Minor SpecB irritations....help?

[LoveMySpecB]

2 irritating things on my specB. Does anyone know how to change these?

 

1. Audio controls on steering wheel. Does anyone know how to reprogram the up/down buttons to go to the next pre-set radio station and not to the next "seek" station? I can't believe Subaru did this. Most people like certain types of music and set the buttons to their favorites.

 

2. Navi system while driving. Does anyone know how to turn off the irritating feature where the navi buttons lock up when the car starts moving? Doesn't Subaru realize that sometimes *passengers* may want to program the navi?

 

Thanks. If these 2 things were fixed and I bought the Cobb AP, this car would be just perfect!!

[bmorrisj]

well number 2 is a saftey hazard with the controls available to the driver while driving... and im sure it also has a speed/gps movement lockout, so you cant just click up one on the parking brake...

[laz]

The number one is really annoying. It is hte same way in my mother's Tribeca. I could not believe that it is set for seek instead of the logical next programmed station!!

 

I hope that SOA reads this and gets a brain in their head and change this function because it makes the up/down buttons useless.

 

X

[BOY]

The number one is really annoying. It is hte same way in my mother's Tribeca. I could not believe that it is set for seek instead of the logical next programmed station!!

 

I hope that SOA reads this and gets a brain in their head and change this function because it makes the up/down buttons useless.

 

X

 

I sell both Acuras and Subarus and Acuras have the next preset on the steering wheel and it is VERY annoying, especially if you're going cross country.

[pedzola]

Agreed. Steering wheel controls shoul dbe for seek and not presets. After all, thts why you have the preset buttons....

 

 

As for the nav controls not working when the car is in motion.... REALLY? THAT SUCKS!!!!

[RabidMonk]

I disagree. IMHO, the redundant steering wheel audio controls should be set to duplicate the buttons used the most frequently.

 

I imagine that most drivers use their station preset buttons much more often than the seek button. While the seek function may be nice for cross-country driving, few drivers spend the majority of their time driving cross-country. Thus, having the redundant controls on the steering wheel set to scroll through presets, rather than seek, would offer the most benefit to the largest quantity of drivers.

[pedzola]

Guess it depends how far and how often you travel.

 

In my daily commute alone I go out of range of a handful of stations I like, and come into range of others. And vice versa. I don't have enough preset buttons for them all.

 

So if I had steering wheel SEEK controls I would use them every day. If they just scrolling through my presets I would never use them.

 

 

 

But, I have no steering wheel controls at all so I dunno why I'm even bothering to argue. lol

[RabidMonk]

Perhaps a dual-use control would be best . . .

 

short press = scroll through presets

longer press = seek

 

That, or allow the user to select between preset scroll or seek in the audio control screen somewhere. Either solution would make for an inexpensive one-up vs. most of the competition, and would be useful for all.

[laz]

^^^ That is how my Altima with steering wheel controls used to work and it was great! And I went down to Florida with it and it worked like a charm. It also had 3 FM bamd presets, for a total of 18 possible FM presets along with a travel feature that would allow you to preset on the go.

 

It was very handy, and I much rather go trough the presets from the steering wheel, than having to hit every light rock station to the way to what I like to listen to.

 

X

[emorphien]

Logically the best solution for the steering wheel is to have it user selectable.

 

And maybe they could tie the Nav lock in to the passenger weight sensor. If someone is sitting there then the driver [err not driver i meant passenger] can operate NAV, if nobody is sitting there then the NAV buttons lock out while the car is in motion.

[BOY]

Logically the best solution for the steering wheel is to have it user selectable.

 

And maybe they could tie the Nav lock in to the passenger weight sensor. If someone is sitting there then the driver can operate NAV, if nobody is sitting there then the NAV buttons lock out while the car is in motion.

 

That would be a nice solution to the Nav but voice would be nice too... one thing that Honda/Acura does that I think Subaru should do is offer the same Nav.

