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Comments
don't want to harm the car removing it. Thanks.
Your Accord has a Sun Room? That's awesome, mine didn't come with a sun room!
link title
I would like to hear some opinions on something like this.
1. Sun Roof Deflector
2. Window Rain Deflectors, yes I smoke in the car, it keeps water out and off the door switches. Hey I like fresh air.
3. Rear Spoiler
4. After market molding. Color keyed to car (Moroccan Red) on wheel wells, door edeges, down side of car and a strip on the factory molding from Honda. They never out the factory molding on at the widest curve of the door!
Overkill? Maybe but I got all this done for $250 parts and labor, cheaper and better than factory, color matched as well. Remember most paintlessdent removal chages a minimum of $80 or more for each dent or dink.
5. Fog lights factory. Yea I know a rip off at the price.
6. Heavy Duty rubber floor mats
7. Full front bra. I never have had a problem just remember to keep it clean and waxed under the bra. Take off after wet weather to dry out. I live in the south bugs, rocks and trucks are a problem.
8. Outside door mirror bras. Try AutoAnything. They protect your outside mirrors. And are cheap to get.
9. Rock Guard headlight covers. These are applied to the Headlight covers and are permenant. Takes about 30 minutes per headlight. Take your time and do it right and they not only protect the headlight covers BUT THEY DON'T YELLOW!!!!
10. Replaced high and low beam headlights with Sylvania Ultra Bulbs. As close to HID as you can get.
11. Light tint applied to glass. No problems
12 Auto Dimming Rear View Mirror with Compass.
13.Will replace the Stock Miclelins with another series of Michelin Pilots OR Bridgestones, check out Tire Rack. Did this on my 04 Accord EX-L 4 cylinder 5 spd. (Bridgestone LSV) This cured the drift to right and got better handling and traction.
Had one on my old Accord, and didn't like it. It does not calm wind noise very much. Water stays under it (won't blow off) for a long time. So you have to leave it closed, until the water dries.
2. Window Rain Deflectors, yes I smoke in the car, it keeps water out and off the door switches. Hey I like fresh air.
I have them too. They may not look so great, but they work like a charm. Without them, you can not open the window at all, when it's raining.
7. Full front bra.
Works great. But can start to become a pain, to take off, clean, and put back on. I only use the bra on long trips, on the highway, or during love bug season. Just for everyday around town, no bra. I figure it will last longer if it's not constantly on the car.
I've been reading up on the Bridgestone LSV's also. I think they will be my next tire.
the auto-dim mirror: did you get it from the dealer or online? I saw it for like $350 on www.handaaccessories.com .... is there anywhere cheaper to get it? I like it (especially with the SUVs blasting straight in)
And the Sylvania lights.... how much better are tehy than the stock ones, which I find VERY weak, after driving my parents' car w/ HID
for the info. I'm glad removing it won't harm the car. It
is coming off today.
Here's an article from last year's Consumer Reports.
REPLACEMENT HEADLIGHT BULBS: A BRIGHT IDEA?
Changes in lighting regulations in the mid-1980s allowed automobile designers to create aerodynamic headlight assemblies. These assemblies use a replaceable halogen bulb rather than an entire replaceable assembly. Headlight performance varies considerably depending on the assembly’s design, including reflector design and lens shape.
Expensive HID lights are a more recent innovation. CR’s tests have shown that HID lights can be brighter, but illuminated distances are often comparable to those of halogen bulbs. Premium halogen replacement bulbs attempt to offer some of the benefits of HID lights while retaining the vehicle’s original headlight assembly.
Bulb replacement is usually a simple task for most backyard mechanics.
MEASURING THE LIGHTS
CR tested five premium replacement bulbs, one from each of the top-selling brands: the APC Plasma Ultra White, GE Nighthawk, Philips CrystalVision, Sylvania SilverStar, and Wagner TruView. The bulbs are priced between $26 and $40 a pair (two to three times more than standard bulbs) and are sold in discount or auto-parts stores. All tested bulbs claim Department of Transportation-standard compliance; noncompliant bulbs may be marked as “for off-road use only.”
Tests were both subjective, to determine how well distant objects could be seen by the human eye, and objective, measuring bulb illuminance, or brightness.
