light switch honks the horn

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Tdk408

Active member
Joined
Aug 25, 2014
Messages
32
In the dumbest move ever, Chevy makes the horn honk when you adjust the high beams. I have always assumed this was on the long list of mistakes that would eventually get fixed. But no! It's on purpose!!!!

Quote: The Spark EV also features a Pedestrian Friendly Alert Function (PFAF) to alert those nearby of the vehicle’s presence. To activate a friendly horn, pull the turn signal lever toward you like you are flashing the headlights.

No, not "as if" you are flashing the headlights, it is every single time you in fact you actually flash the headlights.

Why add honking to the high beam switch? The largest control in the whole car is the steering-wheel size button that works the horn in every car on the planet. Why add honking to another switch that does something unrelated, two inches away? @#$%@#$^!!

There is NOTHING "friendly" about honking at pedestrians. "Pedestrian UNfriendly" is more like it. But second, why would they add this prickish honking to the completely common "flashing the headlights" action we all do frequently at highway speeds when pedestrians are nowhere near? And why won't GM let sensible drivers turn that dumbness off?

The PFAF also can be set to activate automatically. It is active in Drive and Reverse at speeds below 18 mph (28 km/h). The sound is intended to be barely audible in the cabin.

And now they just lie about it? Now they are talking about something else altogether, which has nothing to do with honking your horn. What clueless jerks.

And did you catch the "can be set" part??? You mean GM gives me the option to shut off this nearly silent humming? But does not let me shut off the obnoxious honking?

So in summary, GM renames "honking" as a *Friendly* alert, forces you to use it when you blink your lights at highway speeds. Then they disingenuously pretend that's the same as the practically silent humming that's on all the time. They let you turn off the quiet thing, but forces you to endure the crazy honking.

Jesus, I hate this car. No, I love the car, but I hate the many many amazingly stupid "features" that GM summer interns added which make absolutely no sense.

By the way, huge kudos to Sandyblogs for this post: http://sandyblogs.com/techlink/?p=2081 It has so much Spark EV info that I haven't seen anywhere else.
 
Too bad you didn't take a test drive and find out if you really love or hate the car before purchasing.

You can switch to high beams by clicking forward on the turn signal stalk.

I agree, I'd like to flash the fool without the weird horn sound, but maybe EV's are required to have a 'pedestrian alert'.
The car has a sound maker when you're in gear. It's hard to hear from inside or outside the car, imho.

In the Volt the stalk has a small push button on the end that only does the weird horn and the high beam functions are normal.

You do know there is a normal horn, correct?

I find it helpful to RTFM when you have questions.

This is an inexpensive Korean S-Box, but with 37% American content, the American Muscle parts!!
I have to overlook the Korean weirdness and enjoy the fast fun EV part !!
 
Your vehicle is equipped with an automatic sound generation and a manual alert.

The automatic sound is generated to indicate the vehicle presence to pedestrians. The sound changes if the vehicle is speeding up or slowing down. It is activated when the vehicle is shifted into a forward gear or R (Reverse), up to 30 km/h (19 mph).

An alert can also be sounded manually while driving, such as in parking lots. Use this feature to alert people who may not hear your vehicle approaching.

At speeds less than 64 km/h (40 mph), to manually sound the pedestrian safety signal:


1. Pull the turn signal lever all the way toward you momentarily. The high-beam headlamps and indicator light will turn on, and a soft-note alert will momentarily sound. When the turn signal lever is released, the high-beam headlamps and indicator light will turn off.
2. Repeat for additional activations of the pedestrian safety signal.




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