My Audi A6's horn remains inactive when the ignition is off

I found it quite strange and at first thought it to be a malfunction in my car

BHPian GT_424038 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Hi everyone

I took delivery of my A6 Technology in Jan 2023 from Audi Lucknow and it has been a pleasure to own the machine so far, attaching a click of the beautiful Timeless Audi.

Recently I happened to visit my in-laws in Jamshedpur and took this opportunity to take A6 for a long spin.

On the trip itself, I noticed that the horn of A6 remains inactive till the time the ignition is turned on. I found it quite strange and at first thought it to be a malfunction in my car, but on confirming with the SA I found that Audi made the horn system in this manner itself. I was also told that this omission exists in all the Recent Audis.

Imagine a situation in which a person switches off his car while being stuck in a traffic jam and suddenly the vehicle in front of his car starts reversing unintentionally or due to a slope the first reaction of a prudent driver would be to honk to let the other person know or to warn him for the same.

Since then I have been wondering that what could be the reason behind configuring the horn in this manner.

Here's what BHPian Jeroen had to say on the matter:

Actually, on many cars, the horn is switched off when the ignition is in the off position.

I don’t think there is a particular rule to it being one way or the other. One of the big advantages of it being wired through the ignition is that nobody can accidentally push the horn when somebody else has their head under the hood, or in the wheel well during repair, and maintenance. Ask me how I know!

There might also be other reasons. In many countries, it is illegal to use a horn except in cases of eminent danger. So blowing a car horn is an offence, and a parked car has no need to use a horn.

I would think by and large switching the horn off through the ignition is better. Because when a car is parked you want as few systems powered as possible. In case of a small cohort circuit, e.g. A wire being charged the battery will drain, possible fire hazards, etc.

Your example of people, switching off the ignition in a traffic jam is illegal in many countries and it would be an immediate fail on their respective driver test.

With the ignition in the off position your steering lock is engaged and none of the board systems work. Notably airbags! But even door locks might be a problem. So as long as your car is on the road and not properly parked you should always have the ignition set to on. You can switch the engine off, but you must put the key or FOB back in the ignition position.

Of course, when you are stuck in traffic for a long time, you might want to have your radio on. On most modern cars, the same thing, won't work in the off position either.

Jeroen

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