Honda Accord Hybrid Accessories

Karen_S

Talk about Accord Hybrid accessories here.

bibeaud

Has anyone upgraded the OEM Stereo or the OEM Speakers. If so, what did you use?

I've added the Kenwood FM Modulator and Sirius Tuner to my OEM Stereo so I can received Baseball on XM and Football on Sirius (best of both worlds)

s2khah

Should be a little careful about modifying the original audio configuration on the HAH. As good as a JBL system (similar the Toyota Avalon's), or a killer 300 watter would sound.
This is due to the ANC "Active Noise Cancellation" system. The ANC actively supresses exhaust system and other harmonics that would naturally occur when the 6 cyl engine switches to the "ECO" 3 cyl mode.
ANC uses the audio amplifier and speakers to do this, and changing the speakers may effect its response curve and replacing the audio amp is likely to kill it.
Talk to a knowledgeable Car Electronics Geek before doing this.

bibeaud

The Honda Website states that the 05 HAH has a 120-Watt AM/FM/6-Disc In-Dash CD Changer Audio System with 6 Speakers and XM® Satellite Radio. It does not explain this to any detail, thus I believe that the 120-Watt Rating refers to peak watt and not a RMS total watts of the six speakers (2 dash tweeters, 2 door speakers, and 2 rear deck speakers). I believe that Alpine makes the stereo unit. Who makes the speakers and what/where is an amplifier installed?

The ANC system should issue a sound wave 180 degrees opposite of the noise made by the exhaust system and engine when the vehicle cycles between the 6 cyl and the 3 cyl "ECO" mode. Thus any speakers hooked up to the stereo should accomplish this since the ANC counterwave generator is probably wired into the vehicle stereo wire harness, unless a high and/or low pass filter is installed and it happens to block that particular frequency.

As you stated above, I would love to hear from a knowledgeable Car Electronics person who is familiar with the 05 HAH regarding any stereo unit upgrade possibilities.

I have to admit that the original stereo and speakers do not sound that bad. I mostly listen to sports games on XM or Sirius at night and soft/classic rock during the day. Thus I am only looking at future upgrade options before "starting" any type of upgrade project. I generally start working with Crutchfield because their Tech Support is great.

Any advice and shared knowledge from other users and car electronics experts is greatly appreciated.

falk

Hi-

I'm thinking of purchasing a HAH and would like to know if anyone has investigated how to connect an iPod to the stereo system. There are radio adapters that allow you to tune the radio to a certain station to play from the iPod but the sound quality is lousy. What I'd like to know is whether there is a line (or Aux) input on the stereo system.

many thanks!

--aaron

carcat1

After being told by two Honda dealers -parts and service- that a full size spare would not fit into the trunk space of a 2005 Hybrid, I decided to contact the factory service rep in CA. HQ. His answer was YES, it will fit. However Honda does not sell a 16" steel rim (only 15") . I would have to purchase an aftermarket 16" steel rim & a 215x-60x16 tire from a tire store. The Tire Rack and Discount offer a Kumho KH11 tire for $53.00 and a steel wheel for about $60.00. I would really rather have a full-size spare tire than a can of fix-a-flat and a tire pump. Hey Honda, does the additional weight of a spare tire make that much of a difference in MPG? Also, why choose a mini-spare if a full size will fit into the trunk? Having the correct spare tire size avoids any damage to differentials and anti-skid braking systems.

s2khah

I am not extremely unhappy with the air pump, but I can see the benefit of a spare certainly. There is an up-side to the compressor in that you can lose the funky plastic filler it comes in and get a little more hidden trunk room(if on a trip) and stash the pump etc. in a corner.

I AM very upset that Honda did not put in a low tire pressure warning, since the pump will not work if the tire gets low enough to run on the rim. THIS IS A MAJOR HONDA SCREW-UP!!!

