Would You Drive This Mazda Miata with a Locomotive Horn?
I have a confession: I don’t drive a Mazda Miata. I wanted to be different than every other automotive journalist, so I bought a BMW Z3 project car. Within a week, a lifted truck came within inches of driving over my hood while merging. He just didn’t see me, and my pitiful little horn didn’t do any good. I immediately bought a small air horn. But one Miata owner with a similar problem dialed the solution up to 11.
YouTuber “Sockeron” drives a 1995 “NA generation” Mazda Miata. They said, “I am tired of people cutting me off, so this is my solution to the problem.” So they ordered an air horn kit from Hornblasters. It includes a compressor, a 3-liter air tank, and twin air horns. “The compressor and tank are mounted inside the trunk, while the horns themselves are mounted directly underneath the trunk area.”
In a 49-second video, Sockeron managed to demonstrate both the positive and negatives of such a setup. In the first shot, they pop the trunk and show the huge tank spilling out of what was once the spare tire nook. In a two-seater roadster, that’s precious space. “I sacrificed the entirety of my 3 cubic feet of cargo space for this.”
Downsides to cramming a locomotive horn in a Mazda Miata’s trunk
The second shot is from the driver’s POV, and the air horn makes a satisfying “toot.” The third shot shows the Miata racing down a rural road while the driver lays on the horn. The result does truly sound like a locomotive passing by. In the fourth shot, they hit the horn in a parking garage, and it’s absolutely deafening. Far too loud for comfort. So what do you do when someone cuts you off in a parking garage? I suppose you must choose between your bumper and your eardrums.
In the fifth shot, the Miata is cruising by a group of unsuspecting young women. The driver hits the horn, and they all involuntarily cover their ears. One woman shouts, “But why?” In the final shot, a quick toot scares up an entire flock of Canadian geese.
I’m not against a setup like this, in a car with the space to install it and still haul a load of groceries. But I might keep the stock horn in the vehicle and wire it to a toggle switch. If someone does let me merge, I like to give them a “happy beep.” You can see Sockeron’s entire video embedded below:
