New Honda Civic To Come With HD Radio Technology

 Automotive  

The 2014 Honda Civic is the first Honda vehicle to launch an integrated audio and real-time traffic information system using the HERE mapping service, the BTC and HD Radio Technology.

Honda unveiled the new Civic at the 2013 Los Angeles Auto Show, with a couple of changes to the design and the powertrain, that are supposed to improve its reputation, which is very important to the company, considering that the 2012 and 2011 models weren't received too well by consumers. A continuously variable transmission, instead of the 5-speed manual transmission, along with a redesigned front end, are two of the most notable changes when compared to its predecessors. But, there is one other feature that might help separate the Civic from its competition, which includes the Ford Focus, the Hyundai Elantra, the Toyota Corolla, and the Chevrolet Cruze.

It's the HD Radio feature, which will provide audio and real-time traffic services free of charge. The 2014 Civic will be the first vehicle to have this technology, but Honda plans to integrate it into several other models, as well. The digital HD Radio technology was developed by iBiquity Digital Corporation, while the services will be provided by the HERE mapping service and the Broadcast Traffic Consortium (BTC).

Thanks to this technology, those that get to drive the new Honda Civic will be able to enjoy crystal-clear sound quality, digital FM channels, Program Service Data, that displays the name of the artist and the title of the song on the radio screen, as well as iTunes tagging, which allows you to store information about a particular song so that you can download it later.

There is also the Artist Experience feature, which displays images related to the audio content on the infotainment display. The car's navigation system is integrated with the HD radio subscription-free real-time traffic feature, that provides the driver with information regarding construction work, traffic incidents, as well as traffic flow patterns displayed in a color-coded map, showing green, yellow and red flow patterns. Various local HD radio stations that are included in the Broadcast Traffic Consortium provide the traffic information.

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Over 2,200 digital stations, along with about 1,450 HD2/HD3 digital only channels, are available through HD Radio technology across the country. These channels cover almost all music genres, from country, dance, rock, as well as sports, news, and comedy.

A total of 33 car manufacturers have intentions to offer HD radio technology in more than 170 models, as standard equipment in some of those models, and as an optional feature in others. We can expect to see it in select models build by the likes of Audi, Cadillac, Porsche, Mitsubishi, Hyundai, Ford, GMC, Toyota, Tesla, Volvo, Mazda, Chrysler among others. Besides HR radio, Volkswagen went a step further and introduced its Car-net Telematics technology.

Considering that demand for in-car connectivity has been growing at an incredibly fast rate recently, and is bound to further increase in the future, the fact that Honda is the first car maker to offer a vehicle with HD Radio technology might give the company a significant competitive advantage, which it could definitely use, if it wants to catch up with Ford and Toyota, the leaders in in-car connectivity at the moment. The 2014 Honda Civic will go on sale in early December.

Top Image via Autoblog

By Jordan Perch

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Author Bio - Jordan Perch is an automotive fanatic and “in-car infotainment” specialist. He is a writer for DMV.com, a collaborative community for US drivers.