[JohnG]

Agreed! Subaru could have tied in the passenger seat sensor, unless it was Kenwood that programmed the Nav not to allow menu operation when the car is moving. Subaru may not have had control of that particular feature. On the Honda Odyssey, menu selections are possible while moving. It doesn't make sense to force the driver to pull over on the interstate (which is probably at least as dangerous as operating the menu while driving) in order to search for the nearest Wendy's. Subaru had Kenwood program the nav with a legal disclaimer that only goes away after the driver acknowledges it by pressing the "OK" button, so they're covered legally at that point. After that, we should be able to access any function we want, even while driving. We already have enough nannies watching over us and dictating what we can and can't do!

[emorphien]

Agreed! Subaru could have tied in the passenger seat sensor, unless it was Kenwood that programmed the Nav not to allow menu operation when the car is moving. Subaru may not have had control of that particular feature. On the Honda Odyssey, menu selections are possible while moving. It doesn't make sense to force the driver to pull over on the interstate (which is probably at least as dangerous as operating the menu while driving) in order to search for the nearest Wendy's. Subaru had Kenwood program the nav with a legal disclaimer that only goes away after the driver acknowledges it by pressing the "OK" button, so they're covered legally at that point. After that, we should be able to access any function we want, even while driving. We already have enough nannies watching over us and dictating what we can and can't do!

Unless the kenwood takes a reading from the GPS it uses for navigation it must just read a signal from the car most likely (that says whether its in motion or not), so who's to say that signal couldn't be switched by the passenger sensor?

[JohnG]

Unless the kenwood takes a reading from the GPS it uses for navigation it must just read a signal from the car most likely (that says whether its in motion or not), so who's to say that signal couldn't be switched by the passenger sensor?

 

I didn't say it couldn't. I said it could be either way. The Kenwood may inhibit menu selections when it determines the car is in motion. That was the part where I said Subaru may not have had a choice.

 

Maybe Subaru did have a choice. In that case, they chose to inhibit menu selection while driving. As I said, in an ideal world, they should have slaved it to the passenger seat sensor.

 

The end result is that it wasn't done the right way, regardless of whether it was totally due to the Kenwood design or whether Subaru decided which way to do it.

[emorphien]

I didn't say it couldn't. I said it could be either way. The Kenwood may inhibit menu selections when it determines the car is in motion. That was the part where I said Subaru may not have had a choice.

 

Maybe Subaru did have a choice. In that case, they chose to inhibit menu selection while driving. As I said, in an ideal world, they should have slaved it to the passenger seat sensor.

 

The end result is that it wasn't done the right way, regardless of whether it was totally due to the Kenwood design or whether Subaru decided which way to do it.

I agree with you.

[RobE]

I disagree. IMHO, the redundant steering wheel audio controls should be set to duplicate the buttons used the most frequently.

 

I imagine that most drivers use their station preset buttons much more often than the seek button. While the seek function may be nice for cross-country driving, few drivers spend the majority of their time driving cross-country. Thus, having the redundant controls on the steering wheel set to scroll through presets, rather than seek, would offer the most benefit to the largest quantity of drivers.

[meier motor sports]

the button should be both. momentary press = seak. longer press = presets

[RobE]

the button should be both. momentary press = seak. longer press = presets

 

That's a good idea, but, if they are going to do both it should be just the opposite.

 

Momentary press = change presets, longer press = seek.

[meier motor sports]

That's a good idea, but, if they are going to do both it should be just the opposite.

 

Momentary press = change presets, longer press = seek.

 

thats what i ment:lol:

[hybridandy]

At first I was upset that you don't have a preset jump button on the steering wheel but after living with it for a few months now, honestly I perfer it. I've actually found a few new good stations I would have always missed if I could just jump around the same 6 I always program.

 

My girlfriends Durango has a good setup with an up and down rocker to seek and a center button that jumps up to the next preset. It's the only thing on that piece of sh!t that I actually like. I wouldn't mind having the mode or mute button do the same thing, I never use either one.