coupler used for fuel injection harness, its far easier to find it at your local CNG Kit retrofitting shops. Ask for a "2 pin injector connector"; or as they commonly call it "Korean coupler" - I don't know why!
   • You should get it for about 120 Rs for a pair of male-female. You can buy just the male - they'll give it at a lower rate.
3. High quality Polycab or similar 1 sq.mm. wires - 4 pieces of about 6-8 inches each
4. Soldering iron, flux, wire
5. Shrink insulation tubes
6. Good spanner set - preferably ratchet kit
7. Screwdriver set - with a good quality & variety of bits. Modern cars are notorious with different spec bolts and screws. (The only plausible reason I see for this is to make customers visit ASC for everything!)
8. Optional - Drill machine (preferably wireless) with 5.5 & 6mm drill bits. This is required only if your registration plate is riveted to the bumper.
9. Optional - a horn relay. If you wish to install a twin horn on a car that has a single horn and harness from factory, you'd need it. For most non budget cars, factory installs 2 horns & its a plug and play since the stock harness is designed to support the load of a twin horn current pull.

Its a fairly straightforward DIY project if you have the right tools. Let's get rolling then.

[Reinhard]

Preparing the Horns

Like mentioned earlier, Tata car horns come with a particular socket for harness connection. To avoid splicing/cuts and associated warranty risks (rare with Tata service in my experience) - we'll have to prepare a small pigtail with the new horns that has a male connector that would couple with the female connector that dangles from the stock wire harness for horns.

The Male Socket - this you have to connect to your aftermarket horn
-



The Female Socket - this you will see connected to the existing horn.




Like mentioned earlier, I sourced the coupler pair from a nearby CNG installation workshop. I bought both - the male & female connectors. For the Nexon we need only the male connector. (The female connector - I'll be using in the Alto K10. I'll be installing the Nexon's stock twin horns in the Alto K10 in some days with a separate relay wiring. Current horn in the Alto works only to remind how cheap the car is to myself.)

The wires that I got with the connectors were very poor quality. I didn't trust them to sustain 5A or more current on horn usage. So removed the pins using needle from the socket & cut away the wires. Soldered & crimped in robust 1 sq mm Polycab multi strand copper wiring. Then covered this pair tight with shrink wrap tube like I always do.




For connecting these new wires on the horn terminals, best would obviously to get the relay clips crimped on the extra wiring here for a cleaner, sturdier fit as well as better modular finish. However, due to the lockdown for COVID-19, I couldn't source these. So I have gone the old faithful way of soldering wires on the horn terminals. I used the holes in the flat terminals to loop the wire around & soldered it on both side surfaces of the terminals. Then applied a layer of thread-lock over it for some vibration protection.




Here is the finished horn kit. (Ignore the way I have hooked them up together using the mounting plates. I was just bored.)

[Reinhard]

Replacing the Horns

This is the step that needs some patience & care. As engineering design advances and our car's get more and more advanced - they become packaged rather intricately. Panels are fixed in a concealed manner which means they are all pretty tricky to undo safely. Have patience & gentle hands in this step to ensure no plastic clips are damaged / bent / broken. If this happens - your bumper won't fit back properly and will have misaligned / loose edges in the worst case.

1. Remove the front registration plate. In my case, the number plate was riveted on the bumper (due to a short duration RTO directive). If your car has this too - use a 5.5mm drill bit to drill through the rivet and it will fall right through.
   
   
   
   
2. There are 2 M10 bolts behind the number plate in deep tunnels. Remove them both with a deep reach spanner / ratchet.
   
   
   
   
3. Remove 1 screw each in the front wheel well. Its screwed through the black cladding onto the front fenders along the inner circumference of the bumper part of the wheel well. You'll find it near the red arrow in this borrowed picture.
   
   
   
   
4. Remove these 4 screws on the top of the bumper above the honeycomb grille that goes under the bonnet lid.
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. Gently pull out the bumper outwards near the wheel well edge on both RHS and LHS. It should release latches upto the point where the bumper meets the outer lower edge of the headlamps. The small red rectangle shows the part of the bumper through which the screw in the wheel well goes into fender panel for secured fitment.
   
   
   
   
6. Once this is done - Place something of sufficient height under the lower bumper lip. A small chair / box / stool. This will help the bumper safely rest & not make it hang on lower plate.
7. Now pull the bumper forward towards you & slightly upwards towards your face. Gently does it - small amounts on each side & in the middle. Don't run out of patience in this step.
8. Now you'll see the top front horn instantly, right behind the top black honeycomb grille besides the T logo.
   
   
   
   
9. Unbolt it & remove the connector. Press the steel latch clip on the connector on the female connector from harness & pull the horn away.
10. Connect the new horn and leave it safely somewhere.
    