I am suggesting that every one do what they can to make Honda put the system into our cars as a factory retro-fit. I have told every dealer and filled out as many forms as I can to get them to do this. I am going to see if there is a NHTSA location for these complaints.

cal_cal

Mine did'nt. I burned a mp3 CD and it wont play in the HAH? It plays only audio format.

Any one have better luck..

gurudeva

DID YOU EVER FIGURE OUT HOW TO DO THIS? I JUST PURCHASED A HYBRID AND HAVE AN IRIVER MP3 PLAYER AND WOULD LIKE TO DO SAME

jol1234

There are adapters sold by installer.com. There is no line input otherwise.

sockpuppet1969

I checked installer.com and there is no AUX input adapter for 2003 Accord. The only item I saw that might be an improvement to a regular FM modulator is the inline FM modulator. Do you have the part number?

roirat

I have 2005 Honda Accord Hybrid with XM (No NAV). I am a previous XMer - and had a SKYFi-2 add-on in my last vehicle. My only complaint with the car - is the outdated XM radio. I have checked with Crutchfield and they seem to think I have no Upgrade options. Has anyone tried this? I have heard the 2006 has a later generation radio - is there a way to get your hands on one as an upgrade option.

Does anyone know if this radio has an Aux input or Mute relay for a hands-free kit?

bibeaud

Revised posting of #8.

I installed Boston Acoustics S95 (6 X 9 inch) speakers in the rear deck and Boston Acoustics S65RC (6 1/2 inch) speakers in the front doors in Sep 05. They both are 35watt RMS speakers.

They sound really good with the OEM stereo, yet are capable of supporting a 4 channel amp if I choose to add on at a later date. (I am hesitant at this time due to concerns with the ANC system) The Boston Acoustics website refers to the door speakers S65RC as being designed for Hondas, though crutchfield does not recommend the S65RC for the front doors. The crutchfield adapter for the front door does allow you to fit the 6.5 inch speakers behind the front door panel. (Only modification was drilling 6 holes for the speaker adapter brackets) The front door panel after the installation does stick out a little at the inner bottom, but allows you to close the door without a problem. I look forward to "turning up the tunes" on my daily commute on Monday.

Purchased both speaker sets from www.crutchfield.com. Their sales and tech support people are excellent and I highly recommend them. They are not the cheapest on the web, but they are the best to deal with for after sales support and returns. The Crutchfield directions are easy to follow...just make sure that the door cable is inserted back into the handle pull or you will not be able to exit the front of the car without using the outside handle.

The original Honda OEM speakers are cheaply made. The speaker magnets are a little bigger than a US Quarter. The front speakers are made of a blue plastic cone and the back speakers appear to be some type of polypropelene material.

Good Luck with any upgrades!

David

fap

I have the iPod link installed. The dealer installs it and there is a connector in the glove box. You then plug your iPod into the connector and switch to the cd player and you're good to go. There is some software that "announces" each song but I tried it and (a) it was lousy and (b) I couldn't really figure out how to work it. But that software has nothing to do with the sound quality - which is as good as a cd.

fap

I'm not sure this is the place to post this msg but I couldn't find any discussion about it so...

Does anyone know whether, when the VSA idiot light (triangle w/exclamation point) is on that means VSA is active or does that mean it's inactive. The manual is no help and the "Off" switch doesn't indicate which position it should be in to activate the VSA. Also, is there any reason why you wouldn't want VSA active at all times?

Thanks.

moron101

Has anyone upgraded their headlights to aftermarket HIDs? They look really nice.

noctis

I was looking around on the internet, and I found a nice auxiliary device for auxiliary stereo input; but I don't know what the '07 HAH factory stereo's brand is. Could anyone help me with this. Thanks. (Are these forums still alive?)

