I appreciate steering-mounted audio controls more and more each day. Like power door locks and power windows did a decade ago, this feature is quickly morphing from a nice-to-have to a must-have. An ever-increasing percentage of cars that pass through my hands have them. I'm not certain if manufacturers are adopting them because it makes good ergonomic sense, because it helps soften the ever-increasing complexity of audio systems as they sprout satellite radio and auxiliary iPod / MP3 player inputs (which our Sonata does not have), or simply because of the demands of the automotive feature "arms race".
Whatever the reason, I've become more picky about how these remotes do their job. Our Sonata's controls work well, fall easily to hand, and are easy to operate, but I have issues with the functions Hyundai have chosen to assign to the four buttons.
"Mode" is essential, allowing one to cycle through AM, FM1, FM2, and CD (and SAT and AUX on cars that have them.) No problem there. And I think we can all agree that "Vol" is also a must-have.
The big missing element for me is a "Preset Scan" button that would allow me to cycle through the 6 favorite stations I have stored on each band. Switching from one AM traffic report to another AM traffic report, or one FM station to another, is something I do more often than anything else. But here I have to reach for the center stack to do this high frequency-of-use task. Instead Sonata has a "Mute" button, which is useless for me because I simply hold the volume button down, which does the same thing, albiet in a half-second instead of instantly.
I think assigning 3 out of the 4 buttons to volume-related tasks squanders the full potential of this feature - especially since this layout comes at the expense of changing between favorite radio stations, my highest-frequency task.
Dan Edmunds, Director of Automotive Testing @ 14,943 miles
actualsize says:
12:46 PM, 06/26/06
...and CD tracks. Radio Stations and CD tracks.
pcs15394 says:
06:00 AM, 06/27/06
They missed it big time with the audio buttons on the steering wheel. Word is that they have not corrected it for 2007 either. Otherwise this is a great vehicle.
ballerdc says:
04:11 PM, 08/16/06
Oh Lord... I was thinking the same exact thing when I rented a Sonata a few weeks ago. My initial thought was, "Who approved this design? A bunch of pre-school children?" This has got to be one of the stupidest ergonomic designs created.
I couldn't agree more with this post. It's much more important to change between tracks on a CD, or betweeen radio stations, than it is to instantly mute the volume. I found it very annoying that I had to reach for the center console to change tracks when I had audio controls on the steering wheel. What's even more disturbing is to learn they haven't corrected this blunder for '07.
Overall, it’s a nice car – much more than what I expected from Hyundai, but blunders like this just go to show that it’s still no Accord or Camry.