    
    
    
11. The 2nd horn is placed besides the RHS front fog light, just below the air intake plumbing. Quite a tricky place to reach!
    • This really is a funny bit. Typical DESI design as we call it. Look at the zinc-plated plate marked by an orange rectangle. The only purpose of this plate is to hold the horn under it & provide a small hole to insert a plastic clip to hold the RHS wiring harness.
    • See it properly and you'll see a black foam tape going from top to a side of it. Its there because once the horn is installed - the bolt/nut directly fouls with the black plumbing box of the air-intake assembly!!
    • Real solution was to simply move the mounting holes for this plate 2 mm forward towards the front chassis cross member. But no. Who'd take all that that pain? Just apply a foam tape and get over with it guys!
    
    
    
    
    
    
12. Remove it like the first horn & connect the wiring to new horn.
13. Now - test that both horns are working properly & you are getting the right tone from both pieces.
14. Once this is done - tighten the bolts on the horn to correct torque levels without bending anything.
15. In my case - I made the pigtail a bit too long than what was necessary. So I used zip ties to ensure it is properly circled & tightly secured in places. This is a must to ensure the wires don't move around & weaken the solder joint & to ensure the wires don't tangle with anything else.
    
    
    
    
16. Push the bumper gently back in place, Both sides into place step by step together.
17. Push the clips back in place & secure all screws & bolts back into place. This is how flush it should fit back -
    
    
    
    
18. Reattach the registration plate. In my case - I had to drill a pair of new holes on the plate to match with the well designed factory made plate holes in the bumper. These have steel washers + metric threaded nuts built-in. Just a 5mm bolt does the job well here. Was a stupid idea to enforce rivets I must say.
    
    

[Reinhard]

Results

So all done & its time for the jury to give a verdict on whether it was a worthwhile modification. I don't call this an "upgrade" since the stock twin horns on Tata cars are quite good to the ears & not cheap at all. (Its a pair of MINDA units just for information.) Like I mentioned earlier, I like trumpets on car & that's why I did it. Wasn't looking for louder output over stock horns at all. (However - it can't be just ignored that the output of new horns is louder .)

Here are comparison videos taken at the same place, same camera & settings with same method (door lock using fob button while keeping 1 door open intentionally).

Stock Horns -

Stock Horns

Trumpet Horns -

Trumpet Horns

So what's your take? Was it a worthy change? Good luck to those who want to implement this on their cars. Happy to help if needed as usual! Stay safe & keep your loved ones protected during the pandemic.

[Sheel]

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

[digitalnirvana]

Excellent DIY as usual! Your work is meticulous and so neat!

I'm a sucker for the Skoda type trumpet horns aka paap-paap ones. Will need to get this done on the Aria once things open up.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by Reinhard

So what's your take? Was it a worthy change?

You bet ! I have a thing for horns and you'll frequently see Official Reviews making a mention of the same. All my cars have powerful horns. This "trumpet" horn is indisputably the best sounding. You've transformed the voice of your Nexon from a cat to a tiger!

Going to homepage today . I respect your attention-to-detail.

[Sujoy76]

Excellant DIY. It can't get more detailed than this.I am amazed how you plan all the steps beforehand. It sees a clear picture of things to come runs through your mind from the moment you plan to upgrade things by yourself. This is only possible for a person who knows his car in and out.

[powershift]

Nice DIY.
I just loved the sound from the earlier VW Polo. Later on they made it a disaster, like switching to a single horn from the dual setup.
Do you get a similar tone?

[Reinhard]

Originally Posted by digitalnirvana

Excellent DIY as usual! Your work is meticulous and so neat!
I'm a sucker for the Skoda type trumpet horns aka paap-paap ones. Will need to get this done on the Aria once things open up.

Thanks for the kind words. Aria/Hexa has the same horns & connectors. You can buy the same connectors that I have mentioned for a cut-less installation.

Originally Posted by GTO

You bet! I have a thing for horns and you'll frequently see Official Reviews making a mention of the same. All my cars have powerful horns. This "trumpet" horn is indisputably the best sounding. You've transformed the voice of your Nexon from a cat to a tiger!
Going to homepage today. I respect your attention-to-detail.

Thanks GTO! I am flattered!

Originally Posted by Sujoy76

Excellant DIY. It can't get more detailed than this.I am amazed how you plan all the steps beforehand. It sees a clear picture of things to come runs through your mind from the moment you plan to upgrade things by yourself. This is only possible for a person who knows his car in and out.

Thanks Sujoyda! Glad you liked it. Well I try yes. This is what comes from an experience based learning curve. (That basically means I have done disasters when fiddling with things while growing up & now I always plan in detail before picking the tools. )

Originally Posted by powershift

Nice DIY.
I just loved the sound from the earlier VW Polo. Later on they made it a disaster, like switching to a single horn from the dual setup.
Do you get a similar tone?

