2006 Civic heater controls

The 06/07/08 civic heater controls are at the bottom-center of the
dash, in the spot traditionally occupied by a radio. the left knob
controls temperature, and the right controls fan speed. This as I
recollect is the reverse of the usual. Getting the settings as you
want them requires multiple prolonged glances away from the road, and
a bit of thought: pushing buttons and reading the result on the lcd
display. If you switch the thing completely off, and then back on,
there's a fair amount of resetting needed if you had it on anything
other than full "auto". One of my favourite tricks is to try to turn
down the radio and find I'm turning down the temperature.

I know a lot of this is gripe, but considering small, incremental bits
of inattention and confusion can have major consequences, I think
Honda could have done better. Any other current model civic owners
care to comment?

 

You didn't notice this before you bought it?

Why'd you buy it?

 

I have an 06 Si, and I have had no problems with the controls. I do not
have a Navi system, so mine is obviously different than yours, as there
is no "LCD" to look at, and the controls do not change when I turn it
off.

Every car has controls in different places, and you probably shouldn't be
adjusting these things while driving, anyhow. Wait till you get to a
stop light. You'll be OK.

 

Honda did this on purpose. People play with the radio far more often than
they do the ventilation system. Besides, eventually you learn the vent
system by feel, so you shouldn't ever have to look at it.

 

To Dan C:

Our car is an 06 Civic Hybrid. The heater controls were not a deal
breaker.

To Joe:

We don't have the Navi system either. On ours, and I think this is the
the current outlet setup for all the current model civics, the air
flow mode is shown on a compact lcd in top center of the controls. You
repeatedly push the "mode" button to cycle through the options (heat,
high-low, etc). This requires your full visual attention, whereas the
old slider or dial could be done by the braille method.

Your suggestion to adjust the controls only when stopped is sound, the
current controls *are* similar to a cell phone, and equally
distracting. But when you're on the freeway and fogging up...

To Tegger:

You can't adjust the heater by feel, you have to look down at the lcd
to see what the button pushing is accomplishing. One of the settings:
directing all the air flow to the windshield, is now on a special
button. Pushing this automatically turns on the air. So, if you want
the flow to go to just the windshield but no AC, more hunting for
buttons is required to shut the AC off. Compared to the old days where
AC was a distinct button, and getting the air flow to windshield was
accomplished simply, by pushing a slider (or dial) all the way to the
right.

 

No, I am pretty sure the Hybrid uses a different setup than the rest of
the civic line. My Si looks just like all of the other standard civics I
have seen.

On the left is the fan dial. In the middle are the several buttons for
the different modes (floorboard, vents, defogger, and the mixed modes on
top, the AC controls below them), and the temp dial on the right.

Once you are used to the controls, you shouldn't have to take your eye
off of the road to use them. If you do, it is a design flaw, IMO.

 

That sounds like our 91 accord. Push buttons for each air flow
configuration are marginally more difficult than a slider or dial, but
not bad. No, on our hybrid there's one button called mode. Now that I
think about, I believe it's because the hybrid has the automatic
climate control. I think some of the other civic trim levels have this
as well. I've got a pdf of the manual with a pic but I don't think I
can post a picture here. Thanks for the feedback!

 

But if you are using the Automatic Climate Control right, you probably
shouldn't need to touch it while driving. Isn't it basically "set a
temp" and forget about it?

 

Yeah, it is handy in that aspect. You just tell it what temp you want
and let it sort it out. I guess something had to give, and that was
increased awkwardness if you want to override things.

Just got the grumpies I guess. All-in-all it's a fun car, the fuel eco
gages get you engaged (and enrage the lead foots behind you). The CVT
transmission's very smooth, the autostop works as advertised and is
very seamless.