Vehicle Reviews | Vehicle News | Vehicle Information

I ordered a USA Spec PA15HON2Y to use my iPhone 3G in my 2005 Accord. I looked at multiple products including a parrot MKi9100 and DICE. Ended up choosing going with a USA Spec and a separate Parrot bluetooth unit (MK3000) since it 1) was price right and 2) offered integration with the factory radio.

My Accord has built in Navigation so I wanted something that would play nice. The USA Spec unit does integrate with my nav and radio. You can set up the USA Spec to display using text of what is playing (Artist, name, category). This will scroll through the upper radio display on the Accord as well as on the Audio menu on the navigation screen. If you want text, it will put the iPod menu on the iPhone into accessory mode and will not allow you to select specific songs directly from the iPhone. You will need to use the stereo controls or the steering wheel controls to scroll. There is the option to give you direct access to the iPod screen (you adjust modes by the pre programmed XM stations ie XM station 1 would be Artist, 2 would be by Category, 3, all songs, 6 is direct ipod). If you do choose to toggle to the direct iPod control, you lose the text – it’ll just show as iPod.

The USA Spec unit will also allow you to keep XM functionality in the Accord. The XM stations show up on XM2 mode…. I don’t subscribe to XM but can still hear their barker/preview stations.

One concern I had was that I definitely did not want to lose my navigation controls… safe to say it all still works… the Nav still shows maps, etc as well as provides voice directions. It will continue to mute (like it normally does) XM, FM, and iPod music when it gives you directions.

Installation wasn’t too bad – took awhile to get everything out (and yes you have to take out the factory navigation to get to the right plug). After you pull out the nav unit, it’s plug and play (unplug the blue plug from the back of the Honda Nav, plug in the male end of the cable that attaches to the USA Spec unit, plug in the additional adapter, then plug in the original Honda Nav plug right into the additional adapter (the adapter allows you to keep your XM).

I used some heavy duty auto tape to secure the litte USA spec box on top of the nav DVD drive and ran the ipod cable through the empty slot below (had to cut a small opening). I put everything back together and everything is hidden and seamless (except the adapter cord that plugs right into the iPhone). It does charge the iPhone too!

It sounds great…. (at least the same quality of the CD player). A couple of other great things about the USA Spec – it has another set of audio inputs. I plan on using these eventually when I add video through my navigation to get sound in since all of the video adapters still require another sound adapter. Also, it works great with Pandora or streaming podcasts through itunes (if you’re in an area that has good AT&T coverage).

I added the Parrot CK3000 bluetooth since I didn’t want to have to unplug the iphone to answer it… the iPhone plays nice with both at the same time… if I’m listening to my podcasts and get a phone call, the music gradually softens and the phone rings.

The new DICE silverline units looks like it performs the same way but it was $40 more than the cheapest price I could find with the USA Spec.

Overall, I give this 4 stars and would recommend it…. only thing I wish it would do is also show song text even if it was in direct mode…. maybe this is a limitation on apple’s part where it doesn’t send text data if your using it as an accessory. Also, each time you plug your iPhone in, you get a nag screen about it isn’t made for the iPhone and if you want to turn on Airplane mode to minimize interference… I hit no and it works fine.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 

Was this review helpful to you? 

|

 Comments (6)