Thanks powershift! Glad you liked it. And yes - it was the VW Polo/Ventos that brought the premium sound tones of horns to our budgets in a factory setup of cars. I loved the original twins on those cars too & absolutely hate their decision to switch to single tone which is a torture to the ears.

And indeed - I zeroed in on this particular myTVS pair after quite a lot of trials on different horns at the store. This pair sounds 1:1 identical to the twin VWAG units on their cars. That was my search criteria as a matter of fact. Bosch Symphony trumpets come the nearest 2nd.

[R2D2]

Thanks Reinhard. Voted 5 Star. Now this is the thread that those lusting after power horns in their vehicles should follow. I liked the way you did the install.

The only thing to remember is most aftermarket horns pull quite a bit more than stock..they have to in order to output more sound. For e.g. my OEM horns are 2 A each while the Hella Supertone Red Grilles are approx 5.5 A each. So while my car had twin horns from the factory I used an auxiliary harness to install the Supertones. Something to consider as the horns sounded louder via the aux harness than via the factory leads which are obviously thinner wires.

[Reinhard]

Originally Posted by R2D2

Thanks Reinhard. Voted 5 Star. Now this is the thread that those lusting after power horns in their vehicles should follow. I liked the way you did the install.

Thanks R2D2, that's kind!

Originally Posted by R2D2

The only thing to remember is most aftermarket horns pull quite a bit more than stock..they have to in order to output more sound. For e.g. my OEM horns are 2 A each while the Hella Supertone Red Grilles are approx 5.5 A each. So while my car had twin horns from the factory I used an auxiliary harness to install the Supertones. Something to consider as the horns sounded louder via the aux harness than via the factory leads which are obviously thinner wires.

This indeed is a million dollar tip - and very important to include in case of MSIL cars especially thanks to the cheaper thin wiring they use. Disclaimer - no brand bashing, I have the other car as a Maruti & I love it. I will be installing a good UnoMinda relay and wiring to put these now removed Nexon horns into my AltoK10.

I had checked it specifically before installation, the stock horn itself drew 5A each. So I was sure that the stock wiring harness is absolutely fine. Yes the new horns are also 5A each. I had been told a decade ago by my accessory guy that Tata & Mahindra (along with of course premium brands like VW/Skoda) wiring harnesses are thick and good quality from factory and they never need separate relay harness. Back then, I had just taken his word. This time I checked the stock horns in a very crude manner. I have power supplies at home that I use to run test rigs for any items that I install in car (or elsewhere). The stock horns worked individually with 12V 5 Amp power supply but when testing with a 12V 3Amp or 2 Amp supply - the single horn just made a "tung" sound once and that was it - evidently the current was not sufficient. I know that's a crude way to measure current draw - but that was 2 minute job for me to estimate that stock horn is 5A each.

[rakesh_r]

Excellent stuff Reinhard, voted five stars. I simply love the way the trumpets in VWs sound, typical praap. In my experience, the once I love are the Roots Windtone Electronic. These are lightweight and are devoid of mechanical internals since as the name says, it's electronic.
Currently, my Scross has Hella Red Grills which I intend to change once the lockdown gets lifted. I recently changed the horns on my Alto K10 (had Roots Vibrosonic) to ones from Denso, small but very loud.

[HMV]

Originally Posted by Reinhard

I just want the sound to be my taste when I do use it.

Exactly true! I too love Trumpet horns and installed the ones from Bosch but they sounded too weird and weren’t Upto my expectations (maybe they were too high because I’d experienced the horns of a BMW 5-Series then, and they were really S-W-E-E-T). So, reverted back to the OEM horns but am definitely looking for the ones that can match the deep sound of the horns found in German cars.

[Reinhard]

Originally Posted by HMV

Exactly true! I too love Trumpet horns and installed the ones from Bosch but they sounded too weird and weren’t Upto my expectations (maybe they were too high because I’d experienced the horns of a BMW 5-Series then, and they were really S-W-E-E-T). So, reverted back to the OEM horns but am definitely looking for the ones that can match the deep sound of the horns found in German cars.

+1. That is the reason why I didn't opt for the Roots/Hella or Bosch units. Their frequencies are slightly higher when listening than the European tones.

I searched on Amazon & found the horn that I have installed!

Link - Amazon.in Product listing
myTVS is the accessories division / subsidiary of the TVS Group.

And evidently - it is retailing at around 1000 Rs. (I had purchased it from accessory store for 1100 in 2018) compared to around 600 to 700 Rs for the Bosch/Hella etc trumpet units. I guess the price difference is reflecting in the output difference.