I'll take a stab at answering this, as best I can.
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Originally Posted by AugieDB
I'm looking into an FEH right now, but there's something that still baffles me. OK, there are two things that baffle me, but only one on this topic. (The other is, "Why aren't there any 2006 FEH reviews anywhere? They're all 2005, like this year's model doesn't exist. Weird.)
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I've considered writing a 2006 guide, but honestly, other than some luxury accessories, it's pretty much unchanged. I read the '05 guide, and I can't think of a single driving/performance issue that's changed.
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Anyway, my question was about the Audiophile/Navigation option. The standard FEH, as I understand it, already comes with an in-dash 6 CD changer. What makes the Audiophile system better? Better speakers? And if so, is the generic audio system passable? I spend most of my time in the car listening to the iPod, and a lot of it is talk stuff -- talk radio, podcasting, etc. I don't need high fidelity for that stuff, necessarily. . .
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Actually, I'm not sure what you get if you chose nothing. There are two audio add ons, the Mach 6 and the A/N system. The Mach 6 has the six CD in dash changer. As for the difference, it's debatable from a pure soundpoint point, you'd have to try it for yourself to see the difference, I doubt that anyone has really tried both systems.
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I've also heard that the Navigation unit includes the screens which track your MPG very closely -- last 15 minutes' or driving or so. If I don't get the Nav system, is there another digital readout somewhere on the dashboard that tells you what your average MPG is? And is there a way to reset that at any time?
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I'm going to assume you know what the system looks like, from pictures or brochures or whatever, and spare you that.
The A/N system has a six CD changer under the passenger seat, and a single CD slot in the dash. That way you can leave the Nav CD in the dash, and have 6 audio CDs to listen to.
At all times when the system is on, your compass direction and time will be displayed. When the system is off, it displays the time.
The Map system displays your current location, and you can zoom in and out, pan around, and it ties in to the nav system. To use it a Nav CD is required, but you get all the US and Canada nav disks, no monthly service, or anything like that. You can buy update CDs when you need to.
The nav system will plot out your course in a variety of ways, to your liking, from fastest route, to don't use freeways, and five other options, gives you step by step directions audio and picture directions, illustrates and tells you how far away all your turns are, allows you to see it's route beforehand, auto-updates if you miss a turn, highlights your route in red on the map system, and has an address book you can add things to, either by address, or by marking the location on the map system (You don't even have to be there, just by it, pan over and mark if you wish), then labeling it. Additionally there's a home button that once you set home, will autoplot home without doing anything other than hitting the home button.
The current location button displays a Star Trekish screen which tells you were you are, what road you're on, city you're in, etc. What your previous and prior intersections are and how far away.
The Energy diagram shows you what systems are active, the Internal Combustion Engine, the battery, etc. and shows you what is currently powering the vehicle, or what the flow of energy is. This is the only way you can see how charged the battery is, and what of the many power cycles you're in. It allows you to see how much each component is contributing energy to your drive; like Hybrid drive, with lots of electric and a little gas; engine drive, with no battery; hybrid drive with lots of gas, but the battery is recharging; recharging with a lot of brake energy going right back into the battery, etc.
The Fuel Display shows your instant fuel economy and a graph of your MPGs over the last 15 minutes, with a bar that shows your average, for the amount of time you desire. There's a reset button, so you can reset it before a trip, or with every tank of gas, and it will display that average, be it trip or tank. Personally, I reset it after every fill up to help with the tank data.
There's the radio mode, which displays the channel information, and all that kind of stuff. (You can change the station at any time without being in the mode, as I recall.)
There's the audio center with options like compression, shuffle, fast forward, etc. (You can track skip at any time in any mode, and change CDs at any time in any mode)
Lastly, it's Bluetooth compatable, but if you don't get it (I didn't) then it's a mute button, which the Nav systems verbal directions can override, so you can listen to nothing and still hear the directions it gives you, if you so desire.
Now, without the A/N system, there is a display of your average MPG on the message center, or so I've been told, that you can reset, just like on the fuel display, but there's no instant graphing, of course.
One thing to bear in mind, as far as I know, there's been no successful combination of the A/N system and the Ipod. I may be wrong, but so far the two seem incompatable, or at least that's the last I read. (I'm talking about getting the Ipod to play through the A/N speakers.)
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OK, so that's more than one question, but it fits one general topic. Can someone please help me understand this a little better before I start visiting all the dealerships in the area? (I'm lucky - there are a half dozen locally with FEHs in stock.)
Thanks,
-Augie
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I hope that helps. If I can answer anything else, let me know, and hopefully someone can answer anything that I either missed or just don't know.
Personally, I'm extremely glad I got the A/N system; I love it and I love all the systems; I couldn't imagine having a hybrid and not having it. Frankly, I can't imagine I'll ever own a vehicle that doesn't have a similar or the same systems on it again.