-Noctis

PF_Flyer

Still digging to see if I can find out. All it says on the Honda web site is:
Your music sets the right tone every time. That's because the Accord Hybrid features a 120-watt AM/FM/6-disc in-dash CD changer audio system with XM® Satellite Radio.*

I'll keep digging and see if we can track this down.

noctis

http://www.peripheralelectronics.com/prodDetail.asp?strProductID=517&strSearch=

This should be a link to something that I've run across in my search to find some way to connect a plethora of auxiliary devices to a Honda Accord Hybrid. The linked device will NOT work with HAH's Nav system, being this device needs to occupy the space that the Nav system does. Unless, of course, one can do without the Nav sysem connected to the stereo for sound through the stereo, but I don't think that would work very well. I won't really get into the installation, being that I haven't actually purchased this yet. The way it's put though, it "should" be easy enough; along the lines of: Set dip switches on device, pop stereo out, plug wires in, pop stereo in, hit aux button on radio to hear, voila.
Personally, I've been doing some research on the HAH v/s TCH. I'm pretty won over from the facts and the the ride of the HAH, but if I went with this car, being the car doesn't have a tape deck (I still use the tape / 3.5mm connector crossover ^^) and couldn't get one without trouble (cost / would take up that nice compartment), I'd have to find some other way of applying peripheral devices.
My girlfriend and I are always going on road trips, and an mp3 player's / laptops's (possibly a dvd player's in the future) ability to plug into the stereo is wonderful. Being that we abhor I-Pods, both the I-pod and I-pod connector aren't for us. Unlike the Civic and Camry (though there are more), which have an auxiliary port built in, the Accord does not. I had trouble finding information about whether or not the '07 models were compatible with this device, but I called the company, and they clarified that this model does indeed work with the '07 Accord and Accord Hybrid. Also, as far as compatibility goes, Radio Shack sells a crossover to switch a 3.5 mm jack (typical size for most cd / mp3 players and headphones) to the Red/White Rca jacks so one could use it for more typical devices.
Again, I haven't purchased this, nor have I heard anyone's account of this product. I'm open to anyone's opinion about this product if they've tried it / had experience with it.

-Noctis

various_animal

My 2006 Accord Hybrid sounded great in the dealer lot when listening to the XM stations - however my local FM stations all have a slight buzz kinda hiss frequently on them.
Not sure if Honda intentionally designed this in - since they are part owners of the satellite radio service.
Anyways I've listened to and am not really interested in the XM stations and want to boost my FM to come in clearer and sound like it does on my old 98 Windstar.
Anyone know of where/how I can add a better radio antenna to this car?.
thanks

jamiteff

What is a competive price to pay for cutting and programming a HAH key? My dealer is quoting $85.00 is that competitive? I just purchased a 2006 HAH and need to know what recomendations you would make for me to have the dealership check on my vehicle, it has 48,000 and the seller said he'd pay for anything I found needing attention.

phrodo99

Is there anybody with a remote starter in their Accord Hybrid? Did the vehicle come with it? Did you have it installed? Was it costly? Have you had any problems with it? What brand is it? I just purchased a 05 and would like to have one installed if possible and if cost is reasonable.
Mike

viet

Carcat1,

I just ordered 1 (Chinese made) wheel ($69) & 1 Fusion tire ($60) plus shipping charge @ Tire Rack to use as a spare tire for my son's HAH '05. I have been desparately checking with various Honda dealers to try buying this spare tire for a long time. Tire Rack is my favorite store to shop for tires & shocks, etc.

Now I can sleep with my peace of mind when my son drives back home from his college campus 450 miles away from home. So he has both the air pump and the spare tire. Are you sure this full-size spare tire will fit in the area underneath the HAH ' 05 trunk. My son will be home next week. By that time, I have the spare tire for him already. Happy holidays to you and yours.

r_ace1

Is the addition to Sirius stock?? Or is it a reciever you place of the winshield??

pharrpost

I'm also interested in adding a remote starter to an Accord Hybrid (2005). Are there any special precautions to consider? Is installation the same as a non-hybrid Accord?