Wheel Mounted Controls on '03 Accord

Why didn't they illuminate the wheel mounted controls on this vehicle? So
far this is the one thing I don't like about this car.

 

Because they're installed on the car?

 

In my opinion having the radio controls on the wheel is a safety feature.
It's much safer than playing with buttons on the dash while driving and be
realistic, we all channel surf while we drive. I also can't think of a more
practical place for the cruise control functions to be. I just wish they
would light up at night.

 

Bradley D. Allison said for all posterity...

I wish they would, too. Sometimes I have to turn on the overhead
map light to see the buttons. Maybe I'll get used to using the
braille method soon.

I really like the controls on the wheel and I use them a lot.


Casey

"It is easier to get older than it is to get wiser."

 

The "braille method" does not work in winter when wearing gloves,
although a respondent to a similar thread a few months ago claimed
that he can feel these buttons through gloves. How he does that is a
mystery to me. Others claim that they literally never look at the
controls when they use them, and that illumination is therefore
irrelevant. This assertion seems so at odds with human nature, that
it's not very credible to me.

In spite of the folks in this forum who state that they are actually
glad that these controls are not illuminated, at least two authors
reviewing the Accord for magazines (Consumer Reports is the only one I
can cite right now) have listed this missing feature as a significant
fault with this car.

I believe that the majority of owners would like to have them
illuminated and that Honda will add the feature in a new model. We
have only a short wait to see if it happens in 2004.

Ron

 

Where is the station indicator read-out? If it's not in the instrument
panel, that's what you have to look at to confirm the channel, station,
track etc. selected. Looking at the center dash panel for settings is the
real distraction IMO - hitting the right button is not really that
distracting from the job of driving.

Cruise control - yes but that's only two buttons... maybe 3 and easy to
feel.

Personally I hate those pseudo "up-scale" gadgety cars that light up the
entire dash, door panel switches and.... now steering wheel(?)... like a
carnival show. IMO that's a safety liability - at night a dark cabin is
preferable.

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??

 

I like the wheel mounted controls. I saw the CR comment on not being
lit, but frankly it's not that hard to remember the basics. I have a
wheel mounted cruise on my Camry (a little tab stuck out behind the
wheel and turned with it), and it was very convenient. Wasn't lit.
Come to think of it, none of the stalk mounted cruise controls are
lit, so why would you need it on the wheel?

One irony is that I thought wheel controls for the stereo would be
nice since you usually have to look down and fumble around to do
anything on the stereo. On the new Accord, though, the stereo is at
the top of the dash, very accessible, and the volume is the huge knob
in the center which is also easy to reach and adjust without really
looking away from the road. I find when I want to change volume, I
just use whichever hand happens to be free. Left > wheel control.
R>dash control.

Also I find the soft illumination from that amber bulb in the light
unit above the mirror casts enough light in the cabin to see the wheel
enough to pick out the buttons. You have to know which are which, of
course.

 

Until I read this thread, I never gave this issue (unlit buttons) any
thought. I hardly look at them in daylight... but I use them all the
time. Didn't take me but a few days to get used to them, now I hardly
ever use the equivalent dash buttons.

- dcc

 

I prefer them not be lit. Lit they could be a distraction when driving at
night and I find there are few enough buttons that I had them memorized in
no time. If I need to look at a button, a glance at the dash is easier than
looking down at the wheel.

To each their own.

 

I agree with you. The only good reason to put buttons on the wheel is so
you can control things without taking your hands off the wheel or your eyes
off the road. If they need to be lit, I think it sort of defeats the
purpose, since the implication is that the functionality is non-obvious and
you have to move your hand away and stare at the wheel long enough to read
the buttons.

Consumer Reports was on a crusade a couple of years ago where they lambasted
any car that didn't have a center mounted horn button. I never understood
how it could be better to have to take your hand off the wheel and push the
center hob in an emergency rather than simply press your thumb on the spoke
mounted button, which does not require removing your hand. I guess they
liked the idea that when the air bag goes off while your hand is in the
center fumbling around for a horn button, it punches you in the face with
your own hand.

This lit button thing seems to be coming from the same people.

 

LOL! You should become a writer for Saturday Night Live, they could use
the help.

I agree that after a couple of days I had learned what was where,
besides I use the radio/CD changer buttons 10 times as often as cruise
control. I really like them.

 

They rather push the horn than do evasive maneuver. My bro said that the drivers
in the East push that horn button very often. Here in SoCal, pushing the horn
might put you in the hole.

 

The issue with spoke mounted horn controls is that they're not in a
consistent spot at all times, so if you happen to need to hit the horn
while making a turn, you may have to look where the spokes are to find
the horn button. By the time you can do so, it may be too late.

OTOH, with the horn control in the center of the steering wheel, it's
always in the same place regardless of whether or not the steering
wheel is in the straight ahead position.