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In & Out: The 1999 Honda Accord
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| Inside+Out: The 1999 Honda Accord |
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| Updated |
Mar 17, 2005 19:41:50 |
| Rating |
 16 ( -2 -12.5% ) |
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Description:
interior features
Buttons, Dials, Handles and Other Surprises in the Interior
HomeLink® – Also known as "those three little buttons between the sun visors." If you splurged and went for the Accord EX V-6, then you can kiss your ugly remote garage door opener goodbye. That’s because those buttons between the visors are capable of memorizing your garage door opener or security gate codes.
And in case you’ve forgotten, here’s how it works: Hold your old garage door opener up to the HomeLink® module (point it right at the three buttons). Now press one of the HomeLink® buttons and your old garage door opener button at the same time. The little red light on the HomeLink® will blink slowly.
Keep pressing both buttons, and when the red light starts blinking faster, HomeLink® has memorized the code to your garage door or security gate. Pretty slick eh?
Now, if you want to go really high tech, you can get an optional home lighting system that can turn on the lights in your house when you press one of the HomeLink® buttons. If you’re
interested, your Accredited Autobytel.com Dealer should be able to set you up with the home lighting device.
The recirculate button – Also known as "the ventilation button with the little U-Turn sign on it." Press this button and the ventilation system will stop drawing in outside air and
simply recirculate the air that’s already inside the cabin. This way, if you’re driving behind a diesel truck, or rolling past a recently fertilized cornfield, you can keep the nasty stuff outside (if you have a model with
the micron filter, this is less of an issue).
Also, on hot days, the recirculation button will help the air conditioning cool the car faster because it keeps hot outside air from diluting the cool air from the air conditioner.
But a word of warning: if you leave the recirculate button on for long – say a half hour or more – the car could get stuffy and you might start to get drowsy. In other words, you don’t want to drive around with the recirculate button on all the time.
Sure is quiet in here
Insulation that grows in the car – Sounds strange, doesn’t it? Aside from all the sheets of insulation that are layered on the Accord’s floor and fender wells, this car also has unique sound insulation in the pillars that hold up the roof and frame the windows.
Honda injects foam insulation into the roof pillars of the car, and when the body is heated in the painting process, the foam expands and fills all the nooks and crannies that would other
wise let in noise. So, odd as it seems, the "growing" insulation ends up sounding very good indeed.
Why does it do that?
Child-proof rear door locks – This safety feature could also be called "adult-proof" rear door locks because it’s pretty easy to forget how they work. The Accord’s inside rear door handles can be disabled so curious little hands can’t open a door while the car is in motion.
This also means that adult hands can’t open the rear doors from inside the car either. If you find yourself in this situation, it’s easy to correct.
Just open the rear door and look at the rear edge of the door its self. You’ll find a switch that allows you to either activate or de-activate the inner door handles. Flip the switch
and the doors will again open from inside the car.
The hazy windshield – Do you notice that after a few days your windshield seems to accumulate a permanent fog? Don’t despair. Your new Accord isn’t a portable low pressure system. Rather, the new plastics, vinyls and leathers are all "sweating" a bit when the car heats up in the sun.
You’ll find this "fog" wipes off easily, and after a while, the car won’t fog up its own windows any longer.
So, why does this happen? Your new Accord has interior materials that are treated to resist fading and cracking when exposed to super hot weather. And when the car gets hot, some of this treatment is released into the air and collects on the windows. It’s no big deal.
The clean air system
Micron air filtration – If you have an Accord LX or EX, there’s a feature hiding behind the glove box that should allow you to breath a little easier. It’s called a micron air filter, and as the ventilation system draws in outside air, this filter removes dust, pollen, some pollution and most ugly odors.
This filter is so efficient it can remove airborne particles that are invisible to the eye – but not the nose.
For instance, the filter can capture virtually any particle that’s eight microns or larger, which means pollen gets stopped at the door. It can also catch 40% of particles that are 3 microns or larger, which means nearly half of the junk coming out of that bus in front of you won’t get into the car.
Honda says the filter can do its job for up to 30,000 miles. If you live in a dusty region or drive in a lot of heavy traffic, you might want to replace the filter every 15,000 miles.
Or, if the ventilation system seems to be getting feeble, it might be time for a new filter. |
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