Three test vehicles, a Chrysler Sebring, a Toyota Camry, and a Honda Ridgeline, were used to provide a variety of bulb sizes and original equipment (OE) performance.
Headlight distance is vital because the sooner an object is illuminated, the better the chance of avoiding it. Distance is measured outdoors on a moonless night, from a stationary vehicle. Black, unlighted signs were set up at various distances, and engineers recorded which were visible from each vehicle with each set of bulbs. Only one set of bulbs, the Nighthawk, improved low-beam sight distance for one tested vehicle, the Ridgeline. However, they reduced distance on the Camry. Generally, low- and high-beam distance either remained the same or decreased with replacement bulbs.
To test claims of increased brightness, CR measured illuminance, the quantity of light that reaches a particular area. Inside a dark building, a light sensor was placed at a distance 50 feet in front of each vehicle at different heights both on center and 8 feet to the right to simulate a roadway shoulder. Results showed some localized improvements, but no one bulb scored consistently better than OE. The Nighthawk and Plasma Ultra White improved illuminance in more tests than the other bulbs, some of which did not perform as well as stock bulbs.
Subjectively, all five bulbs emitted a whiter light than OE bulbs, which could appeal to buyers seeking the look of HID lights. Studies show that some drivers prefer driving behind whiter light than the more yellow light of most OE halogen bulbs, but that doesn’t mean you can see farther.
Some manufacturers claim that their premium halogen bulbs improve brightness without causing oncoming glare, a common complaint about HID lights. Oncoming glare is caused by a combination of bright lights and an inherent sharp light cutoff. This combination can exist in HID or halogen lights. Most of the tested bulb-vehicle combinations did not cause high levels of oncoming glare. But using whiter premium bulbs in the Honda Ridgeline increased glare to where it could be a discomfort for oncoming drivers.
BOTTOM LINE
Premium replacement headlight bulbs are marketed as a functional and cosmetic improvement over the conventional bulbs found in most cars. The bulbs try to mimic the whiter, brighter light of the high-intensity-discharge (HID) lights found on some pricey vehicles. However, while these bulbs emit whiter-looking light, they don’t provide a consistent performance improvement in our tests.Premium replacement headlight bulbs are marketed as a functional and cosmetic improvement over the conventional bulbs found in most cars. The bulbs try to mimic the whiter, brighter light of the high-intensity-discharge (HID) lights found on some pricey vehicles. However, while these bulbs emit whiter-looking light, they don’t provide a consistent performance improvement in our tests.
Our tests showed that while they do yield whiter-looking light, premium aftermarket halogen bulbs don’t offer a consistent performance advantage over original equipment bulbs, and they can perform worse. Much of a headlight’s distribution of light is dictated by its reflector and lens, factors that remain unaffected by changing the bulb. And the combination of higher cost and some manufacturer specifications of a shorter life span than standard replacement bulbs add up to increased costs.
How does the auxiliary device hook into the head unit? Do you need to sacrifice xm radio to hook one up? or do you split the hookup where the satellite radio goes in?..and if so, would that hurt the audio quality of the xm and the auxiliary input?
Any help from anyone that has hooked this up firsthand would be much appreciated.
Thegrad
I was using context clues, but couldn't come up with words that fit O-E-M!
no i dont think it will cut out your XM capabilities. You have to uncover some panels to get to the guts, and I think you then split the connection. It's a bit different if you have XM, so I'm not quite sure.
Please refer to the Honda Accord Audio Questions thread
$350 seems real high. They have it here:
Accord Day Night Mirror
for $159.12 - I think that's the same one you are talking about, the auto dim day/night mirror.
I used the fake hid wanna-be halogen bulbs for a while in our camry's, 7 gen accord and land cruiser. I've used the cheap ebay ones, silverstar's, and PIAA extreme plus white plus. imo, that is the order of brightness that you'll get from these bulbs. They all appear to be brighter then stock and of course whiter, but in terms of quality, the ebay ones died after a year, while the other 2 have still lasted after 2 years.
What you should really do if you want better headlights is to do a HID retro with some tsx projectors. I've got this setup in my 3gen camry and i'm working on my 7gen accord now. Price wise...an actual hid retro is more expensive, but it is wayyyyyy worth it. what ever you do, DO NOT GET A PNP KIT. If you want to do hid's, do it right, don't just buy some cheap kit and throw it in your stock housing.
