Honda is too conservative. Good product, but boring. By the way, Motor Trend ragged on the TL's interior in their long-term test a few issues back because the interior was wearing and looking old fast.

 

Looks like it`s just you! I like it.

 

I think the controls are perfect, just would like a mute buttom.

 

Just turn it off with the steering wheel button

 

Yeah, the power button works just as well as a mute button, duh!

 

I don't know if you're being facetious or not..

But I disagree. Depowering the cd player needlessly... Stupid design. My 11 year old car has 2x as good radio controls.

That being said - this is the car I'm going to buy - it's just that steering wheel radio controls are particularly important to me as a safety feature.

And mute is important b/c there are times when you need to concentrate and hitting mute is a lot easier than turning the volume all the way down....

 

What is the harm of powering down the radio? It picks up right where it left off. the power button on the steering wheel has a little nub on it so it's easy to discern that button from others without having to look.

 

Mute is instantaneous, both on and off

 

Is this guy for real?

Press the volume control down for a couple seconds. There's your mute.

Oh, and what about the homelink controls? Yeah, those aren't instantaneous either. You gotta hold 'em down for a second.

Don't forget about the memory seat controls...you can't use them when the car is in motion! And guess what...you gotta hold them down for a second too.

Just forget it, this car's just not a good match for someone of your standards.

 

Um yes I'm for real.

I'm not the one who brought up mute - I simply am completely agreeing with the person who did bring it up.

What frustrates me is when you have such a damn perfect car - and then some of the details are totally screwed up compared to competition. There are few such details though. The steering wheel controls, in my opinion, is one of them.

 

The problem is that there will never be a perfect car becuase you can't please everyone. Case in point is your dislike for the steering wheel controls while other don't mind them or actually like them.

what is your definition of a perfect steering wheel control switch?

 

I was really torn between TL and G Coupe. In the end I went with the G. The reasons?

TL For:
Fabulous Audio (DVD)
Bluetooth
Voice activated navi (gimic, I know, but my Mrs calls me Inspector Gadget cos I love this ****).
Bigger (esp in the back)
Sensible (also a minus)
(BTW steering controls never entered my mind cos they are never how I would have implemented them)

TL Against:
Square.
FWD.
Too lollopy.
Compromize design - make a sporty car appeal to aspirational drivers.

G35 Coupe:
Drive it. No comparison. RWD and almost perfect balance (although a little weight reduction would have been good)
Build quality: Streets ahead. This is Nissan's Japanese sports flagship rebadged for the US.
Styling: TL is the next generation US Accord launched early at a premium. Next generation Accord will probably look a lot like this and perform like this. G is just a sweetie to look at. No risk of a Primera or anything else normal looking like this at the next facelift.

Having said that, both fab cars. I'd have been happy as Larry with the TL but the driver in me took the G.

 

Notice he doesn't describe the ideal steering controls...I personally love em by the way...the volume and power button serve as great "mutes".

Why have a mute button...just more steering wheel clutter.

 

I like my g/f's Grand Cherokee contols better than my G.

The cruise buttons are on the front under your thumbs. The radio controls are on the back under your fingertips.

Much mo better.

 

The radio controls will become second nature, So don't sweat it too much.

When the G35 was released, there were complaints about how the power button on the radio itself was on the passenger side of the dash. The reason I believe is that it is set up for RHD (Japan) vehicles.