Customizing the Sound of a Car Horn
By ELVA RAMIREZ

What It Is: So you're sitting in traffic and the car behind you is feeling a little antsy. The driver leans on the horn and you hear not a harsh toot but a lion's growl. Fans of cellphone ringtones have a new outlet for self-expression: Drivers now can update their car horns with downloadable tones, including libraries of songs. Some horns can even be equipped with recording capabilities.

How to Get It: With Horntones' FX-550 system, an MP3-enabled horn-enhancer, songs can be downloaded from the Horntones Web site in sets of nine tones and grouped into themes ("tailgate" or "car pool") that you can call up to suit your mood. The files are then uploaded via a USB connection. Coga's musical car horn, the COGApa, comes preloaded with 80 sounds and allows drivers to record new sounds with a built-in digital recorder. It also doubles as a public-address system when you really want to get someone's attention. Wolo's Jukebox Musical Horn includes 34 preprogrammed songs, plus a remote that works like a keyboard and allows users to add one song.

Upside: Your own public address system or cartoon-tune horn would really help round up the carpool kids lingering on the playing field. Tailgaters might be inspired by a team fight song.

Downside: Don't tempt the police; novelty horns are best not used in a moving vehicle. While vehicle codes vary from state to state, most states require that each vehicle must have a working horn, so sound files cannot replace the factory-installed car horn.