Consumer Reports quote:
"The farther drivers can see straight ahead on low beams, the better," says Flannagan. We agree. Unfortunately, while many HID lights we tested were among the better performers, even the best didn’t outdistance the best halogens.
What we found. We compared 31 cars and trucks with halogen lights and 10 with HIDs, measuring their ability to light the road ahead and along the sides as well as checking them for glare (see Headlight testing).
Six out of 10 vehicles with HIDs and 9 out of 31 with halogens reached the 400-foot marker on our test course with low beams, compared with an average of 335 feet for all models tested.
The farthest so far: the inexpensive, halogen-equipped Mazda Protegé5. Its low beams illuminated our 600-foot marker without creating a glare problem.
Both types of lights produced our worst performers. The HID-equipped Audi TT’s low beams lit only to our 200-foot marker, while the halogen-equipped Chrysler Sebring and Pontiac Grand Prix provided weak, nonuniform light.
Little room for error. While even 200 feet of lighting may sound like enough, it may not be. Based on typical reaction times and braking distances, drivers traveling at 50 mph need 237 feet to see a pedestrian, hit the brake pedal, and stop in time. Wet or icy roads and higher speeds increase braking distance, while fog, glare, and fatigue reduce visibility.
If you are planning to consider any type of seat cover, be extremely cautious about how it will fit around the outside panel of the seatback. That's where your side-impact airbags are located and designed to deploy from. If you block the area in any way you could be jeopardizing you life as well as that of your front seat passenger in the event of a crash.
True, retrofit is always better than an aftermarket kit. Yes they are usually brighter, and sharper, but distance (of low beams) is the true measure of performance.
All I am saying is, HID does not always mean better.
I don't think many people are impressed with Honda's MusicLink... think that's what it is called.
1. Take to Honda Service to have them add it on? I called them and they said it would be $373 for parts & labor.
2. What else can I do?
I don't want to tamper with the stock unit. Is it inevitable? Also, once done, I want the disc data to show in the Navigation display (folders, songs, etc). Is that going to be possible?
Anyone who has it done, please share your experience. I want to know how I should go about it.
Thanks!
I'm only doing the sides of the center console, the lower dashboard and possibly the vents because I already have the fake carbon fiber trim in the other places.
Based on what I've read, it doesn't require too much mechanical know how, but I am reluctant to start taking apart my new 07 Accord SE unless I know I can do the job.
What the Honda service is referencing to is music-link, which allows you to connect an MP3 device to your sound system. If you have in Apple IPOD specifically, it does allow you to use the steering wheel controls to go between songs, but I don't think it shows a whole lot of information on the screen. All other MP3 units require that you control the music from the MP3 device itself. I think it's crazy in this day and age that Accord doesn't at least offer an MP3 input on their stereo. I don't think you can even find an aftermarket unit that doesn't have an MP3 input.
Works great though - seemlessly integrated into the odo, just like the EX-L etc. Also it is nice to be able to fine tune it + or - 5 degrees.
While I still have the lower dash panel off I think I am going to run my scan gauge so it installs in the large cubby below the radio.
I noticed that it says you cannot install the fog lights and the temp gauge at the same time, but it seems to me like the two places where there was a connection there was a note in the instructions that mentioned the ports could be shared (and may already be depending on your model of vehicle) Anybody try to install both.
I suppose one way to do it is to bypass the controller that coordinates the lights with the fogs. Just run power to the fogs and install the switch. I don't want aftermarket though - I prefer to have them fit right in the bumper.
With all the wind we have and dry air we get fog a couple of times a year. I have fog lights on my Integra and found that they are a very small improvement over low beams. So for me a marginal gain twice a year is not very usefull.
On top of that the temp is there every minute I am in the car vs maybe an hour a year for the fogs. Now if I lived in San Fransisco things might be different.
I can still put non OE fogs on, and am 90% sure the OE will work if modded slightly, so I can still change my mind.
I have one more question. Has anybody tried amber LED turn signals under the red lenses? How does it look - is it bright enough, I guess the color is orangish. I am not a fan of turn signals that don't differentiate themselves from brake lights.
You can see the install instructions for each here: H&A Accessories